11-09-2005, 08:27 PM
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 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.