Let me preface this by saying that I am most definitely a Horde fanboy - more specifically, a Thrall fan.
Now that that's done... I had read Daniel Whitcomb's blog post Varian Wrynn is Right a while back. While I do not agree with how a few topics are presented in a skewed light (although also agreeing with other topics), the subject of this post is not a 'response' or 'review' of the post itself. I may possibly focus on that later. The focus here is more on the responses from many readers.
From my perspective, there is rampant and obvious Alliance fanboyism with no attempt at looking into lore, or at least reading only what they wish to in order to put the golden boy Varian into a positive light. Either that, or they do whatever possible to negate any argument (whether thoughtful and lore-supported or not) presented by those that may try to rationalize or clarify the Horde's actions. Anything that has to do with presenting a positive light about the Horde seems to be immediately attacked by a down-rating of the comment, with occasional responses that may or may not be presented in a logical manner or not actually debating with what was presented. I suppose this can be understood, though. After all, the post is based on why Varian Wrynn's hatred is justified, and presenting several examples to support the case.
To complement the above, I won't try to deny the opposite case - when a lengthy post may be made to put the Horde (or certain characters) in a positive light, with examples to support it, I imagine many comments will be posted to complement it. Of course, probably not as many, since I presume there's more Alliance fans than Horde fans (when speaking of those that appreciate the lore, and not those who only play the Horde cuz tehy r kool).
I know that some of this arguing may seem to be rather ridiculous by a large portion of the population... that is, arguing over the righteousness of either faction in a game world. However, I admit I can enjoy it, when 'facts' or events are presented rationally and the author makes a strong attempt at being unbiased. Personally, I'm not usually one for arguing, but it's usually a pretty clear indication that any opposing debaters won't be swayed from their position when all they do is focus on the negative of the opposing faction, whether true or intensely skewed, and fail to present an argument when an opposing viewpoint is given in a rational, logical manner. Either that, or all previous RPGs have pretty much planted the humans/elves/dwarves=GOOD & orcs/trolls/etc.=BAD (I certainly won't deny Forsaken/BElves being bad, rest assured). I suppose we'll be having some fun seeing attempted rationalizations when both factions have some pretty bad events happening in Cataclysm, and people try to continue to see their faction as only good or the like. Heh heh.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
New NPC Movement
I thought I'd make a quick note on something I've noticed since the patch (4.0.1).
NPC movement is much more smoother, now! Specifically referring to patrolling or walking NPCs. When they turn, they no longer erratically and instantaneously face the new direction. They actually turn to begin going in the new direction! As if it was a PC doing the walking and turning with the keyboard!
Sure, this may be a minor thing to most, but I think it's a very nice touch. Well done, WoWdevs!
NPC movement is much more smoother, now! Specifically referring to patrolling or walking NPCs. When they turn, they no longer erratically and instantaneously face the new direction. They actually turn to begin going in the new direction! As if it was a PC doing the walking and turning with the keyboard!
Sure, this may be a minor thing to most, but I think it's a very nice touch. Well done, WoWdevs!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Rant of the Day: Bloodlust
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Private WoW Servers & RP
I figured I'd post up a similar topic as before, from my old blog.
Something that has kept me curious is how Blizzard views servers that don't have their aims to simply give people access to 'free WoW.' Yes, it is against the ToS. And while a lawful argument cannot be made against that, to what degree will players go to provide an experience for other players that Blizzard cannot give? Sure, private servers will generally be plagued (relatively-speaking) with bugs, broken quests, missing scripting for a lot of events, etc. In my opinion, this essentially acts as free advertising for the real World of Warcraft, and those that are after the experience of perfect scripting and smoother PvE and PvP experiences will probably be inclined to try retail for real.
That said, what about those who are after a moderated roleplay experience? For retail RP servers, there is no moderation, and players are free to roleplay however they see fit. Depending on one's preference for RP, however... this may not be a good thing. People could refer to it as elitism - I'd rather stick to a term like realism. I really don't want to see half the population roleplaying as lore figures' lovechilds or dragons masquerading as Blood Elves or the like. However, that's another topic which I won't go into here. Due to Blizzard not feasibly being able to provide moderation for the various RP servers, they have gone into various states of roleplay - some, like my home server (and notably the release-day or older RP servers) have almost non-existent roleplay, with a fair amount of other players that are actually hostile and belittling to those RPers that dare to do so publicly (on an RP server. Heh, go figure). Other servers seem to have an abundance of RP, but it has been given the derogatory (though appropriate) term "retail RP" (there's a site dedicated to scoping out ridiculous RSP profiles on retail servers, on a similar note - Roleplayer's Lament). Anyhow, I'm sure Blizzard will not see it the way I do, despite not charging any sort of fees or the like.
Regarding private servers in general, it has somewhat surprised me how things have gone the past few years. Initially, when starting the CotH community, I had thought we were the only RP server. I only did a brief Google search, and every site I saw was for servers focused on overpowered PvE or PvP, where people could get the highest-tier equipment (or godlike custom equipment) and go at it against NPCs or each other. Naturally, this wouldn't do for me, so I decided to start my own community. (I'll elaborate on that in a later post) Now, there have been other various RP servers popping up, but all together we don't seem to make a dent against the massive amounts of pure PvE/PvP servers.
Still, for those that prefer a more social experience, or those that like to flex their creativity a bit and not just mindlessly mash hotkeys and buttons, a roleplay server would be ideal. In this regard, the community would be providing a service that Blizzard could never manage as a result of the sheer size and popularity of the game. The goal for me when creating CotH was not to simply provide a free WoW experience, but to create a community that focuses on actual roleplay. With the possibilities a bit more open on a private server, it's the perfect venue to put one's vision into a world to provide a visual aid for RP.
Anyway, if you currently play WoW (or have in the past) and may be getting bored of the endless grind for gear (the game has gotten stale while waiting for Cataclysm to come out), or perhaps you're tired of the lack of decent RP on retail, please feel free to visit Conquest of the Horde! I won't encourage those still paying for retail to cancel their accounts, but it's always good to supplement your RP cravings!
Something that has kept me curious is how Blizzard views servers that don't have their aims to simply give people access to 'free WoW.' Yes, it is against the ToS. And while a lawful argument cannot be made against that, to what degree will players go to provide an experience for other players that Blizzard cannot give? Sure, private servers will generally be plagued (relatively-speaking) with bugs, broken quests, missing scripting for a lot of events, etc. In my opinion, this essentially acts as free advertising for the real World of Warcraft, and those that are after the experience of perfect scripting and smoother PvE and PvP experiences will probably be inclined to try retail for real.
That said, what about those who are after a moderated roleplay experience? For retail RP servers, there is no moderation, and players are free to roleplay however they see fit. Depending on one's preference for RP, however... this may not be a good thing. People could refer to it as elitism - I'd rather stick to a term like realism. I really don't want to see half the population roleplaying as lore figures' lovechilds or dragons masquerading as Blood Elves or the like. However, that's another topic which I won't go into here. Due to Blizzard not feasibly being able to provide moderation for the various RP servers, they have gone into various states of roleplay - some, like my home server (and notably the release-day or older RP servers) have almost non-existent roleplay, with a fair amount of other players that are actually hostile and belittling to those RPers that dare to do so publicly (on an RP server. Heh, go figure). Other servers seem to have an abundance of RP, but it has been given the derogatory (though appropriate) term "retail RP" (there's a site dedicated to scoping out ridiculous RSP profiles on retail servers, on a similar note - Roleplayer's Lament). Anyhow, I'm sure Blizzard will not see it the way I do, despite not charging any sort of fees or the like.
Regarding private servers in general, it has somewhat surprised me how things have gone the past few years. Initially, when starting the CotH community, I had thought we were the only RP server. I only did a brief Google search, and every site I saw was for servers focused on overpowered PvE or PvP, where people could get the highest-tier equipment (or godlike custom equipment) and go at it against NPCs or each other. Naturally, this wouldn't do for me, so I decided to start my own community. (I'll elaborate on that in a later post) Now, there have been other various RP servers popping up, but all together we don't seem to make a dent against the massive amounts of pure PvE/PvP servers.
Still, for those that prefer a more social experience, or those that like to flex their creativity a bit and not just mindlessly mash hotkeys and buttons, a roleplay server would be ideal. In this regard, the community would be providing a service that Blizzard could never manage as a result of the sheer size and popularity of the game. The goal for me when creating CotH was not to simply provide a free WoW experience, but to create a community that focuses on actual roleplay. With the possibilities a bit more open on a private server, it's the perfect venue to put one's vision into a world to provide a visual aid for RP.
Anyway, if you currently play WoW (or have in the past) and may be getting bored of the endless grind for gear (the game has gotten stale while waiting for Cataclysm to come out), or perhaps you're tired of the lack of decent RP on retail, please feel free to visit Conquest of the Horde! I won't encourage those still paying for retail to cancel their accounts, but it's always good to supplement your RP cravings!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Another Blog? Oh Dear...
So, it seems this will be my third attempted blog. My first was over on LiveJournal, which I only made just to be trendy. My second was created, again, more on a whim than anything else. Although, that blog had some useful information that I'll probably carry over to here.
I suppose this particular blog will be more dedicated to my 'work,' so to speak. I have no idea what I'll put here, but at least this is a start! We'll see how it goes.
I suppose this particular blog will be more dedicated to my 'work,' so to speak. I have no idea what I'll put here, but at least this is a start! We'll see how it goes.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)