Project Lore

As you may have noticed this week, the guys are running lowbie Horde characters - quite a departure from the Alliance toons they usually run. Watching them run RFC as Horde is a real treat because, from my perspective, it shows that WoW is a fun game for both 'sides'. But as you and I are both aware, there is a dark side to WoW, a dark side far more angry and divisive than anything in Sunwell or Icecrown, and for some, it begins the first second they create a toon. It may not have been talked about before as candidly as I am about to and I think this week is the perfect time to discuss it and how it relates to this life lesson. As you know, there are two main 'sides' or factions in World of Warcraft: The Horde and the Alliance. These two side are pitted against each other by the forces of fate seemingly set in motion to create conflict and instability throughout the entire WoW universe. And it is in this illusion of opposition that cultivates perspectives which foster in some an unusual hatred of the 'opposing' faction. I have know some Alliance players who unilaterally vilify the Horde as all being monsters bent on destroying all that is sacred to the World of Azeroth, somehow believing that it is their duty to eradicate all Horde on sight. I also know some people who play Horde who believe that the Alliance is filled with do-gooders, pompous elitists, essentially zealots, bent on purging thought any means all those unlike themselves. These perspectives are from RL people who actually see other RL people who play opposing factions as enemies based solely on a story told to them, a story which basically says those not like you are the enemy. All of this stems from basic misunderstandings and cultural stories based on inference and conjecture rather than direct experience and personal evaluation which unfortunately escalated into open conflict. Being primarily an Alliance player, I know the lore and stories I have been told about the Alliance and their heroic efforts. I have been ingrained with stories of the Horde as the 'evil' ones and that it is 'my duty' to destroy the Horde whenever possible. But over time, I have met several Horde players in game that were kind and generous to me even when I was on a PVP server that made me reconsider all of those stories I was told about the 'evils' of the Horde. While I have never played a Horde character for any substantial length of time, I can appreciate some of the stories of a few of the Horde races. From watching the opening cinematics of each of the Horde races and playing a Horde toon up a few levels, most of them seems to be races of people thrown into conflict and doing their best to survive the circumstances thrust upon them. Paramount to their struggle is trying to change the perception by the Alliance, somewhat based on purely visual cues or the manipulation by others upon them, that they are essentially monsters while in truth they are just a race of peoples doing their best to survive. It also seems to me that the Alliance may be misunderstood by the Horde as well. The Horde may not understand how deeply the Alliance was affected by the events of the past perpetrated by an essentially mind-controlled group of peoples manipulated to do the bidding of another. Maybe the Horde's main struggle against the Alliance is to get the Alliance to understand that those horrible events of the past were not their true intention and that they just wish to live their life. While I know I will never play a Horde toon again, I can see why some are drawn to those races. I can appreciate why someone would choose to have their character's backstory be that of the Orcs or Tauren or any of the other Horde races. All of this points to a greater concern within the World at large, the RL world that we all venture into from time to time, usually on Tuesday mornings. If everything is, as I believe it is, a microcosm and macrocosm to everything else, than this game of WoW shows how some - only some - use inaccurate stories, limited perspectives and general omission of facts to create divisions and conflicts between peoples. The only way these falsehoods can be lifted is through direct experience and personal evaluation based upon internal criteria rather than external dogma or consensus. There are many people on this planet, many people, with many perspectives and beliefs and interests that it's a wonder small groups of us can agree on anything. Some would say that there are more than two factions in RL while I would say that there are none. It depends on your perspective. Do you choose to see disharmony or potential? Do you choose to see adversaries or opportunities? What do you choose to see? So here's the challenge to you, to put this life lesson into action, and it will only take one hour. Would you be willing to run a toon on a different faction up to level 10? Would you be willing to do that? And if you do, let me know what you think. It's only one hour, but that hour may change your perspective of your entire world. At least , that's my perspective.

Click to read more ...