Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsFaction change service now available [UPDATED]
by Alex Ziebart 
Sep 2nd 2009 at 8:05PM
The faction change (accessed via your account management page), in addition to allowing you to flip from Horde to Alliance (and vice versa) also seems to include the ability to change anything else you could change through a character recustomization, such as a name change for the price of $30. We have some picture of the process incoming, so keep an eye on this spot. We'll have them put together for you in just a moment.
Update: And here are the images of the process. Enjoy!
Update #2: The faction change FAQ has some additional details you might find interesting. There are some mount/reputation restrictions when you switch over that you might want to be aware of before you drop your $30.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 7 of 10)
artifex Sep 3rd 2009 12:14AM
The conversion lists have issues. If I as a gnome with all the mounts available to Alliance races (I collect mounts) switch factions, my unpainted strider gets turned into a random Horde racial mount. See how that doesn't work? (I'll already have all the Horde racials from the other converted ones)
I also collect pets. I have some Horde pets I got from neutral AH. If I switch, my Alliance-only pets will convert to Horde pets. Again, there may be some duplication involved.
artifex Sep 3rd 2009 12:14AM
er, that is, my Alliance-designated, not Alliance-only :)
Magma Sep 3rd 2009 1:08AM
Incorrect. Pet's do not change. Period.
duffry Sep 3rd 2009 5:54AM
Fear not good sir, if you scan the list a little more you would find that your mount-happy gnomish friends are not the only ones that have an extra slow mount to their faction. In the interests of balance for achievements the Blood Elves do as well.
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Unpainted Mechanostrider ** Random Mount
** Random Mount Purple Hawkstrider
** Some races have three varieties of the normal-speed mounts (require 75 riding skill), while others have four. During a faction change, you may receive a random normal-speed mount of a race in your new faction to accommodate this disparity. Your total number of mounts will be unaffected by a faction change.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/faction-change/index.xml
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Not sure what you would get for your Ancient Frostsaber or Black Nightsaber should you have them. It says "* Random Discontinued Epic Mount" but doesn't have any going the other way.
Anyone know what horde discontinued epic mounts there are?
Morghul Sep 3rd 2009 1:23AM
Having just got loremaster alliance side and never played horde, I have to wonder;
Can I get loremaster twice? Being Alliance and Horde loremaster would be fantastic.
Gurluas Sep 3rd 2009 1:29AM
Why the hell change the argent tournament pets?
i paid 2000g for that elwynn lamb :(
eskel Sep 3rd 2009 1:32AM
Account management is back up, but no Faction Change. :/
(EU)
Eløment Sep 3rd 2009 1:40AM
Anyone else who's doing the faction transfer notice thats its taking a long time? Or is it just me?
raingod Sep 3rd 2009 1:50AM
The email I got said, Under normal conditions a faction change should be completed in under an hour, but please allow several days for the faction change process to complete. So I don't expect it tonight.
immortlone Sep 3rd 2009 1:40AM
don't know if this has been posted, but out of excitement, i had to post it immediately:
"Can I use this service to change race on my existing faction?
No. We will be releasing a Race Change service in the near future for this purpose."
ORLY?
MafiaAce Sep 3rd 2009 2:03AM
$30?
F*** you, Blizzard. Greedy bastards have enough money as it is.
rowg Sep 3rd 2009 4:13AM
I bet you're the type of person that doesn't tip when you go out to eat. "What? They expect 15% extra for my lobster dinner and wine? Total bs, they already get a 2$ hourly, what kind of greedy person doesn't just do this for charity and expects to support themselves from this type of thing? I bet they go home with hundreds of dollars a night and spend it all on beer!"
Wither Sep 3rd 2009 5:24AM
The tipping analogy doesn't work. Blizzard employees don't get paid the $30 as a service charge, it goes into the corporate coffers (of Activision no less). Employee wages will remain the same and no individual (apart from the CEO) will be personally thankful for your transaction.
The service probably has some manual overhead (tech support, approval process) and so does bear a cost, although it's unlikely it's as high as $30, it probably costs less than a dollar per account change.
The key point, is that there needs to be some measure to discourage widespread frequent faction transfers. I believe the intent is for the service to be for the rare players that wish to transfer in order to join friends on the other faction and who might have stopped playing otherwise. I don't think it was ever meant as a casual service where players just flipped between factions whenever they got bored - which is the danger if it were "cheap".
AmazonLily Sep 3rd 2009 9:20AM
You do realize you are getting three services in one: the faction switch, character re-customization, and a name change. As well as a sex change (I don't know if this constitutes as part of the re-customization). I think the price is very good actually. I thought it was going to be way more. Don't like it? Don't pay it. :D
It's kind of interesting how people are reacting. I just read an article on "The Monkeysphere" where it explained how people see big corporations as basically one big machine instead of an organization with individuals. You have to understand that it's not just Michael Morhaime and his little posse working to keep Blizzard up. It's a LOT of people who need to get paid.
What do you think they do with the money we pay them? Fill a pool with it and swim around? Keeping the business running as a whole costs money.
Finnicks Sep 3rd 2009 2:25AM
Just like when BlizzCon tickets went on sale, there was probably a massive bumrush of thousands of people rushing to use the new service (my best friend and his wife among them).
The FAQ's promise of an hour is probably assuming a "normal" load of requests.
NOT a "launch day" load of requests.
Sleutel Sep 3rd 2009 2:32AM
Here's my concern so far: Argent Tournament pets. Per the "Spells" tab, your Alliance non-combat pets would be converted to their Horde equivalents, and vice versa. Buuuut the pets are BoE, so it's entirely possible for a player to already have all of the pets. So does it swap all of your pets, or does it only change original faction pets to new faction pets?
Some scenarios. Consider that all of these are Alliance --> Horde transfers.
Player A has all four Horde pets, but no Alliance ones. After the transfer, does Player A still have four Horde pets, or do they have four Alliance pets?
Player B has all eight pets. After the transfer, do they have two copies of each Horde pet and no Alliance ones, or the same combination as before? If the latter, do they have the same combination because nothing changed, or because everything changed?
Player C has two Alliance pets and two non-corresponding Horde pets. After the transfer, does Player C have two different Alliance pets and two different Horde pets, or four Horde pets (two the same, two new)?
theRaptor Sep 3rd 2009 4:14AM
That is definitely something they shouldn't touch. I can't really see many people spending $30 and six months just to get some BoE pets "cheaper".
Aramis Sep 3rd 2009 6:27AM
Per the FAQ....pets will not change, period. The ones you have going into the transfer will be the ones you have coming out.
Lott Sep 3rd 2009 6:47AM
Aramis:
According to the FAQ, the faction pets that have been learned change. Go look in the Spells tab.
Sleutel Sep 3rd 2009 8:51AM
@Aramis:
If you read my post more carefully, you'd see that I was referencing Blizzard's own conversion table.
Conversion tables:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/faction-change/index.xml
Check the SPELLS tab, like I said above. You'll see all the Tourney pets listed.