Breakfast Topic: Who are the most robust characters of the expansion?
by Mathew McCurley 
May 4th 2011 at 8:00AM
Character robustness is something that Blizzard has been honing for a long while. It's a tough deal sometimes, when you're creating a host of citizens and military personnel who exist at some podunk outpost handing out quests to player characters. The changes to the questing paradigms, as well as the new emphasis on the environments of Cataclysm telling the story just as much as the quest text, have placed a new burden on NPCs that might be in the spotlight for moments. There's an expectation that these characters, however minor, are required to have a modicum of depth.
The Southern Barrens takes this expectation to heart and delivers. Both the Horde and the Alliance have de facto leaders, infantrymen, conflicts, and battles that all make sense, given the environment and characters with interesting and robust personalities. General Hawthorne is either a sinner or a saint, depending on your questing experience, as are the hunters of Taurajo that have fled to the hills and are engaging in guerrilla warfare, with a questing hub that geographically defines their fight as well as characters who succinctly give players a glimpse into the conflict. Alliance players are sent straight through Horde territory, over a blockade and behind enemy lines to the Northwatch advance. The story is robust, and the characters are multifaceted.
Cataclysm has given bit players their time in the sun by fleshing out their stories, giving them tasks and information, and using the environment to make even the smallest NPC a robust member of the Alliance or the Horde. Which characters and places in Cataclysm do you think got the robust treatment, and which are your new favorite stories?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Ganuke May 4th 2011 8:48AM
Zul'Gurub is again my favourite!! Really loved the old 20 men version. Venoxis is again a pain in the a**. But old Jin'do (used tyo call him Jimbo) and Hakkar were way better. Difficulty of ZA and ZG is great.
zipinphil May 4th 2011 8:14AM
I've got to say, the Keeshan storyline in Redridge was my favorite out of this expansion, closely followed by Fiona's Caravan in the Plaguelands.
Fletcher May 4th 2011 8:33AM
Heh ... I have to admit that Keeshan is possibly my *least* favourite character in WoW right now. He's just ... a midget orc in a human suit. You say "homage", I say "utterly boring and lazy-ass failure at original character creation". I don't much like Harrison Jones either, and it really cheeses me off that those two characters have had so much real estate (half of Redridge, all of Burning Steppes, half of Uldum and a cameo in Vashj'ir) dedicated to them.
Anyway. End rant. The characters I like *most*? That's a trickier one, since mostly I'm just remembering the characters I *don't* like. I've always had a bizarre and inexplicable adoration of Maiev Shadowsong, but even I wouldn't call her a robust character.
Actually, I'm having trouble thinking of characters who are more than one-dimensional in the WoW universe. There *must* be some, surely? Jaina, perhaps, although I don't much like *her* either.
Swifteye May 4th 2011 9:56AM
I really, really have to agree with you on Fiona's Caravan, particularly the relationship between Tarenar Sunstrike and Gidwin Goldbraids.
Tarenar in particular is definitely one of my very favorite new characters, and this is definitely my favorite duo. They're just so awesome together! I love how their closeness has led Tarenar to develop some of the humility that Dwarves are known for, while Gidwin has developed some of the brash recklessness that Blood Elves are known for. They're both their own people, and Gidwinn is still very much a Dwarf while Tarenar is still very much a Blood Elf... but I think those unique (for their particular respective races) personality traits that were obviously directly adopted from one another just make them so much deeper and more endearing. ^_^
LordVashtal May 4th 2011 8:25AM
That's easy: Budd. Next question.
Fletcher May 4th 2011 9:10AM
Evidently my brain had erased the existence of Jar-Jar Budd as a defensive measure. Okay, there *is* a character I like less than Keeshan.
From an is-utter-bollocks standpoint, rather than an is-a-big-jerk standpoint, that is. I don't like Sylvanas or Garrosh for different reasons; they at least are engaging characters I don't mind having in the game. Even if they do deserve to die for what they've done, that's not the same as deserving to be reconned out of WoW for being an abysmal failure on Blizzard's part.
Yeah, yeah ... bring on the inevitable downranking.
Daedalus May 4th 2011 9:30AM
@Fletcher:
Well, what do you expect? You come to a website that pretty much exists for rabid fans of a game, go into a thread that asks about people's favorite characters in said game, post several comments to the effect of "all the characters in the game suck," and you're surprised people react negatively?!
It might be educational for you to try this approach in real life, as well: next time the Hell's Angels are in town, go down to whatever dive bar they frequent and politely explain to them your opinion that bikers are really hiding deep-seated insecurities, and are basically cowards at heart. Or maybe go out west to some ultra right-wing white supremecist militia compound, and explain to them how you think people who hoard guns are compensating for their inferior genetalia, and how you think communism was never really given a fair shake. Or perhaps you can find a leftist eco-terrorist group, and explain to them how it's mankind's right to kill animals and despoil the planet, and how it'll never stop because everyone knows that hippies like them never resort to violence.
Fletcher May 4th 2011 10:29AM
@Daedalus: Hey, I *am* a rabid fan of the game. That doesn't mean I have to be unquestioningly uncritical. I enjoy The Lord of the Rings despite Tolkien's somewhat dated views on race, gender relations and the nature of evil. I enjoy Star Wars despite Lucas' ham-handed scriptwriting and the existence of 3-CPO and Jar-Jar Binks. And I enjoy WoW, despite its problems - it's depiction of homosexuality (look up Theralion's original voice files on Youtube), of mental illness ("X has gone mad, kill it"), the general lack of strong female characters (although in fairness Cata has amended this some) and yes, the fact that a lot of its characters are less than two-dimensional.
To be fair, Random Questgiver #4053 doesn't *have* to deliver an epic and moving statement about his circumstances; not every character has to be fully rounded. But when faction leaders, such as Varian Wrynn, are little more than "Rrrr! Me hate orc! Orc kill daddy! Me smash!" - and faction leaders such as Lor'themar Theron ("who?") lack even that level of development, I don't think it's unfair to say that WoW characters can be somewhat flat.
And while I couldn't think of any two-dimensional WoW characters at the time I wrote the post you responded to, I did later; scroll down to see my subsequent post. There are others too, of course; Rhea, Alexstrasza, Stormcaller Mylra, Vanessa Van Cleef, Lilian Voss, to name a few.
I guess what divides me from a lot of WoW players is my general dislike of homage characters when they start replaying their source material in-game (eg: I liked Harrison Jones' one appearance in Grizzly Hills, but not the recreation of "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" in Uldum), and my dislike of characters whose only purpose seems to be comic relief (Jar-Jar Binks, Jar-Jar Budd etc). I don't like poop quests either.
Talash May 4th 2011 10:51AM
@Fletcher Just want to say that as a gay male who plays WoW probably a little more than is wholesome, I absolutely adored Theralions "pre-nerf" voice. Sure it's stereotypically camp, but there's no other suggestion that he's actually homosexual, aside from he's still living with his mother after all those years... Now he's just yet another gruff voiced bad-guy-dragon. My favorite new characters are Tarenar and Gidwin by a country mile; I love how they've been written, and the quests you get up to alongside them are pretty fun too. If (and yes I know it's a big if here on both accounts) Theralion shows WoWs poor attitude towards homosexual characters, then hopefully Tarenar and Gidwin can show the good attitude they have as well? And of course, there's nothing to suggest the caravan crew are in the least big homosexual, or at least there's as much as there is to suggest Theralion is!
Daedalus May 4th 2011 11:19AM
@Fletcher:
If you really think Wrynn is that one dimensional, you haven't been paying attention. I can't sum it up any better than two past articles from here: (a bit dated, but still valid)
http://wow.joystiq.com/2009/04/26/varian-wrynn-is-right/ and
http://wow.joystiq.com/2009/05/27/why-varian-wrynn-is-a-fool-and-why-it-may-not-matter/
Any character who can credibly be subject to such widely varying interpretations practically by definition cannot be considered one dimensional. (NB: I'm not saying that automatically means he's well written; a lot of his story (and WoW's story in general) is derivative and predictable; I'm simply saying that calling him one-dimensional is ignoring quite a bit of the story.)
As far as being critical, there's nothing wrong with that; in fact, I'd encourage it. Blindly adoring whatever Blizzard gives us is unrealistic, and ultimately a disservice to the truly exceptional parts of their work. However, that wasn't the question here. This particular thread wasn't "What's your opinion of WoW's overall characterization," it was specifically about character depth. Now, if you backed up your original assertion that there really aren't any robust characters with some kind of cogent argument, you likely wouldn't have gotten downvoted. However, you simply stated something that is clearly (from the other responses in this thread) controversial, without giving it any supporting evidence.
In short, it's fine to express an opinion. It's fine to express an opinion that's wildly divergent from the popular consensus. However, if you don't give people a reason to see things your way, if you don't give them a perspective to question their own opinions, if you don't provide some insight into the thought process that lead you to that opinion, you can't be surprised when people dismiss you out of hand.
In other words: "I don't like it, here's why" is likely to inspire reasoned responses. "I don't like it, and that's all there is to it." is likely to make people ask "why should I care?"
Zoisite May 4th 2011 11:24AM
@Fletcher
You make some pretty solid points, and while in some ways I think you're reading into things too much (Blizz has to give us some kind of excuse for slaughtering mobs, insanity is as good as any!), I agree with the overuse of NPC's that started off as nods. I also loved Harrison Jones in Wrath, I made sure I did his quests on every alt I leveled. But half or more of the quests in Uldum are chasing him around... I feel like a whole new race was essentially glossed over. Maybe I would be less frustrated with it if the cutscenes didn't bug out when I did them. Or maybe they just made him too much of a focal point.
Budd... I wanted to like him. But they should have kept him and his party in one place, they are definitely overusing him. He was great in BC, amusing in Wrath, but has gotten a bit tiresome in Cata.
I definitely agree with you on one point in particular - I want more development of staple characters. I liked Cairne Bloodhoof, but I recall very little interaction with him - Shattering finally gave him some cameo time, but it was shortlived. Garrosh is at least getting some interaction with players, turning my Utter Disdain and Abject Hatred for him into Grudging Respect and Moderate Dislike. But ever since BC, I believe we all have been wondering "Who's this Lor'themar guy?"
clundgren May 4th 2011 1:01PM
I'm a little surprised at the downranking of Fletcher's posts. They are thoughtful and articulate, and while you may not agree with his points (I do agree with most of them) he is offering a fairly reasoned critical perspective. He isn't trolling or being insulting.
Do we just downrank anyone with a different opinion these days?
As to his point: there is no question that many characters in WoW are flat or stereotypical; many of them are *intended* to be flat or stereotypical. Like Fletcher, I find gag characters, like Budd, tiresome in anything but the smallest doses. And let's face it, while WoW has excellent writing for a game, Shakespeare it ain't.
Noyou May 4th 2011 2:10PM
@clundgren/fletcher
You guys are both missing the point. "Who are the most robust characters of the expansion?" Each person can have a different one. To them they can be the most robust. Sure you can criticize a poster for their choice but that isn't what this article is about. Pick a char and say why you like it. That's constructive. No matter how well you state an opposite opinion about this topic it undermines the principle. If you want to critique peoples opinion I'm sure there are blogs out there that practice that. Trolling is trolling no matter how eloquently stated.
Chokaa May 4th 2011 5:09PM
I think that the reasons fletcher's being downvoted are that he's doing the opposite if what the topic is asking. The bfast question wasn't 'how robust are wow's character's' or 'what dont you like about wow's storytelling'
Doing what he did is like taking a final exam in psychology and writing about philosophy . No matter how well written, you're going to fail.
As to the question - most robust? Mathias Shaw.
Although I did get te little man-tear when I finished Rhea's quests.
Valorum May 4th 2011 8:26AM
Wildhammer Dwarves.
MattKrotzer May 4th 2011 9:52AM
Definitely robust as a people, and I really enjoyed the questing, but it did all wrap up rather abruptly. They developed some good personalities among the Wildhammers, but I'd really love to see more from them!
Like much of the storylines in Cataclysm, tremendous buildup... and we're waiting to see where it goes.
nataswar May 4th 2011 8:31AM
I just recently changed professions on a level 45 alt to allow more gathering. Of course, this meant going to low-level zones to start the process. I had heard of the great story line in Stonetalon, so I figured i'd quest there while gathering. Needless to say, I was highly impressed by the alliance vs horde story.
When the cookiecrumb quest led me to southern barrens, I continued questing while gathering and was not disappointed. Great story...now I have to get an alliance alt to those levels so I can see the other side!
It's funny...at max levels, our quests seem more about saving the world. At the low end, however, it's more about horde vs. alliance. Makes sense.
Debesun May 4th 2011 8:34AM
The thing with what I've found with my most favoured zones in terms of the characters and story seem to be also the zones in which I'm not very content with. Don't mistake it that I wish there was more content of that quality (because we all wish that :P ), but it was that the closing parts of the story didn't seem to be clearly defined and felt forced and abrupt. There are a few zones that I wish we could have gone through a whole continent worth of content on just one zone because the story involved was well within the scope of something that massive. Ashenvale, Gilneas, Uldum, Southern Barrens, Gilneas, Gilneas, Arathi Highlands, both sides of the Plaguelands and Gilneas.
Even though though I felt that they would have to be the best zones in terms of story and the individual heroes and leaders that were involved, they didn't really give a clear fulfilling ending. There is a difference between "The battle is won but the war goes on" and going on your own way, and "The battle is won, now bugger off to the next zone. I heard they have other completely unrelated troubles over there. *With said NPC pushing your back towards the door*". I recognise that the Cataclysm has wrecked a lot of shtiuff but the focus just seems to be all over the place. The only real zones that I could compare with which I felt were complete have been Storm Peaks, Grizzly Hills, and Icecrown. 2/3 of the zones did require a raid to complete the story (which was appropriate, as you don't exactly bitch slap Titan Watchers, Old Gods, Servants of the Lich King and big daddy himself by yourself), but the above Cataclysm zones just don't seem like something that would seem appropriate to end the story in such a way for something which isn't exactly the main focus of the expansion (Twilights Hammer and Deathwing).
I could continue building on this wall of text but I could go on for ages and I tend to ramble beyond the point of the topic (not that I haven't already :P )
Jason May 4th 2011 8:44AM
Agree with Fiona's Caravan - the characters join and stick with you for almost the entire zone, something that's never been done before. It really makes you feel like you're part of the gang. :) Recently I played through Searing Gorge, and enjoyed the character Lunk and his "adventures" as well.
Daedalus May 4th 2011 9:20AM
Agreed. That was also what I liked about Redridge; rebuilding the commando unit, and actually becoming part of it really made the zone's ending more personal. I was genuinely touched when the Colonel told me I'd have to be the one to carry on Bravo company's legacy alone.