I'll keep this short.

Deleted Gnarsh because I don't really play him these days, not because I don't enjoy playing him. In fact, I had a blast, and I really like the orc skillset. I do have another character with basically the same enemies (read pretty much everyone) in the same sort of range, and I play him exclusively, so Gnarsh had to go.

I also really liked other orcs. There is a sort of camaraderie. Yeah, I know there shouldn't be, but there is. I didn't spend as much time with the other orcs as I wanted to see how effective they could be as solo killers. Although, being an orc, I made sure I did some ganging too. Even if it did get my group wanted/dead in the process.

My pk'ing was hugely hampered by being wanted. I think I was wanted from lvl 15 or something up to lvl 31. So the second time it happened I just hid my weapons and gave myself up. But that time was worth it too, even if I didn't kill my victim, just for the scare I hope it gave him. (He was an assassin and I fogged him out with a root.) Tar Valon patrollers also made it extremely hard to get out of the orc village too, and most of my life I was having to contend with mobs of citizens that behaved a little erratically because of the odd bug that was still being ironed out.

Anyway, pk ratio was 77%. I would have liked to play around with savage feeding a bit more as well as be able to hunt better in the lower mid ranks, but I do think orcs make pretty effective killers. I think the secret is to surprise your enemies. In that sense you are the thief or assassin, but rather than step in and out of the shadows, you need to sprint for your prey and then get clear before they organise themselves. eg get them while they sleep, while they fight mobs, while they are hurt. Don't be ashamed, because you are an orc. (I made myself play somewhat dirty. I also tried to bully groupmates into letting me take the best loot and so on.)

I would have liked to get my orc to hero, or at least a little further so I could try out warbanners etc, but I liked what I saw. Some skills are really useful. Forced march was great. Ingest was great. Highly effective bash with occasional cheapshot was great. Bloody skins is fantastic. But as I said once, you need to make their gathering a way of life. Weak elves can be found all over Thera. They don't merely live in camelot and Eregion. So every so often, pop in. I was usually limited in how many skins I carried by their weight, not their gathering time.

Didn't bother practicing skills really. Seems to me that orcs are built to take damage, rather than avoid it. Having said that, sometimes mine defended surprisingly well. Sometimes... he didn't.

So much for my dreams of chieftaindom. I'll put it on my list.

Oh. pk ratio was 77% apparently. I'd say that was roughly one-third ganging, one third evenly matched, and one-third going up against groups alone.

I died in some stupid ways too. Like deciding to see if guards in Udgaard would attack me, since it isn't a protected city. Unfortunately I got well into Udgaard without any potions on me before one did, and getting out was not as easy as getting in had proved.

If I had to criticise orcs in one fashion, it is this. They need at least two villages. Otherwise people know where to find them if they recall, and unlike the modan, you can't get that far from the orc village. Basically I used forcemarch almost exclusively to combat this. So many times I was forcemarching, drinking skins so that more forced marching would kill me, and then marching again. All to get out of the village before hunters came for me. And meanwhile I had to fight past all the tar valon patrollers.

Anyway, orcs get my thumbs up, along with necros. I still think people play orcs as a bit too sociable, but so did I, so who am I to point fingers.

Is that you?

Nah, couldn't be, orcs don't cast spells.

Nevermind.

Heh, you keep posting the log, or links to the log, of your group pasting Cole in Galadon MS. At least with you dead I won't have to live down that log anytmore.

you took it really well, especially since it showed that I'd have died like a dog alone against you.

while i did delete after that, have to plug: orcs are still cool.
cole was pretty cool himself, however. :)

hehe i have to agree with alot of this. orcs are cool.
thrak rocks! best interaction i have ever had.(so far)

but i think i can explain the socialization of orcs
if they were as numerous as they are usually in fantasy settings they would act the same, but with a smaller group hunted by many they would naturally team up more.
you can bet each player was looking at openings for advancement anyway, if it would be with other orcs good enhance the clan, if it is at the cost of another orcs life? they'd do it anyway.

if in numbers and you had the highest ranking orc or were known to be the toughest did the others defer to you? of course and if not? you would have killed them if in pk range.
that is the way of em eh? publicly aknowledge a bigger orcs supremacy, and privately plot to surpass him.

so i don't think the comraderie<sp?> is in anyway against the way orcs should be.

Tlarkian was my first depression delete and i really shouldn't have done it. i never got an elf for thrak though, killed some other folk, and yeah, race in, blast em with all ya got, blaze out.
orcs taught me how to hide in plain sight :) i'm gonna use that with another char some day. :) i really like spinebreaker though, used in the right places, you can take on alot more than i expected orcs to be able to. but yeah practicing? forget it, dumber than rocks orcs are, but i hate sitting an practicing, (hence i never play mages)
so if you want to just go and do. orcs are the bomb!
Gnarsh was one of the coolest orcs i have seen so far.
after you are done with the char that kept you from him roll another, the village needs more orcs!!
hehe