Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast topic: Faction fanboyism
by Allison Robert 
Oct 25th 2009 at 8:00AM
These guys are, for lack of a better word, awesome. Their emotes are fantastic. They sell an evil penguin pet and a cool fishing item (the Mastercraft Kalu'ak Fishing Pole) that probably won't be replaced for the duration of the expansion. Their ships are giant turtles traveling along beautiful coastline with a vendor on board (seriously, riding these at night = an endless series of Kodak moments). They get my vote as the faction that immerses you most thoroughly in what they need and what they're doing to survive in an increasingly hostile Azeroth, and I'm wondering if, given Northrend's various difficulties, they might be convinced to seek warmer climes just so we don't have to give them up.
Agonizing rep grinds have plagued the game since classic, but the Tuskarr are such a well-realized bunch that even at exalted I love hanging around their villages. What's your favorite faction, and is there anything about them you'd like to see repeated with future reputation grinds?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics, Expansions, Factions
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
Hiwa Oct 25th 2009 9:37AM
I've always had a special fondness for the Scarlet Crusade. Even though they're sort of, um, a bunch of -cough-DROPKICKS-cough-, they're pretty cool. :] I almost feel sorry for them, because they're basically out there for a good cause, they're just approaching it the wrong way.
Irem Oct 25th 2009 9:47AM
My favorite faction is the Consortium. I think I've said this before on another post, but the Ethereals always felt to me like they were somebody's pet project, to the point where we actually got more information on them than on a lot of the stuff in Outland that was supposed to be directly affecting us. I used to run around looking for Consortium/Protectorate NPCs just because pretty much every one I talked to would tell me something interesting about their race/faction, whether through exposition, dialogue with other NPCs, or their own personality quirks. They were different enough to be believably alien, ruthless enough to be dangerous, and sympathetic enough to make me feel like I couldn't walk away without helping them. I wish they'd show up again.
offday Oct 25th 2009 9:48AM
I liked the Sporeggar. I just thought they looked cool, and Zangarmarsh is such a cool area.
MusedMoose Oct 25th 2009 9:53AM
I gotta say that I'm really enjoying working my rep up with the Ebon Blade, for several reasons. First, their dailies in Icecrown never get old - not only do you get to steal a proto-drake and make it set things on fire, you get to use a frickin' harpoon minigun to shoot exploding harpoons at other proto-drakes. And then you can to go another set of quests that lets you do horrible things to people who richly deserve it, namely the Scarlet Onslaught.
...or maybe I'm just getting into my rogue a little too much. *grin* But the Scarlets' mentality has always really bothered me, so I'm always glad to take some of them out, and working for the Ebon Blade is a wonderful opportunity to do just that.
dracoamericanus9 Oct 25th 2009 9:56AM
i like the sholazar factions(GO ORACLES!) and the Kalu'ak. both have good quests lines and the rep grind wasn't that bad. i was honored with them just from the howling fjord quests. definatly would want to see more groups like these.
Swifteye Oct 25th 2009 10:04AM
With all this love for the Consortium and Netherwing, I just have to throw in a bit of appreciation for the Mag'har. I feel bad for the Outland factions because they had the least time of any to be reveled in.
Yeah, the Mag'har grind sucks because so much of it is just killing ogres over and over and OVER, but I'm a Tailor, and I made a MINT in gold off Netherweave Bags just from what these guys dropped (while looking for beads), no buying mats off the AH required! And I love, LOVE my beeeeeee-yootiful, majestic Talbuk! The Talbuk is just about the single most gorgeous beastie in the game IMHO, and I'd do the whole grind over again just to keep it!
Also gotta give a shout-out to the Oracles, just because they're so dang cute. Yeah, their faces are as ugly as homemade sin, but their personality and manner of speaking makes them adorable!
dpoyesac Oct 25th 2009 2:05PM
Everything to do with the Mag'har in Nagrand was great -- except the final grind from revered to exalted.
But the rest -- the size of the story, the places it took you, the way it was integrated into the zone and into the Horde lore overall -- was fantastic.
Ian R. (Orkchop) Oct 25th 2009 5:18PM
They deserve a special shout out for the Hero of the Mag'har quest line alone. I do this everytime I bring a character through Nagrand. The final quests, where you reunite Thrall and his grandmother, are so touching.
Cyrus Oct 25th 2009 10:08AM
In terms of game mechanics, I liked the Sha'tari Skyguard faction. If you weren't in a rush for the rewards at exalted, you could take your time and get there by doing dailies, but if you were in a rush and/or had a group of friends who also wanted it, you could get a boost by doing the repeatable quest chain to summon Terokk. Not only does that make the grind faster - you get at least 1,250 rep per Terokk kill, counting the pre-quest - but it also gives a bunch of blue items while you're at it, including a trinket that might have been best in slot for tanks pre-raiding.
I know a lot of people don't like the Sons of Hodir, but I don't understand why. The attunement quest chain was awesome, there were a lot of dailies and they were pretty creative, and it was conveniently all in one area. The only thing I didn't like about them was the way I would have to take a break with the quests half-done to empty my bags, or just delete vendor trash.
The only annoying thing about the Kalu'ak is that their dailies are each in different zones. And I doubt we'll see much more of them in Cataclysm, because like someone said upthread, this quest: http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=11471 establishes that they can't survive in climates warmer than Northrend. So maybe we'd see them in Dun Morogh or Winterspring, I guess - but probably not, because neither of those is coastal - but very doubtful anywhere else.
Dreyja Oct 25th 2009 10:10AM
The Kalu'ak fishing pole was my first purple in Northrend and at the time, was a better melee weapon than just about anything else I was picking up.
I too love these lil' mustached fishermen but when I was leveling my first toon I had another faction that stole my heart.
I spent a long time in Felwood and Winterspring so I considered the Timbermaw my buddies. I loved that I was helping both them and the druids with reclaiming this wood from evil so the rep grind was somthing I could get behind. I'm on a pvp server and was still a squishy target at that point and those tunnels were a real haven for me to rest and mana-up before plunging forward. I loved that I was doing somthing that was right and had nothing to do with the petty conflicts between horde and alliance.
I'd live in Winterspring if I could. :)
notankforyou Oct 25th 2009 10:15AM
I really thought the Kalu'ak had some great quests, like the leap of faith quest is by far my favorite quest next to wrath gate or lich king stuff in northrend but the dailies seemed really trivial and menial whereas argent tournament dailies or shattered sun offensive felt more pertinent to their current challenges
artifex Oct 25th 2009 2:37PM
because Arthas is gonna stand still while we mount up with pointy sticks and charge, right? :)
wackojacko55 Oct 25th 2009 10:22AM
Favorite faction: Argent dawn. Why? They were the first paladin faction that I came across. Seeing as my main was a paladin I got very involved in their quests. I remember grinding from neutral to honored as soon as I got to level 50. I dont care much for the argent crusade though. Tirion just doesn't do it for me. Bolvar, he was a true paladin though.
Netherwing was also pretty cool. I really felt like I was rescuing a dragon each time I handed in an egg (because they were so damn hard to find!)
Dreyja Oct 25th 2009 10:27AM
I meant to say something about the Oracles as well. I love those guys. I love their world-view and honestly, the frenzyheart came across like total jerks so it was easy to pick my side early on.
The oracles belong to the basin, it's their home, deep down. The Frenzyheart, while refugees from the troubles of the outside, have come in as invaders. I'm happy to help the lil' bouncy dudes fight back. It is about ecology as much as politics. :)
Killchrono Oct 25th 2009 10:35AM
I've always had a thing for the neutral factions that unite the different races. In TBC it was the Shattered Sun Offensive. I became attached to the Quel'danas area and the daily quests, it was a great setting and they made me feel I was genuinely contributing to the battle to retake the isle. Storywise I liked how the faction was a union of the Aldor Draenei and the Scryer Blood Elves. I liked the story for both the new races in TBC so it was good to see them come together to work towards a common goal.
Coming into Wrath I found that trend continued with the Argent Crusade. As a paladin it was a natural choice for me to become attached to them, but moreso I love the lore behind Tirion Fordring and how his ideals of unity and cross-racial respect come into the faction. I also had a slight thing for the Ebon Blade too, since they were actually focused on the goal of defeating the Lich King and took any measures neccessary to do so.
I know the core focus at the centre of WoW is the conflict between the Alliance and the Horde, but to me the greatest moments in Warcraft are when conflicting races put their differences aside to fight a common foe. Think Mount Hyjal, and the War of the Shifting Sands, and of course the factions I mentioned above. The greatest heroes from each faction decided to put aside their differences, stood toe to toe against immeasureable threats and through their unity, they succeeded.
With war between the Alliance and Horde set to escalate in Cataclysm, and considering I'm not fond of neither Garrosh or Varian, I'm hoping there will be at least one major unified front against Deathwing and the threats that will plague the newly shattered Azeroth. While I'm fine with conflict between the Horde and Alliance, I would like the idea that unity and defeating the common foe will prevail over needless war and bloodshed.
Kia Oct 25th 2009 10:37AM
I agree wholeheartedly!
Dreyja Oct 25th 2009 11:05AM
Here HERE!!
Charlie Oct 25th 2009 11:13AM
But would those moments mean anything without the tension?
The bigger the tension, the greater these moments are.
Killchrono Oct 25th 2009 11:32AM
You've got a point Charlie. I don't think there should be NO tension. Part of what I like about these events and some of the factions involved with them, like say the Shattered Sun and the Might of Kalimdor (the united front against Ahn-Qiraj during the War of the Shifting Sands) is that there is tension between the sides that come together. The fact they can put that tension aside, whether it be for a short while or the long-term, is what makes it satisfying. It shows acceptance of cultural differences, and the maturity to look past racial stereotypes.
Dreyja Oct 25th 2009 6:49PM
I just wish there was a way for us to participate more in the neutral factions than in our own, especially if the horde/alliance conflict seems pointless to us.