Thursday, February 08, 2007

Aldor versus Scryer

I haven't had a lot of time to play (still only level 63), but I've made it to Shattrath City and seen the whole Aldor/Scryer faction debate.

It's a pretty neat idea, acutually, having two opposing factions, and having your choice be meaningful. However, the execution of making that choice could have been improved.

As far as I could see, you go to Shattrath City, take the tour, and then are presented with the choice of which faction to join almost immediately. I found that I simply didn't have enough information to make a choice that I was happy with. All I knew was that Aldor = draenei and Scryer = blood elves. So I went with Aldor. I didn't really see any other place you could find out more.

I'm sure that you could have looked up the rewards online, and picked a faction that way, but that seems very clinical to me.

What Blizzard should have done is have a couple quests where the two factions are actively trying to woo you to their side. I'd go with two quests for each side (four total). One quest shows the good side of the faction, and the other quest shows the dark side of the faction. Rep changes would be fairly minimal to allow people to "taste" each faction.

Then, after doing these initial quests, you could make a meaningful, and more permanent, choice.

7 comments:

  1. You don't have to look up the rewards online, you could visit their quartermasters in the two sections of the city and see the rewards in-game (I'll admit it's easier to compare them if you're given a nice online table though).

    Personally, with my main being a hunter with engineering and enchanting, there wasn't a lot I really wanted from either side in terms of rewards. In the end I decided to go with Aldor, since I'm planning on going for Scryers with my warlock and wanted to see the storyline for both sides.

    Maybe when my shaman and warrior get to that point, they'll make their decision more based on which faction I think is better for them, chosen from personal experience with both. But for now, trial and error I suppose.

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  2. I agree. It's like presenting a nomad from the Sahara with the option to pick between a Porche and and a Corvette. Both have very good performance, but they are targeted and built entirely different ways.

    There needed to be some clue to go to the quartermasters first, in my opinion, because that frankly never entered my mind because I was wondering what the decision affected. Was I going to get attacked in one zone rather than another, or something like that? If I deemed that I wanted to go somewhere or do something that only one ally would allow, I wanted to know.

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  3. Well, I did see the quartermasters before choosing.

    But loot alone is not good enough to make a decision for me. It's an important factor, but I don't think it should be the only one.

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  4. Tobold picked the Scryers (http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2007/02/aldor-vs-scryers.html) because falling down from the Scryer platform won't kill you, while falling from the Aldor one will... I guess he forgot that little thing called a flying mount you can get at 70 ;)

    I think it's generally accepted that for healers, pick Aldor while for damage dealers, go Scryer. But it's best to study the subject yourself a bit before committing yourself.

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  5. Seems a loss for the game-play side of things for this choice to really boil down to just gear. There are a lot of great places they could have gone with this.

    The first thing that comes to mind are the factions that were prevalent in the old TSR Planescape world of Sigil...(DnD reference - don't be afraid.) In Sigil, your faction was your life and it directly impacted your relationship with the rest of the folks in the city.

    I would have wanted there to be repercussions for making a choice. From the sounds of it, most folks are boiling it down to a class/spec based gear choice.

    Still - maybe doing more than that muddies the waters a little for the average player of WOW. Most folks seem pretty happy with the red on blue of Horde v. Alliance. Adding in shades of gray with factions would complicate PvP and add a level interaction that I don't think most players would enjoy or understand.

    ...yeah - slow day at work....

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  6. Tobold picked the Scryers (http://tobolds.blogspot.com/2007/02/aldor-vs-scryers.html) because falling down from the Scryer platform won't kill you, while falling from the Aldor one will... I guess he forgot that little thing called a flying mount you can get at 70 ;)

    I think it's generally accepted that for healers, pick Aldor while for damage dealers, go Scryer. But it's best to study the subject yourself a bit before committing yourself.


    I picked Aldor, because of the opposite reasoning to this, I want to jump of the highest ledge with my flying mount hahahaha.....

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  7. I chose Scryer at level 63 because I am a warlock and tailor and wanted access to the +spell damage pattern. Since hitting 70 and finding my way to Netherstorm, I found another reason why I prefer Scryer. Seems the Scryers taunt the Aldor with /chicken periodically in the Area 52 inn. It causes me to howl with laughter when they do that to my wife's character while I'm there.

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