A Thought On Neutral RP Events

Does that apply if the attendees just happen to be members of races included in the faction, but otherwise aren’t working for the faction? Because I can see your point if it’s an Alliance and Horde soldier at a soirée. But I think there is a lot more wiggle room if they’ll simply members of Alliance and Horde races. Or to push things a bit, even just a passive citizen of the faction.

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It’s never been clarified, but I feel like there’s a lot more wiggle room as far as who is with what faction, than game mechanics suggest.

That is to say, I think it’s more common for an orc to not be part of the Horde, and gnomes not being part of the Alliance. I think it’s also easy to forget that the Alliance and Horde are more than just their respective armies.

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As I have already mentioned, roleplayers are not bound to the faction system. Humans and orcs and night elves and goblins can attend balls together without issue. The problem I have is when willing followers of a genocidal regime and the races they are trying to wipe out of existence hobnob and fraternize. It’s akin to the Witch-king of Angmar taking a break from assaulting Gondor to attend a date auction in the Shire.

I imagine a citizen with the means to attend a tournament or gala halfway across the world would also have the means to defect to one of Azeroth’s many neutral factions or flee to any of Azeroth’s numerous no man’s lands.

I mean is it really fair to say you either self-impose exile, or you’re evil?

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I mean…

Ehhh.

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I dunno, at a certain point, that becomes telling a person what their character is, just because Blizzard can’t write a story.

I mean you’re literally saying “Your character can only live in X Y or Z, or they’re evil.”

After Gilneas, Southshore, Theramore, Ashenvale, Teldrassil, and Brennadam… yes. At the very least your character is more interested in their own comfort and well-being than the lives and freedoms of people who don’t look like them, which is pretty far from any definition of “good”.

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I don’t really think anyone but the role player gets to decide if their character is evil. Or that they have to live certain places or be a part of certain neutral factions, if they don’t want to be evil. It’s not your character to make that decision with.

Edit: To clarify, I don’t mean they get to do horrible things and then say they’re not evil. I just mean living in Ogrimmar and living their life, not hurting anyone else and just trying to make it through every day… that’s not really justification for anyone to force creative decisions on them.

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I mean if you guys think there are situations in which creative freedom should be taken away from others, I can’t stop you.

We are all free to put whatever alignment in our RP profile we want, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to think (or that I’m obliged to think) that it makes sense.

See: all the misogynistic, authoritarian male human paladins who are, supposedly, Lawful Good.

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Okay, like I said, there’s nothing I can do about that. You’re allowed to point and label as you please, and tell people what their characters are. Just like people are allowed to play the account they’re paying for, the way that they want.

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I don’t think a citizen of the Horde needs to necessarily renounce all ties to that faction and identify solely as part of a neutral group to not be complicit in the regime’s crimes.

Take this character for example, she is a fully active Cenarion, but remains a citizen of the Horde as well-- and has no plans to publicly renounce it anytime soon. She has her family to think about after all and the danger it could place them all in. She is able to do the good she can as a Cenarion at the moment, without taking any hasty, unnecessary steps.

Not to mention all those everyday joes who may be well-off enough to travel, but still don’t join neutral factions, because what really can a kitchen houseware merchant offer the Earthen Ring?

Maybe it’s just semantics, but I do think characters can be loyal to the idea of Thrall’s Horde and remain citizens in name only for that reason, while at the same time detracting from Sylvanas’s regime.

But that seems to be another topic altogether.

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You’d think characters who have freely and eagerly aligned themselves with said regime wouldn’t be interested in fraternizing with their enemies and intended victims anyway, though. I know I would find it strange if Orcus McHumankiller abruptly decided to show up for the Grand Gadgetzan Nervous-Grimace Gala with all the folks he otherwise eagerly wants to put in a blender.

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Thank you for graciously acknowledging that I am allowed to continue to think and feel as I please, and that I am allowed to refuse to interact with characters or participate in events for whatever reason.

It makes about as much sense as Throgg Elfeater, Destroyer of Elves, hanging out in Silvermoon City, something that I am told still happens fairly regularly.

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Yeah, that’s a fair point. And a pet peeve of mine since Wrath.

Okay man. Wasn’t trying to be combative. Just saying I don’t think it’s right to be labeling peoples’ characters for them.

The problem is not everyone RPs they are evil on the Horde side and are highly against what Sylvanas is doing and would see her stopped. We literally have two Horde leaders right now who have publicly denounced her and are working against her so there is plenty of room in BfA to play a character like that, why would Alliance not want to team up with them?

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Every time we have these discussions, I feel like we get dangerously close to discussing the role of a country’s citizens in supporting that nation’s crimes, but we always shy away from it.

Which is probably for the best, come to think of it.

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Personally, my characters who are “Horde”, are off doing their own thing. One of them is even actively helping people like Saurfang and Baine.

I do enjoy conflicted characters. Out and out evil ones… I mean that’s not my thing, but people should be able to do it I guess. Things like Cole’s recent RP post are extremely fun to me. Characters that are conflicted.

I would prefer nothing going on right now was… going on. But people should be able to have fun with what we’re given, on their own terms at the very least.

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One of those leaders only denounced her after helping her to burn down a tree full of civilians.

As to why individual members of the Alliance might not want to hang out with the Horde, there are simply too many reasons to list. As to why the Alliance taken as a whole might be uncomfortable with teaming up with the Horde, well… they’ve kind of already tried that. There’s also the massive pile of smoldering night elf bodies people are trying really hard to ignore.