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Know your role. Where do you fit in? Poll inside.
Ramonski7
Member UncommonPosts: 2,662
3 1/2 months now.......that's how long I've been playing WoW and in that time I've come to notice similar patterns in the way the Horde get down and the Alliance does. I'm here to put out some statements for some of you to ponder and to bust some myths about the game I've grown to love.
**********NOTICE********
In no way shape or form was this topic created to cause discrimination toward anyone based on their age, race or sex. I am just curious to fine out what is the majority of the make up here at MMORPG.com since most members have some type of experience playing MMOs. So to those who are offended I whole-heartedly apologize and to the members that only seek to bring anger and pettyness to this topic please feel free to post and leave as this is a attempt at a somewhat serious issue.
**********NOTICE********
Factors when picking a side that I believe hold the most merit:
1) Age
2) Race
3) Experience
4) Sex
Age (Fact or Fiction): Younger players in the range of 13-20 tend to pick Alliance over Horde, because Horde races have less visual appeal to that audience. (I myself am 32 and at first wanted a horde character, but 2 of my RL friends were already playing and had Alliance characters started, they are both in the 20-30 range)
Race (Fact or Fiction) Although a majority of players of these games tend to be white, a overwhelming majority of older whites 26+(Which happens to be a minority as far as video games go) tend to side with the Horde. ( I myself am black and I picked Alliance in part because it was the only toon that allowed me to come the closest to reflecting myself and past characters I have created for MMOs within WoW.)
Experience (Fact or Fiction): Players who have more experience with online RPGs tend to side with the Alliance and most players who enjoy online FPSs tend to sway more toward Horde. (My first MMORPG was UO, never could afford a PC as a teen so I never played Meridian 59, and my favorite genre for consoles is RPGs in general.)
Sex (Fact or Fiction): Most males, who have the inner drive for conflict, tend to pick Horde, while most females tend to want to focus on character strength and more so most females pick alliance as a first choice if playing WoW.
Again I want to apologize to those of you who may take this the wrong way. But if you do have some meaningful comments please feel free to post.
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
Comments
You've got some good and probably realistic points. I am 17, white male and have lots of experience when it comes to MMORPGs, but the only reason why I picked Alliance over horde, was because all of my friends were horde. I was curious why they always told me, if i were to make a character, pick alliance. I later realized that you can only be on one side on each server. You cant have one horde and one alliance character. If my friends werent playing it though, I'd probably still pick Alliance. I always seem to pick the smaller races in every game, like dwarves
Roflmao. Look at all the votes for alliance. How original, since horde is outnumbered 3:1.
Thanks for the post Iceman and your honesty is greatly appreciated and respected. I also want to bring to light that most of the younger members here on MMORPG tend to show a lot more maturity than most adults that play some of these FPSs. And although we here tend to belittle and flame each other from time to time, it's mostly in part of the "less than acurate" ways we use to express our thoughts and feelings about our views (mainly the words we type as they cannot express tone) on the games we play.
But to get back on topic my "gut" feelings are geared to think that most MMORPG members are Alliance players. It's like getting a room full of well imformed people together and forcing them to pick one person as a representitive for the group....we all tend to believe that our own abilities are not to be taken lightly and thus the conflict.
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
I have my own theories on race selection. I play alliance because I always play human-like races in every game I play. I'm one of those people that only plays Ken Masters in Street Fighter, humans in Warcraft 2 & 3, Terran in Starcraft, etc, etc. I'm pretty boring and predictible when it comes to races. My friend a fairly talented artist on the other hand likes to learn and play every race. I think people who are right-brain thinkers are more likely to pick human races and left-brained people more likely to pick alien races. I just think you have to be more creative to see the beauty of an alien race. Having said that I've always wanted to play Horde in WoW because they have the "underdog" role and that also appeals to me. I don't agree with your assertions though, I think it's more of a personality thing than age, race, experience, and sex since I've always picked the same type of race.
Edit:
1) Age - 26
2) Race - White
3) Experience - Eq(only few months), hardcore RTS, and lots of FPS
4) Sex - M
Hmm I would love to comment on your choice but I would need more info from you. What is your race? How old are you? Do you like FPS? Have you played a MMO before? My statements were never meant to be proven wrong or right, just food for thought...... and what you are getting at is factors BEHIND the factors and that is very much too complicated to explain.
Please note that I never said each factor had to hold true for someone to tend to pick a side........just one. So truthfully did your experience dictated what side you would fight for? No?
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
interesting points
An elf and a human are not different races. They are different species. The "biological species concept" as it is called by biologists says that two living things that do not have the potential to have viable and genetically productive offspring are also two different species. This is a guidline, according to current biological theory. There are other theories yes (but this is the most commonly used one). Now whether halfelves can have viable and productive offspring is a bone of contention that few biologist dare to concider... so it remains a mystery.
There is in fact no such thing as race. People who look different are different phenotypes from one another and that is it. Native North Americans, and Irish are however the same species (they can interbreed and they can have viable productive offspring), regardless of their phenotyical differences (they remain genotypically united). However a Gnome and an Elf are genetically different species not different races (yes I know what the manual says, and it is wrong. There is no scientific definition of race, it is a cultural "tag" nothing more).
So ummm yeah. Seeing as there is no such thing as race (it is a cultural illusion bred out of ignorance and insecurity), then no... certain "races" of people do not tend toward certain "races" of character in WoW or any other game.
Therefore the question you asked is inherently flawed... a) there is no such thing as race, b) online characters are actually different species from one another, not different "races".
Thus.
The point is moot.
Edited for clarity.
FINBAR
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whatever this may say on most servers its about 60% to 40% alliance favor i also think
1.I think that the younger player's tend to pick the Alliance because the toons are alot better looking =P
2.I dont think race has much to do with it
3.i think the more Experienced players tend to sway to horde they see past the whole Alliance are the good guy bit when infact its almost the other way around
4.Males will oviously go Alliance for the same reason as #1
sry for spelling its 3 in the moring here =(
WoW Destromath!
A
Revion lvl 70 Warrior
Altar of Storms
A
Smeagol 60 Paladin
Aggamagen
H
Revion 60 Rogue
Buuuuuut.......the aliance aren't really the good side.
i play alliance. i am 27 and white. Originalyl, tough, me, my GF and my friends, were supposed to play Horde. There is just something about having horns and being 2.5 meters tall that inspired us all. Well, at the end my GF could not stand the Barrens, so we had to move to Alliance as she loved the Night Elf lands.
But without her intervention i would be a proud Tauren or an ork (green.. mmmmh i love green). (not that i do not have alt characters... but i was speaking of my Main)
"If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime"
I'm 34, white, female, and very experienced with MMORPGs (having played UO, then EQ for another 5 years, with some time put into AC, DAoC, and AO along the way). I play Horde, and most of my characters are orcs.
Generally speaking (i.e., not specific to WoW), I tend to play non-human characters wherever possible, and I usually pick either a race with visual appeal, or based on which race is least popular/most difficult for the class I want to play. Sometimes I pick a race based on what I think is the best representation of the inner me, hence my inordinate fondness for orcs, ogres, and trolls (wherever those are available).
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.
Let me throw a cog into the gears on this research. There are always exceptions to the rule so maybe that's where I fit in.
I am a 29 year old male. I started with a Night Elf Hunter but since then I have made at least one of every race and one of every class, on each type of server and I rather enjoy alliance AND horde. I find the difference between classes and starting areas so unique that I have to try each.
Also depending on my mood this helps me decide which character to play at any given time. So its tough for me to really say "I'm Alliance" or "I'm Horde" I like to say, "I just like WoW".
Part of this might stem from FFXI, where you can play all the jobs on the same character, which I love the idea of. Makes the game much more dynamic.
Oh, and I forgot about this point, I personally am not sure it has anything to do with gaming but...I'm white.
It would help the horde if every one of its races didn't have tusks protruding out of it or a chin falling off. I know it goes against WC lore, but I've always thought NE would be Horde instead of Taurens. I bet if those two races were swapped, you'd see much better balance.
Half-Black, Half-White(eat it!) 15 years old male, I play the Horde because...well, I am a human everyday and you know, what's the point to RP a human? Know what I mean?
I also played EQ for a long while then fooled around with a bunch of betas until WoW was released. I considered myself experienced, especially if we are factoring the length of time pen and paper RPGs are played.
I think tusks are sexy. Just kidding, but really, it is too much of a matter of visual appeal to most people. I had originally planned on being a Night Elf hunter when all of the classes and what not were announced(long ago). After I realized how many people were gonna be Nightelves just because they look good I was thinking it would be stupid and I would be mixed in with those people so I moved over to the Trolls.
Wow guys and gals thanks for all the helpful feedback. It's nice to know that certain issues can be covered with so many people having a open-mind about it. And it's even more surprising to have so many people go against the grain. I find that many, many assumptions are made about who is behind the toon and this just goes to prove that their are people of all ages and types that choose to play a side for various reasons.
It's not as clear cut and dry as young on this side and old on that side. Makes one wonder with so many signs of diversity among us, why do we hear that the Horde are better as a group.
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
Cool beans...
I had some fun reading through all of the posts, too. I had figured it would turn into a racial flame fest but I am happy to see it didn't.
I am kinda glad that I went against the grain. It's fun being a little bit different.
lol im sorry but i think all of those apects that you stated are so far from accurate, but maybe that's because im in canada, and canada doesn't even understand discrimination lol not that im saying it doesnt exist here, but in comparison to the states, expecially the south!
Here so many young kids favour the strong and mighty looking horde. they see big strong green dude "wikked" or the enormous tauren "wikked cool" LOL. The slender Elves, humans, the midget dwarves, and the midgets to the midgets gnomes. aren't seen as mighty to these youngins.
Race & Sex in my opinion doesn't effect the thought of people [in canada]. I'm black/male/19y and i loved the horde ever since warcraft 1.. well.. i got that for a present and i really didn't play it much cuz i was a young kid, but warcraft 2 was when i started to love the entire imagination of the game in general, so i go crazy for the books and games. i simply love the misunderstood horde, even though they are horribly aligned with the forsaken.. in my opinion that was bad of blizzard to do..
____________________________________________________________________
One thing for sure: Every female I know playing WoW would never play Horde races.
Well, I guess I don't count, since you don't know me.
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.
I picked horde cause in beta it seemed to be the underdog. I like playing againest the odds. I play human every day thought a change of pace was good for me hehe
. Me and my wife both play. She tends to like allience and me the horde. I showed her the true light lol. For the Horde!!
. Me and her started in back like 5 years now. I started back when xcom. About 10 years now. 5 years mmpg. From uo (played 30 min wasnt for me). 2 years ao (thats when she got in the game). 2+ years daoc. Then to WoW. I play mmpg for the pvp aspect of the game. If I liked pve I would still be playing diablo2 or something that doesnt require monthly subscription. We mostly play shaman, druid combo. I do have a solo char that is my tauren shaman. You are right about females tend to do it for the personnal strength. I on the other hand you are right again. I dont care to much for duels ( I do duel for testing) but, I do like the pvp aspect of defending you territory and siezing theres. To me pvp is different than duels. Duels= 1v1 You have controlled area and know that it is just 1 on 1. Pvp is groups againest each other. Also you dont have the luxary of controlled area. Alot more strategy is involved with pvp then duels. Duels do have there place for pratice your skills on your char. Pvp is little more involved then just attacking. Setting up when to run, when to fight, when to use your territory to your advantage and disadvantage to your oppentent.
I am white and 38 she is white and 39. We be the old farts of the game
That is my 2 cents
I have to say thanks again for the excellent, informative post!
Interesting to see 60 votes and a deadlock on 40% for both sides. I never would have guessed that by a longshot. But it does seem to teeter more in favor of the horde if you count the votes of members who don't have the game.
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
Guess I don't count either. White, Female, 26, have been playing MMORPGs for 5+ years. Orc Hunter {60} Tauren Druid {54}.
When I started in beta {first stress test, closed, "open"} I played alliance, because my man wanted to play a paladin. When the game was released, we stuck with alliance at first because we already knew where to go and what to do. When our friends started playing, we were very quick to reroll as horde. I very much enjoy playing horde, even if the lack of development love shows. When I'm playing my orc, I feel like I kick ass. My Tauren "feels" more like a druid than my Night Elf ever did.
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Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.