The Somewhat Ambitious

I was recently perusing the Wowwiki article on Quilboar, a hostile race which populates a pocket of Kalimdor in World of Warcraft. let it never be said the developers don’t let real-world parallels creep in…

“The quilboar are a scattered people. After centuries of aggression against the tauren, the centaur, and any other species that stood in their way, they no longer have a land to call their own. They are terrorists and thugs living on the fringes of other societies, claiming slivers of bloodstained territory from weaker settlers….Family is important, but only as a source of more warriors to drive against the enemies. Almost from birth, young quilboar are indoctrinated with teachings of hatred for other sapient species. The quilboar hold no distinction between politics and religion. Their ultimate leaders are also their religious leaders.”

Subtle. Lets look at the Quilboar and gender politics, shall we?

“As a whole, the quilboar are a male-dominated species. Even though rarely seen by other species, their females must constantly keep their heads, faces, and quills covered.”

Damn those saucy quilboar, tempting us with their… quills. I guess. The kicker, of course, came near the beginning of the entry:

“Though well able to handle themselves in a one-on-one battle, they are not above striking from ambush or even sacrificing themselves to destroy even one of their many enemies.”

All these parallels to real life, albeit exaggerated, seem to be on the rise. It’s no small miracle Quillboar haven’t started making suicide runs into Stormwind. Next thing you know the organisers of Arena will have a press blackout, and the alliance will invade Durotar on the grounds of suspicious catapult technology. Listen here, Blizzard: I like my gaming like I like my pie. Politics-free and covered with icing sugar.

/Paul