Ethical Dilemmas

Special thanks to Vyst, Maluna, and once more Sullivan (who this time sent me a some cash, a full set of fledgling armor – see left – and a BUNNY pet. I shall name him Mr. Fluffles.) And as you can also see, Doora has achieved her first green (uncommon) level item!

But that’s just the small stuff. Level 6, by now, and Doora’s travels have kept her constantly hopping (Fluffles willing) from one spot to the next. As described in my last post, things are rather frantic – you try struggling to meet the XP deadlines of four zones simultaneously, without exceeding any of them. Yet this is the least of my worries, for by now we’re entering the dubious twilight zone, pun unintended, of ambiguous quest chains.

Firstly, let’s take a look at all the different words Warcraft uses to soften the impact of its endless bloody kills. There’s “cull,” or “cleanse,” or “thin,” or “purify,” or even “destroy,” and when you need to do some serious corpse-looting you’re “retrieving” items. It’s honestly hard to resist – one becomes so accustomed to the mindless slaughter, that I still find moments where I’m still instinctually thinking of ways to slay my foes. So are we becoming accustomed to murder-by-numbers in this way? I think I’ll leave that question to the nosy politicians (but for the record, I take my cartoon massacres with a grain of salt, shaken, not stirred)

Still, there are certain objectives that don’t sit so well. For instance, cooking quests often require a gristly assortment of leftover animal parts. I can’t collect these myself, heavens no – but I can hire adventurers to do my dirty work! (I tried asking for donations, but after getting 2 spider legs in four days of beggary, decided a little incentive was long overdue) It’s an age-old question, mind you. If these creatures are going to be slain anyways – if for no reason than to satisfy some greedy traveler’s unquenchable thirst for XP – I might as well go the noble savage route and vulture myself out.

Jackpot!

Even more dubious is the question of escort quests, which invariably have you rescuing a wounded, dazed, or otherwise incapacitated ally NPC (non-player character). While aiding and abetting poses no qualm for Doora – she’s big on spreading the love and kindness – it’s the thought of rogue NPCs acting of their own accord, with no regard for Doora’s moral compass, that troubles me. Often very reckless, your escorts will charge into battle without warning. Think of it as a kind of pre-emptive self-defense? Which is all fine and well and good for riding the land of dastardly fiends, but it leaves Doora in quite the pickle. She’s fine with healing the injured and all, but if her very presence is instigating fights? She’ll just have to swallow her reservations and take it on a case-by-case basis.

One thing I’m noticing, sadly, is that a lot of gathering tasks have combat pre-requisites. Whatever happened to moral choices, Blizzard? I’m a conscientious objector. Pledged a vow to never spill cyber-blood. Dodged the draft! And look where it’s gotten me. Working minimum wage Fed-ex delivery jobs. Doora’s a freelance papergirl. Bottom of the food chain. Social commentary? I think so.

Even papergirls can use some hired help, though.

There are exceptions, of course. “The Perfect Stout” is one of them, a dwarf quest with multiple avenues of approach – you can go around maiming your enemies and stealing from their bodies, or play it the safe route and gather the goods from nearby baskets. Somewhat ironic how Teldrassil, the tree-hugging elf-land, has the fewest non-combat quests – whilst Dun Morogh, home of the ambitious, industrialized dwarfs, has the most (Granted, most of those revolve around alcohol, but I digress). The quest had me traipsing about the icy foothills, intent on absconding a collection of herbs for the local brewery, when I ran into trouble.

I think some of the nicest people I’ve met so far are the “newbs,” beginners who have yet to become entrenched in the hierarchical structure of late-game power struggles. When you don’t know what you’re doing, you tend to be a lot more friendly, I think… I guess when you’ve seen the same thing a hundred times over you develop a “do-it-yourself” attitude. And become very vocal in informing others of that opinion.

But when I got stuck between a mob and a hard place with this Perfect Stout business, Dun Morogh was falling all over itself to help me out. There I was, I was trapped dead on a frosty plateau – work of some nefarious ice trolls – and a whole gaggle of adventurers came running to free me. In addition to securing my freedom, these kind souls swept through the Trollish stronghold, giving me undisputed access to the Shimmer Fronds I so desperately needed. It was the perfect scenario – a mutually beneficial arrangement, where I tended to my new friends’ wounds after combat, and we were able to fulfill our goals simultaneously, in our own different ways. Quests like this give me hope. Besides, I make an awfully good parasite!

If you squint real hard, you can see both huts occupied. By Troll corpses.

Stay tuned, loyal readers. Next, Doora heads to the Darkmoon Faire for some well deserved R&R.

ADDENDUM: Earthen Ring Forum Post Here!