(above, if Alachia were horde)
As I've said before, I like that I haven't gotten to know much about the other faction. It's kind of a nice mystique for me to not ever need to empathize with the horde. It makes the dynamic between the two factions that much more exciting for me.
But I have to wonder, are the horde really evil? Is that the design of the story? I don't follow much of the lore but my understanding was that the horde are an axis of evil races...except for maybe the tauren.
So I went straight to Blizzard for the answer:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/races/
ALLIANCE
Draenei: "Dedicated to preserving life and upholding the tenets of the Holy Light, the draenei hope to gather a new coalition of warriors to battle the Burning Legion and put a halt to its horrific Burning Crusade. Armed only with courage and their unshakeable faith in the Light, the draenei look forward to finding the alliance and ushering them towards the destiny that awaits beyond the skies of Azeroth"
Dwarves: "In past ages, the Dwarves rarely left the safety of their mountain fortresses. However, whenever the call to battle sounded, they rose up to defend their friends and allies with unmatched courage and valor."
Humans: "Following the heroic examples of the legendary Sir Lothar and King Llane, the defenders of Stormwind are considered to be among the fiercest warriors in the land. They stand resolute in their charge to maintain the honor and might of humanity in an ever-darkening world."
Gnomes: "Nearly half of the Gnomish race was wiped out during the fall of Gnomeregan. The ragged Gnomes that survived fled to the safety of the Dwarves' stronghold of Ironforge. Committed once again to the Alliance's cause, the Gnomes spend their time devising strategies and weapons that will help them retake their ravaged city and build a brighter future for their people."
Night Elves: "They now have renewed interest in shaping the world, and for the first time are allying themselves with other races to insure the continued survival of Azeroth. As a race, Night Elves are typically honorable and just, but they are very distrusting of the 'lesser races' of the world. They are nocturnal by nature and their shadowy powers often elicit the same distrust that they have for their mortal neighbors."
HORDE
Orcs: "They are commonly believed to be brutal and mindless, possessing no humanity or empathy for other races. Born on the hellish world of Draenor, the Orcs were brought into the kingdom of Stormwind through the dimensional gateway known as the Dark Portal and forced to wage war on the Humans. Although few are aware of their history, the Orcs once cultivated a noble, Shamanistic society on the world of Draenor. Tragically, the proud Orc clans were corrupted by the Burning Legion and used as pawns in the Legion's invasion of Azeroth. The Orcs managed to rebel, however, and they were ultimately able to help turn the tide against their demon masters."
Undead: "These dark warriors have established a secret stronghold beneath the ruins of Lordaeron's former capital city. Situated deep beneath the cursed Tirisfal Glades, the labyrinthine Undercity is a sprawling bastion of evil. Within its shadowy confines, Sylvanas' royal apothecaries scramble to develop a devastating new plague - one which will not only eradicate their hated Scourge rivals, but the rest of humanity as well."
Tauren: "They live to serve nature and maintain the balance between the wild things of the land and the restless spirit of the elements. Despite their enormous size and brute strength, the remarkably peaceful Tauren cultivate a quiet, tribal society. However, when roused by conflict, Tauren are implacable enemies who will use every ounce of their strength to smash their enemies under hoof."
Trolls: "The vicious Jungle Trolls, who populate the numerous islands of the South Seas, are renowned for their cruelty and dark mysticism. Barbarous and superstitious, the wily Trolls carry a seething hatred for all other races.
One tribe, however, was forced to overcome its prejudices when it encountered the Orc Warchief, Thrall, and his mighty Horde. The Trolls of the Darkspear tribe, long since exiled from their ancestral lands in Stranglethorn Vale, were nearly destroyed by a band of aquatic Murlocs, but Thrall and the Horde managed to save them. In return the grateful Trolls swore an oath of eternal allegiance to the Horde."
Blood Elves: "Though the scars of that conflict are evident, the remaining elves have banded together and retaken much of their homeland. Calling themselves "blood elves", these grim survivors are committed to regaining the vast powers they once commanded. Inspired by the leadership of their beloved prince, Kael'thas Sunstrider, the blood elves now seek out new sources of arcane magic and the means of defending their land against the undying horrors of the Scourge."
First, you can't ignore some pretty obvious classical terms used in the short descriptions provided by Blizzard. Conflict, scars, cruelty, dark mysticism, prejudices, implacable enemies, cursed, crawling bastion of evil, brutal, mindless, and corrupted to describe the horde. Dedicated, courage, faith, light, committed, resolute, honor, and heroic to describe the alliance. I also make vast assumption, probably true as well, that the writers of the World of Warcraft Lore borrowed greatly from historical references to the ideas of good and evil. They would not be the first to exploit the classic theme of good and evil to propel a story line... Just look at some of the best selling pop culture movies and fantasy books out there, J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Jordon, Terry Goodkind, CS. Lewis, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Chronicles of Narnia, Beowulf. It makes sense that someone wanting to sell a game to millions of sci-fi, fantasy junkies would borrow heavily from themes that have worked succesfully in the past.
Then there is the unmistakable Pre-TBC release of the World of Warcraft aesthetic selection. The alliance have a selection of smooth skin, elegant posture, bright large eyes, and perfectly posed hair styles. The horde have a selection of green, grey, and partial skin, slumping postures, piercing eyes-some without, and punk hairdos which belong to the subculture of popular america and none that look like they've been washed. And the question you have to ask when presented with this is: Does Beauty represent good and Ugly represent wickedness? Long and short without me having to write a HUGE paper on the anthology of "beauty" as representation for "good" as an accepted theme, just look at our average societal views. Beautiful music, art, building, behavior, posture, graciousness, conduct, action are all representative of the "good" in life. While "ugly" actions, conduct, posture, behavior, music, and art are not favored or respected by common society.
This of course, is all based on pereception. I'm making no claim as to what is truly "right" in life. I'm just trying to build a good frame of reference here. Good and evil, dark and light have accepted perceptions.
I believe the intention of Blizzard was to create a good and evil side to the game. A sect of people who were far more interested in playing the role of the "good" and another sect of people who wanted to play the game from the flip side of social norms....evil.
Interestingly enough, something happened over the course of the last two years.... Perhaps something Blizzard game designers had not intended, or maybe they did. Something very "real life" occured in how we play the game. The exploitation of the social roles of the game morphed the meaning of many of the players. The dynamics of real life players interacting in their avatars shifted the perception of evil and good. Alliance took it upon themselves to play the "role" of the "right" and used that assumption to devestate the horde territories. In defense, the horde bonded together more tightly and formed far more social bonds than the alliance faction (assumptions based only on talking to my horde friends). The horde's "behavior" in servers are far more "good" to each other than the alliance. I have noticed among my alliance players, there is not a lot of comroderie. We mostly devide ourselves into cliques and only band together when we need something from each other..ie, 40 man raid groups, world bosses...etc.
I came across this article which kind of shows what I mean.
http://www.mogland.com/write/2007/jan/08/horde-evil
Check out the chart towards the bottom of "Collapsed attacked zones by attacked Faction." I think it's fascinating!! Reverse psychology at work! hahaha.
If you were to ask me if Alliance were good and Horde were evil, I'd say yes that may have been the broad intent of Blizzard for purposese of story telling and setting up the premise of the game. However, in actuality, I have this sneaking suspicion that there are far more classical themes of evil in the actual Alliance players and themes of good in the actual Horde players.
....
