Lord of the Rings Online MMO News, Guides, and Features at Ten Ton Hammer

In the case of Vanguard, I personally think that faction is too easy to adjust or, in some cases, fix. I agree that we've become too old and have too many things going on to be bothered spending hours upon hours in the pursuit of a specific faction, but I don’t think it should be as easy as it’s recently been. Vanguard was meant to have a little old-school sting to it, so while it’s nice to see faction and KoS make a return in the game, it needs a little more oomph.

He didn't seem too happy to meet me.

WoW has done a reasonable, though not great, job in this area. There are normally plenty of quests to give you a decent start in your faction journey. If you choose to grind the faction from there it's your choice, but at least you have a jump on it if you later decide you want to bolster some faction with the Darkspear Trolls. There needs to be a balance of time put in and rewards granted, otherwise, I'm not going to do much in the quest to get new equipment. Unfortunately, the accumulation of faction in WoW seems to be for nothing more than equipment. Grinding for the sole purpose of getting any piece of equipment has never been something I cared about, although there are a number of players that will do just such a thing.

Status, or the need to avoid being killed on sight somewhere, is what it's really all about to me. Everything else faction related in any game (and I do mean any) is nothing more than a secondary purpose. The primary purpose has been and always will be survival. It's the knowledge of managing to sneak my Dark Elf necromancer far into the sanctuary of the High Elves. It's the thrill of narrowly avoiding escape from the guards of an opposing city as you rush through a crowded marketplace. Survival sometimes goes to the smartest, not just the fittest. Without opposing factions though, this thrill would be impossible to create within a game.

Another benefit of faction can be for accomplishment. I'm not talking about just the personal accomplishment you feel when completing a goal, but the need to be revered (or at the very least noticed) by your peers. It's that sense of awe every MMOG gamer seeks at even a subconscious level. It's been going strong for over 10 years, but to me, no game has ever done this better than EverQuest. In the early days, you were guaranteed to be surrounded by “oohs” and “ahhs” as you walked down the tunnel in East Commons with your epic weapon displayed.

The true crowning achievement though came with being able to stand in a city which you should normally have no right to be in. Some cities were easier to do this with than others, but if you saw a High Elf standing beyond the entrance to the Third Gate within Neriak without being attacked by the guards, that was a serious accomplishment. If you saw any race other than an Iksar standing within the farthest depths of Cabilis, you were looking at a complete psychopath who had spent more time killing Sarnaks than you can possibly comprehend. It may have seemed crazy to the rest of us, but there's no denying it granted them an instant amount of respect (at least until they open their mouth) with nothing more than a look.

Times have changed though and none of us has the time to devote to such a Herculean effort anymore. There's nothing wrong with that, but it still makes me a little sad. The "glory days" will never return. Still, it's nice to look back through the early days of online gaming with the tinted hue of rose-colored glasses. The concept of faction and the struggles it naturally encourages are still around, but like cherished memories, they've become dulled and slightly faded around the edges.