Poster: Exterminatus at 2007-09-07 14:20:27
Subject: My problem with WoW. [Rant Warning] |
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In WotLK, I'm told Alliance and Horde are going to be buddy-buddy in Dalaran.
As they should be, since they always set aside their differences to deal with a greater threat, such as the Burning Legion, AQ, or the Scourge (but not Illidan, since the invasion of Outland was basically a sloppy land grab free-for-all).
So we're going to have Alliance and Horde working together against the Scourge. So far, so good.
But wait! Destructible buildings! Siege weaponry! And according to the cinematic, these will be used in World PvP Exclusive zones in Alliance vs. Horde battles. So while they are willing to unite against common foes, and while they are willing to set aside their differences as long as they're stuck on a frozen rock with legions of undead, they're still going to duke it out (on more epic a scale than ever) over what'll likely be something as insipid as sand or glowing rags on sticks lol.
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It's a symptom of a problem which has existed in WoW from its very beginning:
WoW picks up on where the lore was at the end of The Frozen Throne. Okay. So the Alliance and Horde are at a tenuous peace. Okay. But why then do we have faction relations in WoW existing in a wishy-washy state of simultaneous war and peace?
- We are supposed to be united against the existent Scourge and Legion threats. Whoops, looks like the opposite faction is in our base killin' our d00ds.
- We were then supposed to unite against AQ. Which, when you consider the impact it had on the average WoW player, was a bit like NATO and the USSR joining forces against the dreaded empire of Montenegro. And on top of it, having General Douglas MacArthur giving the keynote speech.
- According to most intro videos, our lowbie characters have to keep the peace on the home front because the armies have gone away to fight the opposite faction on distant battlefields. However:
- Battlegrounds are restricted to pathetic displays of over-regulated and over-ritualized "warfare". Rather than two armies duking it out, one based at Silverwing Hold and the other at Warsong Lumber Mill, we have ten random people, chosen solely for their place in the queue, playing capture-the-#@#%ing-flag? Are our characters nine years old? AB, AV, and EotS are basically the same, except we fight over stationary glowing rags.
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How did we get to where we were today? The root cause is Blizzard changing Alliance and Horde from wholly Good vs. wholly Evil to Morally Ambiguous all-around, and pulled some new wholly Evil enemies.
That was fine as far as WC3 was concerned, but when WoW came out with Alliance and Horde, it kind of screwed things up.
Why? Well, it means both sides cannot justify to turning their full strength against each other, and that is what gets us what we have today. It's far too late now, but I would much rather have had Alliance and Horde be one faction (albeit each side starts at Unfriendly with the other), and make the opposing faction be Scourge or Burning Legion. Then we could see some epic battles.
And this doesn't just extend to lorelol or PvP. It affects every single player throughout all of PvE. Here's why:
- Few overarching storylines, and none of them extend for very far. The Defias Brotherhood is, in my opinion, the best levelling storyline in the game. For people who like stories (an RPG is really just a story where you are the protagonist), this is what keeps them playing, levelling, and paying. Many of us, you'd be surprised, are willing to overlook the grind to a degree when we are kept wanting to see what happens next. Unfortunately, it cuts off abruptly in the mid-30's and is never seen or referenced again.
- Rather than devoting our quests to attacking the opposite faction, maybe 5% of all quests involve this. The rest of the time, we're *##*ing around with a random minor enemy for a couple quest chains, after which we never see them again.
Again, since the RPG is a story, wouldn't it be better for us to integrate everything into far fewer quest chains with better plot and a sense of significance, rather than a thousand disjointed and forgettable minor quests against a thousand unrelated and forgettable minor enemies?
I've seen it stated on these boards that people would like recognition in-game for them to feel proud of in-game accomplishment. Currently, the NPC says "Thanks for ending Minor Threat #357, here's your blue." In a more consolidated quest chain system, it would be much easier to implement in-game recognition for players' accomplishments, and would make it much easier to escalate the enemies, rather than "Kill 10 Darkshore Bears", then "Kill 10 Ashenvale Bears, they're meaner 'cause they're one zone higher", and so on ad infinitum.
- World PvP flourishes in an environment where you're actually rewarded for engaging in it. And the way WoW is now, World PvP only exists in a few forms:
1) Ganking or massacring lowbie towns.
2) Town or City raids which usually get zerged down by endless 70 elite guards and dissolve.
3) Carefully isolated and overregulated PvP areas, like Halaa or the zone towers.
World PvP, at least on PvP servers, could even have been a way to level up without grinding mobs or doing a thousand minor quests.
- The reputation system as we know it could even be scrapped. Rather than say "You don't have enough reputation points with my particular sect of the Cenarion Circle, so you are only worth 2k monies", we could have your faction supply you with items based on your renown, which is in turn based on the overall quality of your service to them. Hell, we could even advance the radical notion that you gear up to prepare for difficult dungeons and raids, instead of getting the loot dropped for you piecemeal during or after the raid.
- Attunements? Out the window. Rather than take a dozen raid dungeons, barely strung together with a tenuous and painfully artificial web of forced plot strands, we apply the same system of escalation straight to the very top.
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That's not to say that Faction vs. Faction should be the only conflict in the game, that'd be boring. The thing is, we need to see players more tied to their home faction, instead of running around in circles doing some odd jobs for their faction, themselves, other factions, and random people.
The "other enemies" of a hypothetical Alliance & Horde vs. Scourge (or Legion) game would include the forces of Illidan, Azshara, the Legion / Scourge (depending on which isn't playable), the Black Dragonflight, and even the whole story surrounding Hakkar.
So what can be done? At this point, nothing at all. However, I hope it causes people to think about this game, and I hope someone on the development team reads this and remembers it when they go to make WoW II.
[ Post edited by Exterminatus ]
Q u o t e:
Anything makes rogues cry.
- Eyonix
https://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1272279374&postId=12717455576&sid=1#8
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1371575260&pageNo=1&sid=1#0 | | |
Poster: Nethaera at 2007-09-07 14:20:27
Subject: Re: My problem with WoW. [Rant Warning] |
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You are assuming that the Horde and Alliance will be buddy buddy in the expansion. I contest that "buddy buddy" can be merely a facade. Alliances with enemies are often far more complicated than they look at first blush and are fragile things.
What more is to come is yet to be seen in Northrend. Old wounds sometimes reopen. Memories become sharper with the reality of the past being brought forth to the present. More about the hows and whys of the battlegrounds and conflicted PvP zone are as of yet to be revealed and it's understandable that people will make their educated guesses on it all based on what they see now. I say wait and see. Perhaps the enemy of your enemy will be your friend and perhaps the enemy of your enemy will still be your enemy too but just tolerated in the right conditions.
There is a story to be told despite the comments of "LoreLOL" that often crop up and it's being worked on and interwoven into Northrend.
*I also thought I'd counter the comment about the "original" development team once again. They are still here and working despite the rumors that crop up.
[ Post edited by Nethaera ]
What we focus on, we empower and enlarge. Good multiplies when focused upon. Negativity multiplies when focused upon. The choice is ours: Which do we want more of?- Julia Cameron
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1371575260&pageNo=1&sid=1#14 |
Poster: Nethaera at 2007-09-07 14:20:27
Subject: Re: My problem with WoW. [Rant Warning] |
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Q u o t e:
Whoa whoa whoa there, ma'am, who let logic dictate their thoughts HERE?
:3
Sorry. :( Sometimes I get carried away with the moment.
What we focus on, we empower and enlarge. Good multiplies when focused upon. Negativity multiplies when focused upon. The choice is ours: Which do we want more of?- Julia Cameron
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1371575260&pageNo=1&sid=1#18 |
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