Slaughtering? No, it's just burning down houses (with people inside?)
by David Bowers 
Aug 29th 2007 at 1:09PM
When I first heard about the new Caverns of Time instance coming up in Wrath of the Lich King, where we go about helping the pre-lich king Arthas as he tries to "purify" the city of Stratholme, I heard other people jumping for joy, while I was feeling a bit of dread. When I played through that stage of Warcraft III, I remember that Arthas was already going down the proverbial moral hill, being ruthlessly indiscriminate as to whether the citizens had actually become undead or not. He didn't have much interest in helping them -- even if help was impossible, he didn't have any sympathy or hesitation in his slaughter.I understood that part in the game to show how he was already beginning to fall even before he went to Northrend and picked up Frostmourne. I was pressing the buttons that killed those digital Stratholmians, but I also knew that I was just advancing the plot of a story, even if I didn't approve of the action. If the same scene appears in the Caverns of Time however, then this is not, in my mind, merely advancing the plot. This is my character taking part in activities that I myself would never condone. Slaughtering almost-but-not-yet-undead families feels a little too close to home to me. "They're doomed anyway so might as well slash them to ribbons?" That inhuman attitude is sometimes used in real life to do horrible things, and it's quite chilling.
Well, Blizzard CM Bornakk would disagree with me: "Slaughtering is a strong word," he says, "maybe it would be better to say that you are aiding the pround Prince Arthas in Straholme [sic] as he uses his divine Paladin powers to purify the streets of vile evil undead creatures ... and burns down houses." Well, I'm glad not to be hacking defenseless mothers, fathers and children apart myself, but burning down their homes is a serious thing, particularly if the houses to be burned are supposed to have these not-yet-undead families inside of them. For Arthas to do that in the story of his corruption is one thing, but for my character to help him is totally different.
Now, admittedly you could argue that one of the existing CoT instances has us helping Medivh open a portal for orcs to come and rampage lots and lots of people, and yes technically that's an evil thing to do. But there's a big step between opening fantasy portals and burning down houses that are supposed to have families inside them. Does anyone else see a problem here?
[Also, as a side note, the thread in which Bornakk tells us that slaughtering is a strong word actually begins with a really funny idea for another CoT instance, "Back to the Future," which is worth checking out.]
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Instances, Expansions, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Lykaon Aug 29th 2007 1:15PM
Although this is all good food for thought and stuff, this *is* a game.
It was a pivotal moment in Warcraft history. You don't have to participate in it if you really don't want to.
Besides, they may be able to explain it away in story.
Imagine if the dragons had actually foreseen what would happen if Arthas DIDN'T cleanse Stratholme. Perhaps the results could have been diastrous, leading to the conquest of Azeroth by the Burning Legion.
When dealing with time travel, it's better not to ask too many questions. :)
Nick Aug 29th 2007 1:15PM
zomg! Its a video game, those aren't real people! Why don't you go back to playing your Viva Pinata you wanna be Jack Thompson!!
Dave Aug 29th 2007 1:19PM
Haven't you ever seen any zombie movies?
Seriously, if they're GOING to be zombies soon (and scourge/undead pretty much counts right?) then they're not people, they're not families and it's not like you're going to be able to do much with their houses anyway.
It's not like they were potential undead, they were soon to be undead. Period. If you wouldn't feel bad about killing them once they're looking to kill you (and you shouldn't) then you shouldn't feel bad about preemptive killing to save more people later, especially when the people you save are your trained soldiers capable of saving even more people.
Alnar Aug 29th 2007 1:23PM
I would start off as saying it is just a game. Now for the moral debate part of the comment. If I remember correctly in Warcraft III the whole village had been infected and people were already undead and becoming undead, meaning Arthas didn't have much of a choice. Also, the dread lord was there recruiting the villagers into the undead army. Arthas' only choice was to slaughter the villagers, otherwise they'd ended up serving the undead.
dekulink Aug 29th 2007 1:22PM
Lawl @ the Jack Thompson comment.
Seriously though, it's just a different way to view things. I look at the Cleansing of Stratholme as the "Cleansing of Stratholme." Not the burning, not the slaughtering.
Also, in zombie movies if someone is GOING to become a zombie they usually want to be killed before that happens. I would want the same thing, wouldn't you?
john Aug 29th 2007 1:23PM
come on now, when are you not slauthering in this game.
so you are saying you have never ran an instance?
i would like to see how someone could get to 70 without killing anything or aiding someone to kill stuff(for healers/tanks)
azjolderf Aug 29th 2007 5:32PM
While I see your argument, it's my understanding that the tainted grain that was spreading the scourge throughout the city had been distributed to everyone, and that they were all infected, even if they themselves hadn't found that fact out for themselves.
If they were all infected but had not turned, they were all about to become enemy undead slaves, presumably for all time. I perceived that Arthas saw this as worse than death. So his choices were to either let them die and become undead enemy slaves (then kill them), or to kill them outright.
So in a way, Arthas actions were an act of mercy, but also represent his downfall from humanity.
A similar dilemma is often presented in zombie movies, a friend gets bitten by a zombie - does the protagonist kill the friend outright, or wait until the friend turns on him?
Mikey Aug 29th 2007 1:25PM
I've got to agree in principle with #1.
Had Arthas not been there and crossed that fateful line, then Uther may have redeemed him, there may have been no Lich King/Scourge/etc threat, the Alliance and Horde wouldn't have been strong enough to fight the Legion when it came roaring through to go after Mt. Hyjal.
And, as pointed out by Lykaon, it is just a game. If you're on an RP server, then fine... go into the instance and wipe, refusing to side with Arthas, and your hands will be clean. :)
No fuss, no muss.
SirFWALGMan Aug 31st 2007 1:46PM
Tell me you have not slaughtered innocent farmers in the Arathii highlands or killed numerous beasts.. and if your not a skinner for nothing more than a trinket they have.. leaving their bodies to rot.. and is it ok to kill some other race's family? Just not almost undead humans? WoW is all about killing people to get experience and junk.. as are most RPGs...
Arras Aug 29th 2007 1:25PM
sometimes..it feels good to be bad
instead of thinking of it as slaughtering innocent citizens of Stratholme..try to think of it as helping the Alliance gain a tactical advantage by thinning out the Scourge's pool of potential recruits.
feel better now? I know I do. Have a lollipop, go ahead, I'm just a stranger offering you a treat.
ywain Aug 29th 2007 1:28PM
It's a gam... oh it's already been said a billion times.
I have a far harder time pushing the button to "harvest" a little sister in Bioshock, instead of saving her, than I will ever have making any choice in WoW.
John Aug 29th 2007 1:29PM
"But there's a big step between opening fantasy portals and burning down houses that are supposed to have families inside them. Does anyone else see a problem here?"
uh, you're killing fantasy families too
John Aug 29th 2007 1:31PM
and, you shouldn't harvest the girls, you should rescue them, better rewards
dreadlorde Aug 29th 2007 1:32PM
It'll be just like the holocaust.
Janessriel Aug 29th 2007 1:33PM
Despite the "it's just a game" mentality, that "moral" decision is actually part of the storytelling that Blizz is trying to do with Lich King. There's a bit of info spread out in that aforementioned GFW magazine article, but the gist of it is that they almost want to make it seem that once you get to Arthas at level 80, are you any better than he was at that same spot? Haven't you done the same things he did? Aren't you just as bad as he was when he got to Icecrown?
Granted, most don't care about that stuff, they just want more phat lewtz and raiding and 30 minute Zul Amans, but that idea and concept is the kind of stuff that makes me keep playing. If it was just about phat lewtz, I'd still be playing Diablo 2. Stuff like this is what separates this game from the pack and gives it its longevity.
Areis Aug 29th 2007 1:35PM
OMGWTFBBQ when are you *not* killing "people" in this game. The majority of questlines are about "I don't like that guy, go lay his village to waste". More bullshit to get the comment count up.
CVJ Aug 29th 2007 1:37PM
Just tell yourself they are insurgents with WMDs inside.
Arg Aug 29th 2007 1:39PM
Well this actually might be an issue on RP servers. It would be wierd to see paladins and priests runing around in stratholme and setting houses on fire.
Biguglyshrek Aug 29th 2007 1:39PM
You must be new to Digital Games! To get to Stratholme COT youll need to kill about 890,675 humanoids (woman incuded) from lev 1-80.
LOL, I hope u didn't post that on the official forums. Let the Game lean towards more mature content, this is a game based on WAR!
Blizzard is lazy anyway, u think there gonna animate NPC's seen thru the windows running around burning, screaming for help, and throwing there babies out the windows.
One cool thing would be how many non-demon human NPC's you can save from Arthas's Lunacy. maybe receive an item like a bucket that has to be refilled at well. If u reach the human saved goal, the raid completes a special quest.
Wheres my paycheck Blizz.
FireStar Aug 29th 2007 1:39PM
I have a couple undead characters, and one quest they made me give poisoned alcohol to human prisoners! i should quit the game! that was my character that gave the alcohol directly responsible for their deaths! ahh, you get the point. :P