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Alliance Pride, Where Are You?

April 09, 2010 :: Posted by - Ozimandias :: Category - Community

Alliance Crest

I listen to a ton of WoW podcasts, I read a lot of WoW blogs. Over the years of playing WoW, I have noticed this over and over. To illistrate this I am going to make up a typical WoW podcast interview:

Podcaster: So we are very happy to have NightSlash on our podcast today. Welcome NightSlash!

NightSlash: Thanks so much for having me!

Podcaster: So what have you been doing in World of Warcraft?

NightSlash: Well my guild is raiding ICC and we are uber leet!!!

Podcaster: So what do you play?

Nightslash: Excuse me?

Podcaster: You know, what class do you play?

Nightslash: Druid

Podcaster: Oh cool, Horde or Alliance?

Nightslash: Ummmmmm Alliance

Podcaster: Excuse me?

Nightslash: I play a Night Elf Druid

Podcaster: Oh <Awkward Silence.>

This happens more than you might want to admit. This is outrageous! I don’t understand why the WoW community seems to think that the Horde players are more “hardcore.” Yeah I have a couple of Horde toons, but for the most part I play ALLIANCE! I am not ashamed to say that! Listen I can go on and on about this, but I am going to just cut this short. Yeah, I admit that most new players to MMOs (like I was when I first picked up WoW) and there is a certain allure to picking a “Pretty race” like the Humans or the Night Elves. But on the same token, there are snotty 12 year-olds that think that they are hardcore and go Horde.

One faction is not more leet than the other. I know that there is a stigma for playing Alliance. Feeling ashamed for playing Alliance? Don’t be. There are hardcore players all around, and while bellowing, “For the Alliance” isn’t quite the same as “For the Horde,” remember that we Alliance have one thing that the Horde doesn’t:

Mike Schramm and Turpster!

Disney. Shorts, and a lot of beer.

“Grab your sword and fight the Horde!”

Comments (7) :: Add Comment
  • Kyle

    Alliance is the only way to play. Kick some horde ass and watch the 12 year olds run in fear of you.

  • Grendalsh

    As Americans, we are conditioned to side with the underdog. We were the rebels fighting against the established powers of Europe. We still glorify the maverick, sticking it to ‘the man’.. So which faction fits that bill? The Horde. So when you say “For the Alliance”.. it’s like declaring you’re rooting for the big guys.. after all, it was OUR Azeroth that the Horde tried to conquer..Probably overanalyzed, but that’s about how I feel when I say I’m Alliance.. sorta like “White Pride”..
    Ahhh screw it..
    GRAB YOUR SWORD AND FIGHT THE HORDE!

  • cornelious0_0

    All in all this whole Alliance vs. Horde thing can get quite blown out of proportion. I understand that a lot of people are very involved in their gaming time and there’s nothing wrong with that…it’s just not for me. I guess there are easily many more people in the world that paint their faces for a football game compared to those who would do the same for a convention like Blizzcon…so where does this stigma come from? Oooh, I smell a blog post coming. Thanks for the post, it is ridiculous to feel embarrassed or to have a lack of pride for your faction, but it is equally as silly to hold the opposite against someone.

  • The Rokk

    I’m not sure what “hardcore” the Horde is supposed to represent. “Hardcore” ugly? Yep, Horde has that in spades. Blood Elves are pretty, but their personality sucks because they know they’re pretty. Players will be players, coveting pretty races or pretty gear. By end game it doesn’t matter anyway, since most folks are wrapped head to toe in T9 gear and they all look more or less the same.

    Then again, maybe that’s the issue on some level. Generally speaking, the Alliance is seen as the faction that “those annoying kids tend to play”. Those younger players (early teens for example) who just start to play are usually dealing with their own RL identity issues, and when they log into their video game they’d just naturally want to play something a little less than hideous. Something that looks more the way they want to be seen, rather than the way they might feel they appear.

    Who can say for certain. With eleven million people playing this game, some folks are going to have some goofball ideas about this and that. For me, I play Horde characters because, like myself, my toons are either green or they have horns. Hawt!

  • Angelo Vila

    I’m alliance and I’m proud of it. Horde players tend to be those elitist jerks we all hate, while Alliance players are more friendly and just want to have fun.

  • Ozimandias

    I ran into this again with a guy that had a Horde hat on.

    We shouted ugly things back and forth and then talked WoW for about an hour.

    I love our community

  • Noscoped

    Now, I’ve got nothing agianst Alliance except for ugly female dwarf twinks. Fuck they piss me off.. >.>
    But, just for my money, whenever I raid with Alliance, I hear really young voices. When I raid with the Horde, everyone sounds like their around 24. Of course, thats just my server. up with NESINGWARY! :D

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