I think WoW could have had 3 factions to satisfy every fantasy.

[Clone]

What if instead of just having Horde and Alliance, WoW started with the Old Horde (WC2), Old Alliance (WC2), and the WC3 coalition (New Horde, Theramore, night elves)?

I think this would do well to eliminate the identity crisis in the current factions we have now, where they have to fit in stories of conflict from WC2 but also stories of cooperation from WC3.

It can also preserve the identities of factions from WC3. Night elves don't get humanized, and the New Horde and Theramore remain cooperative.

At the same time people who prefer the WC2 iteration of factions can have what they want too.

The race makeup can look like this.

Old Alliance - humans, dwarves, high elf
Old Horde - orcs, ogres, Amani trolls

WC3 coalition - humans, night elf, orcs, tauren, troll, ogre

[SpaceMistakes]

Makes no sense and further divides an already divided playerbase, so it's a no from me.

No to mention you've excluded like, half the available races from these lists.

[Clone]

Makes no sense and further divides an already divided playerbase, so it's a no from me.

No to mention you've excluded like, half the available races from these lists.

This would be in the context of initial release.

[Itisamuh]

As long as they refuse to let players be the bad guy, factions make no sense, and it would be better to simply get rid of them, not add more.

[Biomega]

This would be in the context of initial release.

I mean, 20/20 hindsight.

There's an entire catalog of things they could have done differently. We don't know how any of them would have played out, because the flux capacitor in my garage just isn't quite done yet. I'll let you know.

[Khaza-R]

I don't know how popular the W2 iteration of factions really is with the most players. Most people were introduced to the series through WC3, so to them the Orcs and the Horde were never evil.

Ideally, factions would of been a flavor choice only and would of been able to group with anyone. There would of been the Horde and Alliance plus a nature-themed faction to take the place of the Sentinels and a dark-themed faction to fill the place of the Scourge. That would of been the most satisfying way to handle the factions.

[SpaceMistakes]

This would be in the context of initial release.

So your 'initial release' would take away a dozen+ races, some of which we've had since day 1 of WoW, from thousands upon thousands of players.

Literally one of the dumbest ideas I've read on this site. Sorry, but it is.

[Enrif]

How about no factions that split players, but faction players can gain rep with. Let orc gain rep with Stormwind, undead with Darnassus and so on. The overarching stories could still follow similar trends, but the players wouldn't need to suffer for choosing the "wrong" faction.

[McNeil]

The original idea was that the game had no factions and we’d have 20 playable races to pick from. I believe that everyone would all start in Theramore which would be the neutral hub, quest in Kalimdor for lower levels and Eastern Kingdoms would be the late game continent where there is nothing but ruins (even Stormwind would still be ruined and Theramore is where all the humans lived).

I do like the idea for more factions but in the long run it would only fracture the playerbase too much.

[LordVargK]

WoW does not need Factions. It was a mistake to begin with. Why implement a perfectly functional reputation system AND factions ontop of that? Why not tie everything to reputation? You want an Orc that is friends with Stormwind? Well, better get to grinding rep, because Stormwind hates Orcs. But, if Thrall can do it, so could the player character.

But in general 3 factions are strictly better than 2. Coming from other MMOs with 3 factions the PvP is worlds apart. Also the problem that eventually every server is single faction is nonexistant.

[tufy123]

Keep factions, separate players from them. Now you can tell the story of wars, conflicts, rebellions, alliances, all while letting players dynamically choose their allegiance regardless of race - similar to EVE. But, the faction choice was made because inherently and deep down, Warcraft is still Orcs vs Humans and always will be.

[Enrif]

The original idea was that the game had no factions and we’d have 20 playable races to pick from. I believe that everyone would all start in Theramore which would be the neutral hub, quest in Kalimdor for lower levels and Eastern Kingdoms would be the late game continent where there is nothing but ruins (even Stormwind would still be ruined and Theramore is where all the humans lived).

I do like the idea for more factions but in the long run it would only fracture the playerbase too much.

This matches somewhat the starting point from the Warcraft ttrpg, which put horde races into orgrimmar and alliance races into theramore as their main settlements.

Though 20 races seems a lot to start out. If we take the starting races of the ttrpg, there would be 10 (humans, orcs, dwarf, Tauren, gnome, goblin, high elf, undead, night elf,jungle troll), with 10 more…? Hmm, gnoll, naga, blood elf, forest troll, quillboar, harpy, … ugh, centaurs, ogre!, kobolds and pandaren? Hmm, 20 seems way too much for starting

[Triceron]

At this point, the game is already just 1 faction. Splitting it like this does nothing, since all 3 factions would still be in the same 'peaceful with tension' state between them.

Honestly WoW isn't built to represent WC2. You gotta RP heavily if you want anything remotely close to WC2 in WoW.

[Mysterymask]

I don't know how popular the W2 iteration of factions really is with the most players. Most people were introduced to the series through WC3, so to them the Orcs and the Horde were never evil.

Actually I'd say more people were introduced to the series through wow over warcraft

like no joke ancedotal evidence aside the amount of people that I met in wow that not only said that World of Warcraft their first Warcraft game but they didn't even know there WAS a Warcraft 1-3 and I thought that was insane at the time. But yeah more I look at it the more I realize this was the big thing of the time so a lot of people just jumped on.

This isn't limited to Warcraft either my wife was shocked to find out one of her favorite games of all time (Champions of Norrath) was based on another MMO called Everquest that she only really heard about in passing.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

As long as they refuse to let players be the bad guy, factions make no sense, and it would be better to simply get rid of them, not add more.

That's why, historically in any sports, one team is always Evil.

Man, it's not hard to understand that baked in tribalism just appeals to people. Warcraft understood that from the beginning, even while as of late it has struggled to make hatred turn into a more civilized ideological opposition.

I do think we need a "Neutral" way to play, one that actually explores more of a complex morality than choosing Red or Blue.

[Rosstafa]

I don't think splitting the player base more would have been a good idea, and there is something to be said about the factional rivalry between the Alliance and Horde, which I think would have been diminished by the presence of a third player.

[Enrif]

Actually I'd say more people were introduced to the series through wow over warcraft

like no joke ancedotal evidence aside the amount of people that I met in wow that not only said that World of Warcraft their first Warcraft game but they didn't even know there WAS a Warcraft 1-3 and I thought that was insane at the time. But yeah more I look at it the more I realize this was the big thing of the time so a lot of people just jumped on.

This is very believable, especially with certain horde blood elves who only knew these elves as part of the horde and think they are core to the horde, even though their history before WoW would be very awkward with the horde. Also the reason why so much friction exists in discussions with them.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

The factions are aesthetics. Theramore humans with their civilized clothing and buildings and polite manner and worship the holy Light do not belong on the same team as stinky ugly hunter gatherer beastmen who squat in mudhuts and shout BLOOD AND THUNDER and have pagan witch doctors. Also, this lineup also continues to victimize the Night Elves, who were an empire unto themselves with units like stone giants and fey dragons and dryads, only for just the Night Elves alone to be playable and shoved into the Alliance.

I think WoW could have had 3 or 4 playable factions. Horde and Alliance, and then Night Elves and/or Scourge. I put Scourge at the end because while they are very popular and people are begging to play as Death Knights and necromancers and liches, they are also obviously villains, and given how generally inept Blizzard's writing talent is, it'd be unlikely they could justify Scourge players somehow walking around the inevietably neutral cities like Dalaran and not killing or being killed on sight, or to satisfactorily remove the evil leaders while retaining the Scourge's fantasy (same issue as how the Horde is at its best when Garrosh and Sylvanas were power and then got neutered when they was out and the Horde was led by pansies).

Night Elf faction would also need to be portrayed with teeth like their WC3 incarnation so that they aren't just another flavor of the nice do-gooder faction like the Alliance.

The real loser here would probably be Illidan's lineup, as they do not have a strong cohesive aesthetic identity like the Alliance/Horde/Night Elves/Scourge. Makes it less appetizing to make a playable faction out of them.

- - - Updated - - -

WoW does not need Factions. It was a mistake to begin with. Why implement a perfectly functional reputation system AND factions ontop of that? Why not tie everything to reputation? You want an Orc that is friends with Stormwind? Well, better get to grinding rep, because Stormwind hates Orcs. But, if Thrall can do it, so could the player character.

But in general 3 factions are strictly better than 2. Coming from other MMOs with 3 factions the PvP is worlds apart. Also the problem that eventually every server is single faction is nonexistant.

The pillar of this franchise is having visually distinct factions fighting each other. In Ultima Online, FF11, etc, everyone can look identical but they fight each other for more visually arbitrary or esoteric reasons. In WoW, you see that big broad shouldered orc warrior or tauren shaman, and they are obviously fighting against that pretty elf mage or that noble human paladin. The differences are tangible and much more engaging. Even if you don't engage in PvP, you are defined just as much - if not more so - than by what you are not than what you are. If you play an Alliance character, then you are choosing to NOT be an ugly beastman or an evil zombie, you are choosing to not be a pagan shaman, you are choosing to not dwell in mudhuts with spikey rooves in a canyon, etc. It makes YOUR identity much more palpable, than if anyone can just meander around anywhere and be anything.

- - - Updated - - -

I don't think splitting the player base more would have been a good idea, and there is something to be said about the factional rivalry between the Alliance and Horde, which I think would have been diminished by the presence of a third player.

A third faction would have allowed for a better world PvP campaign. In a 1v1 setup, one faction can dominate and the other faction can't do much without severe mechanical buffs to fight back. But if you have three factions and one dominates, then the other two factions can first ally together against the third one and the might balance out of the territorial control for a bit, before the devs have to resort to giving the losing faction(s) on a server a buff for a while. Basically what DAoC did.