The Daily Grind: Do you identify with your side?

Mostly don't care though there were a few times when I'd be the Horde is freakin' sweet. Most of the time there's no difference, no real point. Rift tried but lets face it. no one cared; same with Warhammer. I can't really think of a single MMO currently on the market where the faction really matters. Considering that all of the new MMO's coming out are putting storytelling at the forefront (TOR, GW2, SW, and Tera) I suppose that might change; but don't count on it. Gamers always get angry when things are unequal whatever they might say to the contrary.

I am an alliance only player. I used to love the lore when I played less than a year ago so fervently that I really hated the horde (for killing Cenarius and what they're doing to Ashenvale). I've never roleplayed about it, but still never liked the Horde in general, orcs & trolls in particular.

Thing is though, when I meet a fellow player irl I won't argue about how stupid he is for picking horde and how he's a pansy ****sucker but instead talk about things we have in common, like raids and achievements.

This is one area I can't stand about people in general. Wow is a good example. Alliance or Die, For the Horde, yadda yadda yadda, give me a break. I have toons on both sides and love playing both sides. Segregating myself over something so silly seems very trivial and sadly tons of people do it. Like they need to define themselves in some way by which faction they choose. It ends up making some of them really nasty to the other side too, as if they really were in that fantasy world. Just look at the latest fiasco over this topic at the last Blizzcon. Yeah, people need to rethink this .

Faction doesn't particularly matter to me. I have preferences, certainly, but not to the point that I don't want to see and enjoy all factions. I certainly don't believe it's any kind of statement about one's morals or lifestyle.

In the heat of the moment I've said or thought things like "stupid damned Horde". Such short-lived moments of annoyance and anger are all too human. All in all, I've seen so much disrespect and idiocy on both sides of the fence that I could never try to tout one side as being better than the other with a straight face.

If one want to go look for an example of dichotomy, and describing it in other words, I imagine one might very well look at TWO party factions, either the two in World of Warcarft (Horde & Alliance) or even the Republican & Democrat parties in USA.

So when asking about IF one identifies oneself with either two, I think that possibly goes to show how self centered, self rightous and shallow people are. As if two faction systems were something to behold in itself.

A problem of a not-so-much-freedom-dichotomy becomes apparant, when justifying ones answers with "because I have always liked a or b". But who am I to question peoples gaming experince.

I would expect people to have some concrete ideas about why they like any of the factions (if any). Another weird type of answer would perhaps be "because I like the colors".

So this little philosophizing makes me wonder how CAN one identify oneself with a faction at all in a game? My first thought is that identifying with a faction in a computer game (fantasy nonetheless) seems difficult. Are computer games that good, that they illicit a compellling experience?

Even though I think Eve online is a great game (though I will never play it again) their multi-faction design of the game (just being variants and not offering much originality if any) probably could do well in offering a more deeper experience. One thing Eve online seem to do, is to offer fiction in the type of small stories. I suppose WoW has this too? But unless fiction or lore is in the game, or even a part of the player options, I have great difficulty in thinking about players identifying with anything.

One lure such games has anyway, are the ways of doing conflict, which in itself seem like a easy enough concept to understand, and given tools with this one player avatar and a weapon of sorts, the basics are covered and I guess it seem easy to appreciate, or even necessary, finding a bare minimum of lore/design as inspiring somehow.

I would want a game that offers greater immersion. For example, does it make any sense WoW to be engaged in its flora/fauna? Maybe places look different, but does it even matter? Here, the devs of Eve online would have alot to do, with their 4000+ star systems.

The faction may matter in terms of how I flesh out the story of the character I play. But it certainly does not affect how I view a player.

Sometimes I tend to get a bit irritated with how the developers have done a certain faction, which sometimes causes me to avoid playing that one. Qeynos and its NPCs is one example that caused me to avoid that side, Guardians in Rift another one.

When it comes to RIFT, I can only play Defiants, because in real life, my number one bug-bear is religious zealotry. And what are the Guardians if not holier-than-thou religious zealots. Yuk. A really revolting faction that turns my stomach just thinking about playing as one. Which is a sign I suppose, of how well designed, written and implemented they are.

I'm generaly playing both faction in a game, atleast just to try, and I can identify myself in both culture. There is things I can appreciate on both sides.
In the case of World of Warcraft, I've noticed a strong preference for some races and a strong dislike for some races, but not for a side. For example, I really can't stand blood elves. When I'm playing Alliance on my draenei I really rejoice at the idea of killing blood elves. Now I got also the Worgen on my nerves, so I'm quite happy with my goblin hunter to hunt down those beast. I'm also generaly more aggressive when I play Horde. Guess the theme and the wardrum music are for something.

Now, in StarWars, I'll probably go Empire for a while. Because I'd like to roleplay something evil. I tend to be very carebear in real life, so I'll not join the Light side for once. Also, Republic companion sucks.

I'm quite happy about Tera, the other MMO I'll play intensively, that there is no side to take. War will be between guilds and server, and this will really be interesting.

It's a pain to choose your side. My guild is currently trying to vote what side we will take in SWTOR, and we are seriously struggling!

.

Hahaha yeah. I've pick up Guardian exactly for teh same reason you avoid them. Between Science-progress and Spirituality I prefered Spirituality. In addition I can't say no to angel wings!

i dont identify with alliance in wow,i play one and im the coolest one ever to play alliance.

the others just dont seem to be up to par with me

Just a little bit, enough so i can have a framework of a cause to fight for. An imagination trick to enjoy it better. Which is not to say that i won't switch factions. In WAR i played both order and destruction. When i'm on my order char i fight for order, and on my destruction character i fight for destruction...

Only in DaoC. That game gave you a reason to have pride in your realm and to actively participate in making sure it remained on top.

These days it's just a prereq for the race/class I want to play. Developers are afraid to "deny" parts of a game or "penalize" players so the choice of which side to play really has no meaning other than what race class you have access to.

In addition developers put no stock in the non-combat aspects of games which if done thoroughly (SWG Pre NGE) can give players reason to love their side and hate the other. Destructible Player made and player built fortifications, land ownership and non bounce back punching dummy death systems go further to get players vested in their side and their character.

If a player doesn't have anything of their own in the world to lose, if they know that failing an action will only result in a tiny amount of time lost, then they won't care, no matter how creative a game's lore writers are (they don't read the lore anyway!).