WoW Moviewatch: Revenge (Act 2)
by Michael Gray 
Dec 2nd 2009 at 12:00PM
Silverlined Productions has released the trailer for Revenge (Act 2). This is the follow up to the first piece of roleplay inspired work, called Revenge. In Act 2, Nixxiom is finally getting his chance to show down against the Lich King. That's pretty appropriate, when you consider the likely proximity of patch 3.3.
Interestingly, in the Myndflame post about the video, the author is pre-emptively defending his work against accusations of "god mode." That's a roleplay term in which the player considers their character so awesome, they win every encounter, and possess every virtue. Generally, in machinima and fan fiction, that dynamic is called "Mary Sue."
I'm not sure the trailer itself provides any defense against accusations of Nixxiom being a Mary Sue. You can't really make that call until you see the final movie. However, since it is a roleplay thing, and roleplay tends to be an escapist art, I think it's fair game to do a little idealization of the character. In the end, it really all comes down to how well the author can tell a story. Here's hoping the final film does the confrontation justice.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, WoW Moviewatch
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
VelcroLizard Dec 2nd 2009 12:28PM
If nothing else, he does a good Arthas voice
Dr Pepper PHD Dec 2nd 2009 1:27PM
those are just sound files from in-game, so his lich king is the lich king from ingame
Grey Dec 2nd 2009 8:43PM
he got the voice down....nice to see a rogue actually play a main roll. I think I'd add more animation during the fight...in the jump have a sword as well as throwing some daggers or stars or something, and then doing a block behind the head when Arthas swings at him...yes I know...overplayed..but still awesome!
HW Dec 2nd 2009 1:02PM
If you're making your own damn movie, I think you're allowed to Mary Sue a little bit for the sake of story.
constantinzug Dec 2nd 2009 1:03PM
Not bad , but kinda boaring tbh .
mike Dec 2nd 2009 1:11PM
90% of hollywood movies that come out the main character has "god mode."
Act 1 - Main Character meets antagonist/struggle
Act 2 - Main Character's flaws become evident, oftentimes resulting in a near failure against antagonist/struggle
Act 3 - Main Character prevails
obviously, there are some pretty good exceptions out there, the first that comes to mind is Braveheart. Or you can just watch wrestling on TV. The guy that is getting his ass kicked halfway through the fight, will normally be the one that wins in the end. The viewer likes to see the underdog win.
So basically my point is, as long as there is a decent enough struggle between Nixxion and Arthas, i don't think it's really fair to rag on the author for having a main character that prevails. I mean, the machinima is called "Revenge." In "American Cinema" it's pretty safe to assume the main character will achieve the title of the movie. (kill bill, does she kill bill?)
Silverlined888 Dec 2nd 2009 2:55PM
Also keep in mind that the whole video wont only be about Nixxiom fighting the Lich King. The audience will also be able to see what the Horde and the Alliance is doing in regards to the current attack Nixxiom has launched on Icecrown. There's no way I'd be able to have a 30 minute fight scene between two people. :P
Kylenne Dec 2nd 2009 5:24PM
You're conflating two different (albeit, related) concepts and not really hitting the mark entirely on either. In an RP context, only half of god moding is making your character the best and strongest that wins all the time. The other crucial element is essentially taking away the agency of other RPers, dictating their characters' actions and responses for them, generally to make your own character look good. If Tom is having an argument with Jane, Tom's player can only dictate Tom's actions and responses, not Jane's. "Tom calls Jane an idiot." vs. "Tom makes Jane cry." The latter would be moding and is bad juju.
RE: Mary/Gary Sues. In derivative works, are not just super strong/beautiful/powerful, they also possess virtually no faults; if they have minor ones, these are almost always intended to make them more endearing to the reader rather than be an actual fault. The most common one is making ridiculously beautiful and otherwise "perfect" female characters clumsy. If Sues make mistakes they never, ever have to suffer major consequences, nor are these mistakes always presented as such, and you can be assured that the other characters never call them on their shit. And in derivative works, Sues are special snowflakes that upstage the existing characters and everyone else for that matter. In non-derivative works, the term would be Canon Sue. Warcraft examples include virtually any original character created by Richard Knaak (no, really, pick one).
Without having seen the video, the idea of someone's OC waging a solo attack on the Lich King strikes me as inherently being squarely in Sue territory, unless it's handled with extreme care. If he struggles and has to be bailed out, it could be interesting. That said, I find the "omg but he's not a Sue!!1" protests a little silly. 99% of dramatic machinima and fanfiction stars original characters who are blatant Sues, which is why I don't bother with most of it. But if you're doing what you enjoy as an artist, why would you care? Do what you love and what makes you happy. OTOH, don't put your stuff out there and then complain when you get criticism. It's the nature of the Internet.
Clockwork Dec 3rd 2009 3:34PM
I have a question, and it seems this would be as good of a place as any to ask: What are some good resources for getting into making Machinima? My google-fu is failing me. I've been to Machinima.com and its forums, but that seems to be more focused on releasing and discussing existing machinima moreso than producing new things and how to do it. So, can anyone recommend some good resources for me?
Tokkar Dec 3rd 2009 8:11PM
http://www.wowmodelviewer.org is your best place to start. It has the software, plus its forum is very informative. Also, search for "wow model viewer" or "wow map viewer" in YouTube and you'll get a lot of tutorial videos (including a few from Oxhorn).