For those days when you are not a Darkspear
And now for some random crazy thoughts again.
In the old days before Blood Elves (less so now, but sure as hell as it still happens), one of the great signs of Sue-dom in Troll RPers was “my character is not a Darkspear”. Usually an attempt to be just that extra bit more of a special snowflake, the result was a character from another jungle troll trabe (usually the Bloodscalps because ‘blood’ is a kewl word) or another race of Troll altogether (Frostmane Ice Trolls were very common to the point where TB used to have an entire guild of Frostmanes - they were all special snowflakes too, and their leader was the “Frostmane Elder Matriach” to boot.)
This, of course, is full of issues, not the least of which is the fact that these Troll trabes are hostile to the Horde. Hell, one of the main reasons why the Darkspears joined the Horde was due to their long history of being picked on (and eaten) by the other Troll Trabes. However, there were those that persisted with various ideas, some decently executed, others... less so (I lost count of the number of “Frostmane Ambassadors to the Horde” I saw).
Fast forward to the present day. Forest and Ice Trolls now use different character models (at least for the males) making it rather hard to pull off that your male Troll character is not a Jungle Troll. On the other hand, we have two new developments in Trolls in the horde. There are mobs tagged as “horde soldiers” who are using the Forest Troll model in a few places; presumably, these are members of the Revantusk Trabe who are now serving as a part of the regular Horde army. Similarly, the Shatterspear Trolls of Darkshore are now also a part of the Horde, albeit there’s evidence that they may have been coerced or even forced into joining. (also, at the end of the Quest chains regarding them, they’re pretty much wiped out by Ancients with Space Lasers)
So here’s the question: In light of this, is playing a “Not a Darkspear” acceptable? Is it OK to pass your troll off as a member of another Jungle Troll trabe or even another Troll race? Or is this something that is pretty much screaming “Mary God-damn Sue” from the get go? I’m interested in hearing what people say.
In the old days before Blood Elves (less so now, but sure as hell as it still happens), one of the great signs of Sue-dom in Troll RPers was “my character is not a Darkspear”. Usually an attempt to be just that extra bit more of a special snowflake, the result was a character from another jungle troll trabe (usually the Bloodscalps because ‘blood’ is a kewl word) or another race of Troll altogether (Frostmane Ice Trolls were very common to the point where TB used to have an entire guild of Frostmanes - they were all special snowflakes too, and their leader was the “Frostmane Elder Matriach” to boot.)
This, of course, is full of issues, not the least of which is the fact that these Troll trabes are hostile to the Horde. Hell, one of the main reasons why the Darkspears joined the Horde was due to their long history of being picked on (and eaten) by the other Troll Trabes. However, there were those that persisted with various ideas, some decently executed, others... less so (I lost count of the number of “Frostmane Ambassadors to the Horde” I saw).
Fast forward to the present day. Forest and Ice Trolls now use different character models (at least for the males) making it rather hard to pull off that your male Troll character is not a Jungle Troll. On the other hand, we have two new developments in Trolls in the horde. There are mobs tagged as “horde soldiers” who are using the Forest Troll model in a few places; presumably, these are members of the Revantusk Trabe who are now serving as a part of the regular Horde army. Similarly, the Shatterspear Trolls of Darkshore are now also a part of the Horde, albeit there’s evidence that they may have been coerced or even forced into joining. (also, at the end of the Quest chains regarding them, they’re pretty much wiped out by Ancients with Space Lasers)
So here’s the question: In light of this, is playing a “Not a Darkspear” acceptable? Is it OK to pass your troll off as a member of another Jungle Troll trabe or even another Troll race? Or is this something that is pretty much screaming “Mary God-damn Sue” from the get go? I’m interested in hearing what people say.