“Four years have passed since the moral races banded together and stood united against the might of the Burning Legion. Though Azeroth was saved, the tenuous pact between the Horde and the Alliance has all but evaporated. The drums of war thunder once again.”
If you’ve ever watched the original World of Warcraft trailer, those words should sound familiar. They set the atmosphere of a brutal feud between the game’s two opposing factions, and suggested that players choose wisely when picking the side they would play.
At least that was the plan. In all honesty, this “feud” turned out to be more playful banter than a great war. Your choice of faction did, and still does, of course, significantly alter gameplay quest-wise. But the differences between Horde and Alliance were never as big as they should have been from the start.
Having said that, there the differences between the two factions were significant when the game was released. If you wanted to play a Paladin, you simply had to play Alliance. If, on the other hand, you wanted to play a Shaman, you had to roll Horde. Naturally, Horde and Alliance played in different zones and only met in contested territories.
As soon as The Burning Crusade arrived, sadly, Blizzard took steps towards eliminating the already weak war-atmosphere. The Alliance received its first non-human-like race, and the Horde received its first race remotely resembling a human. This ensured that should you want to play a “pretty” race, you need not have to pick Alliance and vice versa. Most importantly, however, the faction-specific classes became no longer faction-specific, as the Horde was granted the ability to roll Paladins and the Alliance Shamans.
Whilst the new setup did make for a more convenient gameplay experience, it in essence betrayed the very foundations of what is World of Warcraft. No longer does one’s choice of faction grant any major gameplay possibilities and remove others. It’s been reduced to a mere cosmetic choice that alters the storyline, but still results in the same ending to the major storyline.
In my opinion Blizzard would do well to reinstate significant faction-specific features and possibilities in upcoming patches and expansions, as the Horde and the Alliance seem to have gone soft on each other.
Discuss the the lack of War in Wold of Warcraft in the forums
Loading ...
