Religion is a fundamental aspect of all societies and is followed by Warcraft players through their individual journeys within their virtual realms. Religion is an underlying value for many of the different classes in the game. Paladins and Priests focus on the power of the Holy Light to heal allies. Druids, on the other hand, use the power of nature in forms similar to the druidic and nomadic discourse that has been seen in our real world society. Much like societies in the real world are divided by religion, I argue that cultural class division in Warcraft is fundamentally based on the different religious beliefs and practices in WoW. This gives players a sense of belonging to one side or the other, but only a handful of races practice such religions. It also allows players to be able to cross-faction lines in understanding their enemies, many religions such as the holy light are followed by multiple races, not just by Alliance or Horde.
Human players are the most easily characterized when talking of class division via religion. Humans have a long history of following the light, which is the basis of the Christian-like religion. Essentially, the human spirit is empowered by the holy light which can give Human Priests and Paladins power to heal fellow players, but also use the light to exorcise enemies. We can see this is similar to priests in our societies of Christian religion who speak in terms of having divine powers and are able to cure the weak. In Warcraft though, these powers are legitimate. Players who play as Human Paladins or Priests often feel a sense of accomplishment because they are the definition of hope. Without these healing classes based on religions, there would be no progress. They are the menders, just like our real world repair men, but are much more venerated. In this sense, we see religion taking on a more fundamental and structural role than spiritual. Religion in WoW is there to grant power like in our real world where religion is there to give humans strength.
The Cathedral of Light, located in Stormwind, the most iconic spiritual structure within WoW:
Traditionally a human religion, the "light" is interpreted by many races. For example, Night Elves worship the Goddess of the Moon, Elune. They say their power is granted from Elune, and she is the real holy light. Undead, once being humans, can still be empowered by the holy light as well, despite begin walking corpses. Interestingly, this allows players to connect with other players even though they are enemies. For example, Druids have their own special meeting ground known as Moonglade which is a neutral zone in which members of both the Horde and Alliance meet. Therefore religion can cross cultural and nationalistic borders, much like in our own world where religious cultures can be connected even though they are a world apart.
I juxtapose the various religions to our own world because all religions are trying to answer the same thing in both virtual and real worlds: who created us, how we came to be and what happens when we die.
The secluded druidic sanctuary of Moonglade; very rarely do players who are not druids enter:
TL;DR - Warcraft religions can form a sense of belonging and understanding between players and within players.
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