Do Blizzard really have a Horde bias or is it just player's imagination and assumptio

[Cthulhu fhtagn]

Thinking that they made a game with two sides to just favor one of them, essentially making the other half want to quit on purpose is quite a stretch.

[Wowplayer2021]

It's less "Horde bias," and more "the writers continually default to the Horde being proactive and the Alliance reactive, and tend to focus more on the Horde side of the story for better and worse alike, because that's the faction they find more interesting to write for (which turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy)." A lot of BFA's story was about the Horde and the war's impact on the Horde, with the Alliance mostly there as a foil to drive forward storylines in the Horde, because very little of note changed within the Alliance after the Burning of Teldrassil. The Horde underwent a civil war and the second major reckoning as to what the Horde really wants to stand for as a global superpower, up to and including a total overhaul of its governing structure at the top level, whereas the Alliance... remained static. The night elves were still homeless refugees huddled in the Cathedral and around fires in the canals, most of the named Gilnean NPCs from Darnassus are nowhere to be found, and the Alliance winning Darkshore and Arathi has yet to be reflected ingame in any meaningful way. The most development Alliance-side between 8.0 and 9.1 has been Jaina reclaiming her Warcraft III characterization and taking up leading Kul'Tiras, Anduin being kidnapped and later brainwashed to move a prominent former-Horde character's storyline forward, and Tyrande getting a lip-service powerup that still hasn't meaningfully paid off.

This is a good post on what people are talking about with the Horde vs. Alliance story biases. Sure we get some Alliance story while leveling up through zones but when it comes to the end game story, they frequently just make cameo roles so we can see how they feel about events. The Horde characters actually progress and move the story along and the Alliance characters just react. Hell, Blizzard even commented on that in MoP when they pointed out how they came up with the faction names in the 5.1 patch. Dominance Offensive for Horde as they are actually doing stuff and being proactive, and Operation: Shieldwall for Alliance as they are just sitting there trying to mitigate any damage without making big pushes themselves. That dynamic still follows the two factions today with the Alliance only ever reacting. They are basically the NPC in the video game there to give dialogue and world building as the Horde character goes out causes the world to change.

We don't really get Alliance stories because their characters are wanting to do anything. Their stories are just quick reactions to things that have been done and then that story is closed till something else is done. A big reason for the Battle of Dazar'alor was Blizzard wanted to rectify this and give the Alliance a moment to be proud of.

[Myradin]

The Horde starting the story doesn't mean the story is Horde-sided. Especially since it's made clear the Horde is wrong.

But the horde handles and ends its stories too.

The alliance doesn't develop from its interaction with the horde, and the most influence it has on the resolution of the story is to provide some extra bodies for the horde revolution. Nothing is shaken up in the alliance when the horde acts first it just....loses things. Power stays in the same hands.

Garrosh was primarily dealt with by Thrall and Vol'jin. Varian just shows up to uselessly posture at the end and Anduin talks to garrosh but doesn't change cause of it. The alliance maybe centered itself more on varian but it the faction still felt the same due to Varian already being the alliance's head since Wrath. The only real change in leadership is caused by the Legion and even then its unclear why the position seems to be hereditary.

Sylvanus was the begining, middle, and end of BFA with an old god feeling like a toss in. The most development the alliance got as Tyrande getting a new skin. Her power level doesnt really seem changed considering all she can beat is mooks and whenever someone with a name shows up she needs help or loses.

Heck even when the Alliance does something questionable its just either tossed under the rug (Gen attacking Sylv during Legion), proven to be good in the end swiftly, or immediately just turn evil and die.

So many alliance characters survive because stories aren't really being told. Horde characters serve their point in the plot and die off. Alliance characters stick around because nothing of consequence to them is happening.

[Soon-TM]

I think it's rather depressing that Blizzard has been slowly turning the Alliance into Horde 2.0. Blizzard's writers really became creatively bankrupt after Metzen left.

While I agree at the story taking a nosedive since Metzen left, Alliance isn't Horde 2.0, quite the opposite in fact.

[Myradin]

While I agree at the story taking a nosedive since Metzen left, Alliance isn't Horde 2.0, quite the opposite in fact.

I think he means in that the alliance effectively has a 'blue warchief' since Wrath, especially after they doubled down on it in MoP as some sort of fist bump for the alliance, and then kept high king going after varian died making Anduin the head of the whole alliance.

While oddly enough the horde is feeling more like an alliance now.

[intenz]

Not sure how you could look around horde cities and alliance cities and come to the conclusion that there is a horde bias. The community itself has a horde bias because the aesthetic of horde/alliance has lent itself to attract hardcore vs casual players. But without doubt Blizzard spend considerably more time and energy on alliance cities and zones.

[Soon-TM]

Not sure how you could look around horde cities and alliance cities and come to the conclusion that there is a horde bias. The community itself has a horde bias because the aesthetic of horde/alliance has lent itself to attract hardcore vs casual players. But without doubt Blizzard spends considerably more time and energy on alliance cities and zones.

Idk, Alliance zones in BfA were GREAT, while Horde zones were a slog, except maybe Nazmir. And don't get me started with the story, one MoP was !@$%ty enough, but two...?

[starstationprofm]

The alliance doesn't develop from its interaction with the horde

Yeah dude Jaina, Anduin and Tyrande were totally not developed during BfA. At all. No sir.

[Wowplayer2021]

Yeah dude Jaina, Anduin and Tyrande were totally not developed during BfA. At all. No sir.

Jaina gets pretty decent development and Tyrande gets.....angrier and more isolationist sure. Anduin however doesn't really develop in any meaningful way. He is still the same person he was at the beginning of the expansion with the same goals and beliefs. Hell, apart from a small ministory in 7.2 where he isn't sure for all of ten minutes if he can lead the Alliance he actually doesn't even develop that much. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing as his character while bland is pretty well liked but there is a reason this stuff is now happening to him in the Shadowlands. Blizzard is wanting to actually give him a story now that will hopefully in the end be more than "react to what the Horde is doing." He hasn't had a story like that since he got lost on Pandaria in MoP which again everything even there that happened to him from getting stranded, to getting captured, to getting injured are results of Horde actions. He does break the Bell though after Garrosh demonstrates how dangerous it can be so that is something he did on his own!


This all of course doesn't even get to the fact that you ignored the point the actual person was making about the Alliance as a whole and instead chose to focus on individual members of the Alliance and make a sarcastic reply about that instead which we both know you shouldn't do.

[Thundering]

Regarding the Chopper, I Actually disagree. The Alliance one personally is a lot better.

regarding the choppers both of them where garbage,

But with 80% horde and 20% Alliance playerbase who was surprised that people voted to get a free mount as horde?

[starstationprofm]

Jaina gets pretty decent development and Tyrande gets.....angrier and more isolationist sure.

So she did get developed, just not in the way you liked it......

[parasight]

It is illogical for Blizzard to have a bias towards one faction. Having a bias would not affect their bottom line in a positive way. The company wants to put out the most profitable product that they can. It's self evident to everybody that Blizzard would actively seek to not have bias.

I'm going to assume that this is a troll post or that the OP doesn't understand how businesses in a free market society operate.

[Thage]

Thinking that they made a game with two sides to just favor one of them, essentially making the other half want to quit on purpose is quite a stretch.

A lot of "Blizzard has X faction bias" posts would go away if people learned to abide by the old adage, "Never attribute to malice that which can be reasonably explained by incompetence."

[Wowplayer2021]

So she did get developed, just not in the way you liked it......

My point which you somehow missed is the "development" is very little. In fact if you go back to her usual xenophobic personality she doesn't really develop at all. She gets angry. She has a mood. That isn't really development. Hell, even if you want to call it development it gets undone next patch according to datamining.

Also, the people who are saying, "But it would hurt profits so thus it can't exist" really should learn more about what biases are. Nobody here is saying that Blizzard was twirling their thumbs wanting to make people hate Alliance. Blizzard has commented on themselves that they are trying to fix the issue of the Horde getting the story. Again, the Battle for Dazar'alor was a big part of that and a big reason it happened was Blizzard wanted the Alliance to have a moment for them to take center stage and get a moment to be proud of.

[Martymark]

Many expansions the Horde have been the main badguy. So they get 50% of the goodguy story, and 100% of the badguy story. So they get 150% of the screentime, but is it really "Horde Bias" to kill them all day?

I'd argue it's just very bad writing in a 2 faction game.

[Yriel]

regarding the choppers both of them where garbage,

But with 80% horde and 20% Alliance playerbase who was surprised that people voted to get a free mount as horde?

And yet you (afaik) can still get the alliance chopper but not the horde one.

[Thundering]

And yet you (afaik) can still get the alliance chopper but not the horde one.

But not for free......

[Redzonetode]

And yet you (afaik) can still get the alliance chopper but not the horde one.

Yeah.. because of licensing issues. Not sure what point you think you're proving here.

https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wo...wheel/298905/3

[Kithelle]

DPS and utility wise Alliance has the better racials, just so you know
or why do you think almost all classes in mdi were alliance

What's the matter...weren't brave enough to say this on main? Because you and I know this is a totally BS lie

Progression raiding guilds didn't all move to Horde so they could do lower DPS

[javierdsv]

I mean, you don't need to use the imagination.
Go check the numbers of the Hall of Fame Horde vs Alliance.

If there is such imbalance in the game there is a core reason to it. Even if it's just mere coincidental technicalities, there is bias towards what people find more "fun" to play.