Do you predict faction mechanical change? (Post war campaign)

[Omedon]

Alright, the war campaign is over, Sylvanas has bailed, and is now more than ever painted as the embodiment of all the bad reasons the factions were fighting each other in this particular war.

And so with this new context, at this moment, I ask you once more, O champions of MMO...

Are you willing to predict faction-mechanical change? Anything? Dwarves and trolls in the same dungeon groups? Is it coming sooner, later or never?

[Malikath]

yes, we've been heading towards this since WC3:TFT.

[Sesto]

one of the selling points of the next expansion will definitely be faction mechanic updates

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

"If you want a faction divide, Classic is there for you." - Blizzard, this Blizzcon.

[Shammyrock]

mechanically probably not. Lorewise it ties off the conflict though

[tromage2]

If this is the end of the factions and the Horde then its time to step away from the warcraft franchise.
Guess i will see what happens.

[Life-Binder]

Hordiance and Sylvanas faction

[Seiklis]

There was 1 leak that said 4 factions were coming....I could see that now

Something like 2 mainline factions (Anduin and Thrall factions) and two extremist factions (Tyrande and Sylvanas) could happen now. Sorta like an Aldor/Scryer situation where a horde could gain rep with the Anduin faction but lose with Sylvanas and lose access to her cities while gaining the Anduin ones but never having access to Tyrande stuff.

I think Sylvanas went too far for the above but idk if they have the balls to kill her off

Something is changing though

[Jastall]

I think a loosening of PvE restrictions is definitely in the works. We'll be able to raid and do dungeons alongside each other at least, quests sounds it'll be too much of a hassle. Cross-faction communications maybe.

I don't expect anything too extreme such as Alliance Orcs or Horde Night Elves.

[Khaza-R]

Yes but I think the Alliance / Horde will still have separate stories and you won't be able to use eachothers hubs.

I think Warmode was the beginning of this. You'll be able to cross-faction group as long as you have it turned off.

[Wyrt]

Then everyone can be lead by Anduin! YAY! The Alliance won't have to suffer alone anymore!

[Uko]

I could easily see the player characters become more like mercenaries with very loose ties to the alliance and horde which allow humans and orcs to team up for raids and dungeons and the like but story wise still be connected to one faction or the other. This is a nice setup for a change like that especially considering how alliance takes easily 3-4 times as long as horde to fill up the famed slayer leader board. It probably doesn't look good to the devs when one faction is struggling that hard. Selfishly speaking I would love to play alliance races but still be able to raid with my horde guild on that character.

[Irian]

I have almost no doubt.

That being said, I think it'd be crazy to think that they'd totally remove factions. No way in hell. Instead I speculate war mode is going to be the tool used to separate the PvP and PvE side of the game, with non-WM allowing cross-faction interactions, tagging and communications. Possibly even guilding?

[Mirishka]

I seriously hope this comes to fruition.

Just utterly tired, sick and tired of "we hate each other, oh noes a big bad we must work together, yay we beat the big bad, AHHH WE HATE EACH OTHER AGAIN, oh no another big bag, we must cooperate hesitantly because we hate each other, we win, AHHH WE HATE EACH OTHER REALLY BAD THIS TIME ITS WAR, oh no something bad is coming, we must work together even if we reaaaaaaaaally really hate each other (seriously, its war this time)' and on and on and on.

Horde and Alliance are 2 sides of the same coin and the shit we routinely fight needs the strength of both to prevail. Its about damn time someone smarter than me (or at least in a position at Blizzard) figured that out.

Leave all the PvP stuff in, treat it like a thing for people who refuse to accept the other faction, like 'hey as long as its honorable its your problem outliers'.

I really hope it plays out like Anduin and Saurfang said: breaking the cycle. Because it needs to be broke. A decade and a half of this is enough.

[Kyphael]

Something will change, but nothing that rocks the house. It'll be cross-faction instanced grouping and that's it. Outside instances, business as usual.

"Orcs cut down our trees! RABBLE, RABBLE, RABBLE!"
"Humans hogging all the resources! Grumble, grumble, grumble!"

[Throwme]

Factions will still exist, partially to keep the racial starting zones intact. No point making a Troll starting experience in Elwynn Forest or Draenei area in Ghostlands.
Current races will still belong to their current factions, but all future races, allied or not, will be available to both factions. Like with the Pandarens, a choice of faction must be made in order to provide you with a starting point for your leveling experience.
Cross faction communication and grouping will be possible in both PVE and PVP. Some battlegrounds will still be themed to Alliance or Horde, so your character will adopt the default appearance of that side, similar to Battle of Dazar'alor.
Guilds will be allowed to cross factions.
All characters will be allowed in cities of both factions.
Warmode will still exist, but will be changed to be Free For All. No more red versus blue and one side gaining a huge bonus compared to the other side. Warmode On means you're essentially "red" to everyone.

That's my predictions. I doubt they'll come true, but it seems like the logical step, depending on what exactly happens in 8.3.

[Sharby]

Red and Blue will still exist however they can now intersect often.


What I expect:

Open-world grouping, but only relevant for neutral quests, ALL upcoming quests will be neutral going forward. But faction-specific quest chains and storylines will continue to exist and be faction restricted.

Crossfaction chatting and being able to whisper/invite people to chats/groups without needing bnet.

Crossfaction instances including mythic raiding. You can now see Horde players in LFG tool as Alliance and otherwise.

What I don't expect:

Any faciton barriers pre-9.0 to change meaning mounts and stuff, not anything of the above.

Cities all becoming neutral.

Any pre-9.0 quests/reps becoming neutral.

Being able to make an 'Alliance Orc' or a 'Horde Night Elf.'

Crossfaction trading.

A complete dissolving of the Horde and Alliance.



What I'm on the fence about:

Crossfaction guilds.

[tromage2]

Red and Blue will still exist however they can now intersect often.

Being able to make an 'Alliance Orc' or a 'Horde Night Elf.'

There is no Horde with that feature.
Horde Night Elf what a joke.

[Sharby]

There is no Horde with that feature.
Horde Night Elf what a joke.

Did you misread what I typed?

[Trollokdamus]

Gotta love these biased polls.

That said, I personally don't see any changes happening. Remember Saurfang's line from the recent cinematic: "We could not fill the chasm between the Horde and Alliance if we labored a thousand years. You know this."