Server:Blackwater Raiders US

Overview
"The thing about BWR RP is, once you find it, it's usually very good stuff." Grywennon Windhaven of the Third Infantry

Online since October 5, 2006, Blackwater Raiders is a US-based RP server with a population of approximately 5189 players (April 2011). There is an Alliance to Horde ratio of 1.8 : 1 according to present figures, but an activity ratio closer to 1.2 : 1 with peak times reaching approximately 1800 players. The server maintains US Pacific Time, or UTC -8:00 (-7:00 during Daylight Savings). Updated lists of the Alliance, Horde and the specific listing of Roleplay Guilds are maintained on the World of Warcraft Community Site and updated frequently.

Guilds advertise according to their primary goal - Player Versus Player (PvP), Player Versus Environment (PvE) or Roleplay (RP).

Origins
"I would have mentioned you, but you're no longer with us." - Bathori

Blackwater Raiders is a roleplay server that went live two years after Warcraft's release in November, 2004. The original Roleplay servers are Argent Dawn, Cenarion Circle, Earthen Ring, Feathermoon, and Silver Hand. BwR initially faced unique challenges after it was mistakenly listed as "Recommended" on both the Roleplay and PvE/Normal server lists.

Community
"He may be under the impression that just cuz Garrosh talks to him that means he's in good with him." Tender of The Company

BwR has a server population the size of a small city, just under 5200 players. With peak player populations of just 1800 in the evenings, there has not been a queue to log into the server, since the launch of Wrath of the Lich King. Because of the confusion encountered after launch, many players joined to locate friends already playing on the server, but had little if any interest in roleplay. The roleplaying atmosphere tends to be very low as a result, though many players remain respectful of roleplayers. Roleplay in major cities and across the realm can be easy to find--with some larger guilds developing exhaustive histories and lore.

There are some benefits to the server's size. There are several large guilds boasting populations above three hundred, though the majority focus on raiding; many are also active in their support of world PvP, while some of the oldest continually reinforce the roleplaying environment, using the forums to supplement in-game activity and organize storylines and events.

Economy
"I need gold, lots of gold..." - Birdi of Brotherhood of Shadow

The server economy is very healthy, with prices for high demand items tending toward the higher end, especially end level items. Demand for items of all level, is generally healthy on both sides, and many players advertising crafting skills, at cost, for provided materials.

Progression
"Is Lackey one rank up or one rank down from Toadie? There are protocols to observe." - Ezhra of Silence "...either way, we don't really need a progression thread..." - Jinja

General raid progression information can be found both on the official realm forums and Blackwater Raiders Guild Progression. Currently guild progression rankings are based on the three factors reported from the World of Warcraft Community Site: boss kills, loot awarded and achievements received. The most readily available ranking system is available from GuildOx.com.

Realm Firsts
"We earned our 310s, we didn't buy them." - War of Business Casual Blakdynamite was the first Illustrious Grand Master Herbalist and Alchemist, while Taraniki and Bonasus were the first to master Inscription and Engineering respectively. The first Level 85 was the warlock Aakarshan, with Heffalumps, Baldok, Nyarlathotëp and Rylden following closely as Druid, Priest, Death Knight and Rogue, respectively. In April 2011, Ascension Asylum became the first Level 25 guild.

Those Who Came Before
"Because I'm so shrouded in mystery, if you didn't know..." - Fifii

In the youngest days of the Blackwater Raiders, the Phalanx of Perdition started the call to honor with the challenge, "Strength and honor, warriors; hold fast, and give no quarter!" Though the call of the Phalanx has gone silent from their base in Theramore, those who remember, continue forward with honor.

No one can agree with any certainty the first guild on the Blackwater Raiders, but the Ronin League and Turus Thalanaar are the oldest surviving guilds on a server whose general survivability is historically poor. And while the Ronin League did depart to Sen'jin to complete end-game raiding goals not available to them on our realm at the time, they returned and reactivated their guild after a three month hiatus.

While raiding guilds have come and gone, the guild Silence remains one of the most venerable, with successes spanning Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm, and a firm place as one of our top three guilds rated for overall progression in dungeons or raids.

Those Who will Follow
"How we going to handle this? Should we set up a Blackwater Social for everyone to mingle? - Joynal of Ascension Asylum

Since the launch of Wrath of the Lich King, the Roleplay community has suffered losses, with three of the largest hordeside guilds and one of the larger alliance guilds transferring to join communities on other roleplaying servers. At least three heavy raiding guilds have also exited the server in search of servers with greater progression success. The server is therefore not as competitive when compared to PvP or PvE servers in endgame content. However, small pockets of Roleplaying activity can still be found, mostly in the form of guild led weekly events.

Guilds of the Blackwater Raiders
"Guilds are a different beast now... You could come and go before with only the loss of any items you may have deposited in the bank. Now..., you should do a little research before joining." -  Ornias of Backlash, on the subject of Guild Ownership.

Errata
"I have not been mentioned therefore this thread is completely invalid." - Shander


 * If the page contains any outdated content please post to the Official Realm Forums Wiki Update Discussion.
 * Realm Census Data is available through the WarcraftRealms website.
 * Events on the BwR realm can be found on the Warcraft Community Site