One of my goals that I desperately wanted to complete before Cataclysm came around was to finish the Wrathgate and the Battle for Undercity on a horde character. So once I was settled into my new life as a Bloodelf, I headed off to Dragonblight to track down the horde version of the chain.
I’ve always felt bad during the Wrathgate cinematic but this time it was far worse because I’d helped them make and distribute this weapon of mass destruction. I’d played a crucial part in helping the bad guys be bad. I knew it melted people, after all I’d seen it in action at Dragonblight when the poor junior apothecary became a puddle of green goo and I still handed it over without a care in the world. So watching the consequences of my actions made it far more painful than merely being a spectator to a horrible event.
Saved from a fate worse than death!!!!!
Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, he respawns really fast so we didn’t save him from anything but the thought was there.
The other major difference was that I ended the chain feeling that the Horde have a clearer sense of identity. Regardless of your race, Thrall is the Warchief, Thrall is the leader of the Horde. Sure, the Orcs are pushing their warrior culture on the other races as shown through the quests, but swearing loyalty to one figure helps create a sense of unity.
If you ask a Nightelf, a Gnome and a Dwarf who their leader is, you’ll probably get three different answers and none of them would be Varian Wyrnn. Ask the same question of three members of the Horde and it’s likely that regardless of their race, Thrall would be mentioned. I’m not saying that everything in the Horde garden is rosy, far from it and the tensions which already exist are most definitely going to get worse but I loved the quests where you had to get the Taunka to join the Horde. It was easy to imagine my Bloodelf at point in her past had uttered those same words as she took the same oath which made the quest feel a little more personal.
Also Thrall owns. Why doesn’t my shaman have all those awesome tricks? I’d rather fight with Thrall, the classic 31/31/31 shaman at my back than Varian Wyrnn. Is there anything Thrall can’t do, if moving mountains and clearing up plagues present no problems. The biggest failing of the Battle of Undercity has to be that once we won, someone went and put the elevators back in. Surely they could have come up with a safer option, even leaving the spikes there would have been better than putting the lifts of death back. Which leads to my final point, I can see my journey ending with the Horde. Already I’m seduced by war drums and the cries of “Lok’tar Ogar”. I suspect I too will live and die – For the Horde!
It’s well worth seeing the chain from the other side and remember, the Battle for Undercity is going away with Cataclysm, so if you want to see how the other faction does it, your time is running out.
Filed under: my characters, Quests |
The random musings and occasional whining of a Warcraft playing Harpy, with some lashings of priestly stuff thrown in.
Harpy's Nest Blog 
Didn’t know this event disappared with Cataclysm. And my horde is ..uhm…11…Oh noes!
You’ll still be able to do the quest chain up to the cinematic, but everything beyond that is meant to be going.
I have always felt very connected to my identity to the horde. There is just something very…powerful, I suppose, in the unity of not just the lore, but the horde community that has intrigued me. Something that I’ve never felt on the alliance. I can’t say that I can put my finger on exactly what it is, just that it exists.
Plus Bloodlust > Heroism. Just sayin’!
I must admit I’ve always preferred “sated” as a debuff. It just sounds better to be sated than exhausted.
I hear you. I’ve always gravitated naturally to the Alliance-type factions in games, but Horde is gradually sucking me in in WoW. There is, as Windsoar said recently, something about the underdog side – and, of course, the interesting situations that so much diversity brings about. Alliance by nature is (or is supposed to be) good and co-operative and…really a bit vanilla 😉
My eldest Horde baby is still 59 though. Not sure I’ll get to do the battle from that side *sniff*
Yes, I think it’s the fact that all the Horde races seem a little flawed in some way or another that endears them. They also have better architecture in my opinion, I love the Northrend Forsaken buildings and I’ve always had a soft spot for the Orcish/Tauren ones.
Lore is power… and cool. And the goosebump tingle as you take part in it is truly awesome. MMOs have a lot going for them with the “take part in lore” point.
I heartily agree with the Alliance point (although I do identify with SW, if Terenas was around he’d be the one)- Wyrnn is just too new to be King. Magni feels a much safer option – but Wyrnn has never been tested really. We don’t know him and we certainly do NOT identify with him. I suppose the Alliance has been hit the hardest by losing Terenas, Arthas Menethil and Bolvar Fordragon to the Scourge (not to say the Horde hasn’t) and Lordaeron.
And “Lok’tar!” – I doubt any of our ‘For the Light!’ stuff has as much immediate effect as it. Lok’tar is an immediate call to arms, an inspiration to all. It permeates into Horde society. I feel that the Light, as a ‘religion’ doesn’t have the same effect on the people as a whole. It just doesn’t create the same primeval effect as “VICTORY _OR_ DEATHHHH!”.
I’m curious to hear something from you though; what do you think is going to happen in Cata with Thrall’s departure from Orgrimmar? Thrall is a wise shaman who always have the right response and diplomacy. Hellscream is essentially Lo’gosh (Wyrnn) all over again. With 2 warrior kings, I get the feeling Cata’s going to be all out war. WC4, anyone?
Definitely all out war. Garrosh seems to hate everyone with particular emphasis on the Alliance and Varian appears to hate Orcs, so it’s a powderkeg waiting to explode I think.
I did the same thing sometime around the beginning of the year. I levelled a horde pally solely for the main purpose of experiencing the Wrathgate/Battle of UC from the horde’s perspective… And let me tell you, ya took the words right out of my mouth… Nothing made me feel more guilty than knowing what was going to happen with the plague I was helping create, test, and hand over to the RAS. It still leaves my stomach feel a bit uneasy.
When I played Horde previously, a lot of the Forsaken quests left me feeling a bit off (poisoning Stanley for example) but this definitely took the biscuit in terms of leaving me feeling drained and pretty horrible. The fact that I always liked Bolvar didn’t help either.
I get into fights with my fellow alliance players because I still think Thrall is cool (it sticks with me even if I’ve not been horde for years) and like the best leader. My alliance friends of course claims he’s bad and evil “like all horde” and won’t listen to me saying otherwise. Pff!
I’d love to see the Wrathgate from the horde perspective, but I’m too lazy to level my horde. I guess I really should cause she’s 71 so not that far off.
I think at 71 you could probably start the chain now. It says a lot about the game though that people get so invested in their characters to pick a side and start declaring the other side is evil/bad/whatever though. That’s definitely one area where Blizzard have done well.