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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsWoW Moviewatch: I am Forsaken
by Michael Gray 
Oct 27th 2010 at 12:00PM
RedEye obviously put quite a bit of work into the composition of this piece, and I'm glad to see it did well at the contest. It was a very tough competition this year, with many fantastic videos. It can be tough to tell a good Forsaken story, but obviously the judges felt Lobine pulled it off. Congratulations!
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 email at machinima@wow.com.Filed under: WoW Moviewatch
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 4)
Jenks Oct 27th 2010 2:00PM
The one that did win made me cringe the entire time, so "shoulda won" on anything else makes sense to me.
Talothan Oct 27th 2010 1:13PM
The forsaken have such a rich background for storytelling, it makes me sad to see them so underused in machinama
Cheeselandman Oct 27th 2010 1:15PM
Anyone else see Nyhm and Gigi getting slammed in the beginning of RedEye's video?
rulez Oct 27th 2010 1:28PM
Place 3 owns them all tbh.
ambermist Oct 27th 2010 1:35PM
I personally preferred this over the others. I certainly don't expect everyone to agree, but here are my reasons:
1. I'm not comparing them against other machinamas--only the finalists. Of the videos they showed at Blizzcon, I liked this one the best.
2. Machinima humor, for me, is a very fine art. Things that most people probably find hilarious I'm kinda "meh" on. For instance, a Terran marine landing in the middle of the Barrens or yet another gnome-in-love story that ends with blowing things up (yes, even that annoying draenei death knight) ruin the humor for me. I liked the Love Rocket, but neither it nor a Crit(t)ical Incident made me giggle outright. However, I'm a sucker for a good story, even if it is a tad cliche. Adding the element of his only daughter being in Gilneas raised this above just another Forsaken story for me.
3. Before anyone says it: I do not have a single undead character. 8 of the 10 character slots on my main's server are Alliance, the other two being a level 24 troll hunter that's getting the axe as soon as I can roll a worgen and my first-ever almost-80 belf warlock. I'm actually not a huge fan of the Forsaken at all.
It's all a matter of opinion, so don't be rude to the people who liked one more than another. Don't they still teach "it's okay to be different" in elementary school?
Ootanee Oct 27th 2010 1:52PM
The best thing about this video is it doesn't give a damn about what the forsaken haters think.
NielsdeJONG Oct 27th 2010 3:29PM
They will when my future Worgen will have a word with the Forsaken about GIlneas!
>:3
Ginby Oct 27th 2010 2:15PM
This definitely should have won first prize, if only they judged on actual machinima skill rather than just getting a cheap laugh out of the viewer.
ladyaxolotl Oct 27th 2010 2:33PM
@Jenks
Ahh, I see your logic is powered by wizard magic and rage.
NielsdeJONG Oct 27th 2010 3:25PM
Wow.... emo much? XD
And no, I don't think this should have gotten first place :) It was nice and all, but aside from the tragedy and all that, it really isn't that much special in my mind :)
Still, I would like to see a follow up in which his daugher, now a Worgen, would end his suffering :)
Revrant Oct 27th 2010 5:51PM
Oh no, the unique story that could only be told in the game's lore and setting with custom effects models and animations that no doubt took weeks of work, nothing special at all.
However the cheesy 80s love story with bad voiceovers and in-game emotes, man, that's classic!
arawn.chernobog Oct 27th 2010 5:57PM
This is, of course, making the correct assumption that the Forsaken accept aid in "ending their suffering"
See, they'll never want to it to finish, they NEED their suffering, they NEED to keep themselves convinced that they are the victims... like a manic-depressive sociopath, this is what gives the Forsaken their personal justifications for considering no moral compass and respecting only those who suffer as they do.
Any true help is seen as a way of calling them weak, they kill people who offer such "help".
Any argument along the lines of "We can end your torment by killing you" is seen as an argument like "You're not good enough to be in the same world as the living" which compels them to KILL people who offer such.
They will only stop when they believe the entire world "understands their suffering" and, to them, this can only be done by CAUSING this suffering upon everyone they believe was "unfairly blessed" with avoiding the plague, so they bring it to them... in their own twisted view of justice and equality.
This is why I love the Forsaken, mentality-wise they are the Drow/Dark-Elves of Warcraft.
arawn.chernobog Oct 27th 2010 5:58PM
I need to correct my first sentence there: I meant to say "Incorrect" and not "correct".
NielsdeJONG Oct 27th 2010 6:10PM
Sooo.... In other words, you have to kill them all before they will go around and kill everyone else?
Ok, check! I'll get my Worgen druid to do that first thing Cataclysm comes out :)
arawn.chernobog Oct 27th 2010 6:40PM
@NielsdeJONG
The funny thing is that the Worgen are in a fairly similar predicament to the Forsaken; Accursed with something they hate, but will not accept to be insulted for (as that would be to accept being "weak); forced into an alliance with people that they had rejected and considered unworthy and whom also, in turn, have a certain degree of mistrusts towards Gilneas (I'm talking about Stormwing and the few Lordaeron refugees that reside there) and so on.
I wouldn't be too surprised if a few Gilneans starting trying to make sure they'd infect more humans, claiming it to be for the "greater good" and that becoming a Worgen is actually a "better way of life" or "the only way to understand their curse"; All it takes is for Greymane to return to the self-centred narcissist he was before the invasion.
NielsdeJONG Oct 27th 2010 7:08PM
@arawn.chernobog
Actually I have to completely disagree :)
The Worgen sometimes still struggle with their inner beast, but they have gained balance and still hold true to their humanity, whereas the Forsaken have completly "if you pardon my pun" forsaken that alltogether.
The difference is also that the senient Worgen ask people if they want to take their blood, where the Forsaken just kill people and raise them despite being "freed".
sunday.deadventures Oct 27th 2010 3:33PM
Comparing this to the other winners, the love rocket and critters one, I think this one has a much better story put in. Maybe the special effects weren't top notch, but I believe it's the story that counts.
The love rocket machinima was just...awkward, in my opinion.
alpha5099 Oct 27th 2010 3:43PM
An awesome little story, and I think it does a great job of fleshing out the Undead. It's rather easy to dismiss the Forsaken as the mindless, evil race. This doesn't try to handwave away the evil tendencies of the Forsaken, but it does give it the context where you can understand how this poor man has become so embittered and betrayed that he'd burn the world down to spite it.
I was a bit disappointed by the ending. Not that there was anything wrong with it, the closing lines were awesome. I just really wanted it to feature a showdown between father and daughter, Undead and Worgen.
NielsdeJONG Oct 27th 2010 6:13PM
Well that is just it.
They keep talking about how bad their condition is, and asking for understanding. Yet at the same time they don't show any understanding or the least of sympathy while asking for it at the same time.
So yes, they are largely evil. Simply because they are obsessed with their own missery and don't care anything about others. Heck, check out Hillsbrad and then tell me again that their not evil...
alpha5099 Oct 27th 2010 6:51PM
I'm not saying they're not evil. They are. I just find their brand of evil extremely compelling and at times even sympathetic.