What SHOULD the Factions be like?

[Skytotem]

BFA has had Horde players pretty frustrated with retreading MoP with evil warchief and the opposition feeling like theyre more aligned with the Alliance... and Alliance frustrated by destruction of Teldrassil and being shackled to the human storylines with Jaina flipping back to forgiving the Horde

More than that, there have been questions of what the factions themes, aesthetics, values, strengths and weaknesses should be now that they have grown so much from wc3

So what are your views of what the factions should be like to make fighting each other interesting instead of a forced-guilt ridden slog?

[Zandalariprelate]

Chaotic good/neutral for the Horde and Lawful good/neutral for the alliance and for aclaration lawful good doesn't mean lawful nice, you have Batman or Judge Dredd as an good example of that or the most commonly know as good is not nice. Horde as chaotic or neutral is the best way to explore the spectrm of morality within the horde without being villains in the eyes of others faction: https://photobucket.com/gallery/user...OTAxMw==/?ref=

[Skytotem]

Chaotic good/neutral for the Horde and Lawful good/neutral for the alliance and for aclaration lawful good doesn't mean lawful nice, you have Batman or Judge Dredd as an good example of that or the most commonly know as good is not nice. Horde as chaotic or neutral is the best way to explore the spectrm of morality within the horde without being villains in the eyes of others faction: https://photobucket.com/gallery/user...OTAxMw==/?ref=

Man I would settle for the Horde not being villains in its OWN eyes, I wouldn't mind being villains from the Alliance's PoV but I'm TIRED of our own questing having us be called 'sick' or w/e.

[Zandalariprelate]

Man I would settle for the Horde not being villains in its OWN eyes, I wouldn't mind being villains from the Alliance's PoV but I'm TIRED of our own questing having us be called 'sick' or w/e.

That is why Chaotic good/neutral will fit them well, they don't care about the society and rules of the lawful good people, they do their own things and morality code, think in vigilantes like robin hood or the assassin orden from the ubisoft games

[Briselody]

Disbanded. They only hurt the gameplay and the story by continuing to exist.

[matrix123mko]

Factions should not exist.

[Lodreh]

Disbanded. They only hurt the gameplay and the story by continuing to exist.

Factions should not exist.

This... kill both factions and let the players be Heroes of Azeroth who can help anyone they choose.

[Cobman]

No more factions but battle royal of order halls lol. There will always be horde and alliance, those 2 things are like the essence of Azeroths story.

[Feanoro]

Very much scribbling quickly...

Nature's Guardians (you come up with a name then!) - Night Elves as shown in WC3, able to take on both Horde and Alliance. Worgen from the Scythe ties.

Alliance - Space goats, Dwarves, Gnomes, and various flavors of human.

Horde - WC3 style. Orcs, Trolls, Tauren. Warlike, tribal, etc.

NuScourge - Undead, goblins, and any other mustache twirlers.


Players choose and it works more like reputation factions, you're not absolutely prevented from working with others.

[Gurluas]

Very much scribbling quickly...

Nature's Guardians (you come up with a name then!) - Night Elves as shown in WC3, able to take on both Horde and Alliance. Worgen from the Scythe ties.

Alliance - Space goats, Dwarves, Gnomes, and various flavors of human.

Horde - WC3 style. Orcs, Trolls, Tauren. Warlike, tribal, etc.

NuScourge - Undead, goblins, and any other mustache twirlers.


Players choose and it works more like reputation factions, you're not absolutely prevented from working with others.

So basically like Everquest 2 where you can betray your faction and work with others? I pprove I always wanted that tbh.

[MatthiasVonTzeskagrad]

Horde should stop killing itself the second someone does something unpleasant.
Alliance should have leadership problems as well, and stop acting like their people aren't getting killed by the Horde every year.

[ro9ue]

The playerbase generally seems sick of seeing H v A, unite for big bad, back to H v A, rinse repeat ad nauseum. I have this feeling that BFA, with the heaviest H v A themes since probably MoP or WC1 or 2 conflicts, is their last hurrah for this whole concept. They want to just ring this out one last time, reveal the deep flaws with it - which is why they are highlighting the interfactional rifts, so the players feel like they understand why they will be moving on from the H v A formula. It's so core to Warcraft and has been for many years, but really when you think about it, it was WC3 that really put Warcraft into the mainstream. And those factions were FAR more interesting.

With the anniversary of Warcraft, release of Classic and WC3 reforged, I think they can feel more free to experiment and not constantly have to honor the past. Classic being released soon, there will be a H v A version of WoW out there. And the shackles can come off, they can move forward in any direction they think is best.

I can see a more expanded version of the WC3 factions.I'm listing races below here ONLY as a general rule, but I'd hope it would be more nuanced where any race can pledge themselves to these sub factions based on their individual ideology or desired gameplay/lore experience. It's more about the archetypal culture of the race and potentially capital cities. Clearly defined philosophies and aesthetics are key here.

Human, Dwarf, Gnome - This would become the core of the standard "good guy" fantasy faction. Mostly human looking races, with highly relatable human culture and stone architecture. Mostly industrious and concerned for trades, transportation, war and typical civilization technologies, but has some underlying magical elements.

Orc, Tauren, Troll - Tribal, honorable, primal. The "old horde". Mostly just trying to live off the land and get by with minimal conflict, but a strong warrior culture. Maybe wouldn't be the first to attack, but will punch back twice as hard.

Night Elf, Draenei, Worgen - I think cosmic religion, with a focus on Light and Void balance would be the theme this faction. Whether it's space crystals or moon cycle worship, this would become a faction less like the Human/Dwarf/Gnome faction and more like crusaders. Though I think it would be more than reasonable to expect to see the Light-devout Humans and Dwarves move to his faction. If the "sub" factions still remain uneasy allies, even if not completely aligned anymore, it would make sense to have settlements in each other's capitals. The Stormwind church might see more Draenei and Night Elves present.

Undead, Blood Elf, Goblin - By any means necessary. Whether it's dark magics or machines and explosives, this faction is about dominance and survival. They really have no code of honor except that they play by the rules with each other simply for the strategic power it gives them. Unlike the "old horde" they would be opportunistic and willing to wage war when it's needed. I can still see some "old horde" members aligning more here, like more bloodthirsty orcs.


If you look at the current fractures in the factions, they usually split on these lines. The Orcs, Tauren and Trolls generally disagree with the less "honorable" stuff the Undead and Goblins do, and you see Saurfang aligning with Anduin and the humans under the concept of honor and a desire for peace. He wants his "old horde" back. That's the WC3 horde. In a way, this would allow the Tauren and Troll druids to separate themselves and side with the Night Elf druid faction on issues of nature and the elements.

You could even see more interesting developments like a new Blood Elf leader emerging similar to Kael'Thas where he wants to restore the glory to the Blood Elves and not be a back seat to the other Horde races. This would fit in more with the "by any means necessary" sub faction. Maybe even more light-devout blood elves join with the "old horde" light practictioners like the Tauren and Zandalari paladins and priests.

Having played Warcraft for so long, it gets tiring to keep seeing the factions fight and come together for a greater threat, and the same characters reverting back to their old ways once its defeated. It does happen in real life, but the fact it just keeps happening over and over makes it incredibly dull. I'd rather see more philosophically hardened factions with interesting motives and get away from the old H v A formula.

[Mehrunes]

There should only be one faction, united in peace around Anduin and his holy bones.

[Alanar]

This... kill both factions and let the players be Heroes of Azeroth who can help anyone they choose.

Might sound fun.. but it realy isnt.
Besides havibg every race join what ever it would feel like a clusterfuck. Like who belongs where etc etc.
Pandas already did that and I hated it. It doesnt eork with wow imo.

[Itisamuh]

Alliance good. Horde evil. When both factions are good it just makes them look like retards for continuing to fight despite all the times they have to team up to deal with a bigger threat. Since it is way too late for the story to go in that direction they should just abolish the factions like others have been saying cause at this point they seem arbitrary.

[Aeula]

Horde - Survivalists banding together to secure their lands. Their methods make their enemies hate them, but the Horde remains United even if the goals of its people differ. ‘Honor’ isn’t even a factor, though some members still try to keep to their own moral code when they can.

Alliance - Corrupt and bogged down with bureaucracy but ultimately tries to do the right thing. I’d also like to see some of the Alliance’s racism brought up more. No more high king please.

I’d like to see them stop being the universe police. But for that both factions would need to be decimated and forced to contend with lesser threats again. Which means Blizzard would need to have the guts to kill most of their major cast and shift the story focus to world building and lore.

[Powerogue]

I think the Alliance has plenty of room for internal conflict that could have been emphasized instead of so much Horde retreading, particularly with the night elves and worgen further distancing themselves from the others. They were both originally isolated from allies, what if they tried to do so again?

The disturbing amount of players still supporting Sylvanas speaks to serious consideration of a third faction, which I am genuinely convinced at this point is where this is all heading, which could be interesting.

One way or another they need to "grand finale" this expansion by defining the factions and what they really stand for. There's a lot of great storytelling potential there, but they have not done enough with it yet. I feel like we're at the dip, that moment of "everything has gone to hell, how can things get better?" that usually comes near the climax, and it's up to them to pull something great out of it.

[Malikath]

gone since MoP.
also legion's intro should of been the breaking point coming in from MoP and just skipping WoD all-together.

then they could have a "designated enemy faction" flagging for group WPvP taking the role of legion demons or old god faceless for warmode, with rewards and incentives like the ordos faction of timeless isle fame.

[Seylene]

I've long since given up on trying to figure out what the Horde "should" be it seems to change at a writers whims. But in response to the horde I can say the Alliance needs to be at the lead of the current wronged, that is the point of individual civilizations and can show them and the differences to a larger degree. So in the current it is the NE's wronged so the choice for the Alliance needs to fit with NE ideals, vengeance and death. Which makes peace nearly impossible. But say if the Horde attacks SW next expansion then that can be when we settle it through Diplomacy and forgiveness etc. then if Ironforge... Beers i dunno but, that is how to properly portray the various factions within the Alliance imo.

[Skytotem]

Alliance good. Horde evil. When both factions are good it just makes them look like retards for continuing to fight despite all the times they have to team up to deal with a bigger threat. Since it is way too late for the story to go in that direction they should just abolish the factions like others have been saying cause at this point they seem arbitrary.

Disagree. Saying good can't fight good is just lazy writing imo, lots of grey conflicts exist and it's far more interesting. Moreover, if the Horde is evil it makes it much harder for them to work with neutral factions.

Might sound fun.. but it realy isnt.
Besides havibg every race join what ever it would feel like a clusterfuck. Like who belongs where etc etc.
Pandas already did that and I hated it. It doesnt eork with wow imo.

This. When you remove the factions, the story tends to get bland, we end up with things like Legion where the Paladin and priest class halls were basically just human/draenei and had no lore from the other races

or in GW2 where it's all 'pact' stuff and there's little lore for other races.