Breakfast Topic: How are your characters coping with moral dilemmas in game?
by Melisa Todd 
Mar 14th 2011 at 8:00AM
Cairne Bloodhoof is dead. We all know this as players, but what about players who play tauren characters? How do you deal with getting praise from Garrosh and having him tell you what to do, looking at him and knowing he killed your beloved leader?
Personally, I am talking to the screen, telling Garrosh off and saying that I am throwing his rewards back in his face -- but the game itself won't allow me to denounce him in front of his council, much less refuse to do those quest chains, because they are necessary to move into some of the new zones. Are you as a player frustrated with the inability to express your contempt of Garrosh or perhaps another NPC?
Trolls should not be very happy with Garrosh either, given that Vol'jin basically promised Garrosh that he would put an arrow in his heart. Are you having issues dealing with that level of contempt between your leader and the Horde leader? What do you want to do about it?
Then we come to one of my favorite NPCs on the Horde side, Sylvanas. She is strong, she threw off the hold of the Lich King, and as many of us saw when running Halls of Reflection, she stood up to Arthas, going toe to toe with him. She is someone to be admired ... but what she is doing now disturbs me greatly. Personally, this fills my main with horror, wondering if we are becoming the monsters that the Alliance accuses us of being. How do you feel about the idea of more sentient beings being forced to bear the curse of undeath, especially if you are undead yourself?
The story lines are fascinating, and I am enjoying them greatly, but my characters are having some severe moral conflicts with the current state of affairs. What about you?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
styopa Mar 14th 2011 8:09AM
"Personally, I am talking to the screen, telling Garrosh off and saying that I am throwing his rewards back in his face..."
Might want to check your meds. I'm pretty certain that even IF Garrosh was real, he couldn't hear you unless he was logged on to Ventrilo.
Succulent Mar 14th 2011 8:18AM
Silly comment is silly.
So you've never shouted at a screen before? People do it all the time. Look at people watching football.
PvP usually does it for me! They can't hear me either.
Noyou Mar 14th 2011 8:34AM
LOL I should feed and bathe my screen as much as i "talk" to it. What would I feed it? It seems to like my "tears".
Xatek Mar 14th 2011 8:12AM
My character has shown hatred towards Garrosh. He thinks that the atrocities he has commited is unforgivable. Spitting at Vol'jin and killing Cairne. He despises the orc to his very core and would follow Vol'jin if he decided to leave the horde without a second thought.
Squirr3llywrath9 Mar 14th 2011 9:40AM
"I won't let you take us down that dark path again, young Hellscream. I'll kill you myself before that day comes again..."
I am really hoping Saurfang follows up on this. Would be nice if it was sooner rather than later.
aerrae Mar 14th 2011 11:08AM
I don't have any contempt for Garrosh because of Cairne's death, If memory servers me Cairne challenged him in a battle to the death. They both knew one would die. Also, the fact that he was upset at winning dishonorly, leads me to believe that he is an honorable orc.
Aigarius Mar 14th 2011 12:33PM
Garrosh isn't directly responsible for Cairne's death. Magatha Grimtotem poisoned Garrosh's axe without Garrosh knowing. Cairne challenged Garrosh to a duel. Garrosh suggested that the duel goes according to the old rules - rules before Thrall, to the death. And Cairne accepted. So there was no 'killing'. Read all about it in The Shattering. Great book, btw, most recommeded for all WoW players and not just lore nerds.
ambermist Mar 14th 2011 1:33PM
Having read the Shattering, I agree with you. Garrosh wanted a battle to the death, and while to us that may still seem like murder, in the orc culture that was an extremely honorable way to settle disputes of this magnitude. He was clearly devastated when he found out that he had unwittingly poisoned the tauren.
However, the question is still reasonable. It's not like Garrosh stood up in the middle of Thunder Bloof--or even Orgrimmar--and announced that Cairne had been slain dishonorably. The average Horde in Azeroth, selling fish on the side of a pier and gossiping with the locals, wouldn't necessarily know how it went down. He would've seen the fight, seen Garrosh slay Cairne, and that would be the extent of his knowledge.
We see more than our characters see because we know the story. We can't assume that they do.
ambermist Mar 14th 2011 1:34PM
Uh, *Bluff. /shame
razion Mar 14th 2011 1:39PM
Cairne was kicking Garrosh's ass, and WOULD have killed HIM had Magatha not poisoned Garrosh's blade. Magatha is the murderer, not Garrosh.
Dreyja Mar 14th 2011 1:47PM
Garrosh's arrogance and selfishness were directly responsible for Cairne's death. He knew that the "OLD" horde members didn't trust Magatha but with a few sugared words that pressed the buttons of his immense hubris and he played into her hands with amazing ease.
I could site any number of reasons that almost everyone around him believed him capable of the slaughter of those druids. Even Thrall wasn't convinced he HADN'T been involved in the flaying of the sentinels that set all this in motion.
Yes, I still blame Garrosh, even more-so after reading The Shattering.
Everyone seems willing to give him a chance now because he's a "growing" character. I just point to the heap of bodies left in his wake while these lessons seep into his thick skull.
gravitycat182 Mar 14th 2011 8:15AM
I'm with you on the Sylvanas front.
My main is an orc DK and I really miss having Thrall around.
Wulfkin Mar 14th 2011 8:14AM
I have to say that life as a Goblin is much easier. I have little to no qualms about anything, especially as my character's background is a mercenary soldier.
I agree it is very frustrating though when the game doesn't give you much choice. You either have to avoid whole chunks of content or just play through it and pretend it didn't happen. Although to be fair, with the remapped levelling zones you can quite happily skip a zone and take a different path if you prefer. However missing out on Stonetalon Mountains as Horde is unthinkable!
SlyFourroux Mar 14th 2011 11:33AM
The only moral quandary my goblin has is whether he used enough gunpowder or not. You can never have enough gunpowder.
melonarius Mar 14th 2011 9:00PM
Being a Goblin priest, the concept of charity was a bit of a struggle for my character to come to terms with.
frogjellie Mar 14th 2011 8:22AM
Last I recall, it was a Grimtotem that killed Cairne.
CrossEyed Mar 14th 2011 8:26AM
this... I may not like Garrosh, but killing Bloodhoof was not something I have against him... Wasn't Garrosh's fault
Nawaf Mar 14th 2011 8:45AM
Well technically Garrosh killed Cairne's death.
He gave the hitting blow. He raised the mak'gora to the death.
His intentions was to kill him.
You can't say he's not responsible for killing Cairne just because he wanted to kill him in another way.
Drecin Mar 14th 2011 9:32AM
I agree, many forget that it was a fight to the death challenged by Cairn and even he knew Garrosh didn't kill him. Can't hate on Garrosh too much.
Jenks Mar 14th 2011 9:14AM
So if you brought someone a glass of lemonade, but someone poisoned it when you weren't looking, you'd be the killer? Sorry, I disagree.