Not happening.

I believe I've seen a blue post on this before, and it has to do with visual recognition.

If they made a single race available to both factions, then you would not be able to visually know if it was Horde/Alliance, and that's bad joojoo in Blizzard's eyes.

I may be wrong, but I think that's what I've seen posted.

Good point.

Of course there could always be blue and green goblins. Green for horde, blue for Alliance. But I recognize that it's a long shot.

Colors alone don't line up with their philosophy, and I can't find the quote handy, but they're big on "silhouette" where at a glance you're able to tell faction.

This is a hallmark of good shooters and other pvp games, and they've (Blizz) made it a design priori to enforce this to improve wow pvp.

Again, Blood Elves and Night Elves. HELLO!?

If I can attack them, I do. If I can't attack them, I buff them. Simple!

Yeah...why not just add some obvious physical differences and make one red and one blue. :) Mounts will help tell the difference too, in a lot of cases.

They could have their own neutral DK-style starting zone where they eventually choose their side, too (perhaps with a Matrix-style blue pill/red pill reference, I could only hope)...and the change in their appearance could end up being the result of this choice.

It would be so easy to pull off. So very easy. If that's the only reason to not give Goblins as the first "both-faction" race...it's a pretty weak argument on Blizzard's part. Let's face it...the Undead are just hunched over humans with different skin. They can't find a way too make Horde and Alliance goblins at *least* that recognizable from eachother?

So why does everyone end up looking the same after they gear up to whatever the newest armor is?

I too wish they'd make goblins playable. But rather than making them horde OR alliance. I'd like them to stay neutral period. Where they only get faction discounts in goblin towns like booty pay, ratchet etc. It would be nice to have a 3rd option. Because War, even true War in the world is rarely 1 vs 1. It's 1 vs 1 with option 3 floating around on the sidelines.

It would make it interesting in battlegrounds too, to be able to be killed or to help both sides alike. Not sure how they'd decide how you "won" though. Though it would be a lot of fun.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to see your "just make them different colors" argument, and counter with a "Then they'll still look exactly the same once they're armored up, since gear tends to cover skin."

Besides, red and blue goblins? Geez. And some say Draenei are lollore.

As for Belfs/Nelfs looking alike, they are similar, but but are different enough to tell apart at a glance. The position of the ears, the overall shape of the bodies, and their posture differentiate the two races.

Draenai and Taurens look identical when in full armor. Hooves?
Elves of both flavors the same. Ears?
Undead and humans until you can see through their shins.

I know, as someone who has done a fair bit of pvp, I don't look at the size/shape of my target to know what they are. I look at the color of the words above their head.

If it's red, it's dead! If it's green it's... something that rhymes with green.

"If it's green it's keen?"

No? Too 1950s?

Seriously, though...you can see those nameplates coming from a mile away. That's all you really need. If that's not considered good enough, though, and if you don't like the idea of multi-colored goblins (which is admittedly silly), you could still have some kind of physical change take place somehow. This happens all the time in Warcraft lore, doesn't it? Aren't the lost ones just cursed Draenai? Night Elves and Blood Elves are different colors because of something I can't remember. Something about Sunwells or something?

At the end of the initial questline, you could make your choice by going to see either Thrall or Varian (both towns could be unfriendly until then). Whichever one you talk to could send you on a final quest that would ultimately change your appearance enough to be noticable. Perhaps the Horde quest would end with you taking some "super R.O.I.D.S" that would give a more muscular appearance, while the Alliance one would...I don't know...give them hair maybe? (Haha. "R.O.G.A.I.N.E.")

Just throwing out ideas, but I still think it's possible to give them different silouhettes without destroying the basic character model.

Well, visual recognition is an issue as Boydboyd said... anyway.. why making just a class playable for both factions..? I was thinking of a new faction with new races and new classes would be something more desireble... at least from my point of view..

A new faction with the ability to choose if it stays neutral or become friend/enemy with any of the others factions...Ofc .. probabbly this will never happen because of the work involving such a major change, but i still believe is something nice to see..

If they ever let people cross factions, what they should do, is just put a damn glow (reminicent of the pally mounts) around every Horde and Alliance. Red for Horde, blue for Alliance (and not Jeff Dunham blue either) and let people be able to toggle it off when they're in a neutral -hyporcite - city like Dalaran.

Me, personally, I don't like the idea of crossing factions or switching sides resulting in a race change. It just seems... like trivalizing it for lazy, rich people. It's a shame that people are in the mentality of "I want it now now now and I have the money for it, so gimme gimme". I guess it all comes down to whoever has the money > time spent.