The real reason most Alliance think that Shaman .. - Printable Version +- The Lurker Lounge Forums (https://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums) +-- Forum: Lurker Games (https://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/forum-6.html) +--- Forum: World of Warcraft (https://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/forum-16.html) +--- Thread: The real reason most Alliance think that Shaman .. (/thread-5342.html) |
The real reason most Alliance think that Shaman .. - nobbie - 11-09-2005 An interesting, amusing read from the "World of Warcraft - Shaman Discussion Forums: Fear and Loathing in Ironforge" or "The real reason most alliance think that Shaman are overpowered": Quote:The real reason most alliance think that Shaman are overpowered has nothing to do with actual game performance but has real reasons based in Western jingoism and racism. The Horde most closely mimic the archetypal dichotomy that exists between Eastern and Western ideologies. Most people that play Alliance are those unwilling to question the constructed historical geneological relationship that exists within the heart of the WOW experience. Alliance characters are thrust into a society that dehumanizes its opposition, which is reinforced by the structural settings of WoW. Note the name of Horde towns such as Undercity, and analyze the disparity between racial languages: Common versus Gutterspeak. In fact, the very names of the factions, Alliance and Horde, hold radically different connotations which privelege the alliance. This structural exploitation and denigration of the Horde faction reinforces itself by the player base it draws. The real reason most Alliance think that Shaman .. - vor_lord - 11-09-2005 nobbie,Nov 9 2005, 02:46 AM Wrote:An interesting, amusing read from the "World of Warcraft - Shaman Discussion Forums: Fear and Loathing in Ironforge" or "The real reason most alliance think that Shaman are overpowered": Very amusing -- and could be viewed as a parody of certain fields of pseudo-intellectualism. The real reason most Alliance think that Shaman .. - kandrathe - 11-09-2005 I think the same prose twisting technique could be used to justify the extermination of all life on the planet. Rather, some Shaman with a social sciences major, trying to draw real world implications into video game motivations, let alone the complaints that some players have with the game is ludicrous at best. In a nutshell the original author tries to say, "Horde = minorities" and "if you try to denigrate them, or claim anything is wrong with the Horde, then you are a racist". I would personally like to find and slap the original author for playing the race card on something so trivial and meaningless. Personally, I do not really want to second guess my motivations when deciding between Terrorist and Counter-Terrorist when playing Counterstrike. The real reason most Alliance think that Shaman .. - Zarathustra - 11-09-2005 I thought I chose a Night Elf Druid as my main because I loved the rich lore behind the race and in most game formats have found Druids to be my favorite. I now know that I'm unwilling to question the constructed historical geneological relationship that exists within the heart of the WOW experience, thus my choice of an obviously "Western" race that dehumanizes its opposition, leading to my own racist loathing of the "others" that are shamans. :whistling: Oh, and I've got some oceanfront property in the Badlands to sell you. The real reason most Alliance think that Shaman .. - Assur - 11-09-2005 It had to happen. WoW meets Cultural Studies. It can only be a matter of time before somebody deconstructs the the traditional gender stereotypes inherent to WoW :wacko: The real reason most Alliance think that Shaman .. - savaughn - 11-09-2005 Oh, heck. Sophomoric tosh? Two can play that game. The Real Reason Shamans are Overpowered In observing the World of Warcraft, it's people and culture there are strong parallels drawn between the fantasy world and our own. One of the strongest influences on World of Warcraft are the various primitive cultures, especially as seen through early 40's literature. References to this jingoistic view of primitive culture abounds. The shaman class is pulled directly from this rich but culturally dated perspective. Fortunately, in the modern era, cultural awareness has significantly improved. Race relations, once ignored as a problem and with active civil rights violations enacted daily as part of regular cultural interaction, is radically more balanced today. While we continue to strive for equality, the modern awareness of cultural issues is vastly improved. Because of this increased awareness, there has been in this modern age a significant reaction to the cultural practices of old. A significant amount of guilt lays thinly buried at the cultural level for the practices Americans have implemented in the past. The actions, including black slavery, the near genocide of the native American peoples, the imprisonment of Japanese during WWII, and others have impacted the actions of people today. In World of Warcraft, this guilt has caused an interesting reaction. The primitive Shaman class has become the geist for this latent guilt and distress. While the majority of classes sit very comfortably next to each other in terms of power level, this class with it's healing, instant attacks, caster interruption, hefty armor allowance, etc. is clearly an attempt overcompensating the geist that is the collective cultural guilt over treatment of minorities in America's past. The real reason most Alliance think that Shaman .. - vor_lord - 11-09-2005 savaughn,Nov 9 2005, 01:27 PM Wrote:Oh, heck. Sophomoric tosh? Two can play that game. Touche and well done! /tips hat The real reason most Alliance think that Shaman .. - Watto44 - 11-09-2005 Quote:Oh, heck. Sophomoric tosh? Two can play that game. Ooh, the reverse-racism card. Touche! But if the guy in the OP quote really wanted to pull that off, s/he would have changed "even furthermore". It is, after all, a tautology - although I did like the way they tacked "ness" on the end of a lot of words. That always makes you look deep. Of course, if you really want to look like an intelectool you really need to put in a few pertinent references. In this case, I'd suggest the work of Homi Bhabha, particularly his "The Other Question â The Stereotype and Colonial Discourse", and Richard Dyer's "White". :wacko: [/stupidity] Bwwaaahahahahaha. That brought back some memories, that's for sure. Great find nobbie! :w00t: (For those of you who are wondering, those two essays do in fact exist. Homi Bhabha's stuff made my eyes bleed. French post-structuralism ftl.) |