Cross-faction soon?

[hecpercu]

It's a good time to be a WoW fan.
.

Hahahahahhahahahahahahaha, haaaaahahahahahhahahahahahahha oh my god you just made me cry laughing, haaaaahahahhahahahahahaha hahahahahahahhahahahahaha yeah that is why it has1.5M global subs and the conpany is imploding and launching a red button panic attack patch so their game dont die, patch that BTW wont work because wow is dead beyond redemption

Oh sr u just made me laugh so hard, thank you

[Myradin]

lore wise, it's been how many years that we had to "join forces to overcome the greater evil?" Hell in MoP we were literally questioned about the real utility of this HvA conflict.

Its been done in literally every expansion except for classic, even the faction conflict focused expacs. Heck its arguably in classic too since most factions involved in its raids are neutral.

The adventurers, AKA the players, SHOULD be able to group with eachother lorewise. They literally work with the other faction on an annual basis.

Keep the factions, let warmode make you pvp the same way you do now. That way the story of the factions themselves can continue if blizz wants to, it also frees them to make factions more dynamic, so they can leave or change allegiances, instead of factions being these monolithic entities that only grow.

[Molvonos]

Its been done in literally every expansion except for classic, even the faction conflict focused expacs. Heck its arguably in classic too since most factions involved in its raids are neutral.

The adventurers, AKA the players, SHOULD be able to group with eachother lorewise. They literally work with the other faction on an annual basis.

Keep the factions, let warmode make you pvp the same way you do now. That way the story of the factions themselves can continue if blizz wants to, it also frees them to make factions more dynamic, so they can leave or change allegiances, instead of factions being these monolithic entities that only grow.

I believe that lorewise, Alliance killed Onyxia, while Horde killed Nefarian, despite there being little in the way of evidence in game. The tiny shreds of a tie-in involve the key to get UBRS (for Alliance) and the whole 'True Horde' thing by Blackhand, which lead directly from UBRS to Blackwing Lair. There weren't any good n' proper neutral factions dealing with raids until AQ and Naxx (IIRC).

**Edit**
There was more, woo. But beyond that, you're right. They tried to do the further splitting of allegiances in TBC only for them (Aldor/Scryer) to come together as Shattered Offensive at the end. Every expansion starts with rough fighting only for them to kumbyah and hold hands to defeat the greater evil by the end.

[Vampyrr]

I do not agree with this at all. Sorry, different opinions. The factions are the base of the game and no they shouldn't be allowed to "adventure" together. A split faction makes way more sense, but the health of the game at this point is kind of subjective.

Well you are welcome to that opinion. However it is looking more and more that you are in the minority these days.

[AngerFork]

I've seen a lot of people in this thread talking about the idea of the factions being able to work together via "mercenary" mode or LFG, but not to remove the guild or chat barriers. I feel like such a solution would miss the point. The main source of this issue seems to be high level content...things like Mythic Raids & high level M+. LFG being open would help for lower level content, but given how tied in many raiding groups are to guilds, I feel that blocking cross-faction chat/guilds would avoid the core of the problem and do nothing to really help overall.

If we are to have cross-faction play, we need cross-faction communication which essentially means the players themselves need to be at least slightly removed from the faction conflict. Otherwise we're just fixing the wrong problem.

I do not agree with this at all. Sorry, different opinions. The factions are the base of the game and no they shouldn't be allowed to "adventure" together. A split faction makes way more sense, but the health of the game at this point is kind of subjective.

Honest question: If we don't allow the factions to adventure together, what then do you feel should be done about the flood of people going to the Horde side from the Alliance, thus making it harder to be a Mythic raider in the Alliance?

[Kersey]

Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full.

[Myradin]

I believe that lorewise, Alliance killed Onyxia, while Horde killed Nefarian, despite there being little in the way of evidence in game. The tiny shreds of a tie-in involve the key to get UBRS (for Alliance) and the whole 'True Horde' thing by Blackhand, which lead directly from UBRS to Blackwing Lair. There weren't any good n' proper neutral factions dealing with raids until AQ and Naxx (IIRC).

**Edit**
There was more, woo. But beyond that, you're right. They tried to do the further splitting of allegiances in TBC only for them (Aldor/Scryer) to come together as Shattered Offensive at the end. Every expansion starts with rough fighting only for them to kumbyah and hold hands to defeat the greater evil by the end.

Oddly enough I think WoD is just about the only expac where it doesn't feel too united at the end. The garrisons keeping people seperated the whole time, and even the quest hubs in the jungle are seperate. Yes we worked with the kirin tor and khadgar but they feel lie they have a much smaller presence than the usual neutral force opposing the bad guy.

[Bodakane]

Just make your faction a choice. It’s wholly stupid from a game and lore perspective to make factions racially based instead of ideology based.

[Raetary]

The factions are the base of the game

And that wouldn't change with CFP.

[Tziva]

Just make your faction a choice. It’s wholly stupid from a game and lore perspective to make factions racially based instead of ideology based.

I agree with this from a story perspective, but choosing a side freely while still be limited to playing with one's own faction won't solve the problem we're facing. PvEers will still largely choose Horde out of necessity, and we'll still have the problem Alliance-side of having an enormously difficult time finding PuGs or doing recruitment.

At this point, between the huge faction disparity in end-game pve and the dwindling population, what we need is to be able to play together without faction restrictions, regardless of how factions are determined.

[Bodakane]

I agree with this from a story perspective, but choosing a side freely while still be limited to playing with one's own faction won't solve the problem we're facing. PvEers will still largely choose Horde out of necessity, and we'll still have the problem Alliance-side of having an enormously difficult time finding PuGs or doing recruitment.

At this point, between the huge faction disparity in end-game pve and the dwindling population, what we need is to be able to play together without faction restrictions, regardless of how factions are determined.

I don't believe that will be the case. I also don't think these two concepts are mutually exclusive. In fact, it will likely make more sense from a story perceptive and from a nuts and bolts behind the scenes perspective to change the factions to not be racially based before you allow faction less dungeon/raid running.

[hulkgor]

Without buff for Alliance racials (or make them just the same as horde, just with diffrent names) hardcore players will still playing in Horde.

That's not been the case for a long time.

[Shink]

with or without, it changes nothing

just like the "player requested" level squish

Just adds a larger pool of dps players to abuse tank and healers reverting any kind of change it does to queue times

Much Much Much more spam in the party finder as well so No change there either

Friends? if you let the faction get between playing with your friends, i doubt they were friends to begin with

[Coldkil]

I've seen a lot of people in this thread talking about the idea of the factions being able to work together via "mercenary" mode or LFG, but not to remove the guild or chat barriers. I feel like such a solution would miss the point. The main source of this issue seems to be high level content...things like Mythic Raids & high level M+. LFG being open would help for lower level content, but given how tied in many raiding groups are to guilds, I feel that blocking cross-faction chat/guilds would avoid the core of the problem and do nothing to really help overall.

If we are to have cross-faction play, we need cross-faction communication which essentially means the players themselves need to be at least slightly removed from the faction conflict. Otherwise we're just fixing the wrong problem.


Honest question: If we don't allow the factions to adventure together, what then do you feel should be done about the flood of people going to the Horde side from the Alliance, thus making it harder to be a Mythic raider in the Alliance?

To me cross faction guilds are just mandatory. The whole istanced pve side of the game should be cross faction, with all the structures related to it.

[Minikin]

Boy their numbers must be low when you have Ion himself talking about crossfaction play not in a condescending ridiculing manner, but actually like something they are considering.

It's funny the only arguments you ever see against it are "GRUG NO WANT TO SEE HUMIES IN OGRIMAR GRUG PLAY TO KILL HUMIE!" when that's not something anyone really asks, apart from some turbo ERPers maybe.

Every expansion, it comes to "banding up to overcome some greater evil" - maybe actually allowing players play through it with other players and not some capeshit-tier NPCs would be swell, after all these years?

Lol turbo ERPers.

That's the best way to put that

[TheLucky1]

It has to be done, it doesn't matter lore wise anyways, we fought too often together against the big bad flavour of the expansion.

There is no real value in the divide anyways at this point.

I only wonder when they'll do it as it seems to be a bit more to do on the technical level and figuring out the details on how exactly, so i don't think 9.2 but next expansion for sure.

They would also make a lot of money off this, half my guild would play alliance races lol.

[garicasha]

To really keep the faction divide they would have had to make separate campaigns for a variety of the game's most iconic moments:

--In WotLK, the Alliance and Tirion would have defeated the Lich King
--In Cata, Thrall would have driven the whole expansion and it'd have been the Horde that defeated Deathwing
--In Pandaria the Horde would have gone after Garrosh
--WoD lore is so messed up it doesn't matter
--In Legion the Alliance with Tyrande, Illidan, Khdagar, and Velen would have defeated Xavius, Kil'Jaeden, Argus, and Sargeras
--BfA I didn't play as much, but again that's all Jaina
--Shadowlands as it exists makes sense because Alliance and Horde cooperated in all these expansions. But if the Horde never helped Tirion defeat the Lich King, if the Alliance had never helped Thrall with Deathwing, if the Horde had let the Alliance handle Xavius, Kil'Jaeden, Argus and Sargeras...then there'd still be an actual war.

What I'm trying to spit out is that to really keep the faction divide as a story there would have to be someone on the Horde side that could do what Illidan and Khadgar and Tyrande and Jaina did and also someone on the Alliance that could do what Thrall did and Sylvanas did and Garrosh did, etc.

[Siraeyou]

Without buff for Alliance racials (or make them just the same as horde, just with diffrent names) hardcore players will still playing in Horde.

If you actually listen to the highest end PvE guilds, Alliance racials are actually more powerful on average than Horde, the reason they don't swap to Alliance is because the difference isn't worth the loss of player/talent pool you have access to when you play Horde. Max has talked about it several times.

[Schizoide]

Yes, it's the network effect. Everybody switched to horde back when their racials were better and now that's simply the status quo. They could possibly make alliance racials so much better that everybody felt compelled to switch back, but that would obviously be self-defeating in the opposite direction.

Setting faction to simply not matter in cooperative PvE content makes the most sense.

[InflaterMouse]

I've seen a lot of people in this thread talking about the idea of the factions being able to work together via "mercenary" mode or LFG, but not to remove the guild or chat barriers. I feel like such a solution would miss the point. The main source of this issue seems to be high level content...things like Mythic Raids & high level M+. LFG being open would help for lower level content, but given how tied in many raiding groups are to guilds, I feel that blocking cross-faction chat/guilds would avoid the core of the problem and do nothing to really help overall.

If we are to have cross-faction play, we need cross-faction communication which essentially means the players themselves need to be at least slightly removed from the faction conflict. Otherwise we're just fixing the wrong problem.


Honest question: If we don't allow the factions to adventure together, what then do you feel should be done about the flood of people going to the Horde side from the Alliance, thus making it harder to be a Mythic raider in the Alliance?

The only thing that can be done is to incentivize being Alliance, either by making racial traits more attractive or making them visually more attractive. Do we have a perspective outside of this that is causing the mass exodus from the alliance?

- - - Updated - - -

And that wouldn't change with CFP.

It would cause the factions to mix, it's not needed and would shit on the entire story of the game. Yea, it would change the game, totally change it.