Server:Lightninghoof US

Lightninghoof (RP-PvP) CST
Welcome to the RP-PVP server, Lightninghoof.

General History:
Lightninghoof launched in the fall of 2005, about two weeks after the 'big three' RP-PvP realms arrived on the scene in September. LH was not one of the three original RP-PvP servers (Maelstrom and Emerald Dream were the originals, both with morning launches, followed by Twisting Nether later in the day), nor was it the last (both Ravenholdt and The Venture Co. have both come since), making Lightninghoof something of a 'middle child.'

LH launched a few days after the first three RP-PvP servers, thus decreasing the number of disruptive individuals rolling alts to harrass RP-PvPers, at least for a little while. Blizzard's mistake in launching the first RP-PvP servers (and what ultimately doomed all of them with the exception of TVC and RH to having virtually zero RP) was that the servers debuted with no 'regular' PvP servers as escorts. A single 'normal' PvP server might have helped to bleed off a few of the large number of 'reroll no matter what server type this is' players who inevitably flooded Maelstrom, Emerald Dream and Twisting Nether, and eventually -- after a substantial delay -- Lightninghoof.

From a PvP View:
The early days of Lightninghoof consisted of the rush to achieve the vaunted level 60. The horde progression was led by the guild Enshadowed, who were entering Blackwing Lair before most players even dinged level 60. Enshadowed emerged as a major player in Battleground PvP, also being far more advanced gear wise did not hurt. They produced names which became common speak amongst the Alliance battleground brethren, such as Dukie, Kishra and Orcules.

Alliance progression was initially stagnated by the guild Imperial, led by the semi-famous priest 'Tavia.' Imperial would be one of the first guilds into MC (joined in short order by Fury, Awakening and a few others), but quickly collapsed under the dictatorial rule of Tavia. This arguably set Alliance progression back by at least a month, although Awakening would be quick to pick up the fallen torch, soon leading all progression on the server.

Early rank pushes were made. Sakaslan from the Thirteenth was the first horde to achieve rank 14, a warrior. He was followed by Dukie. Alliance side, the infamous Skarzor banded his Juggernaut PvP train together, and with the help of his guild, took the ride to rank 14. Kappah was soon to follow, with Nimmrod rounding out the Juggernaut trio of rank 14's. At any given time, one could view the top 20 ranked alliance PvPers and see a slew of Juggernaut members populating the front page.

Around the same time, the Horde balance of power started to shift, to a guild aptly named Atrayne. This was truly a train of sorts, as it proved with the countless high ranks of PvPers it churned out weekly. The names became legends in the PvP circuits: Tohknee, Babethe, Tinrah, Fellhorn, Zoticx, Grimmer, Kook, Leticia, and so on. With many alliance guilds focusing on gearing up to compete, the competition was not present in the late stages of Atryane's lifespan on Lightninghoof. As a result, the guild transferred, in search of more competition. Unfortunately, those that stayed were often out-matched by gear, by members of Awakening, such as Faefnir, Thut, and Miniplush. However, these three were perhaps, the greatest duelists on the Alliance side during this period, having defeated the warrior Cendre, an embarrassing number of times each.

To battle the Horde powerhouse known as Atrayne, a couple of alliance teams arose. One, was a Fury team spearheaded by the pushes of Ozzie, Evryth, and eventually Drik. Behind the flag running of Ayya, Fury was able to come close to matching Atrayne step for step in Warsong.

The other team was a melting pot of PvPers. Known as "The Crew", this team was lead by Ayashi, and ended up producing its fair share of rank 14's. Guild tag had no meaning, as at anytime, numerous guilds would be represented in this crew. The Crew pushed, as Ayashi dinged 14 first, followed by Cupcakes, and then Sy and Avalanche in the final week together achieving 14.

RP and Server Climate:
While the roleplaying on Lightinghoof could initially have been described as 'diehard,' l337 kiddies and the like soon began to take their toll. Many of the dedicated RP guilds either disbanded or fled the server, giving rise to the RP Renaissance of Ravenholdt six months later. However, much RP has sprung up as of late, and the community is slowing growing.

RP purists should shy away from Lightninghoof. There is a small but active RP community on the server, particularly Hordeside, but this can be somewhat difficult to locate. Brill has previously been the RP center of Lightninghoof, but has fallen from grace as of late. It is now often filled with "Undesirable RPers" who, as some say, "need work."

A few notable Horde RP guilds include: Dark Sun Cabal, The Band of the Honest Fox, Symphony of Agony, Lycans of Lightninghoof, Royal Apothecary Society and many others, although many players RP without being in a RP guild. Many of these guilds are trying to rebuild Lightninghoof's RP reputation. They have had some success with organizing many RP events such as RP raids upon cities, player-created events, and the like. Many RPers are regulars, and there are almost always a few ongoing plots that people can jump in to.

The most current way to find RPers is through the OOC RP channel "WeRP", which is large on the Alliance side, and just as large, if not larger, on the Horde side.

Trade
Famous throughout the Horde side of Lightninghoof is the player Fold. Known as "The King of Cows", Fold is famous for almost always being in trade chat, and the emote /milk. Among the Horde, Fold is a legendary figure. Also notable, Vittu the wave n' lockpick Troll most-known for never losing his RP spirit.

PvE Progression:
PvE progression on Lightninghoof has improved dramatically in past years, but the server as a whole is not intensely competitive. They do tend to lag behind top US servers in terms of progression speed, but the top guilds on the server on both Horde and Alliance sides are composed of dedicated, competent players that push progression and can successfully down content. The only two guilds that were top 100 (by traditional rankings such as WoWJutsu or WowProgress) were Awakening and Enshadowed, both of which no longer exist. Still, the server maintains a very strong core of skilled players spread over multiple organizations. It is a fact that Alliance progression has always been ahead of Horde progression, though there have always been several strong Horde guilds.

The earlier days (though perhaps not the earliest) of PvE progression were dominated by two guilds - Awakening [A] and Enshadowed [H]. Theirs is a rich and colorful history, culminating during the lead up to Ahn'qiraj, where they battled over a half a year to see who would claim the distinction of opening the gates. Enshadowed [H] began with a clear advantage, challenging the Lord of Blackwing Lair, Nefarion, while Awakening [A] was still cutting their teeth on Onyxia. But Awakening soon began to gain ground. The turning point of this saga was when Enshadowed decided to step out of Blackrock to gain the Onyxia buff, as well as the blessing from the trolls of Stranglethorn, before attempting to defeat Nefarion once again. Awakening issued a call to arms to all of the Alliance, summoning them to the black mountain to impede the return of Enshadowed. The turn out was massive enough to crash the local server, and Enshadowed lost their last chance at Nefarion for the week. Awakening took advantage of this critical mistake and entered Blackwing Lair that week with all the hopes of the Alliance resting on their shoulders. Having previously only battled the first two bosses, Awakening pulled off a minor miracle, when they managed to clear all of Blackwing, just a few minutes before the four hour mark struck, and their window of opportunity would have expired. Upon the very last attempt to defeat Lord Nefarion, the guild managed to go beyond the dreaded second phase. When the third wave struck, very few remained, and it was thanks to the heroics of the paladin, Thut, and Miniplush, the warlock, that the third wave was cleared. That night, Awakening defeated Nefarion for the first time on the server, and there was much rejoicing.

Ultimately, the competition was settled when Awakening's Guildmaster, the gnome warlock, Porom, opened the gates of Ahn'qiraj and became the Scarab Lord. Awakening dominated PvE progression from that point forward. Enshadowed, defeated and disheartened, was fragmented, and many of their core members moved on to new challenges in other servers. The most dominant horde guilds of this time were Eminent Reign, Reason, Sublime, and Grievous, with Eminent Reign, Reason, and Grievous eventually going under and Sublime and Fine Young Cannibals leading the pack. A year and a half later, a guild called Cadia [A] transferred to Lightninghoof from Darkspear. Cadia was further along than Awakening was in Naxxramas and maintained that pace through the end of WoW Classic. Neither guild cleared Naxxramas before the start of the Burning Crusade.

Burning Crusade progression was initially dominated by Awakening and Cadia on Alliance side and Fine Young Cannibals and Sublime on Horde. Awakening experienced internal issues in early 2007 and Cadia began to lead server progression by a wide margin. Awakening splintered and ultimately went under in July 2007. Reckoning [A] was the primary guild to emerge from Awakening's ashes and established itself quickly, but was not in competition with Cadia. As of late 2007, Cadia had accomplished server-first clears of Serpentshrine Cavern and Tempest Keep. Horde side saw Sublime and FYC enjoying success in those instances as well. In January 2008, Cadia had the server-first kill of Illidan Stormage and subsequently cleared Black Temple at a time where less than 2% of guilds had managed this, which helped to put Lightninghoof back on the map for Burning Crusade progression. They were followed by Reckoning [A], Sublime [H], Fine Young Cannibals [H], and Praetorian [H].

Several months before the Black Temple clear, Cadia had undergone a reorganization and a change of leadership, as did Sublime. When Sunwell Plateau was released, Cadia had internal issues and was surpassed in the new content by Reckoning, which had server-first kills on all Sunwell Plateau content. They were followed by Cadia [A], Fine Young Cannibals [H], and Sublime [H]. While Reckoning was the only guild on the server to down M'uru before 3.0, they did not clear Sunwell Plateau before the effective end of Burning Crusade with the 3.0 patch, though Reckoning did round out with the server-first clear of Sunwell Plateau two days after patch release. Shortly after, several other guilds on the server quickly cleared Sunwell as well.

The current climate of PvE progression on Lightninghoof has been mixed. While the scene is clearly not dominated by a single guild, it is plainly evident that both Cadia and Reckoning are at the forefront of Lightninghoof PvE progression in Wrath of the Lich King. Reckoning, Cadia, and Prestige [A] cleared Obsidian Sanctum 10 and 25 together, with Cadia and Reckoning joining up for the server-first clear of Naxxramas 25 days later, which put Lightninghoof back on the competitive map again for a short time at the start of the expansion. Cadia and Reckoning have been very close since, with Cadia coming out slightly ahead in 25 man content and slightly behind in 10 man content. Cadia scored the server-first kill of Malygos by 1 hour, followed by Reckoning scoring the server-first kill of Obsidian Sanctum 25 2-Drake by 1 day, which Cadia followed two weeks later with the server-first kill of Obsidian Sanctum 25 3-Drake by 1 day. Both Cadia and Reckoning have been closely followed by Sublime [H]. Reckoning scored the server-first clears of Naxxramas 10, Malygos 10, followed closely by Cadia, Sublime, and Praetorian. Reckoning scored the server-first clear of Obsidian Sanctum 10 3-Drake, followed by Sublime a month later. Many other guilds since have cleared it. As time progressed, the goal became achieving Glory of the Raider (both heroic and non-heroic) with the looming patch date of Ulduar. Reckoning achieved it first, followed by Prestige, Sublime and then Fine Young Cannibals. Going into Ulduar, Lightninghoof for once was not months behind in gearing.

As Ulduar hit, it was apparent that many guilds were ready for the push into Ulduar and ultimately, the hardmode content. Reckoning scored the first Yogg-Saron kill, followed later by Cadia. Sublime managed to kill Yogg-Saron about a month after Ulduar was released. Many other guilds made their way into Ulduar, some new to raiding and some longtime Lightninghoof staples.

Overall PvE progression on Lightninghoof is generally maintained by Moonmaster of Sublime, who has been a patron of a neutral ranking system and is well-known for providing PvE ranking services for several years. He is currently developing a ranking system and it is in a private Beta.

Rare Craftables and Enchants
For a list of crafters for rare craftables and enchants, please visit this page.

Guilds
Alliance

Horde