Would you have wanted allied races to be neutral?

[Tziva]

That would have been my preference, yes.

[onesBronson]

I mean, the Zandalari were already fighting the horde in Throne of Thunder. The Dark Iron Dwarfs also don't appear to get along with the regular dwarfs. Doing a quest line now in the wetlands where they have been attacked by the dark iron.

Thats content that happened prior to legion and is no longer relevant. The Dark Iron Dwarves we fought back in Wetlands have been dealt with and moved on, same for Zandalari trolls at Isle of Thunder. Present day content and faction allegiances isn't necessarily effected by past events thats no longer the main focus of the story.

[Deleted]

I'm in favor of player choice. The restrictions placed on WoW players by the devs in the name of lore are dumb. Our characters are not lore characters and what race/class they are is irrelevant to the story.

Nothing would make me happier than to see them removed.

[Deleted]

Depends on the race. None of ones so far certainly. They need to be a highly divided race to begin with. Ethereal is the only one I could think of that would make sense.

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I'm in favor of player choice. The restrictions placed on WoW players by the devs in the name of lore are dumb. Our characters are not lore characters and what race/class they are is irrelevant to the story.

Nothing would make me happier than to see them removed.

We are basically lore characters now.

[therealbowser]

Not really, no. Pandaren were a special exception but for the most part, it's absolutely ridiculous to have members of a given race split and fight eachother on separate factions. Justifying that is hard, and even in the case of Pandaren it makes little sense.

I mean I get it, you wanted to play as X race on Y faction, and you are disappointed that you cannot. That doesn't justify splitting up a united race in the story just so you can play on the faction you want to play on. And I realize for some the story may not matter, but if you throw that story away, what you are left with is rather shallow and unsatisfying to play.

In short, and bluntly... I disagree with new neutral races. Ever, in fact. It's just not a good idea.

I am however in support of typical more Horde races being on Alliance, and more typically Alliance races on Horde. Nightborne and void elves were interesting choices, and I'd like to see this utilized more deeply than simply on elves.

[Blamblam41]

Ideally because both factions end up experience the story to unlock them (Or atleast the ones we have thus far), yes.

Though to be fair, ideally it won't matter if BfA ends up as a United Azeroth. Hopefully with it wrapping up the faction war like Legion wrapped up Legion, the factions will put aside their scabbles and realize they are far more similar than they think and mutual peace, while against the "war"craft of the game is the only solution that makes sense for the plot.

But that's leaving it to Christie Golden's writing, so eh. She's the same person that had Nightborne go Horde because Tyrande apparently still doesn't know how to lead after 10,000 years and Varian isn't around to hand hold her this time like he did in MoP.

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Not really, no. Pandaren were a special exception but for the most part, it's absolutely ridiculous to have members of a given race split and fight eachother on separate factions. Justifying that is hard, and even in the case of Pandaren it makes little sense.

I mean I get it, you wanted to play as X race on Y faction, and you are disappointed that you cannot. That doesn't justify splitting up a united race in the story just so you can play on the faction you want to play on. And I realize for some the story may not matter, but if you throw that story away, what you are left with is rather shallow and unsatisfying to play.

In short, and bluntly... I disagree with new neutral races. Ever, in fact. It's just not a good idea.

I am however in support of typical more Horde races being on Alliance, and more typically Alliance races on Horde. Nightborne and void elves were interesting choices, and I'd like to see this utilized more deeply than simply on elves.

We see people of the same race splitting up and fighting each other all the time. Both in real life and in the game.

I mean shit dude, Orcs, trolls, Elves and humans all pretty much systematically tried to exterminate their own races until either a vast empire/alliance was formed or cultural norms were adopted to prevent genocide.

If anything, faction neutrality would have added flavor to the faction war this time like it added flavor in MoP because it tells the story of new people joining a war they didn't even know was being fought.

It's just a little disheartening to see the utter hatred for Pandaren literally stem from their furry, adorable nature and watch it get twisted into bullshit half assed narrative opinions like this.

Grow up.

[StationaryHawk]

Would make for a weaker story. Blizzard hasn't demonstrated the best ability to juggle the numerous faction leaders as is. To require a leader for each of the Alliance and Horde is either going to lead to a Pandaren situation or, in the case of one becoming more prominent, make the other feel underrepresented.

Grow up.

This is a strong argument. You're certainly going to sway people with this approach.

[therealbowser]

Ideally because both factions end up experience the story to unlock them (Or atleast the ones we have thus far), yes.

Though to be fair, ideally it won't matter if BfA ends up as a United Azeroth. Hopefully with it wrapping up the faction war like Legion wrapped up Legion, the factions will put aside their scabbles and realize they are far more similar than they think and mutual peace, while against the "war"craft of the game is the only solution that makes sense for the plot.

But that's leaving it to Christie Golden's writing, so eh. She's the same person that had Nightborne go Horde because Tyrande apparently still doesn't know how to lead after 10,000 years and Varian isn't around to hand hold her this time like he did in MoP.

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We see people of the same race splitting up and fighting each other all the time. Both in real life and in the game.

I mean shit dude, Orcs, trolls, Elves and humans all pretty much systematically tried to exterminate their own races until either a vast empire/alliance was formed or cultural norms were adopted to prevent genocide.

If anything, faction neutrality would have added flavor to the faction war this time like it added flavor in MoP because it tells the story of new people joining a war they didn't even know was being fought.

There are races this could work for. To be fair Zandalari is actually an ironic case since they are already undergoing something of a civil war. Nightborne on the other hand are united as a people. For them to join different factions would mean they are more loyal to the Alliance/Horde than they are their own people and that's bluntly unrealistic. This is even stronger for Highmountain Tauren, and transcends into ludicrous for Lightforged draenei (what reason on earth would they even HAVE to join the Horde?). Void elves could have had their story adjusted and been made to be fairly individual, but as it is now, they were already kicked out of the horde and have no place there. And assuming Dark Iron dwarves would join anyone other than the Alliance and their own people at this point is just odd.

It's just a little disheartening to see the utter hatred for Pandaren literally stem from their furry, adorable nature and watch it get twisted into bullshit half assed narrative opinions like this.

Grow up.

It's a little disheartening for you to blow up over pandaren and make wild assumptions on my part, then follow it up with an ignorant insult.

Mists of Pandaria is one of my favorite expansions, while I think their grounds for joining both factions and effectively killing eachother is ridiculous, I like the race and I loved the expansion they were a part of.

So, friend, why don't you grow up and not jump to wild conclusions next time. Or better yet, let's not have this conversation again, since you seem to be deeply offended by the idea of having a discussion over video game stories.

[Tyrathius]

I wouldn't want them all to be. I think Nightborne should have been though (with Horde getting another race to replace them).

All the others make sense to me in their respective factions.

[Lochton]

After finally getting the argissian reach rep grind done, I made a void elf. I thought to my self "after that huge grind to unlock this, why can't I decide my faction?". I am just curious as to everyone elses sentiments on the debate. Would you have preferred them to be neutral, or are you alright with how they are? Do you think the grind is alright with them also being locked to one faction?

There wouldn't be enough fleshing out of the races to be neutral. They would need a lot more development time if so, and they wouldn't be allied races but a new race in a new 3rd faction.

As Blizzard has stated they weren't fond of how the Pandaren's selection process was made.

[DemoBytom]

I'd love if they finally got rid of 2 faction division alltogether, and focused on making better stories that wouldn't force the artificial horde/alliance conflict every expansion... But well, it is what it is, and Blizz is adamant at dividing their playerbase and have them commit to one faction only. And honestly, I don't see many races (if at all) being neutral in any foreseeable future :/

[Zuben]

I feel the factions should have their own flavor, which races are a part of. Nations with split allegiances are less interesting the more we have them; Pandaren and Thalassians are enough in that regard. It would also have been silly for the Nightborne to divide now that they need to stand united more than ever. Yeah, partaking in our faction war is silly too, but I suppose they're getting something out of the deal.

[Nutri]

No, I don't like the idea of neutral races in general.

And on a side note, only the Zandalari caught my interest, the others I'll probably gradually unlock but I'm not actively working on any of them.

[Serenais]

Yes, where it would make sense. For example, it really wouldn't make much sense for the Highmountain tauren or Zandalari individuals to join the Alliance, or the Dark iron individuals to join the Horde. I could definitelly see a reason why the Nightborne or the Void elves could be neutral.

[Blackmist]

No, but it would have been nice if they'd thought this far ahead and made it so the races had allied with your faction in Legion, rather than suddenly turning on you after you've got exalted with them.

This is how Thalyssra repays us. I help her through her crack addiction, and this is the result. Fucking crack elves...

[Leih]

If they are taking things in the direction of war for Horde vs. Alliance then I absolutely don't think it makes any sense for Allied Races to be neutral.

Though I would have preferred the opposite direction entirely where Horde and Alliance were at peace and merged more but since that's not the way the game is going...

[Thrif]

No, human and dwarves should never be horde, orcs and trolls should never be alliance, it'd just ruin their whole identity.

[Alanar]

Remember whst ion said?
Its hard to stay neutral on azeroth right now.
So there you go.. opinions are allowed but ion is so right here.. being neutral is just a bad idea even in rp means.

[Teri]

Neutral no, but I'd have liked more variation instead of Highmountain/Lightforged being very similar to their same-faction races.

At least nightborne/void elf are a swap.

[Maldarious]

Out of these first 4 I would say yes. Beyond them I see no reason. These first 4 we have all earned rep with and shouldn't be getting stabbed in the back. I mean I would have has no issue seeing Lightforged Draenei available to Horde. Nightborne and Highmountain available to the Alliance would also make sense.

I am of the firm belief however that we should all be neutral and able to play what we want on any side we want. Just because I am human shouldn't force me Alliance. Maybe I like the Horde but no Horde races appeal to me.

Yes, as I said I think some neutral races from these first four allied races would have made much more sense. Might make more sense from other races in the future as well but not with the Dark Iron Dwarves or Zandalari for sure.

Hope we get out of Alpha and a solid BETA build soon with more information.