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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe 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 3 of 4)
ColbyWolf Dec 29th 2011 7:58AM
I just couldn't get behind a gevlon interview. I guess it could be interesting, but his blog seems to just be a soap box for how it's good to be greedy and selfish and how being friendly to people is a form of stupidity. :(
mibu.work1 Dec 22nd 2011 10:37PM
I'm the same way with my rogue, I may not roleplay, but I refuse to move on until I've done each and every zone's quests in their entirety, do all the content available to me including most of the stuff that I'm not intended to do, and then move on only once I've done each dungeon, gotten all the gear, and seen every story. It's really wonderful, I've never had so much fun in this game.
wow Dec 23rd 2011 8:50AM
This is me in a nutshell. There needs to be an Achievement called "The Quest Whore." It is awarded when you complete every Quest in the game (Just standard PVE not BGs/Instances/raids. That achievement would be called The Ultimate Quest Whore.) It can even be divided by continent. I'd love to walk around with the Title: Quest Whore of Kalimdor. hehe.
I believe there is already an achievement for doing all the quests in game, don't remember.
Shinanji
Robert Dec 22nd 2011 11:45PM
When you said AH PVPer, my first thought was that you were talking about that guy on my server who endlessly camps the Stormwind Auction House. The Horde guy. Endless corpse runs, pops up the moment the auctioneers respawn. Back in Wrath, he single-handedly turned Ironforge into the most populous Alliance city.
My second thought was why you would want to interview someone who is a borderline griefer. Then I realized that you were referring to the people who play the game just to auction stuff off.
EverythingRuned Dec 22nd 2011 11:49PM
You should try to get mailbox mage to give an in-character interview
MisterRik Dec 23rd 2011 2:02AM
When my first character made it to Dalaran during Wrath, I noticed a naked, pink-haired, level 80 female gnome rogue sleeping on the steps of the bank over on the Alliance side of town. Then I noticed she was there every day, at all hours, always naked, always sleeping. I got in the habit of placing a Green Ragdoll next to her when I would leave the bank.
Cataclysm came along, and she relocated to the steps of the Dwarven District bank in Stormwind. Now level 85, but still naked, still sleeping. Apparently, though, she recognized my toon from Wrath because one day I passed her and she popped up and /cheer'd at me. After that we'd regularly interact, but always entirely through emotes. /cheer, /dance, /wave, etc; I've never seen her actually say anything, and if I say anything she simply responds with one of the stock emotes.
Then one day I saw a naked, female, pink-haired gnome that I thought was her, but on mouseover the name was different, and it was a warrior. However, the guild name was the same ... and this warrior looked identical to the rogue. And when she /cheer'd at me, I knew it was the same player. Soon there was a priest, and then a death knight, both again identical in appearance to the rogue and the warrior (aside from the DK's eyes).
I've grown accustomed to seeing her nearly every day for more than two and a half years, and I'm actually disappointed when I don't see her.
Pocky Dec 23rd 2011 4:37AM
Hah! I know exactly who you're talking about. That's on Lightbringer. She had a friend keep her company for a while, another gnome, but her friend eventually moved on. She'd emote me too as I'd RP a bit with her, but she'd never really 'say' anything. It was actually a surprise when I'd see her in her raiding gear. I'm wracking my brain trying to remember her name... gah.... this is going to make me lose sleep!!
I'll remember at 4am...
i think I may have a screenshot with her in it... but with my luck I'll have had the nameplates turned off. lol
Pocky Dec 23rd 2011 4:53AM
OCD kicked in.... 600 screenshots later, still haven't found one, but I believe her name was something like Nunepei.
I need sleep.
MisterRik Dec 23rd 2011 1:21PM
Yeah, that's her (Nunepi - I wasn't sure if I should post the name, but the cat's out of the bag). She has a massive number of achievements on that character, including dungeon, raid, and PvP, plus every holiday title. So she obviously doesn't spend *all* her time sleeping on the bank steps :D
I wonder if she does the naked AFK thing to deliberately be the opposite of the people who AFK in their raid gear wanting everybody to "admire" them.
MisterRik Dec 23rd 2011 1:28PM
Oh yeah, her guild (her warrior is the GM) does indeed include other players, but every character in the guild is a pink-haired gnome.
Andre Dec 23rd 2011 3:52PM
She even logs off naked!
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/lightbringer/nunepi/simple
Paciphae Dec 23rd 2011 3:02AM
For epic Trade debates and single handed monopolizing of the glyph market on Khadgar (US) I nominate Omegaglyph. I've never talked to him, but it seems like every time I'm in Orgrimmar he's in trade chat, defending himself against the jealous hordes. (Pun intended.) Little do his enemies realize how much publicity they've given him.
StillWaters Dec 23rd 2011 3:20AM
I am very intrigued by Lisa's Mysterious Mailbox Mage and Rai's always watchful level 3 Priest and also MisterRik's naked, pink haired, always sleeping gnome. It would be so awesome to hear those stories. But I feel that the mystery carries more excitement than the story itself. Once the story is told, the mystique is lost and they become just your ordinary bored humans. Let the Mystique grow, but keep collecting more like those.
I think it would be a cool series idea for people to find out such mysterious players from all Realms without revealing their details. The readers can then try and guess who they might be :)
datgrl Dec 23rd 2011 4:50AM
How do you turn off xp?
Pryn Dec 23rd 2011 5:02AM
I've ran a small rogue exclusive guild on an RP server since shortly after launch, though like a lot of my server we're on a real dip of activity lately (myself included). Immersing completely into the world of a bunch of rogues has been hands down the best fun in online gaming I've had, and over time it made me curious about what it's like to dive into other iconic classes that have the potential for a strongly defined lifestyle. And so began my alternative RP career in a paladin exclusive Silver Hand guild! :)
Its not an easy thing to run a class specific guild, I often wonder if it only worked for me because of the RP angle. But if anyone reading is tempted to try a class specific experience, take one rogues word for it (honestly we're trustworthy!) go give it a try as it might surprise you just how much fun you can have, and also how much you might learn by spending time with other people who play the same class as you day in and day out.
shomechely Dec 23rd 2011 11:06AM
I GM'd an all Death Knight guild on a RP server from the launch of Wrath until aaaaalmost the launch of Cataclysm, when I completely burned out on Death Knight (on all aspects of the game, RP, PvE and PvP) and handed it over to my second in command. It was challenging as a GM to keep everyone busy and motivated, but we had some great times.
arawn.chernobog Dec 23rd 2011 8:05AM
Ye might give a howler to any of the lads or lasses in the Three Hammers guild of Defias Brotherhood (EU). All Dwarves, no exceptions... not that we'd want any prissy elves, self-righteous 'umans, flea-bitten mutt folk or wierdo space kin...
Fel, t'was a 'uge undertakin' 'ta start acceptin' in the Dark Iron or the Wildhammer...
Andre Dec 23rd 2011 4:10PM
Orcs of the Red Blade forever! (Defias Brotherhood EU as well)
Orc only RP guild, one of the best experiences I've ever had in WoW. Get into contact with their leader Kozgugore if you want to chat with them. The Three Hammers always seemed awesome as well, but I never got into Alliance RP on that realm. I remember having an epic battle with you guys once in the Wetlands. Fun times.
Wolfrunner Dec 23rd 2011 8:14AM
We run an all dwarf RP-PvP Guild on Moon Guard. That one's a bit of an interesting story. I think the guild's died and came back to life three or four times. "Hey guys, there's only three people ever on, I think we should give up and find a new home." Two weeks later we get twelve people to show up to an event. The Dwarven Vanguard, making use of stoneform every day!
Didax Dec 23rd 2011 9:18AM
If 15 minutes hasn't done a feature on Daen of Daen's Crafting Emporium, then I strongly recommend this player. He's dedicated to providing goods and services to US-Sentinels (H). He does crafting work (including endgame recipes), lockpicking, mage portals, general advice, all for free.
He runs a Crafting Emporium almost every day from 2-3 pm server time. Main character I usually see is "Daenpo."
http://www.guildportal.com/Guild.aspx?GuildID=337715&TabID=2826950