Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsBreakfast Topic: Further discussion of cross-faction raiding
by Alex Ziebart 
Mar 3rd 2012 at 8:00AM
With Real ID, the impending BattleTag system, and the increasing prevalence of social media usage in the World of Warcraft community, it's highly unlikely that all of your friends are on the same faction. In both the real world and the virtual, it has become easier and easier to meet people on the other side of faction lines. Even if all of your friends are on the same faction right now, who knows if that will remain true? You meet new people every day. It doesn't feel good to meet a new coworker, find out they play WoW, only to learn they're on the opposite faction. You'll never be able to play together. Well, you can, but you sure need to jump through a lot of hoops to do it ... like ditching your main character.
The social landscape of the game has evolved, but the binary faction lines remain static. Why not allow cross-faction raiding? I'm not calling for the abolition of a two-faction system entirely. Two independent stories for each faction still makes sense. The conflict between the Alliance and the Horde is still a part of the world we play in. However, if players are on our Real ID or BattleTag friends list, we must know them well enough that those faction lines don't matter. Why continue to use those faction lines in content where they are unnecessary?
Some raids do have unique content based on faction, that's true. It would be weird to fight for the Alliance as a Horde player in a raid such as the Argent Tournament, wouldn't it? I'm sure some creative Orb of Deception kludge could overcome that obstacle.
What say you, WoW Insider?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Evil_Elf17 Mar 3rd 2012 11:37AM
I played EQ2 for a little over three years. I played it for about four months at release, the quit, then came back about six months later. By that point, they had done a major overhaul of their questing and classes. It wasn't any harder to me than playing WoW.
I remember when I first started playing WoW that I created an undead rogue. I got to a point to where I could not find anymore quests to do in Silverpine Forest. I was totally lost in what to do or where to go so I grinded out about 4 more levels so I could go on to Hillsbrad. As I had played EQ1 back in the day for about 4 years, this just seemed normal in the way MMO's were built. WoW did have its bits where it was grindy back in the day. EQ2 certainly did as well.
When I finally did start playing WoW, the one thing to me that changed the most, aside from the number of people playing, was that there was so much faction loyalty. Maybe starting to play on a RPPVP realm spurred that on, but it really stuck with me and I had wished that EQ2 would have done the same. When I started playing WoW I had never played any of the Warcraft series and didn't know much about it. I thought the Alliance were the good guys and the Horde were the bad guys, so I wanted to play Alliance. Although, my friends wanted to play Horde. So I did as well. After playing horde for years, and playing the Warcraft series, I now have a hatred for the Alliance. So, I think the factions have served their purpose very well, and tampering with that would just bring it down in my opinion at least.
r2000pharoh Mar 3rd 2012 12:02PM
I think a lot of people make the mistake of taking a QoL tool like Real ID and try to turn it into solid implementation in the game.
Real ID is mainly used to track your friends across Blizz gaming platforms, the possible chat and social interaction, nothing more nothing less.
As for WoW, through out the lore there has been events and stories where folks befriend and work with someone from the other faction but rather limited, in it is not a prevailing theme to be implemented game wide as of now.
And to be honest, as players we usually stick to the faction where we have the most friends, not always but usually, unless of course half of my friends is one one side and the other half is on this side but how many of us really is in this situation?
Do not get me wrong though, as an idea its rather great but I would rather not tie it to a QoL perk, but rather for a greater purpose in the game and its progression, Saggy threatening to destroy Azeroth perhaps makes us more "friendly"......maybe :p
Boobah Mar 3rd 2012 3:27PM
That's just it, though. Ever since AQ and the Might of Kalimdor the Horde and Alliance as wholes have been ganging up on the big bads to show up.
The Might of Kalimdor, the Sha'tar, the Shattered Sun, the Argent Crusade (sorta), the Ashen Verdict, the Avengers of Hyjal and the Aspects all led Horde AND Alliance forces against an enemy.
It's hardly lore-breaking to have players make friends across the lines in view of that history. Heck, Varian did it; his blood elf buddy gets (or at least got) to hang out in Stormwind and everything. Asric and Jedaar, Anren and Tholo, Tirion and Eitrigg... the list goes on.
monotype Mar 3rd 2012 5:08PM
>>Heck, Varian did it; his blood elf buddy gets (or at least got) to hang out in Stormwind and everything.
Wait, who?
Omegan01 Mar 3rd 2012 11:49PM
Valeera Sanguinar
Melvyl Mar 3rd 2012 2:41PM
I have 85s on both factions across different realms and most of my closest friends in the game do as well. It just make sense to me to let us take the character we want to play at that moment rather than a subset of which ones we have available.
As far as lore, we spend so much time working for neutral factions in the game from the Cenarions to the Argents to the Earthen Ring. It never made a lot of sense to spend so much fighting the Scourge in IceCrown for the Argent Crusader and the Knights of the Ebon Blade only to divide up by faction again when we finally confront Arthas.
And one more thing: Most of the tension between the two sides has largely been manufactured, anyway. There was always some agent of the Burning Legion or member of the Twilight's Hammer behind most things, anyway. Even look at Cataclysm: Except for a minor skirmish at the beginning of Vash'jir, my Paladin worked with neutral factions right up until the Twilight Highlands - where he beat back a Horde attack and then went after the Cultists for the most part. I get that the Wildhammers don't like their beer being stolen, but it hasn't reached the point of all-out war over that just yet.
Sinthar Mar 5th 2012 9:50AM
Soooo you havent done the world quest then - or looked at the map recently?
Try doing the 'new' old world quests, and see what the 'manufactured' tension comes from.
Try playing a worgan through the starting area, where slyvanus and garrosh are quite happy to enslave and poison the whole of gilinas. (and what is that anyhow - unleash forsaken against a farmland type place, when the horde are meant to be 'short on supplies' which was their excuse to annex other areas - just seems non sensicle to me).
Ditto cross faction raiding. I just dont see how our toons are meant to just trust each other cross faction, when they are out of the raid (and tbh if they could probably in it) would gank you in a second for an extra honor point. Role playing wise, its a complete No-No. If you are JUST centered on the loot, then you probably think its a good idea. If you like playing the game as a fantasy story, then the exceptions are very few and far between. Not common and everyday like most here would seem to like it.
If we do that then it would be simpler to just say the two factions make peace, and now everyone can join forces to defeat LOOTPINTA the new epic threat to the whole universe.
Melvyl Mar 6th 2012 11:26AM
I do have an 85 Worgen Rogue that did and while Garrosh is certainly not blameless, he also watched from the Cathedral while Sylvanus lied to his face. But my Paladin hasn't been to Gilneas to do the Starting Area and I don't expect he will anytime soon. He has teamed up with Vol'jin against the Zandalari and helped Thrall get the Dragon Soul and use it to defeat Deathwing.
Ian Mar 4th 2012 12:01AM
Cross-faction raiding I feel could not exist in the current tier model, but perhaps on a smaller scale as scenarios.
You could come across another factions town or city under attack by some common enemy, perhaps an enemy which would pose a threat to your own faction later if not dealt with.
So there would be an incentive to defend those which normally you would be at conflict with.
Not quite "The enemy of your enemy is your friend.", but not far off.
Xantenise Mar 3rd 2012 8:21PM
What's the point of escalating the Horde VS Alliance conflict in lore if we're all going to become one big happy faction game-mechanics-wise anyway?
Horde VS Alliance is what WoW is ABOUT. And being able to play with the opposite faction without rerolling just... I'm in the minority, I realise, but that just seems to go against the very essence of WoW.
Tygerwolfe Mar 4th 2012 1:10AM
I like the idea of cross-faction raiding, and even dungeoning, to be honest. I mean, especially in Cata, the cross-faction lines were pretty blurred. Look at the Dragon Soul cenematics - a human and an orc parajumping together onto Deathwing's back. All of this world's great defenders brought together by a common goal.
I guess I find it a little immersively jarring to watch that cenematic and then, when the game comes back up, it's an all-alliance party.
Matthew Mar 4th 2012 4:13AM
If the Earthen Ring and the Cenarion Circle and the Kirin Tor can do it, I want to too!
tadedra Mar 4th 2012 7:05AM
After Stratholm, yeah faction should not trump playing with friends. The dominate faction of the group wins. If its a 10 man the raid the dominate faction wins if there is a 5 v 5 the raid leader wins.
Grimmwrath Mar 4th 2012 11:03AM
Lore-wise, both ICC and DS would have been totally reasonable to have mixed groups fighting together to defeat a common enemy. I understand that Blizzard is trying to ramp up tensions between the factions, but in certain circumstances, it would still make sense. And, be fun for players to boot!
raposo02790 Mar 4th 2012 12:17PM
A 3rd faction that players can defect to,.... Legion. Okay maybe it'snot quite what your saying but it's a way to maintain the spirit of the game.
Mcsniper Mar 6th 2012 11:59AM
This is not what I want to see in WOW. If I want to play with my horde mates I roll a horde toon....that's the way it is.