Monday, April 16, 2012

Barbarians for a Better Tomorrow!

Why does blizzard have to make their main melee fighters so stupid? History is rich with examples of thoughtful knights, wise samurais, courageous bards and even viking poets.

Do we get those? No! We get a hulking barbarian. Though the other classes are still under wraps, it looks like the barbarian will be the primary melee (hand to hand combat) machine in D3.

The term barbarian itself comes from "barbarous" which hints toward lack of education, civilization... a barbarous person is someone most people suspect will act stupid and go around punching people in the face.

I'm ok with the face smashing people in the face part--sometimes that is just and deserved! However, I'm tired of barbarians being stereotyped as stupid. Just because we can't teleport around like a sorceress doesn't mean we're dumb!

Therefor, I am forming the Barbarians for a Better Tomorrow, or something. It is a tentative title for the fledgling organization, and if you can think of a better one you're automatically a member.

Barbarians for a Better Tomorrow is an informal group of barbarians who strive to erase the stereotype that all barbarians are stupid from the blizzard community by conducting themselves in a manner that sets a shining example for all barbs to follow, things like:

� Be Polite. Kill them with kindness, even when someone is spamming insults. You'll find this confuses people quickly. It's still ok to smash PKers in the face, but be polite about it.

� Hats off and weapons sheathed in town. Seriously. Why walk around with a big pi�ata on your head while lugging a half-ton Maul in a safe zone? That's just not friendly.

And some others that I can't think of at the moment. Any interest?

3. Have fun. It's just a game.|||Ehm... barbarous actually meant 'outlander', it was a term used by the romans (or were them the greeks) to depict their nordic invaders, it started meaning ignorant in the recent times.

Why would you think blizz thinks of barbarians as dumb? I mean, what happened with Harrogath then, or even with the writings of Abd Al-Hazir, they depict barbarians as honorable, noble and great.

I don't see anything stupid in the whole idea of the barbarian. Although I had never played in battle net which probably makes some parts of my point invalid.

Still, you are fighting for a good reason, I'd go with those 2 rules for every class.|||Quote:








Just because we can't teleport around like a sorceress doesn't mean we're dumb!




I'm sorry, I didn't know Barbarians were being so misrepresented... and had access to the internet.

Seriously though, I don't recall anything implying they were stupid. Just very Klingon like with the honor, which in itself I find stupid but that goes for any honor based society.|||Quote:








Seriously though, I don't recall anything implying they were stupid.




"Though perhaps lacking the sophistication of city folk, the Barbarian has an acute awareness of his surroundings."

Just one instance. It's a polite way of saying 'stupid'. And I hope people realize it's just more a fun joke than a real complaint.

Barbarians for a Better Tomorrow!

or maybe 'League of Barbarian Gentlemen'|||No, it's a polite way of saying, "While not being aware of what is the proper roughness paper to wipe their *** with, they are actually competent enough to not die 5 minutes after being in dropped of in a forest filled with bunnies."

Barbarians in Diablo universe are portrayed in an exceptionally flattering light.|||The thing I like about this Tao is you've obviously began to classify yourself as a Barbarian.


Quote:




Just because we can't teleport around like a sorceress doesn't mean we're dumb!|||Quote:








The thing I like about this Tao is you've obviously began to classify yourself as a Barbarian.




Well, I'm definitely prefer the hands-on type of players that don't require finesse. The reason is that I travel a lot--connection is often iffy and my mac book just isn't a great gaming laptop. Barbarian's a good choice to survive frequent lag spikes.

And there's also something appealing to me about physically smashing enemies in the face. |||Quote:








"Though perhaps lacking the sophistication of city folk, the Barbarian has an acute awareness of his surroundings."




I don't think that means "stupid". That means "Even if he doesn't go to bars and clubs, wears pelts and isn't the top guy you want to be seen around with downtown, the barbarian knows how, why, and when to smash faces".

Which I think is perfectly acceptable and by no means stupid. Actually I think it's very polite.

Being the way they are Barbs inform promptly that they are an inch away from smashing your face. That's nice.

|||The term barbarian is derived from Greek, and originally meant only a person who did not speak Greek, the folk etymology being that non-Greek speakers sounded like they were wandering around mumbling "barbarbarbarbar". At first, it had no specific pejorative connotation, after all advanced cultures like the Egyptians and Persians were referred to as barbarians. The Romans adopted the term to signify people outside of their military and political control, and it was adopted by western tradition and associated with those European tribes who caused the Romans so much trouble with during their migrations.

As said, many barbarian cultures were depicted as wise and knowledgeable by both the Greeks and Romans. One more applicable to this case would be Caesar's description of the Druidic sect in Britain, a notably barbarian culture, but with a strong association with knowledge and wisdom.|||Quote:








The term barbarian is derived from Greek, and originally meant only a person who did not speak Greek, the folk etymology being that non-Greek speakers sounded like they were wandering around mumbling "barbarbarbarbar". At first, it had no specific pejorative connotation, after all advanced cultures like the Egyptians and Persians were referred to as barbarians. The Romans adopted the term to signify people outside of their military and political control, and it was adopted by western tradition and associated with those European tribes who caused the Romans so much trouble with during their migrations.

As said, many barbarian cultures were depicted as wise and knowledgeable by both the Greeks and Romans. One more applicable to this case would be Caesar's description of the Druidic sect in Britain, a notably barbarian culture, but with a strong association with knowledge and wisdom.






I commend, my brother, for your efforts to bring enlightenment to the rest of the Diablo community, and invite you to join me in The Barbarians for a Better Tomorrow (tentatively titled).

Your history lesson is accurate, though it overlooks ample examples that the greeks used the term in the pejorative sense. Outside of more scholarly research, the term barbarian retains its pejorative connotation today.

The sad truth is there is no historical record of any barbarian culture identifying with the term, and further you describe the root of the word while forgetting that it is the modern equivalent of the "Derka Derkas" from Team America, which is a rather hilarious movie.

Sincerely,

Tao Jones the Bar-Bar-Bar-Barian.

No comments:

Post a Comment