Bad to the Bone

(EDIT: Since publishing this post, a friend has pointed out problems with this post. That being said, what may follow may be weird and unnecessary to some readers. So pointing that out doesn't make you a genius...

....Becuase I beat you to it! Ha!)



Had a laugh in watching these week’s Zero Punctuation. Far be it from me to recommend someone away from these words but seeing Yahtzee tear into World of Warcraft Cataclysm was a treat indeed. Somehow, I can’t help but think the declaration of ‘Fuck the Alliance’ may be cause for Blizzard to consider some incentive to make people reconsider joining the Horde.

I’ve never played Wow and I don’t see any reason to start – personally I like games that have at least some kind of goal to make all the hours invested in the game worth it in the end. To do the same thing over and over again (which is pretty much what RPG’s usually entail) but no destination in mind doesn’t really sit well with me.
Of course, this may make me the wrong choice to talk about WOW but sometimes, an outsider’s view can make a whole world of difference (pun most certainly intended).



As is my understanding, players of Wow are divided into two groups: Alliance and Horde. The former are ‘goodies’ and the latter are ‘baddies’. As a result, the Horde commands the larger number of players and anyone in the Alliance is considered a pansy.

Many games these days usually present the option to players, through their actions, be a good guy or a bad guy. But it would seem that no game commands more appeal to be a bad guy than World of Warcraft. Thus the Horde outclasses the Alliance in Warrior Classes, Weaponry and Spells. Seems the Devil really does have the better toys.
True playing the bad guy in a video game is escapism at work offering the player to do things they wouldn’t normally do in their real life but I’m not sure what offering the option of doing either is meant to accomplish: Some games expect you to be the bad guy whilst other games have offered better rewards/power-ups for being a bad guy over a good guy (Infamous being one example). But in WOW, it would seem that being in the Horde means you can cleanly get away with being a prick – being one of the Horde means you don’t have to deal with any moral choices (ie Mass Effect) and you aren’t forced into some guilt-trip bollocks for the things you do (ie Shadow of the Colossus).
Thus it would seem that in Blizzard’s world being a good guy just plain sucks: Diablo ended with your warrior serving as vessel for demonic possession and Starcraft ends with the player siding with the Zerg and destroying the factions they previously worked hard to build up – both effectively ruining the work the player put into the game. Does someone in Blizzard have a prejudice against good guys? Maybe – but it would seem that many WOW players think so.



But I don’t: I enjoy playing both the good guy and the bad guy in equal amounts. I prefer to see things in shades of grey as opposed to black and white. Unfortunately for me though, the moral systems that proliferate games these days think otherwise.
And this is the problem I have with moral choices: It’s one or the other. You can either be 100% good or 100% bad with no room for any middle ground whatsoever.
But why not? I like heroes, and villains, to have some depth to them. I like heroes that do more than be heroic just for the sake it (By way of example I prefer Batman over Superman). Thus, the heroes that appeal to me are those who do good things however reluctantly or have some kind of weight on their shoulders, ie Solid Snake and Vincent Valentine. On the flipside, villains that appeal to me are those who show some degree of humanity even with blood on their hands, ie Magneto and Shishio Makoto (Rurouni Kenshin). I mean just because a villain shows some emotion doesn’t make him a pussy – it shows he has some depth.
So yes, the moral choices only work for me when there is some middle ground to add some grey into the mix. Being entirely white or entirely black may be all good and well but ultimately it’s so damn boring! Indeed, I would like to see a Commander Shepard score more than a few Renegade points on their way to becoming a Paragon. It makes for a more interesting character that way.

In the end, I don’t see a point for prejudice against good guys: You need them to keep the bad guys in line, to give an opposing force to add to conflict and, ultimately, a reason for the bad guys to be bad guys.
So perhaps Blizzard could add some more incentive for Alliance players?

Some cheaper thrills maybe?