Forum post of the day: Favored Son
by Amanda Dean 
May 21st 2008 at 5:00PM
Is this undeniable proof that Blizzard is playing favorites with the two factions? I don't think so. Breavis of Nazgrel pointed out that Thrall is known as the chosen son, so the symbol could represent him rather than the entirety of the Horde. The battle will likely rage on about which side Blizzard prefers. Drysc has pointed out in the forums that your opinion on which side is favored is usually based on whichever side you do not play.
Do you believe this to be a coincidence or not?
Filed under: Fan stuff, Blizzard, Add-Ons, Lore, Factions, Forums
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Milktub May 21st 2008 5:18PM
I think that's just smart world design. A "Favored Son" hanging in Thrall's empire means about the same as an American flag hanging outside my parent's house. It's a sign of allegiance and respect, not a sign that Blizz favors the Horde.
Whitburn May 21st 2008 5:28PM
I think more likely that it is tied to the Lead Producer of WoW, Shane Dabiri. Cuneiform was widely used in the Ancient Mesopotamian world which in modern times is Iraq/Iran. Shane is ofcourse Iranian, providing the link. In what way this is significant to Shane Dabiri I don't know, but the theory seems to hold water.
Blixkreeg May 21st 2008 5:28PM
Frankly, I'd like to see actual proof of the cuneiform on tablets. :)
Purplegrim72 May 23rd 2008 12:40AM
Dude! Badlands has a horde town, and a population of Oger!
Wolfshead May 21st 2008 6:36PM
Blizzard employees usually choose the Horde for their play characters so it's no surprise that they are accused of favoritism. I doubt they would favor the Horde over the Alliance -- what would be the point of that? If players detected some kind of tangible advantage to playing the Horde then you'd see severe population imbalances result. That would end up being a nightmare for server load and PVP which would have the effect of creating extra work for Blizzard employees to fix.
Trust me, Blizzard has better things to do then waste time "favoring" the Horde over the Alliance.
ILikePvPbuthatePvPers May 22nd 2008 3:25AM
Metzen says his heart lies with the Horde.
And there's already a population imbalance. All the kiddies are picking Alliance because they're the "pretty" races. Or the kiddies that assume the Alliance must be the good guys...
grofer May 22nd 2008 4:45AM
Since Bloodelfs are a playable race the kiddies thankfully flock to Horde.
Derick May 21st 2008 6:40PM
Of course Blizzard favors the Horde.
The Horde is better.
Dan May 21st 2008 8:43PM
Circular logic here. The horde would only be better if Blizzard made it that way.
Jp May 21st 2008 7:16PM
I don't care who they favor, this is the coolest(read:nerdiest) easter egg in the entire game.
Kusasi May 21st 2008 7:20PM
I reckon it's just an egg, there's so many languages and writings that you could probably find just as many pro alliance favouritisms as you could for the horde.
Regardless, For the Horde!
Interrorator May 21st 2008 7:37PM
Is there a higher res image we can see?
Addie May 21st 2008 7:29PM
I wanna believe it... but a quick google for "Mesopotamian Cuneiform" comes up with lots of pictures that don't look like that. Sticks and triangles... (kinda like golf tees) no circles. I'm suspicious. I hope he comes through with an actual scan from his class handout like he promised. If this is for real, it's really really awesome.
Mark May 21st 2008 8:05PM
Let's see....
1. Paladins got nerfed badly back when only alliance had them.
2. Paladins got buffed and got great new spell effects - just before the horde got 'em!
3. Horde shaman have dinky totems that aren't all that easy to target in PVP, when compared to...
4. Alliance shamans have giant, easily clickable totems.
5. Horde racials are better than alliance racials.
6. Horde have far better transportation options than alliance do.
7. Back in the day, the Tarren Mill guards would chase the alliance all the way back to Southshore, where they (the TM guards) would proceed to slaughter all the Southshore guards! (Supposedly it was because of the difference in the 'spacing' of the guards. Sure.)
and finally....
8. Blizzard's got a 12 foot high orc statue in their lobby or whatever: http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1996331.php - not an alliance character.
Kyudo May 21st 2008 9:44PM
Did you ever think they nerfed Paladins because they were--abusively powerful?
You know, to give the Horde a fighting chance against Paladins and their plate armor, healing capabilities, and invulnerability spells?
Because back then, it was all battleground combat, and Paladins were utter powerhouses that you couldn't take down as long as they had any Mana or wit.
If anything, your little rant should be over the fact that the Alliance didn't even need Shamans, but were given them for the sake of stifling the constant whiners on the issue of faction balance.
P.S. Sorry to the Shamans reading this--I love you and your Mana Spring Totems. :P
Biff May 21st 2008 8:11PM
Maybe they favor the Horde because the Alliance like to complain about things they think are fact and true, when they have no way to prove these things. Self fulfilling prophecy, if you ask me.
rock May 21st 2008 8:54PM
Well Warcraft one was called Orcs and Humans (not Humand and Orcs), a sign of a Horde dominance conspiracy from the very beginning?
Balli May 21st 2008 8:55PM
Have you done any research into whether what he claims is true? Forgive me for being sceptical but to a layman that doesn't look anything like cuneiform.
Kyudo May 21st 2008 9:38PM
Talk about feeding the insecure fanboy flame...
Who cares? Honestly!
Even if there is some sort of "Horde Favoritism", it's not like the game is broken that it's unplayable.
And no, I see no favoritism. Previous to TBC: Alliance had Paladins, Horde had Shaman. TBC comes out: Horde gets Paladins. Guess what the ratio of Horde Paladins to Alliance Shaman is? Guess which class is significantly better in PvP? Guess what the class of the first player to reach 3000 arena rating was?
I'd say that the Horde were originally gimped before TBC, now everything is somewhat balanced thanks to Blood Elf Paladins. Any of you ever play a battleground before TBC? How many times has a Paladin saved a battleground thanks to their bubbles? How often do you see BE Paladins camping a flag in AB and require focused fire to rip one down, and then only to be bubbled and healed by the other 2 Paladins? How many of you raid with a fantastic Paladin Tank that holds aggro on multiple targets? Honestly, think about it...
Oh, and finally--some kid saw a single, small, texture in the game and all the sudden it's "Horde Favoritism"? That's really fishing for a reason to start another fanboy faction war.
This is hopefully the last time I ever open my mouth about this silly topic.
the awesome May 21st 2008 9:46PM
I didn't care, but your arguments are so compelling. Now I cares, and I CARES A LOT!