The player behind the mysterious Mailbox Mage
by Lisa Poisso 
Dec 22nd 2011 at 7:00PM
There's this mage on my realm who's always at the mailbox around the corner from the main Auction House in Stormwind right about the time I play another of my alts. I'm not talking about any of the mailboxes right there in the little square -- I'm talking about the one through the archway by the canal, toward the fishing quest area. Yeah, kinda out of the way, right? It's always at odd hours, when not many people are around. I can't help but notice her when she's there.
For a long time, I assumed that Mailbox Mage was just another banker alt, but then I noticed that she's actually leveling at a glacial pace. Now, as someone currently bringing up several alts simultaneously to try to sample all the revamped leveling storylines and zones, I can attest in no uncertain terms that sneezing too many times in a row nowadays will cause you to level. Mailbox Mage, though, plays pretty regularly. From what I can see, she logs in for a couple of hours at a time several times a week. She comes and goes, always heading off in different directions; she's obviously busy doing something. So I took a peek at her character profile -- instance runs and activity galore! I've come to the conclusion that that she's periodically freezing her XP, gobbling up every last bit of content in each level range before moving on.
Now that's a player I'd like to talk with for an article -- except Mailbox Mage is apparently also a determined roleplayer and politely rebuffs any attempt to engage in out-of-character conversation. No interview for me ...
Here's where I need help from you, WoW Insiders. I'm lining up a bunch of interesting player features for the new year, and I need to find these fascinating WoW people! Here's who I'm looking for (many more after the break):
- The all-rogue guild I played in an all-rogue gank squad of all rogues for a while. One or another new content release broke up our team, but it one of the most amazingly fun times I've ever had in WoW. Is your group rogue-only?
- The charitable type We've all heard of Child's Play, the gaming industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games. Do you know anyone who's come up with another way to use WoW to raise funds for a charitable cause?
- The success story Are you an artist, blogger, designer, modder or other WoW hobbyist whose WoW-centric projects have helped catapult you into your chosen profession?
- The home decorator Some people just can't help showing their Horde, Alliance or overall Azerothian pride. Do you know someone whose home decor makes more than passing reference to Azeroth?
- The all-druid guild I know, you guys do it all. Drop me a line and tell me how!
- The kiting king We know they're out there -- players who see every new NPC as an opportunity in kiting. Tell us about your most impressive feats of kiting!
- The old hand We're looking for an A-team raider who's 55+ years old and still doing hard modes with the best of them.
- The battle-scarred veteran Who taught you the ropes in the Arena? We want to talk to your battle-hardened mentor.
- The AH PVPer The frenzy of the trading floor is where it's at for you. Are you an Auction House wheeler and dealer?
- That guy with the website Who's writing about WoW or making a WoW-related website or mod or cartoon or machinima or service that you'd like to know more about? Drop me a line and tell me who you think is fascinating!
- Mailbox Mage That's right -- if you happen to be friends with Mailbox Mage, you know what to do ...
"I never thought of playing WoW like that!" -- and neither did we, until we talked with these players, from a player battling Alzheimer's disease to Game of Thrones' Hodor (Kristian Nairn), gaming industry insider Liz Danforth and El of El's Extreme Anglin'. Know someone else we should feature? Email lisa@wowinsider.com.
Filed under: 15 Minutes of Fame
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Gindy Dec 22nd 2011 7:08PM
This kinda seems like it'd be disruptive to mailbox mage if all it's friends started harassing it about this. In general an article about someone who wasn't interested is stalker-esque.
Jessica Dec 22nd 2011 7:12PM
I'm guessing that's why there's no character name or realm listed. :)
lownwolf Dec 22nd 2011 7:23PM
I totally agree with you.
"tell me all about yourself I'd like to write an article about you!"
"No thank you"
"oh fine, well..I'll write the article anyway it just won't have any specifics. You're welcome!"
It was pretty vague without specific realm, but I wouldn't be surprised to see people hanging around that mailbox more often on a few different servers now =p
Is that poor Mage a pseudo celebrity now?
Skyrei Dec 22nd 2011 10:24PM
I'm pretty sure the point was to seem stalker ish. Look at the picture, he's hiding in the bushes peering inquisitively at the foreign Box-Mage.
Adam Dec 23rd 2011 12:59AM
It's clearly an artistic choice for a photo about an elusive character, it would seem rather lackluster if it was just a screen shot of the mystery mage up close and personal.
From a design standpoint, it tells a story just from looking at it.
I think it's a great photo.
Josefr90 Dec 22nd 2011 7:13PM
Gtech - The Old Hand - Korgath (changed guilds recently=( )...he works with planes and such, but he is still going at it!
Shawn Putnam Dec 22nd 2011 7:23PM
We have an all-worgen guild... absolutely no exceptions. on Terenas-US. For over a full year now varying numbers of us have gathered every Monday night (save 2 or 3 holidays) for "Running With Wolves" Dungeon and Raid runs. at our peak it was about 12 - 15 members at once.. lately its a bit harder to muster everyone given people moving, job requirements, etc.
But it has been a truly awesome, and sometimes strange experience. Aside from the race-excluded classes, we have all others, and every profession maxed out... even Archaeology and Fishing :D [...though what worgen want with fish escapes me...]
In our earlier levels it was funny to watch the reaction in battlegrounds when 8 - 10 worgen from the same guild and same Server came in to wreak havoc!!
Noyou Dec 22nd 2011 8:55PM
I had a good idea for a worgen guild. Set it all up and when cata came out a handful of people rolled worgens and we leveled together. For one night :( After that it was sporadic at best. My other guild was booming. We hit level 5 in no time. One guildy mentioned it would be better to move the worgens over. The truth hurt but we all did it. Worgens of London is now a storage guild. I am tempted to do the same with panda's but since I deleted my worgen I will wait and see on that one.
I have an awesome name for an all rogue guild but it's too long! Every Rogue has it's thorns. Yeah, just like every night has it's dawn. Just like every cowboy- (lol you might have heard the song :p) too bad It doesn't fit. The abbreviations don't seem to carry the same weight. If/when they come out with no limits on the servers, I plan to roll 2 rogue only guilds and level a rogue up to 18 so they satisfy the level requirement for noble garden. Yep. That's my idea of fun :p
aflanry Dec 23rd 2011 12:50PM
Please tell me your guild was called 'Three Wolf Moon'. I wanted to create a lolguild for Cata that was all Worgen that had that name
Angus Dec 22nd 2011 7:20PM
The all (insert race here) guild would be cool.
The guild or person known for setting up achievement run PUGS on a server.
Or how about some more of the more common posters on these comments? I've seen a couple, there are a few more that I'd love to hear more about. I have guessed what a few of them have for mains, I'd like to see if I am right.
Hillazon Dec 22nd 2011 10:15PM
You know who else preferred raiding groups consisting of just one race?
Ruth Dec 23rd 2011 5:44AM
I believe his name was Godwin, right?
Jaygath Dec 22nd 2011 7:21PM
Chris H. from the Daily Blink!
Shawn Putnam Dec 22nd 2011 7:25PM
Hey I did list the All-worgen guild, but apparently Disqus doesnt want me mentioning the words Rage - Across - Azeroth - Terenas - US all together :P
Tenorman Dec 22nd 2011 8:48PM
Buff mages!
Scotty Dec 22nd 2011 7:28PM
I think your mailbox mage is a jewelcrafter. My JC hangs out there, delivering cut gems to my guildies. Took forever to level 83-85 with almost nothing but JCing, but i did it.
Cantor Dec 22nd 2011 7:37PM
There's an all-Druid guild called Druids of the Beast on Shadowsong EU, a reformation of a guild from Vashj'ir EU. You can find their website at http://druidsofthebeast.wowstead.com/, and on Twitter @TheDruidGuild.
Rai Dec 22nd 2011 7:57PM
There's a level 3 human priest on Argent Dawn EU who stands around in Stormwind and just watches people Roleplay.
In an inn one night? She's there.
Outside the cathedral during a political uprising? She's there.
Obscure back alley deal? She's there.
I once whispered her and asked her what her deal was. I was greeted with a ":)" and nothing else. This enigma eludes me.
Brett Porter Dec 22nd 2011 8:35PM
That would totally be me (swear it isn't!) if I were on an RP server. I am fascinated by RPers and enjoy watching folks do it... but I'm not confident or knowledgeable enough about it myself to do it quite yet.
Revynn Dec 22nd 2011 11:15PM
I've occasionally rolled toons on RP servers just to wander around Stormwind and people-watch. It's quite entertaining sometimes, actually. I once watched a Draenei trying to explain to a Human that there was corruption in the Cathedral and that everyone was infected (using some sort of detection device). Unfortunately he wasn't doing a very good job of the "explain" part and his Human counterpart was thoroughly confused. I could imagine several OOC whispers along the lines of "Seriously, dude. I have no idea WTF you're talking about."