Server:The Venture Co US

The Venture Co is the first RP-PvP realm to go live since the initial three. For a while, it seemed that the new arrivals had finally slowed down, but just a few months before the release of Wrath of the Lich King, a huge storm of PVE transfers from many servers have arrived and taken over progression.

Demographics
Warcraftrealms.com statistics from July 25, 2010 indicate that The Venture Co US has a medium-sized population, and while it is no longer the most balanced overall of all the PVP-RP servers in terms of raw population and activity ratio, it is now the second largest PVP-RP realm in the US.

The statistics show that The Venture Co has a significant Horde population advantage. At the time of writing, The Venture Co US is the second largest PVP-RP US realm.

At the time of editing, Paladins and Death Knights are tied as the most common classes, each with 14% of all characters on the server, followed by Hunters with 12% of the population. The other classes are evenly distributed between 8% and 10% of the total population.

Overall, Blood Elves are the most common race on the server, with 24% of the total population. They outnumber any two other races combined in both factions. Gnomes and Dwarves are the least common races, with 4% and 3% of the total population, respectively.

Prominent PVP Guilds
In terms of PVP raiding, The Venture Co boasts an active World PVP scene under the banner of VECO IS FOR FITE!!!! There exists a significant rivalry between many prominent Horde and Alliance guilds which often spills over into in-game warfare. Pitched battles sometimes rage for many hours over world bosses or zones. The  were an early PVP raiding group, but have become less visible in PVP battles, focusing more on raiding. The Blacktooth Grin revitalized the state of Horde world PVP with a strong showing in many battles, often battles they began. Not long after, the Grin was temporarily dissolved. Grin members scattered throughout a variety of guilds, but Gorfrunch, the Grin's leader, returned to the server and reformed the guild. At this time, the  is still one of the most well-known and active Horde world PVP guilds.

The Horde guild , under the new leadership of PsychoStorm in 2009, has recently made a significant comeback into the Venture Co World PVP scene. Their focus is one of 100% PVP, specifically the defense of Tarren Mill in the Hillsbrad Foothills. It has been said that there is a strong rivalry between  and the Alliance guild . Many active RP/PVP guilds are unified under the DreadHorde.

The Alliance also has many well-known PVP guilds. The  are notable due to their RP storyline of viciously defending the city of Stromgarde. Other Alliance RP guilds, such as , also participate in PVP, especially since the Reveries' home base of Aerie Peak has become a target for Horde raiders. Traditionally, the non-RP guild  was the most well-recognized Alliance PVP guild, though they briefly seemed to vanish when several prominent guild members decided to leave the game. However, many of those players have returned, and  has made its presence known of the battlefields of The Venture Co once again. Currently, the mainly PVP oriented guilds such as Murder Inc. and Blackwater are most often sighted defending Alliance interests.

Significant Events
In late 2007 and early 2008, the Human Warlock Bloodpool organized PvP battles in various zones, calling the events "Bloodfest". The first Bloodfest was held on December 19th, 2007 in Stranglethorn Vale (Though it spanned several zones in the end) with "Bloodfest II: The Revenge" held on January 19th, 2008, in the Stonetalon Mountains. The first event was received with general enthusiasm, though Bloodpool admits there were a number of improvements that could have been made. The second "Bloodfest" was basically just a couple of huge battles. Horde had the upper hand, until Alliance reinforcements showed up. Both "Bloodfests" ended up with one army leaving the field of battle to attack at least one enemy city. Later versions of this event consisted of a week of pvp battles, and the event on August 2nd 2008.

On December 20th, 2007, Dawnblade, the leader of the Horde guild  challenged the  to defend their home base of Aerie Peak. The event was postponed once, but held on December 30th. 's initial attacks were repulsed by the numerically superior , until additional Horde reinforcements arrived and overwhelmed the Peak's defenders. With multiple Horde raid groups already formed from the battle, their forces went on a rampage, killing Archbishop Benedictus, King Magni, Jaina Proudmoore, Prophet Velen, and Priestess Tyrande. The next day, an Alliance PuG raid led by  retaliated, killing Lady Liadrin, Lor'themar Theron and his entourage, and Cairne Bloodhoof. While some Horde players pointed out that the Alliance did not down as many raid bosses, the Alliance forces defended themselves by arguing that they had fewer people and Horde faction leaders tend to be more difficult.

On August 2nd 2008, VeCo hosted another "Bloodfest" world pvp "chess match" in the Burning Steppes and Red Ridge. The event was attended by more than 100 participants. Each faction had the task of killing pre-selected player "kings" to achieve a win. Although problems with Alliance communication caused issues with the event. It was indicative of the overall interest and level of world pvp activity on The Venture Co. server.

On June 7th, 2009, The Horde guild  sponsored a World PVP event in Hillsbrad known as Psychotic Slaughter 2009. This large battle of over 200 combatants was largely one sided with the Horde dominating due to poor leadership and attendance from the Alliance.

The  hosted three RP-PVP campaigns designed to tie realm forum RP posts in with in-game battles. The August 2007 Shadows Over Khaz Modan was the first of these three and the first ever coordinated VeCo RP-PVP campaign with particpation from multiple Horde and Alliance guilds. The next, and arguably most famous was The Fall of Legends in February 2008, which took Horde and Alliance forces to Outland as well as Azeroth. The third, The Desolace Plains, was held in November 2008, and brought the fighting to the little traveled areas of Desocalce and Ferelas.

In March 2009, the <Keepers of Stromgarde> hosted VeCo's most recent RP-PVP campaign, The Fall of Stromgarde. This campaign added Northrend fights into the continuing wars between Alliance and Horde.

Due to the typical 'burn-out' associated with pre-expansion times, there have been fewer significant RP-PvP campaigns in the last several months. Despite this, several guilds are amping up recruiting efforts as the server sees an influx of veteran players preparing for Cataclysm. World PvP has also remained extremely active.

Factions and Rivalries
The earlier days of the server saw a number of successful PvP guilds concentrating on premade battleground groups. While that tradition continues, Ve Co. also has an active World PvP scene, something that many other servers lack. Currently, <Blacktooth Grin>, <Hillsbrad Security>, <Senjin Village People> and <Grunts> have the most PvP activity horde-side, while <Keepers of Stromgarde>, <The Grim Covenant>, <Knights of Dusk>, and <Midnight Reveries> continue to be very active for the alliance.

The oldest and once largest guilds on the server, from either faction, was <Grunts>. They formed on server launch day and maintained a strong presence for many years, but are no longer very active. <Grunts> were known for focusing mainly on world PvP, and especially world defense. <Grunts> had a strong world PvP raiding history and have participated in the largest world PvP events the server has seen, along side such guilds as <Blacktooth Grin> and numerous others, many of whom formed the intra-guild Horde coalition of <Warmongers>. Since The Fall of Legends, the <Warmongers> has been replaced with the <DreadHorde>.

For years, the most predominant role-playing rivalry on the server existed between <Blacktooth Grin> and <Keepers of Stromgarde>. The <Keepers of Stromgarde> are a heavy RP guild that focuses its guild events within Stromgarde Keep for roleplaying reasons, and they have had numerous run-ins, including an organized event that fielded at least 200 players from either side, in which the Horde attacked Stromgarde Keep (See: the Battle for the Keep). The Grin hiatus in October 2007 combined with a good amount of instability on the part of the Keepers, it seemed the rivalry between them seemed might be finally put to rest. But the reappearance of the Grin Warchief, Gofrunch, the stabilization of the Keepers, and The Grin Warlord Faquarl's RP-PVP campaign The Fall of Legends brought battle to Azeroth once again. Currently the rivalry between the Grin and Keepers is as strong as ever.

A new RP-PvP rivalry has developed between <Aeturnas Trinitas> and <Guardians of the Light>. The two guilds first clashed in the event "The Reclaimation of Stonewatch Keep" in Redridge Mountains, with the Guardians of the Light leading a defense of Stonewatch Keep after driving off the Blackrock Orcs. Aeturnas Trinitas then launched their own attack against the Keep with the aid of their allies. Though the Horde forces were able to drive the Alliance out of the keep with their initial assult, the Guardians were able to rally and reclaim the keep.

Public Channels
The following channels are open to any player on The Venture Co and are primarily concerned with helping the community to some description. If you know of any additional public channels, feel free to add them to this list. To join a new channel, type /join ChannelName.


 * Alliance Public Channels
 * PvP - Alliance-based. For players looking for a group to participate in Player versus Player.


 * Alliance - Alliance PvP channel. Predominately used for Wintergrasp, among other PvP events.


 * RP- For players looking for RP chat. This channel places your character inside of a tavern, with other patrons from your faction.


 * Oldschool - A channel for doing level 60/70 raids


 * Horde Public Channels
 * RP - For players looking for RP chat. This channel places your character inside of a tavern, with other patrons from your faction.

IRC Channel


 * #the-venture-co on MMOIRC.com - General chat, used for interfaction communication out of game.

Role Play
Unlike many RP realms, who have most RP on realm forums, the majority of VeCo RP is found within guilds and in-game. VeCo has a moderate amount of random in-game RP; those who attempt it can usually find others willing to participate.

VeCo's RP is primarily centered around the ongoing war between Horde and Alliance. Therefore, notable VeCo RP-PVP events are combinations of realm forum posts, in-game spoken RP and world pvp fights. Such events include: the Battle for the Keep, Shadows Over Khaz Modan, the Sons of Lothar Battle, The Fall of Legends (TFoL), The Desolace Plains, and the most recent, The Fall of Stromgarde.

Events like these were an example of how VeCo made good use of its uncommon RP-PVP server type, and the robust community that existed as a result.

VeCo RP Database
For more information regarding the VeCo RP community, visit the Venture Co. Active RP Database: RP Database.

Guilds
When adding a guild, please have at least the guild leader, RP, PvP, and PvE participation levels posted as well. Just a name and a faction is unhelpful for those using this list to find a guild that reflects their interests.