The hardest part is not trying to kill all the other people I see in-game.
When you blow up Klingons for so long, you develop a natural inclination to keep doing so...it's familiar and satisfying. I didn't know much about their society, or exactly why their AI behaved a certain way, I just knew what sound they made when they blew up.
So, this has been an interesting exercise, and it got me thinking about factions.
When you draw a line in the sand, you've gotta put conscious effort into giving each side a personality. There have to be distinct themes to give the players a good handle on who they're fighting for, so that it doesn't simply boil down to Red vs Blue (great web series, but this color scheme for factions has been beaten to death).
World of Warcraft
Faction choices: Horde and AllianceWhat I picked: Horde
Why: Blood Elves. Not even gonna lead up to it. A few of us decided to try the game together, and the guy that got us started was a Horde player. That's usually how it works.
What gets me about this choice is that we all wanted to play together, but I was most hesitant because the Horde seemed to be made of the more monstrous races, like the orcs, tauren (similar to minotaur), trolls, and Undead. So, I went with the Blood Elves to be the least evil of the options available.
Where I was wrong: Just about every race in the game, in both factions, has done something terrible for the world. There are no good guys and bad guys.
Star Trek Online
Faction choices: Federation and KlingonsWhat I picked: Feds
Why: Starfleet. I grew up with Star Trek and the whole look appealed to me more, plus I wanted to help people, even if they were NPCs and don't count at all in the real world. It was nice being a good guy. There's really not a whole lot else behind this decision...except that I could have one of these babies:
Where I was wrong: Still working on this one, since I'm taking the KDF for a spin.
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Faction choices: Galactic Republic and Sith EmpireWhat I picked: Republic
Why: I wanted a fresh start after my years with WoW...I wanted to be on the blue team and not be surrounded by grotesque visages and characters that openly revel in being evil. Plus, you know, Jedi.
Where I was wrong: There are a few examples of worthwhile content on the other side, and some of the content is even pretty appealing for its depth.
Presentation: just as important as substance.
City of Heroes/City of Villains
Faction choices: Heroes and Villains
What I picked: Heroes
Why: At launch, it was just City of Heroes, so there really wasn't a choice. CoV came out as a separate game a year or so later, and I still preferred stopping muggings to robbing banks, so I didn't really have much desire to switch.
Where I was wrong: I wasn't. Being a superhero is awesome.
I know that was a lot of media to scroll through, but I felt like some of the games needed a setting to get you into my mindset on a few of them when I made the choices. Maybe next time we'll actually talk about what draws players to Red or Blue :p
Now STO just needs to add a Cardassian and Romulan faction! :D
ReplyDeleteI'd suggest another for Tor, but I don't know of anything that would truly be period appropriate.