Double Dipping
This is just a quick snippet from me.
Tipa at West Karana and Massively are reporting about how SOE is introducing RMT to EQ2 . I have a problem with this. I understand a lot of Asian MMOs do the "no monthly fee but huge RMT store" approach, but western MMOs are big on the monthly subscriptions. Doing both seems like double dipping to me. Do either one or the other, not both.
It feels like going to a restaurant and paying $20 for a burger and fries and then having to pay an extra $10 for the salt and ketchup.
Bungle in the Jungle (Racism in Sholazar)
So this past weekend, Rynala and I wrapped up Sholazar and headed to the Storm Peaks. While I think the Storm Peaks is a great zone, this is about something I noticed in our perceptions and attitudes in regards to some of the creatures and events in the zone.
Warning: If you haven't done this zone and want to avoid spoilers of some of the events, skip this. There may be some spoilers.
One of the quest lines in Sholazar was quite a humbling moment that caused a bit of reflection for me.
While questing in Sholazar, one of the quests from the Nessingwary base camp eventually leads you to kill this large cat. You're not the only one on the hunt though. The local Wolvar of the Frenzyheart Tribe are also hunting it. And although they run in fear when it lashes out on them, when you kill it they proclaim that you have stolen their rightful kill and are now a slave to them to repay your debts.
Now the Wolvar aren't to be taken too seriously. Most of this zone is very lighthearted. It's a nice little break from all the death and destruction that is the rest of Northrend. Don't get me wrong, the Frenzyheart are in a brutal bloody war with the Gorlocs of the Oracles tribe, but it's more of an "awww aren’t they so cute" type of massacre instead of a "look how Drakuru wiped out his own race and is torturing and mutating trolls" type of situation.
Well the 'cute' factor of the Frenzyheart grabbed Rynala and I must admit, I thought they were pretty charming as well. They were very clumsy and spoke in a very uneducated way, but they seemed mostly harmless. Their quests start out as simple hunting quests like "Prove yourself as a slave and kill these gorillas" or "Prove yourself as a slave and kill these wasps". They do have some funny quests though like "Poke the gorilla children with sticks" and "The village idiot accidently let out the chickens, now go catch them".
Eventually, you get a quest to go wipe out a "bigtongue" camp and destroy their shrine. We had no problem with this as the gorlocs are very ugly and primitive. After doing that we were told to that there was a wounded big tongue near the Frenzyheart camp and that we should go capture it and bring it back to be poked with sticks and interrogated. When you find the wounded Oracle, he begs for his life and promises to take you to his leader. One of the Frenzyheart hunters appears on the scene, assumes that you have sided with the Oracles, and runs off to tell his leader (making the Frenzyheart hostile towards you).
The Frenzyheart/Oracles mechanic is a more lighthearted version of the Aldor/Scryer situation. Being friends with one makes the other hate you. But unlike the Aldors/Scryers, it is a lot easier to switch reputations (and it is actually encouraged). Both sides have their share of rewards and you'll want to take each side to exalted once to at least get the achievements.
Getting to the Oracle main camp changes your perceptions on things. The Oracles all appear to be very benevolent and sincere. The only reason they're at war with the Frenzyhearts is because the Frenzyhearts brought the war to them. It turns out the Oracles had been living in Sholazar for a long time. It was their origin. They believe themselves to be the guardians of Sholazar even they didn't know what they were guarding or the true power of the Basin. The Frenzyhearts recently came into the Basin after being pushed from their homelands by the Scourge. Instead of living in peace with the Oracles, the Frenzyheart Tribe lashed out and started raiding their village and killing everyone. To the Frenzyheart, the Oracles were just another animal to hunt.
The whole situation deeply troubled me. I truly had been a slave to the Frenzyheart, doing their bidding without ever asking myself why. I didn't care about the Oracle as first. They were ugly so they were probably stupid and primitive too. I had become like the racist generals of the Alliance who hunted the Horde because they were "savages".
As the quest line goes on, you eventually venture out to an Oracle village across the zone that no one has heard from in a while. When you get there, the situation is grim. The Scourge have completely overrun the village. There are blight aberrations walking around, dragging the chained up bodies of Oracles around them. The buildings are burning and bodies litter the ground. This village never stood a chance. You receive a quest to check the bodies of the Oracles to try to find survivors. A few are found, but most are dying. The ones that do die question them malice of the attackers and why this is all happening to them when all they wanted is peace. They offer you their most prized possession before they pass away. For a quest that had previously been so lighthearted, this was terribly depressing. It was an emotional one-two combo that I wasn't expecting.
In the final quest, you are forced to face off against a Lich responsible for the current invasion. This fight comes with a twist. He has one of the main Oracles and one of the main Frenzyheart you've interacted with chained up. Halfway through the fight, he forces them to attack you until you slay one of them. Whoever you let live is the side you join. (You can repeat this fight each day so you can switch sides daily).
Our decision was that we would go with the Oracles in the end, so that meant siding with the Frenzyheart initially (we just wanted the achievements so this was a gameplay decision, not a roleplaying decision). Not only do we like the personality of the Oracles much more, but they offer a better flavor item, an egg that can turn into non-combat pets or even a flying mount vs some brew that can turn into drinks, potions or alcohol. Even still though, every time we do the Frenzyheart dailies now, we don't see them as cute and cuddly, we see them as vicious warmongers and it breaks our heart when we have to kill Oracles for their quests.
All in all, this part of Sholazar Basin connected with me on an emotional level I wasn't expecting. It forced me to think about if I am unfair to people in real life just as I had been to the Oracles because I either didn't know about them or placed my preconceived prejudices unfairly upon them. I just wanted some fun quests, I didn't sign up for this. 