Netherscourge made a great point that I hadn't thought of. What of reps and mounts? I had assumed that a faction change would equal a race change and I already decided not to do it (I have a few horde and a few alliance and I don't need or want everyone on one side). I further agree that most people are probably already playing their preferred faction and that the group that might take Blizz up on this offer would likely be small, relatively speaking.

But I'm thinking yeah ... The Horde can't ride cats due to faction restriction, so if you have an ally with a cat, you lose your cat. Feel free to help yourself to a wolf, kodo, etc. but the cat has to go. As for the rep, I think it's a given that you lose all your alliance rep with stormwind etc. And since all those opening hordie quests would be open to you upon a faction change I'd say you should be able to grind all your horde rep up if you're willing to put in the effort. But what about the neutrals? Should they be kept or should they be dumped as well since again, all the horde-side quests are open and you can grind whatever you want rep-wise.

There has to be a deterrent to this on top of dropping 25 bucks and I think the mount thing and especially the rep thing would take care of that. If your friends or family is playing one faction and you're not able to really make use of a toon you got to a high level in another faction then maybe the "penalty" you have to incur is worth it to you and in that case by all means put in for a faction change. If you're just a snot nosed 11 year old home on summer vacation and looking for a faction change so you can run rampant in some battlegrounds and get you some phat lewtz and then you plan to switch back to your preferred faction and return to your friends, then think again. It won't be worth it.