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The latest patch 5.4 newsBreakfast Topic: Did changing factions change how you play?
by Matthew Rossi 
Aug 19th 2011 at 8:00AM
Ironically, although I was somewhat negatively inclined towards Garrosh Hellscream, it wasn't until I switched factions on my main to play Horde with a new guild (and an excellent one, to be sure) that I started really, really hating the Horde. Every quest I've gotten so far on my main or my two leveling alts Hordeside has involved murdering people and stealing their land simply because I could (or because a guy using an axe I outgrew 15 levels ago says I should).
But it's done more than make me dislike the faction I'm playing. Paradoxically, it's made me fight really, really hard for that faction. I PVP a lot more now than I ever did when I was playing a worgen personally offended by what happened to Gilneas. For some reason, being in the Horde makes the semi-military feel of battleground PVP seem more like it has a point to me, as if I'd expect to find myself there. I'm more aggressive as a Horde player. My paladin has run through Desolace and now Feralas with abandon, thinking nothing of doing quests that massacre entire Alliance settlements for the crime of trying to continue to exist. For all that I often decry the Horde and its current Warchief, I'm certainly also part of the problem, because I'm the one doing the quests. I am the unprovoked fist of the Horde, crushing innocents and stealing their homes. Granted, I'm not known for my stability, but I have to wonder if anyone else has experienced this.
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 6)
fudge Aug 19th 2011 10:28AM
Tried to pray for rain several times, but you just plain suck.
Matthew Aug 19th 2011 11:43AM
alliance on the bloodlust battlegroup is quite good.
Noyou Aug 19th 2011 11:51AM
I keep tryin to win the lottery but it plain sucks.
melissalepoidevin Aug 19th 2011 10:23AM
I started playing as horde, loved my lock when she was a belf. I would laugh when friends told me they were alliance, and I was 'for the horde' whole heartedly. But after guild politics, mainly due to the fact my sister in law was the gm and had it out to make my wow life a living nightmare I changed to a boring human just to escape her and my old guild. Has it changed the way I play faction wise? No, its still wow, mainly because I'm a social player, I would rather spend a day jumping around stormwind and talking in guild chat or trade than be farming/questing and so forth because I am a social person. I don't regret changing, I have met people who will be my friends long after wow is a distant memory.
poggg Aug 19th 2011 11:17AM
Ehh, a bit. I still like both sides, but holy CRAP this New-New Horde is MEAN. Garrosh is doing "You have failed me!" executions on anyone who fails a mission, regardless of circumstances, according to several NPCs. Put that on top of the fact that he basically tells you to your face that you are a faceless grunt who is being drafted and WILL eventually die for him in some quests...I'm not fond of Garrosh. Don't get me wrong, he's an interesting character, but...he's what I'd qualify as evil. You don't really see the extent to which he's a bastard on Alliance side.
That's also given me much more of an appreciation for Varian. For all that they're similar, Varian is much more stable and generally not a psychotic brute. For the most part.
Luotian Aug 19th 2011 11:32AM
But he isn't without mercy. Remember that NPC that used demons in Ashenvale? Remember how you had to go give him her note? He didn't harm you or her. In fact, he rewards you for killing the much more evil orc behind that little plot.
He DOES have moments of mercy. They just tend to be fewer and over-looked.
Murdertime Aug 19th 2011 11:44AM
Garrosh has a lot of moments like these.
If you play through the Kalimdor levelling chain, you're probably known to Garrosh as the dumbest person on the continent.
All reprimanding Bob the Noob for working for the RAS and working for demons and offering to execute him for sad Taurens.
Because executing war criminals makes Garrosh happy and they just lost their son. So he wants to cheer them up.
Japith Aug 19th 2011 11:35AM
From my experience, there is definately a different feel from the factions. I started WoW on the Horde years ago, then spent all of Wrath on alliance, and just moved my Prot Pally to Doomhammer to roll horde again. Yes, Horde players in general seem to love PvP (I don't, would rather tank a raid) and they seem to enjoy the raw aspect of what their races represent. Alliance players have their own habits, but it seems that whether we realize it or not, the surroundings and lore do affect behavior, if only sometimes to a minor extent.
Matthew Aug 19th 2011 11:40AM
Well, I went to a Night Elf Hunter, and that whole stealth racial changed my play style (which is why I changed). I stealth at the Blacksmith and have my cat also stealthed. Then, as a BM huntard, I have my cat do my dirty work.
Sqtsquish Aug 19th 2011 11:41AM
I completely agree that the Horde as a whole are the bad guys, whether intentionally or not, but that doesn't stop me from liking playing them all the more. I certainly cannot endorse almost any of their actions, but I also cannot deny how horribly wonderful it is to be associated with them PURELY in a fantasy sense.
This is probably me somehow in someway admitting to some psychotic tendencies, but nonetheless it is true. I see the horde as undeniably evil in their ways, and I enjoy every moment of it.
Marco Polaris Aug 19th 2011 8:59PM
It's been my long experience that, for the most part, Horde and Alliance are the same.
Most of them even hate the same faction for some reason.
Luke Aug 19th 2011 12:33PM
I've seen the Alliance side of things. I'd rather deliver genocide and destruction than hugs and bundles of flowers.
Why you ask?
Because I can be a good person in real life, and it's vastly rewarding. In game though, after a long day of living and working in a conservative and mostly backwards state, I get to take out my frustration with humanity on Night Elves and Gnomes.
Not to mention I've never felt the need to be a hero. My favorite characters have almost universally been the antihero type, or the villains. But that's just me, and I like to keep my in game views and real life views separate, for the most part.
nethril Aug 19th 2011 12:36PM
I began my career playing Alliance and stayed on alliance until Burning Crusade. At this time, I switched to Horde and played horde for many months. I found that my time on Horde was spent searching for people who were not immature and selfish to group / guild with, and quit the game out of frustration with the people I had available to interact with on my faction. I came back to the game just before Lich King, and went back to Alliance. This switch back to Alliance was the single best decision I have made in my entire World of Warcraft experience. I have found I enjoy the people more, the quests more, the availablle races more, and the story line more.
Horde: messed up their world, assumed no responsibility for it, went to Azeroth to take it over because their world was ruined, failed, and now spend their time blaming the alliance for their troubles.
Alliance: greedy humans who ultimately were the defenders and saviors of Azeroth, fended off the horde, and now are just play bad @ss.
Yes, I play fer better on Alliance because the average skill of the players on alliance is MUCH higher.
Luke Aug 19th 2011 12:55PM
"Yes, I play fer better on Alliance because the average skill of the players on alliance is MUCH higher."
*cough*
http://www.wowprogress.com/
Dude Aug 19th 2011 12:47PM
I swapped to the Horde to become more diverse but as a BElf mostly then I was spat on a lot but soon got used to it. BElfs are tolerated more these days I find. After the Goblins it was Horde forever, carving life out as a survivor as opposed to Alliance elitism. I do suspect that Garrosh is going to have a nasty accident soon. Perhaps even by his own foolishness, since he now has a rep for it.
Ominous Aug 19th 2011 12:50PM
Wrong question, first. Rather:
Did you change factions?
Disco Samurai Aug 19th 2011 1:00PM
All this Horde hatred you speak of certainly also backs up all that "Lothar fanboy" post you smacked the other day. Allies are also pretty messed up in some places: let's not forget Proudmoore and a lot of other horrible members of the Alliance that brought dirt to it.
Alliance are not "the good guys" and the Horde aren't "the bad guys" (nor viceversa). We're just more agressive, maybe, because that's the culture our faction holds. We fight, we excel at that, culturally and historically so. Maybe Garrosh has made us more agressive, I admit (I personally can't stand the guy who brought down Cairne, who was pretty much my hero), but the Horde has always been about a brotherhood and sisterhood of sorts. One thing I have not felt as an ally has been that desire to win a battleground, to stop the other faction on their tracks and to earn a respect we never have been given because, to many in the Alliance, we are simply boorish monsters. Never have I felt more powerful than hearing a "Lok'tar Ogar", from a warrior like Saurfang, than I would be yelling "for Lothar" who, I admit, is an admirable hero but certainly not "the best" (I hold Uther and Tirion on a higher regard).
We get things done because they NEED to get done. We fight for Azeroth because someone NEEDS to. The world NEEDS us to be strong, to be brave and to hold on. The Alliance also needs to be on the fight, but our political struggles (hatred in-between) just never let us soothe our need to fight one another instead of joining together. Not only our struggles, of course, but also the hand of many others who cannot stand Horde and Alliance together, for if we truly got that far, no evil force on Azeroth would bring us down. Not even the Old Gods. Not even Sargeras. Not even the Titans themselves.
Hamuul and Malfurion have proven that we can fight together for a bigger cause. Even Vol'jin was humble enough to admit he needed to call on heroes of the Alliance as well as those of the Horde. Tholo and Anren are another example of true friendship between factions in times of war and need. Of course, if such antagonizing ends, no more World of Warcraft for us, heh.
As far as I go, game-wise? Lok'tar ogar! Victory or death - it is these words that bind me to the Horde! Until the end of my (WoW) days, against any odds, I shall forever (or until my sub ends) be an instrument of my warchief's desire! For the Horde!
Hurbster Aug 19th 2011 1:30PM
I look forward to someone smacking Malfurion over the head and gently reminding him of all the Hordies currently burning Ashenvale and could he please like....stop them ?
Anaughtybear Aug 22nd 2011 3:00PM
As a vanilla era player, yes. I hate Alliance a lot. I will never faction-transfer and I won't even play a belf.
Durenas Aug 19th 2011 2:53PM
Scy has a paladin. The world has ended. /thread.