The Ethics of Mining Rep
There comes a point in every player’s career when they have to start dealing with the Timbermaw. It’s the only good way to get into Winterspring, and that means grinding reputation with the Timbermaw so they won’t beat the stuffing out of you when you try to go through Timbermaw Hold. But, did you ever stop to think that it’s a wonderfully keen analogy for Mid-East Oil Relations?
Think about it. The Timbermaw have a strategic resource that we need: access through their territory to Winterspring from Felwood. In exchange for that access we have to run around slaying their enemies and kowtowing to their needs. It’s a marvelously disturbing little moment when you realize that you’re essentially helping them engage in genocide in exchange for passage rights. Sure, they seem to respawn endlessly, but in exchange for doing their dirty work, you get a convenience.
Disturbing, no?
Then we rogues must be those bent on breaking our oil dependency. Taking the hit of driving hybrids while they’re still expensive while oil-heads grouse about not being able to drive their SUV or whatever non-forward-looking concerns get up their butt.
I spent at least a couple of levels stealthing about halfway through and sprinting out the other side, and when clearing the tunnel, a vanish to shake off the last few chasers.
And now, I fly in and out, avoiding those tunnel-barrons altogether.
Disturbing? You can reach for any analogy you want, seek and ye shall find.
From the official Burning Crusade site “The isolationist elves took little interest in the events of the Second War. Nevertheless, they provided the Alliance of Lordaeron with token support, for the last descendent of King Thoradin, Lord Anduin Lothar, commanded the Alliance military forces. The high elves had not forgotten their pledge.
Then the Horde recruited Amani trolls into its ranks. Shortly thereafter, the Horde burned down the borderlands of Quel’Thalas and slaughtered many high elf civilians. Furious at this wanton destruction of life, the elves subsequently committed all their resources to the war.”
These events mirror events on earth as well, all you need is the infamy speech. Hows that for analogies? The Orcs were Nazis.
I think it’s pretty easy to find analogies from vidoe games to real life, as well as real life to past real life. There’s only so many motivations to commit crimes, and people have been around long enough to cover all of them by now. Usually at least once or twice in an event everybody has heard of.
I so wished I could have stealthed through the TimberMaw guantlet as I had no intension of working for faction to pass through. Nope, no patience. I ran that guantlet with my pally–using my holy shield and finally dying close enough to the exit to rez and get the heck outa there. But Michael? I don’t think that makes us “breaking our dependency on oil,” rather we’ve simply taken what we wanted from the cartel–who cares what they want in return–making us more like imperialists than environmentalists. So now, I too simply avoid the tunnel-barons.
Anon
I’m still hated with the Timbermaw. I just ran through the cave feigning death until I got to Winterspring.
Well when I first went into the cave, I had the fortunate event of finding a Paladin wacking away at the bears. So I didnt see much resistence, and walked away with out a scratch.
And to add to the analogys, I was always compared Iron Fordge (Lag Fordge) to Russias, when the French and the Germans attacked. If the Horde where to raid Iron Fordge they would end in failure cause of all the lag it would produce. Similar to how the French and Germans where defeated by the harsh winters.
What about the Desolace quests that requires you kill one of the Centaur factions in order to gain reputation with the other?
That is twisted and so close to real life….
Dudes, it’s World of WARcraft, not Hugs-and-puppiescraft. It’s meant to be a little disturbing. You’re collecting stacks of fricking centaur ears for crissake.