Lightblindness in rp?

Moon Guard
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What are people’s thoughts on this recent addition to the lore and will you incorporate it in rp, stories, characters, etc?

Personally I treat it a bit like shadowlands lore and choose to just ignore it. I’ve a zealous light forged draenei character for example that would fit with their attitude and behavior, tho at the same time it just feels cheap and screams overdone mind control. Feels more compelling to have them be that way by choice and opens up room to grow past that as a character.

Lightbloom is a bit more interesting, but technically just another flavor of lightblindness at the end of the day.

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I highly doubt most folks’ characters who could get afflicted with it are likely to be a situation where they would. From what I’ve heard about it, it seems like it’s extremely situational, therefore I see no reason to really worry about it, much less outright ignore it.

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I am glad to report that lightblindness has been in RP for years now, particularly from the HMP population. It’s only now that we actually have a term for it (Thanks Midnight)

Of course since now we have a term for it and it is framed as objectively morally bad, the same HMP population that’s been nothing but raging, friendly firing zealots for years now seems to have been cured of it overnight. Odd.

:thinking:

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I think it’s cheap revisionist moral relativism, but I’m also not super worried about it because the lore has been going down hill since Wrath and my char isn’t dependent on the Light enough that it should reasonably be in danger.

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I’ve opted to treat all the Light stuff as circumstantial at best. Sure we have Lightbloom and other issues, but my LF Draenei handwaves it more as a “You all made a giant motherfluffering hole in the planet and gnawed on a Naaru in said hole for Light power for a bit, plus Void forces are here with the drained energy of a Void lord and we’re using that Light Hole to keep them at bay. Obviously there’s going to be some problems. It’s you. You are the problems”.

She treats it as giving an absolutely gigantic cannon to a small child, and is not surprised when the child both fails to lift it and hurts themselves trying. Also, plants aren’t people, that fern over there doesn’t have ‘conviction’ in anything except, potentially, in being a plant. She ultimately concludes “The Light is strong but people are weak” and leaves it at that.

I cannot for the life of me figure out what HMP stands for.

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Human male paladin.

AKA: “I am above moral failings and can only be right about everything.”

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Human Male Paladin.

It’s worth a mention that Lightblindness is a particular kind of affliction, like people getting super infested with the Void or Fel or Fire any other energy source, that isn’t being presented as the only source of zealotry that a character could feel.

It’s a specific set of circumstances where someone might overindulge with Light energy too much, or have it forced on them, that has effects on them like too much any other energy in the Warcraft universe. Not all devout zealotry is Lightblindness…sometimes people are just jerks independent of the forces of the universe :rofl:

I haven’t seen anyone playing with the concept yet, probably because they don’t want to get immediately dogpiled with people trying to instantly “cure” them, but I can see where it might be an interesting hook to toy with!

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It is literally no different than any other form of magical corruption. All they’ve done is made it apparent that the Light is not an exception to the rule that too much magic is generally a bad thing.

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Personally I like the concept. As Zakary mentioned nothing is above becoming a danger. I love Warriors the lack of magic and we stand on our own casting “fist”. There are so many people out there, that have to have it all, noble warmage with armor of the titans that can move just as fast as trained warriors and spams arcane spells for days!

Magic should never be the ultimate I WIN button everytime, all the time. Almost every magic type has given rise to villians. And news flash the Lights been making villians since Vanilla. So I like it!

Take that NERDS! (This message is approved by your local Warrior)

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As a rogue I usually just blind people with my pocket sand.

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This is the correct answer. Innovation at its finest!

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Pocket Sand! Shh-shh-shah!

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Usually something like, “Oh no, not the Light! Not the Light! Aaaaah! My eyes! It’s in eyes! Aaaaahhhhhhhh!”

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My doctor said I can’t get light or pudding in my eyes.

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For my part in support of Nik here as well, I’m really quite surprised people are treating this like it’s a new thing. Zealotry has been rampant in universe since before World of Warcraft was a thing. It being a form of magical corruption just feels more like an allusion to single-mindedness being generally unhealthy for a welcoming and progressing society.

Also it’s existed in lore before without a name as well. Lightforging and the alternate draenor equivalent have been shown to be able to radically change the mental state of the subject. This is just that happening by accident rather than on purpose.

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My two cents as to why is because generally, the Light itself had nothing to do with it since the scarlets had zealots among their forces of hunters, warriors, mages and so on. It was a basic human experience that light users could also experience, since they draw on power through conviction.

Not everyone enjoys RPing corruption that is just 'everything you actually are is overwritten to just be a bad guy of the week" which is kind of what lightblindedness is. I’d also argue it’s not like every other form of magical corruption, because while those influence you, there’s also a pretty clear path and trajectory to their existence that kinda justifies the story?

Whereas idk how you can reconcile Turalyon’s characterization, for example, with the fact they literally wrote him coming to believe Xe’ra was wrong and saying “But we should let it guide us, not command us. We also have our own minds and hearts. We should make use of those as well.” verbatim. It doesn’t feel like the natural progression of his character, imo, so Lightblindedness in turn seems to have no interaction with your history nor your personality nor anything about you besides “light guy, check” lol.

Especially when blizzard is kinda largely ignoring the corruptive aspects of of neutral/good forces like arcane magic in modern lore when it was supposed to be way more inherently dangerous than the light itself, but the last time they acknowledged it, it was framed as primal dragons being boomers lmao. If you do a lot of headcanon to connect dots for blizzard, (which as RPers is cool but it shouldn’t be used to justify blizzards ideas for them because they have paid writers and we pay to even play) maybe the Haranir and their struggle with their emotions in their vision stuff is a callback to the old Savagekin lore about the risk of nature magic?

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"Lightblindness” And “Zealotry” are the most shallow, garbage devices in rp.

The writers of the game couldnt do it convincingly, and I haven’t seen a single rper portray it in a way that doesn’t feel stilted, awkward and hollow.

That’s because everyone is missing the key ingredient:

WoW’s brand of “Zealotry” is just one of the many faces of clinical narcissism.

So if you’re going to portray a WoW “zealot” the only way to do it, is to play a character who is a socially paranoid manipulator keeping up appearances of holiness by condemning others.

That’s a genuine character idea, rping a broken person will take you on a JOURNEY. Light blindness is garbage.

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What the writing of “Lightblindedness” and individuals such as Nik seem to misunderstand is that while the “angry paladin” trope has existed for years, it has never been the product of a literal blinding by magic.

When Illidan goes on about being “blinded” by faith, it is not a literal corruption of purpose by the Light as a cosmic force. It is a commentary on one choosing to throw themself into dogmatic thinking. When the Scarlet Crusade goes on a cleansing rampage of Lordaeron, it isn’t because the Light made them do it, but because they are paranoid about everyone who isn’t them being cursed or infected by the Plague, essentially just the Culling of Stratholme on repeat.

The flaws of the holy are about human motivations and failings, not about what magic does to people. When Uther counsels Arthas against seeking vengeance, it’s not a commentary that the Light will take over and make you crazy, it’s about the fact you cannot be just in the same act as seeking bloodshed. To be a paladin requires you to be above such a dark calling, and to embrace that kind of thinking is how one begins to fail in their purpose.

Zealotry and vengeance are indeed common writing tropes for paladin characters, but it’s because those are already the existing foils to lawfulness and justice that exist in countless other stories. Paladins are still thinking people at the end of the day and equally capable of dark thoughts and impulses as everyone else, and what makes their story interesting - what makes being good interesting - is how one can keep their balance against that temptation.

It’s not about if it’s possible for Light to corrupt, because of course it is, like any magic can. It’s just really, really boring.

To frame all these old stories as just being “Lightblinded” and affected by magic cheapens their human element and what makes them interesting. Furthermore, as a roleplayer, I care about your character’s journey and beliefs, not whether or not the big scary magic is mind controlling them.

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It’s not the ‘angry paladin’ trope I refer to, those exist even to today. Throughout my RP tenure I have had run into individuals where conversations and actions have taken place where they are exact word for word, dialogue virtually lifted from Lothraxxion and the Lightblind paladins bosses.

Of course, the owners of those characters never used the word ‘Lightblind’ because the word just wasn’t coined and they never explicitly stated “the Light did it via magical influence’“.

But me knowing those characters they pretty much fit the Lightblind conditions of 1) completely infused by the Light, 2) not insane on everything but 3) the moment the void or anything dark is brought up it is like the gear shifts and those characters and legit there has been RP where they forgo the well being of every friendly character in the vicinity just so they can ‘banish the void’. And if anyone spoke up against them it is literally, word for word, “you have been blinded by the void”, “it MUST be purged”, “you make excuses for your friend’s misdeeds (said friend did nothing but beyond being a shadow priest”.

The only thing they did not display, is the momentarily ‘awakening’ you see in the three lightblind bosses where they showed signs of mental fatigue of “what is happening to me?!” before doubling down - they just go straight to doubling down.

It is amazing for me to see it now put down canonically years later.

If you want actual lore-wise examples we’ve had them as Nazgul said.

When you do the Legion campaign you see hints of it where the high anchorite of the LIghtforged army openly says she would much prefer killing demons than saving her allies but since orders were orders, oh well. Which already sounds… quite morally questionable.

And then you have the draenei on AU Draenor for the Mag’har allies race where you actually see normal captured prisoners suddenly being infused by the Light and BOOM - all turned into mind controlled drones that literally is the reason why Mag’har came to Azeroth.

They called those “Lightbound”, but on an execution level it’s… Lothraxxion but orcs and draenei.

So this isn’t a new concept. Blizzard just pulled it from the side lane, dumped it into main street and gave it a polish.

In terms of current RP, there has already been a few cases of Lightblinded individuals causing damage in Stormwind City and had to be taken in/remedied/cured. So it’s there already. BUT, not that common (yet?)

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My problem with Lightblindedness being compared to base zealotry is that the Lightbloom now exists.

Blizzard CLEARLY intends for them to be connected via the Light, implying that the Light is less ‘good’ than it seems.

Maybe ‘implying’ isn’t the best word considering how hamfisted their approach to writing it has been, though. Arator’s entire quest line is all about him questioning the nature of the Light and service to it.

Can’t wait for the ‘surprise’ next villain to be the Arathi.