Growing Up Horde, Part I
So, in the process of our Metroblogging Azeroth introductions to each other, Jonas Luster and I got in a heated back and forth regarding Alliance and Horde players. Who they are as people, why they choose a particular faction, etc. I got my feelings hurt, I’ll be honest — although that may just be because I’m a wussy Alliance Night Elf. However, after stepping back from it for a week or so to think about it, I decided to take Jonas up on his challenge: level a Horde character to at least 30, and see how you feel.
And it’s a fair request; play the game from both sides from more than a “Hey, lemme check out Undercity” kind of view, and really have an unbiased opinion. So I started a new character and joined up with our sister Horde guild. She’s a Troll Hunter — and while this is the class I play on the Alliance side, I wanted to play something that I could level easily and really enjoy the content on the Horde side. (Plus, I am all about some hunter.)
Very first impression? Troll animations are sweet. Like, seriously sweet. Although my dance makes me feel like I should be wearing patchouli and listening to Widespread Panic, it beats the pants off the NE hooker dance any day of the week, and it’s nice to actually look like you’re dodging when you dodge. Also, I love my feet. They are sturdy feet and I’m convinced that they will serve me well. So, anyways…
…it was all fun and games until I hit… a whopping level four. I’m heading to the The Den to turn in some quests and here comes a level 60 Paladin in Tier 1 gear from a large raiding guild on the Alliance side, wiping out guards left and right. Soon he’s joined by a 60 Warrior wearing Tier 1/Tier 2 gear. If they were just wandering around offing guards it would be one thing, but the newbie players who didn’t know what was going on were getting flagged because they were trying to help, and they were being corpse-camped and killed, over and over again. This bothered me a lot, this introduction to WoW on a PvE server, so I switched over to my Alliance character, asked them to leave, and was given some choice words in return.
When I logged back into the Horde side, there were now 5 level 60’s killing guards and low-levels — in the starting area. If you’re not familiar with the Horde side, this is the equivalent of having 5 level 60s in MC/BWL gear killing level 1 and 2 characters in Northshire Abbey. WTF, mate? So I did a /who We No, and enlisted the help of Oolaki, one of my favorite folks in We No. She rallied up some troops in Local Defense, and headed our way. They came, they summoned, they kicked arse. For the most part, everyone was nice about it — they were here to “watch over the kids” so to speak, and it was not so much about kicking Alliance ass as it was protecting the young. I won’t say there was absolutely no “ZOMG Allience sux killz them!”, but it wasn’t the same as when the Horde show up in Astranaar and Alliance comes to whoop up on them.
So, for now, that’s my only basis for comparison. It’s an interesting one though, and I look forward to experiencing more as I continue to level. I’m still a baby, a baby that will probably need to cry for Oolaki on occasion for some time to come, but I can’t wait to be all growed up. I certainly don’t believe in ALL the Alliance sterotypes that have been thrown at me by Jonas and other Horde, however I can see where they come from, and the behavior of those five in Durotar this weekend is embarrassing.
/bow
Welcome to it.
I think that there is something about this game that locks you into your first main. Even though I have a lvl 60 Alliance ‘lock. MY MAIN will always be Sabocat(Tauren Warrior). And some part of me will always be Horde even while I’m pwning with Horde in PvP.
I think it’s great you ar giving the Horde a real try though. It’s nice to see the world from the other side of the coin.
Just try not to end up first on this list. http://azeroth.metblogs.com/glossary/
Warning: the Barrens are endless even compared to STV. :)
*sigh* My main is Horde, but I’ve been playing as a Dwarf Hunter recently – up to lvl 32. Whenever I go into battlegrounds, I always feel a little sad when I see the Taurens on the field, maybe even a little homesick for the fields of Mulgore. But what I did like about switching sides was seeing new areas, exploring Ironforge and Stormwind, etc. Not only did I switch fractions, but I moved to a PvP server. That was the biggest change!
I leveled a night elf rogue up to level 42 before losing interest and starting over with a troll mage. I definately like the Horde side better, but I think it’s a matter of population more than anything else — with so many Alliance characters, there simply have to be more jerks _on_ at any given time.
I’ve mentioned this once or twice before but my first toon was a Dwarf Warrior which I lvl’d up to almost 30. Most of the 20’s I was debating if I wanted to keep playing because there was something that wasn’t jiving well with me. I set up a horde toon and right away and noticed the same kind of thing you are mentioning here. After playing horde for a while I tried to go back to Alliance a few times and the differences were so obvious that I just couldn’t do it. I think Thud makes a good point as well.
I started out as Alliance (on a pve server) and got somewhere in my 40s before I decided to roll up a priest with some old internet friends as Horde on another server (also pve). I wanted to play Horde for something new, and also to pvp. As horde there was almost always Alliance attacking us somewhere, TM more often than not, and so there was a regular stream of WD notices and action. I enjoyed it.
I think what I really liked about Horde vs. Alliance was that the characters weren’t trying to be pretty or cool looking. It felt like people were there to play their characters and be good at them, not just to coast through and look good.
That’s how I play. I can’t bring myself to play a NE for long anymore. When I do I just feel so… preppy for lack of a better word.
I’ve got an undead mage, troll priest and orc hunter to compliment my NE hunter (my main), gnome mage and NE druid.
If I weren’t in an Alliance raiding guild, I’d likely be playing Horde all the time. There’s only so many hours in a day, and it would eat up too much of my life to play both sides effectively.