Race vs Faction. Which one do you identify with?

Lore Story Forum
21

This is pretty much me. I really loved the class focus of Legion.

But Death Knight is my favorite thing about Warcraft, period.

So, you know. Two cents.

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22

Certainly race stands out with the majority of options we have. The only ones I see faction over races are Humans, Orcs, Void Elves, Magā€™har. They each either so devoid of characteristics, (humans and void elves) or are so central to the faction (humans, and both orcs) that I find it difficult to see the race behind the faction identity. Of course I can if I look hard enough, but it is not something I recognize compared to seeing a Night Elf, Blood Elf, Forsaken, Draenie, Dwarf, ect ect. Though even then I see the Alliance races more cohesive and homogenized than the Hordeā€™s.

i really donā€™t think you give the Horde much of a fair shake when compared to the racial/national uniqueness and exclusivity of the Alliance that you had used.

Specifically in the leveling, and its certainly important to what system you are referring to when you say you can get to lv 40, is the strong narratives each race has. While one can be pushed into another raceā€™s theme (are dwarves and gnomes not forced into the humansā€™?) they can retain their uniqueness. More so, if you even move just a little south of Thunder Bluff on the map, youā€™d be hard pressed to find any orcish architecture (minus Desolation Hold).

The examples you give need to be compared more carefully. Its apples to oranges when you compare Night Elves vs Kalimdor Horde, especially in Darkshore. Theyā€™re both fruit, but its not really the same there. There is a power balance that must be addressed, history, culture.

23

Class, mainly.
Race after that, then faction very distantly after that. But when I make a new character my first thought is always ā€œWhat class do I want?ā€ not race.

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24

Iā€™ve always been a Night Elf first and Alliance second. I tied playing a human once and couldnā€™t really get into it but when back in 07 when I tried a Night Elf I feel completely in love. That cultural identity is just beautiful. I loved that I was able to quest for so long within that identity. I usually felt a disconnect once I had to leave those areas, starting with Stonetallon Mountians.

I wish we could get some of that back because the narrative has switched over time to more common faction enemy and full faction focused stories.

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25

I identify with neither

The ā€œhumanā€ race is a bunch of pantiwaists with a few outspoken individuals that canā€™t get their message across to the head leadership that nothing will change and continue to stalemate.

I donā€™t identify with the faction for the EXACT SAME REASONS as mentioned above.

Until both the Alliance and Horde are killed off in its entirety and the ashes of both join together, the same tired story will continue to repeat.

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26

Definitely race for me. Blood Elves were the race that finally interested me enough to try WoW. I adore everything about their lore and aesthetic. Iā€™m only Horde because thatā€™s the side that lets me play a Blood Elf. Otherwise, in general I do not care the the Horde aesthetic or lore (I donā€™t like orcs or mud huts), and I certainly do not care for the current Warchief.

27

Blood Elf then Blood Knight then Horde.

Blood Elves were my favorite group in WC3, along with WC3 Kaelthas.

When I was deciding what I would play then I came to Paladin mostly because their the closest class to a Spell Sword/Mage Knight, which is my preferred style. The Blood Elf Paladins had the most interesting take on the Light, where it wasnā€™t purely religion and faith, and had enough gray to not be too White Knight.

Mind you if Spell Breaker was a playable class that would have been a harder choice between the two.

Side Note: I would say the other Horde races have grown on me some as my initial impression of Trolls/Goblins were far worse before playing the game and experiencing more of their culture/lore. The Horde as a whole though, not really, mostly since it needs more Blood Elf aesthetics mixed in with the primitive style of the more savage Horde races.

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28

:thinking:

Iā€™m surprised to see this thread going so well!

But anywayā€¦

Iā€™m an odd one, I am mostly drawn to the fictional religions more than faction and race. I am fascinated by the Light and the differences in how each race approaches it.

I like the Draenei design and history, but because the naaru and the church both share the same ideals and the 3 virtues are also the cornerstone of the Alliance identity, Iā€™ve never felt there was an either/or choice to make.

Light be with you!

29

I identify as Horde all the way. (WC3ā€™s Horde is why I like this game, and regret how long it has taken us to introduce races that fit the ā€œNoble Savageā€ culture of the Horde.)

I can barely tolerate playing Alliance. The shorter queues from Merc mode sure are nice though. :weary:

30

Definitely class, Iā€™ve always identified with retpal. I canā€™t say which one would come first though race or faction as I love playing both sides. I have love for all the races, mostly the pre-MoP ones

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31

alteraci traitor!

32

Quite the opposite, my friend. Blizzard has consistently undermined faction unity for the Alliance.

Just look at the current faction leaders. Anduin cares more about restoring the Orcsā€™ ā€œhonorā€ than about driving them out of the night elven lands and destroying them. Magni likewise couldnā€™t care less about the Horde depredations or the burning of Teldrassil. Historically, Malfurion has never cared about the Alliance or about Alliance races; he seems to value night elf lives lower than random vegetation. Tyrande has typically followed Malfurion, and even now when she has finally seen that the Horde are a real threat, she refuses to coordinate with the Alliance.

The Alliance exists only in opposition to the Horde. When the Alliance leaders often seem to care as much about the Horde as about the Alliance, how can you expect a unified Alliance?

If Blizzard wants factional pride on the Alliance side, they need to write Alliance leaders as desiring the destruction of the Horde, not looking on them as ā€œjust misunderstoodā€.

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33

I feel identify is too strong a word for me, but overall I felt more attached to the horde in general over just playing a troll. The race has never been a big deal to me; I just like it because of the hadoken animation and lanky look. But darkspear in general always seemed unimportant to the game as a whole. They were just a fishing village of nobodies and never moved on past that, so thereā€™s no real identity to them that I can see beyond making drug jokes with their accent.

Tauren strike me as being similar, except with a fig leaf of the game pretending theyā€™re more important than they really are with the druid ties. I almost went with tauren druid as my first character years ago. Only reason why I didnā€™t was because my friends liked to jokingly call me a furry and I didnā€™t want to encourage it.

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34

I think Iā€™m in a unique position as someone who mains a Pandaren. I remember when I started out, I picked Pandaren as my first character and decided Iā€™d let the starting zone decide what faction Iā€™d play on. I ultimately ended up on Horde.

Which was surprising to me when I started out. I had come from another MMO with a similarly split faction system. You started as a green, Neutral faction and your decisions pushed you to Blue or Red, but you could stay as Green if you were careful. And in that game, I was a pretty hardcore Blue supporter. Blue had stone castles with heavy Abrahamic religious vibes. Red had the mud huts, martial strength, and shamanistic religions.

So, I had expected to end up going home with the Alliance, which seemed at least aesthetically similar to the Blue faction.

But, over time, I believe I started identifying equally as Pandaren as with the Horde (and prior to Legionā€™s handling of priests, I identified pretty heavily as my class, too).

And when it comes to the Horde, I donā€™t necessarily think thatā€™s because ā€œthe Horde is a monolithā€ as the OP posits, but the fact that Iā€™ve come to like each race in the Horde.

I empathize so much with the Forsaken and adore their dark vibes. I love the sweeping majesty of the Blood Elf architecture, their tragic backstory, and most of their surprisingly fleshed out cast. The orcā€™s story of struggling to seek redemption speaks to me on a personal level. The vast variety of troll cultures fascinates me and gosh, donā€™t even get me started on how Volā€™jin was personally responsible for a number of troll alts. Every time I interact with goblins, theyā€™re delightful and funny. And the Tauren? I admit I care more about them because of the Tauren players Iā€™ve played with over the years. Theyā€™re always people that are just bursting with love and gentleness. I remember one of them taking me out to Mulgore one night and just showing me all of his favorite places.

I love and care about all of these races and Iā€™m sure, over time, Iā€™ll come to love the allied races just as passionately. So, when I say ā€œFor the Horde!ā€ Iā€™m saying it because I like the parts as much as the whole and I find the whole more perfect because of the parts.

And when I play the Alliance, I donā€™t feel that. I have no passion for most of the races within the Alliance. I donā€™t care about the dwarves outside of Moira. I find most of the humans interchangeable and infinitely dull. Gnomes are cute, but most of the time, I find them pretty one-note. And Night Elves just donā€™t have a lot of themes that I really enjoy. At one time, the Worgen interested me, but it feels like everything that fascinated me about them is gone.

So, yeah, when I play the Alliance, Iā€™m only playing because of the race Iā€™m playing. I like the Lightforged and some of that is because they capture the feel of that ā€œBlueā€ faction I used to play in my old MMO. I like the Void Elves because they feel like a ā€œHordeā€ story with Alliance paint. Theyā€™re struggling for acceptance while fighting the control of powers far greater than them. And Pandaren, because, well, I still love that race even with different color transmog options.

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35

Iā€™m a human foot man at heart. I just want to stab orcs. Lotharā€™s my idol. Dont really care about races or factions as long as I get to slice some orcs up.

36

Iā€™m definitely an orc first. I play Horde because thatā€™s where orcs are, although youā€™re somewhat right that ā€œorcsā€ and ā€œHordeā€ are almost interchangeable. But yes Iā€™ll always play a character based on their race first and then figure everything else out later. Itā€™s why I have a ton of orcs and night elves, and a few more trolls and draenei, and will probably never have a gnome or a blood elf. I play the races Iā€™m interested in and go from there.

37

Nelfs first for me. Never been an Alliance enthusiast.

38

The Alliance is anā€¦ Alliance, of proper Kingdoms. The Horde was mostly the beaten survivors of much larger groups. A couple clans of Orcs, a single tribe of Trolls, a single tribe of Tauren. Then later, the Forsaken who had absolutely no chance of being accepted by the Alliance. So, for them the Horde is much more of an identity. Or at least was. Now theyā€™re just relegated to being the Lich King 2.0ā€™s minions.

39

This is perfect and I feel the same way. Iā€™ve mained a Troll for almost as long as Iā€™ve been playing but it was never my core identity. I love and play all the races in the Horde though I do tend to gravitate more towards Troll, Elves, Forsaken, and Goblins. So I identify mostly as a Horde player rather than a Troll player. It helps that since Iā€™ve been playing Iā€™ve only ever mained Horde characters. I have Alliance alts but I only play them basically every other expansion and really only have 1 that I level up to see the story (which really wasnā€™t necessary in Legion other than like a couple quests in Stormheim). My Alliance character is just a mirror of my Horde main, same class and spec lol.

40

My Scarlet friends arent even in the Alliance and we like the Alliance. This is the problem. I would like to propose that the Scarlet Circus be given the night elves spot in the Alliance.

Theyd all die out then, try as much as the Goldshire Nelves might, they just arent producing enough children to survive.

OMG I JUST SOLVED WHY THERE ARE SO MANY KALDOREI IN GOLDSHIRE.

#canon

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