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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsIs faction antagonism story-driven or player-driven?
by Matthew Rossi 
Sep 18th 2010 at 12:00PM
One of the things I've noticed in my time back-and-forthing between Alliance and Horde toons is that each faction seems to have many, many vocal partisans who believe the opposite faction to be filled to the brim with churls, knaves and scalawags. Perhaps even hooligans and ne'er-do-wells. You see it all the time in general chat: "Those ally fellows are nothing but mountebanks!" Or perhaps: "Horde? Nothing but disreputable scoundrels, bounders and cads!"
What I find interesting is how much of this factional divide is created by the game itself ... how much comes from quest lines and zone design and world events ... and how much is purely based on the players. It's true that over the past several expansions, we've seen a shift in the game itself from the days of the AQ gate event and the opening of the Dark Portal, when Horde and Alliance stood shoulder-to-shoulder against threats to Azeroth, to the present Wrath/Cataclysm direction when even Old Gods, Lich Kings and insane dragon aspects can't get the Horde and Alliance to cooperate.
Still, until fairly recently, I'd never really felt much of the infamous Horde/Alliance hatred from the game itself. Even the Wrathgate /Battle for Undercity and the Broken Front quests didn't come close to matching the intensity of a forum flame war or a really acrimonious Wintergrasp battle. Playing Horde back in the day, you couldn't help but notice the perception of superiority Horde players (including myself, at the time) felt over Alliance. But the story didn't really have much to do with it.
I found playing a worgen on the beta to be positively eye-opening in this regard. The story from beginning to end is about unchecked, unbounded Forsaken aggression against a people who had never fought them, never attacked them, never tried to invade Lordaeron or claim lands held by them. The people of Gilneas had gone out of their way to avoid the Forsaken, and it was Sylvanas (and behind her, Garrosh Hellscream) directly attacking a neutral nation purely out of naked lust for conquest and territorial acquisition. By the time you're done playing a worgen through the starting zones, you will be ready to put orc babies on spikes. It may be the first time I've ever felt the factional hatred entirely from the game instead of from other players.
Nowadays, it seems that the balance is pretty even. A great deal of the conflict between Horde and Alliance is set up in the story, but players still take the lead (the point of the spear, so to speak) by keeping said antagonism alive via ganking, world PvP and keeping BGs and zones like Wintergrasp/Tol Barad active. I'm curious to read what you think keeps factionalism in WoW active and if you view it as a positive or negative for the game.
While you don't need to have played the previous Warcraft games to enjoy World of Warcraft, a little history goes a long way toward making the game a lot more fun. Dig into even more of the lore and history behind the World of Warcraft in WoW Insider's Guide to Warcraft Lore.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 9)
pandaba Sep 18th 2010 3:36PM
The night elves in Ghostlands were basically special ops on an espionage mission and were not any serious effort to permanently seize and hold land. If I understand the lore correctly, the blood elves were starting to reassert their power after rebuilding somewhat after the invasion. They were forming alliances with the Forsaken and attempting to join the Horde.
From a night elf and Alliance point of view, I can see how this would be considered a major geopolitical shift, affecting the balance of power, and the Alliance would do their best to gain as much information as possible about the activities of their former ally. So they sent in the night elves to remote areas of Ghostlands to build small bases and sent a dwarf spy into the heart of Eversong. Unfortunately for the Alliance, both efforts were debacles and rather clumsily done, but, even as a Horde player, I can completely understand the motivation.
Rando Sep 18th 2010 6:28PM
@Jinx
U may be right but I think it was Cenarius who taught the Taurens Druidism, maybe even b4 the night elves.
Neyssa Sep 18th 2010 5:28PM
Browse a little on the internet for the 'Druid Code'.
Back in vanilla, the druid population was very low. There was a druid code, that tauren/nighelf druids dont attack each other, but help in quests, wave to each other, etc.
It was strictly player-driven peace between them. I guess people who played druid back then understood what druidism means. Also, maybe the fact that not many people played with this class. But it is a nice example of people refusing to hate each other, when the game is telling them two separate things (they are in the opposite faction, but storywise they like each other)
Infernö Sep 18th 2010 12:43PM
was I the first to notice the Eddie Izzard nod?
musicchan Sep 18th 2010 12:52PM
No, no you were not.
"Hi! I'm crazy Eddie! I put babies on spikes!"
green_jerm Sep 18th 2010 12:56PM
@ashamel; It would seem every faction and faction leader is against garrosh, its a great internal struggle story for the horde. :D
Ashamel Sep 18th 2010 1:19PM
Oh certainly! Though I have to say that I personally think Varian's ridiculous in his return to power. He hasn't shown up at all as Varian Wrynn, King of Stormwind in the entire game, and here he comes, returning triumphantly after we've bested the Burning Legion shoulder to shoulder with the Horde. We've bested the Qiraji and an Old God without his help, again shoulder to shoulder with the Horde. In all truth, even before Garrosh, Varian destroyed the relative Golden Age of relative peacefulness between the two factions.
Think of the Dranei... they have NO CLUE who the hell this human is who's asking them to go to war with peoples who have been relatively peaceful towards them. He's demanding allegiances with the assumption that people agree and will follow. That attitude has dominated human leadership and is the main reason why Gilneas stepped out of the Alliance after the Second War.
So while the Garrosh takeover has far more hatred from all sides to it, I as an avid Alliance and Night Elf fan, thinks that Varian's only been fanning the flames and hurting any chance at peaceful coexistence that members of the Horde and Alliance might have had.
arrowrest Sep 18th 2010 2:40PM
@Ashamel
As you'll recall, Varian wasn't around because he was a captive of the Defias and then in the Horde arenas during the time period of the original WoW and the Burning Crusade. Varian didn't destroy the relative peacefulness, open war has been simmering just under the surface on many fronts throughout the game's existence. What prompted open warfare was the Wrathgate incident. And yes it was fostered by a splinter group but it was a splinter group from within the Horde nonetheless. The Forsaken have been openly experimenting with a biological weapon on civilians and when this is fact is openly stumbled upon by Varian in the Battle of the Undercity, he reacts as a natural and realistic character would - he's pissed. To have him react otherwise would be contrived — that's what makes his character actually believable — he reacts like a real person would. His strengths and weaknesses are what make this complex storyline and the game in fact interesting.
As for the Draenei and Velen. I think Velen knows exactly why he chose the faction that it did. Velen is in this for the long game and I think it's telling which faction he chose to ally with. He wants to help the Horde as well (witness the Sunwell) but I don't think he's been somehow blinded in his decision-making.
And Gilneas left the Alliance because Greymane disagreed with Lordaeron and wanted the Orcs exterminated after the Second War (Greymane didn't want to be burdened with the material upkeep of the Orcs). Terenas showed mercy towards the Orcs, not a demand for allegiance from Gilneas.
Ashamel Sep 18th 2010 2:49PM
But it IS a demand for allegiance... Follow his decision or get out, and that's what Greymane and his nation of Gilneas did, thus provoking his memorable speech of "Take this Alliance and shove it, I ain't working here no more." Or something like that ;D
And yes, I understand and empathize with Varian's response. Everyone's reviled by the Forsaken's actions, even the Horde. But I was merely arguing from the perspective of the Night Elf nation.
As for Velen, I'm sure he sees the outcome of this whole thing, and thus stays with the Alliance, but who's to say whether he likes or agrees with Varian's character? We don't know.
(Btw, I'm current with the Varian story... that's why you see me saying he didn't appear in person as Varian Wrynn, King of Stormwind until currently (because he was captive and acting as Lo'Gosh)... but that doesn't change the fact that he was not in game, as the leader of the Alliance for the past several years.)
WaterRouge Sep 18th 2010 12:58PM
In my opinion I think the natural faction hate is based on realm status. For example I hated the Alliance on my main server because the few times I leveled up a toon that side (up to level 40) I felt like they were all big children. This was based on how the channels and certain behaviors whenever I tried to run a dungeon. But as the year went by and I had more and more experience on the Horde side I learned that...my server just sucks in general.
But I do hate the fact that Blizzard pushes us to fight so much. I was thinking about this when I was handing over an Alliance coward to the Valiance Keep sergeant. Instead of my faction killing the coward they showed mercy and returned them to their people. The Alliance Sergeant could have made a scene by interacting with a Hordie but instead he thanked me and even saluted me for my wok. I just wish these very few positive interactions could receive more light instead of the many who put a knife in who's back first.
mingdi9 Sep 18th 2010 1:06PM
I'm fairly certain that little moment of faction cooperation was deliberate, because it gave us (well, the Horde players who did that quest in Borean Tundra, at least) a sense of the fact that relations between Alliance and Horde were cordial before the Wrathgate. It's similar in that sense to that snippet of conversation between Bolvar and Saurfang the Younger during the Wrathgate cinematic.
Tabasa Sep 18th 2010 1:23PM
I always found it interesting that Borean Tundra highlighted the sense of camaraderie that a decent portion of the Horde and Alliance developed from their time in Outland.
Meanwhile, in contrast, on the other side of the continent...
(cutaia) Sep 18th 2010 1:00PM
I think they've definitely begun to put more divide between the factions in the game itself, but I almost think it's a good thing that players can help shape that rivalry, too. I think that's just a tiny bit of RP that everyone can get into to some degree.
The only thing that irritates me is when players begin to honestly believe that Blizzard itself has some kind of bias towards one side because they don't like their racial ability or because Blizzard has a stupid statue somewhere.
Noyou Sep 18th 2010 4:51PM
Not to mention nearly every holiday event has some faction vs faction hyjinx :)
Ashamel Sep 18th 2010 1:09PM
While that's true, Tauren never helped Night Elves against the Night Elves long time enemy, trolls, and yet they set that aside to form the Cenarion Circle. Previous action or inaction could possibly be set aside in the formation of an alliance between the two. And due to their relatively close geographical locations, it would lend to a tight alliance and easier defense of a nation revering nature and the Earth Mother.
mingdi9 Sep 18th 2010 1:16PM
I don't think the Night Elves ever HAD problems with trolls. Certainly I can't remember any large native group of trolls in northern Kalimdor.
Are you thinking of the High/Blood Elves and their ancient war with the Amani Trolls?
mingdi9 Sep 18th 2010 1:22PM
On thinking about it some more, I think Night Elves did have problems with trolls before the Sundering and the War of the Ancients... which means it would be a really old racial grudge those Night Elves would be holding, then.
Aidan Sep 18th 2010 1:31PM
"The night elves systematically dismantled the troll's defenses and supply chains. The trolls, unable to counter the elves' destructive magics, buckled under the onslaught. The night elves proved every bit as cunning and bloodthirsty as the savage trolls -- incurring the latter race's eternal hatred and disdain. The Gurubashi and Amani empires fragmented within only a few short years.
"Eventually, the night elves were burned by the arcane fires they had sought to control. Their reckless use of magic had lured the demonic Burning Legion to the world."
Empire's Fall, in game book.
Ashamel Sep 18th 2010 1:31PM
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/encyclopedia/508.xml
Straight from the WoW homepage encyclopedia... Back when Azeroth was young and only Night Elves and Trolls inhabited it, the trolls controlled much of Kalimdor. The Night Elves, being younger and more ferocious in that time (prior to the sundering of the Well of Eternity), they carved their own kingdom and drove many of the trolls from the area. This is the last line of the fifth paragraph in there: "Thus was born the long-standing feud between night elves and trolls, an enmity which persists to this day."
Anywhere Night Elves and any branch of troll meets, there is a major feud standing between them.
(Sorry that it took so long to hunt down... had to find where I had read that, lol)
Ashamel Sep 18th 2010 1:43PM
Ming, you made me lol. OF COURSE they're really old racial grudges... until just recently Night Elves have been immortal. Time means nothing to them, literally. Many of the present Night Elves can remember when the Quel'dorei and Sin'dorei were one race, not two different species. I would say that ALL of the Night Elves not born in the last few years (which I have yet to see any younglings) know of the glory of the Well of Eternity. So yes, they (AND the trolls who are just as ancient and hold onto old ways and beliefs) hold these racial grudges.
Both races remember when theirs was the most powerful... the Night Elves first hand and the trolls through word of mouth, passed down generation to generation. In a tribalistic culture as rich as the trolls along with the strong grudges trolls tend to hold, it is not hard to believe at all that they still resent and hate the night elves for destroying a unified troll empire.