Is peace between the Horde and the Alliance actually possible? (spoilers)

[Felixon]

We see where the faction war story is going yet again. "We must unite against Azshara"; "Azeroth is dying"; "only the combined strength of the Alliance and Horde could defeat this foe"... Anduin is hoping for peace, Jaina thinks,that Teldrassil has to be avenged,but is ready to work with the Horde,"cause Sylvanas is the reason of what is happening". We already can see that it's a matter of time until the both factions will sign a peace treaty - which will be broken by the Horde an expansion later.

The question is - would it actually make sense to make such peace? I don't know what Horde could do,to redeem itself in the eyes of the night elves. Combined force of the Horde,commanded by Saurfang,marched up until the Teldrassil and did not have a regret about doing so - most of them "enjoyed" it. Would be interesting to know,how many of them fought side by side with night elves against the Legion and how little effort Sylvanas needed to make,to ignite their old hatred towards the night elves. Anyway,I can't see how the night elves could shake hands with the Horde now (and it doesn't matter if lead by Sylvanas,Saurfang,Baine,Thrall...) and say "well,I didn't like that tree anyways,shit happens". The only thing,that would make sense would be the division amongst the factions,but I doubt that will happen - the active subscription numbers are crumbling and dividing the two existing factions into smaller ones would be quite devastating to guilds,communities etc.

Despite that - it would actually be the sole way how the story could unfold if Anduin will value the peace over his allies and sign a peace treaty,thus spitting in the night elven faces yet again - Sylvanas supporters could join her "Horde" which would consist of forsaken,goblins,mag'har etc.; Saurfang/Thrall/Baine leading the "original Horde"; Tyrande's Alliance,which would consist of the night elves;worgen;draenei and Anduin's Alliance. Nothing else,not "Sylvanas was mind controlled"; not "Azerite made the Horde bloodthirsty" or other bullshit would make sense.

And what do you think?Is the peace after everything,that has happened in this expansion possible? If so,why?

[omeomorfismo]

logically it shouldnt.
forsken have to predate on the livings to survive, alliance are to zealot in light and nature to not consider them more than abominations.
but hey, blizz achieved to write anduin and a desolate council happy to become extinct....

[Leodric]

It shouldn't, but I think some parts of the Alliance will be open for a peace treaty to fight the greater evil (Humans, Dwarves, Gnomes) while the races which suffered heavily because of the Horde will be against it (NE, Worgen) and continue to fight. Blizzard already implied that there will be some kind of "inner struggle" in the Alliance afaik, so this seems to be the way they want to push the narrative.

[Super Dickmann]

Logically, no. But the lesson is about peace, so it will happen, come hell or high water. To quote the geniuses behind GoT "Creatively it made sense for us because we wanted it to happen".

[Mayia]

From a story point of view yes its very possible they've come together much more often than apart, but it'd make pvp harder to explain, FFXIV has a WEIRD and imo stupid excuse for fighting, warcraft does it better and keeping the factions hostile works well for that, even if its a cold war kind of peace.

[mysticx]

From a story point of view yes its very possible they've come together much more often than apart, but it'd make pvp harder to explain, FFXIV has a WEIRD and imo stupid excuse for fighting, warcraft does it better and keeping the factions hostile works well for that, even if its a cold war kind of peace.

Great, the story is creaking and groaning, its foundations are falling apart and hardly any of the actions the characters take make a lick of sense anymore, but hey! We have a good explanation for PvP!

Just make it peace, and extremist factions (Without much political pull) are still faffing around in some remote areas, there, we have peace, the story can start moving in one direction again, and we have an excuse for battlegrounds to still be a thing.

[Zandalariprelate]

Nope and Blizzard should stop doing marvel civil war parodies

[Thage]

You'd think it wouldn't be, but just look at the real world. The bitterest enemies have become close allies over time. Hell, the US and Japan are practically butt-buddies and this is after WWII and a period in the 80s of aggressive business warfare, and despite friction with the current administration, Germany remains one of the US's closest allies. I wouldn't say there's zero hope for peace between the factions, in-universe, but Blizzard is notorious for forcing the plot to bend around gameplay (to the point that the factions were suicidally fighting on the Lich King's doorstep, fully aware that doing so provided Arthas with valuable last-minute reinforcements) so I wouldn't expect it to happen in any meaningful way unless it, like Legion, were an 'in case of emergency, break glass' situation.

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From a story point of view yes its very possible they've come together much more often than apart, but it'd make pvp harder to explain, FFXIV has a WEIRD and imo stupid excuse for fighting, warcraft does it better and keeping the factions hostile works well for that, even if its a cold war kind of peace.

I think the solution in FFXIV works well--for FFXIV. Frontlines are used as live-fire training exercises and somewhere for people to vent their frustrations, and the Feast is a gladiatorial spectacle. In a situation where the three main factions are all allied, having somewhere troops can vent (with a worthwhile excuse to go to the front as valuable resources are being fought over) can keep things from boiling over on more important fronts like at the Ala Mhigo-Garlean Empire border (where they have bigger fish to fry).

A smarter option for WoW would be closer to the pre-WotLK faction conflict, where it was largely border clashes, resource skirmishes, and territorial disputes away from established faction borders. The faction leadership typically overlooked these clashes as the cost of doing business in a world as dangerous as Azeroth, allowing them to focus on problems at hand without constantly having to worry if an underqualified Warchief would go mad with power or a King with a grudge would throw a punch at a diplomatic meeting after a mouthy general got a bit too comfortable.

[Audrenalyn]

Even if Jaina wants vengeance for Teldrassil, it's Tyrande's actions on the matter that are important. Jaina is willing to settle for peace. But is Tyrande? We haven't seen anything on her this patch.. What will she do after Azshara is dealt with?

[Devilyaki]

Way it’s going, just kick out the dead and they’ll all be somewhat okay with each other. Enough monsters and so forth that teaming up will be the best thing. The undead though have always seemed spiteful of the living. No problem to me if we all just kicked them out and maybe kept the dead .. umm dead..

[Grazrug]

If Baine is made new horde leader then yes. Say. We need to kill him before they succeed doing it.

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Way it’s going, just kick out the dead and they’ll all be somewhat okay with each other. Enough monsters and so forth that teaming up will be the best thing. The undead though have always seemed spiteful of the living. No problem to me if we all just kicked them out and maybe kept the dead .. umm dead..

No. Forsaken are friends, not fiends.

[cparle87]

logically it shouldnt.
forsken have to predate on the livings to survive, alliance are to zealot in light and nature to not consider them more than abominations.
but hey, blizz achieved to write anduin and a desolate council happy to become extinct....

Not entirely. They only have to prey on living things to increase their numbers or replace those who are killed. In a peaceful world with no forsaken being killed they wouldn't need to.

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Great, the story is creaking and groaning, its foundations are falling apart and hardly any of the actions the characters take make a lick of sense anymore, but hey! We have a good explanation for PvP!

Just make it peace, and extremist factions (Without much political pull) are still faffing around in some remote areas, there, we have peace, the story can start moving in one direction again, and we have an excuse for battlegrounds to still be a thing.

That's how it was in classic. We had the factions more or less at ceasefire, with groups like the AV/AB/WSG guys duking it out in obscure locations.

[Louz]

The only thing,that would make sense would be the division amongst the factions,but I doubt that will happen - the active subscription numbers are crumbling and dividing the two existing factions into smaller ones would be quite devastating to guilds,communities etc.

"ooops you play nigh elf and nigh elves aren't supposed to like humans who are now good with orcs, so you gotta gtfo of the guild"

Yeah, blizz made some stupid design decisions in the past, but do you seriously think that they would implement something so utterly stupid, or as you say, "the only thing that would make sense"?

No, the only thing that would make sense is to let players choose who they wanna be friends with to sort of make their own backstory.

Imagine Legion, but without the faction split.

[Odintdk]

I don't want peace with the Alliance as a Horde player. I like the war part in World of WARcraft. I want war to be the main consistent theme up until the day Azeroth herself wakes up and life on top of her is wiped/sucked back in anyways. That'd be an ideal ending to an MMO, for me personally.

[Kumorii]

Temporary cease fires at most. Even then they should have tension and in this case Night Elves should do something while the cease fire due to azshara is present. Thus the war between them keeps going even after the threat is gone. The factions shoukd never have full blown peace because the point of factions disappear if they do and alliance vs horde is important imo.

[Felixon]

If Baine is made new horde leader then yes. Say. We need to kill him before they succeed doing it.

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No. Forsaken are friends, not fiends.

The addition of forsaken as a playable Horde race instead of ogres,was one of the greatest mistakes made by the Blizzard. But let me guess - your main is an undead.

[omeomorfismo]

Not entirely. They only have to prey on living things to increase their numbers or replace those who are killed. In a peaceful world with no forsaken being killed they wouldn't need to.

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That's how it was in classic. We had the factions more or less at ceasefire, with groups like the AV/AB/WSG guys duking it out in obscure locations.

but azeroth isnt a peacefull world. even not considering the alliance

it wasnt a mistake, it was maybe an imprudence, but considering that blizz didnt expect a such massive success of wow its understandable.
until wotlk they managed to mantain the viciusness of the race pretty fine, but after arthas forsaken required bigger balls than the ones blizzard have. but still they are an heaven for rp-ing and surely contributed to the success of wow with their not random hero characterization...

[Mehrunes]

Of course. With Baine, Saurfang and Thrall at the helm of the Horde, Anduin will have no problem achieving his goal of turning the Horde into a subservient servant of the Alliance. Of course the leadership of the Horde, even the likes of Baine, will have to go for the final stages of turning the Horde into Alliance's bitch. Baine will live out the rest of his days happily as Blanduin's footrest. Thrall will flagellate himself in a cave in Durotar over his green guilt. Saurfang will finally kill himself in the name of honor, with the honorable way finally revealing itself to getting his head chopped off by Alliance executioner in Alliance prison. Peace and harmony will reign over the world.

[Felixon]

Of course. With Baine, Saurfang and Thrall at the helm of the Horde, Anduin will have no problem achieving his goal of turning the Horde into a subservient servant of the Alliance. Of course the leadership of the Horde, even the likes of Baine, will have to go for the final stages of turning the Horde into Alliance's bitch. Baine will live out the rest of his days happily as Blanduin's footrest. Thrall will flagellate himself in a cave in Durotar over his green guilt. Saurfang will finally kill himself in the name of honor, with the honorable way finally revealing itself to getting his head chopped off by Alliance executioner in Alliance prison. Peace and harmony will reign over the world.

Why so much drama and all or nothing thinking amongst the Horde playerbase? Either you have to genocide entire races and burn the kingdoms or if you don't,you automatically are somebody's slave,pawn. Does the Horde truly consists mainly of edgelords,who have to prove themselves something every single day - like bullying other people in real life,cause they have to look badass and cool,and are afraid to be bullied themselves? I hope not,and that most of the forum kings are few individuals,who shout about the faction war and play the game with the warmode disabled.

Infracted.

[Aucald]

A separate peace is possible, yes - with the Horde on one continent and the Alliance on another, without any need for either faction to depend on or react to the actions of the other. If the Horde and Alliance could figure out how to not step on one another constantly they would also figure out that Azeroth is big enough for both of them. Unification? I don't think that's possible or even desired by their leaders.