Breakfast topic: Saluting Azeroth's greatest hero, you
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Aug 8th 2007 at 8:07AM
There's been a lot of talk recently about how twenty-five "unnamed peons" shouldn't be able to take down lore figures like Vashj, Illidan and Arthas. In many people's minds, we're all just rank and file soldiers in Azeroth's armies, killing boars and cleaning up the streets while the real lore heroes do their work.
But they're wrong. You are a hero. Even if you've never killed Illidan, saved Zangarmarsh, or stopped the plans of the Black Dragonflight, you've done some pretty extraordinary things in your time. Unless you just grinded to 70 on buzzards, and even then, you could probably win a medal for buzzard extermination.
I'm not a hardcore raider -- the biggest boss I killed before the expansion was the Twin Emperors, and my guild is currently starting SSC and TK. But now that I think about it, my rogue has done a lot in her 70 levels of existence. She's defeated two of the children of Deathwing and hung their heads up by the gates of Orgrimmar. She's become the Queen of the Ogres, showed Thrall his true heritage, and saved Stonebreaker Hold from Illidari invasion. She's killed the servants of Illidan and has been personally challenged to face him. She's helped keep the world together by stopping the timestream from being altered. And she's the hero of numerous small, Horde-oriented tribes and encampments in Azeroth and Outland, where she's saved babies, cured diseases, killed enemies and stopped environmental destruction.
Do you think your character has accomplished a lot, or will you still consider yourself unworthy until you slay that big bad boss you've been working on? Are we heroes, or just foot soldiers?
Filed under: Virtual selves, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tumples Aug 8th 2007 8:18AM
We are heroes, but its easier to view ourselves as foot soldiers because so many other people are doing those same quests, and killing those same named mobs.
dotorion Aug 8th 2007 8:23AM
Lore-wise, we're all heroes, yes.
But out of character, we're just one of the many gamers that did the quest and got praised for saving the world multiple times.
Eric Aug 8th 2007 8:25AM
Big boss? I haven't downed a one. My mage is far from a hero. He's more of a boob. Sure he has been a witness to a lot of history but most of the time that history has wiped the floor with his ass.
His goal is not to save the world or take a child on a around-the-world tour. He's just in it for the loot and some cold, hard cash.
Ariakhas Aug 8th 2007 8:28AM
I do not consider my characters heroes either. They are in game to explore all the corners of the world in the game and get rich and powerful doing it.
Heck, WoW is just an IM program where I play games with other IMers while chatting. Fun, folks. That's why I am along for the ride.
Calminaion Aug 8th 2007 8:42AM
Agreed - I like to believe that my warrior's a hero when I save the base from attack, or help out a farmer in distress, etc.
The problem is that when the nasty band of villains I wiped out an hour ago are still there and being taken out by another adventurer, I feel kinda let down. Perhaps if the game mechanics could be done in such a way that I never see again the nasties that I've killed already - it would give me more of a Hero feeling. But yeah - I sometimes feel that without me - things would fall apart in outlands ;-)
Jeffrey Aug 8th 2007 8:52AM
yea, i agree with number 4. i hate to consider WoW a job cuz then its no fun at all, like i remember when we first started raiding Kara, it was like the guild had to punch in and sign up and it seemed like a job so i quit my "job" as main tank and let another n00bie get a taste of it.
Sarah Aug 8th 2007 9:04AM
My draenei is a hero, she got her own parade before leaving Azuremist! ;)
Bobby Hansen Aug 8th 2007 9:16AM
I agree that each character is a hero. My main has saved the Furblogs of Azuremyst, defeated the Blood Elves trying to soak the Vector Coil, saved Westfall, Darkshire and Lakeshire, stopped the Riot in the Stormwind Stockades, defended the people of Southshore, lead attacks against Horde Incursions into Ironforge, and battled mightily against the Scourge in the Plaguelands.
That's a hero. That's not a foot solider.
Joey Wissler Aug 8th 2007 9:29AM
i see my character as a hero. granted, i dont play on an RP realm, but whenever i grind aldor rep i like to think that im halting the legion's expansion in shadowmoon and preventing them from truly taking over shadowmoon village. i also look at all the accomplishments ive done; challenge the gronn of outland, defeat the high king maulgar and his council, step foot in the feared halls of karazhan, quelled (sp?) a prison riot in the mysterious arcatraz, and have fought alongside tirion fordring.
And thats only pve! in pvp i have led raids against astrannar, southshore, darnassus, have fought to hold alterac valley, have stemmed the efforts of the league of arathor in arathi basin, and helped to fuel the warsong war machine.
Sure, you could say we are the regular rank and file warriors of our respective races/sides, but in battle, if we were the rank and file, why would they send us to drive the stormpike/frostwolves out of alterac or halt the warsong clan/ashenvale sentinel activity in warsong gulch. the reason for this is because we are their best, and while thrall/lord bolvar/sylvanis/dath'remar/velen/tyrande/bronzebeard/vul'jin/etc. are busy with the workings of ruling a horde/keeping together an alliance, we are our sides greatest heroes.
/end rant?
Kaylek Aug 8th 2007 9:58AM
I think people are bothered more by their precious lore characters being put on farm status. If a world first was a world last (and undoubtedly tuned to be a lot more difficult), I think we'd hear a lot less whining.
Personally, WOW lore doesn't interest me, so I'm not crazy in love with all these bosses before they get stomped. I'm just in it for the game and the PVP, so I just want a fun encounter and some good lootz.
Nick S Aug 8th 2007 10:19AM
of course i'm a hero! where would azeroth turn for their assorted bug parts, mysteriously low-drop-rate boar gizzards, and immense piles of headdress feathers, if not for ME?!?!
Nick S Aug 8th 2007 10:22AM
but really, the game isn't about illidan, not really. it's about the really dedicated "heroes" who have given up their social/sex/career lives in order to devote themselves totally to the noble cause of wearing all purples.
that's pretty heroic, if you ask me. as much as i could make fun of those people, i don't. they're doing something that few have the fortitude and perseverance to do. seeing illidan i go, "hey, cool", but when i see a 70 holding one of illidan's blades, i say, "holy crap... THAT is awesome."
redrum Aug 9th 2007 5:51AM
My experience playing WC3 was that if Illidan attempted to solo 25 unnamed footmen it tended to go fairly badly for him.
ScruffyPhal Aug 8th 2007 11:02AM
Nothing made me feel more like a hero than when we bravely defended Astranaar. The town was being raided by the horde, killing all the quest-givers and quest-doers. A call went out on the local defence; the Alliance gathered and started fighting back. Soon there was a running battle on the bridge out of town.
We were definately all heroes as we drove the Horde out of town, yelling and cheering as the last of them fled.
That's why I play a PvP server!
Joran Aug 8th 2007 11:02AM
I don't really view my character as a hero.
If I was truly a hero, why am I unable to kill any of the nameless Naga in the Steamvault solo? Or any of the nameless orcs in the Shattered Halls? Those are foot soldiers and I can't beat them one on one.
(I'm a warrior btw).
Levi Aug 8th 2007 11:02AM
The Blizz designers should take this concept and add a tab to the character sheet that has a list of important things the character has done, based on quest completion.
amasen Aug 8th 2007 12:13PM
"I'm not a hardcore raider -- the biggest boss I killed before the expansion was the Twin Emperors"
That equates to hard core in my mind. You probably raided for 3-4 days a week, 4+ hours a raid to get that acomplishment.
No... Blizzard refuses to let us be heroes.
For instance once you finish the hero of the Maghar questline, that is it. No title. No recognition from then on out. Still you have to grind orges through exalted to be recognized as exalted with their faction so that you can ride one of their mounts...
Or... Illidan. We have been sent to outlands to combat the burning legion and his forces... Only no one (at least on my server) will actually ever do more than kill a couple of his foot soliders and pick up some poop along the way (so far I've had 3 quests to pick up poop)
Nightwatch Aug 8th 2007 12:22PM
Nothing proves heroic behavior like running a player or small group through Gnomeregan cause they can't find enough of a group for the hated place.
Coherent Aug 8th 2007 12:44PM
Our characters aren't heroes, we're just 1/25 of a hero. 1/40th if you count pre-TBC bosses.
As #13 notes, if we're heroes, why can't any of us kill even one no-name footsoldier in the upper level heroic areas? So lets get this straight, there are GRUNTS in the game that can OWN us in 1v1? Not very heroic.
We're fancy-dress peon soldiers, that's all. Perhaps equivalent to modern-day Special Forces or SEAL teams.
Becca Aug 8th 2007 1:22PM
I wouldn't consider my paladin a hero in the least, but I do think she's done a fair amount of life-saving in her time (quests, raids, and otherwise).
She might be a highly-respected person (at least from Stormwind and The Scryers point of view), but other than that, I'm pretty humble. I don't want to be a hero or have people kneeling down before me and praising my name.