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It’s not news to anyone who knows World of Warcraft lore that
the Alliance and the Horde are bitter rivals except in
the direst circumstances. Even when they do come together as
one, the hatred and rivalry boils just below the surface ready to
explode. While there are some exceptions to the rule for the most part
Horde and Alliance are meant to be pitted against each other.
This rivalry plays out into the in game world as well. Alliance and
Horde are pitted against each other in bloody arenas and intense PvP.
It’s also apparent in PvE, especially if you’ve
ever tried to set foot in one of the opposite factions towns. No one
will talk to you, and all the NPCs will attack you if you get close
enough. With not even a warning they will happily own your
face.
With the most recently added content Blizzard has opened up faction
transfers, breaking the invisible barrier between Horde and Alliance.
This decision was met with much support especially from those who felt
they had been playing the wrong faction all along. Not all were
supportive though; there was an equal amount of disapproval
being spewed in trade chats and forums everywhere.
For a mere thirty US Dollars you can change the course of your WoW
career completely by changing from the brutish Horde to the
light filled Alliance or vice versa. No treaties need to be signed, no
pledges of allegiance given. Simply pay the fee and you are
made a fully fledged member of the faction of your choosing. Welcomed
into the bosom of the enemy with open arms and no questions asked.
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the recent events experienced at Wrath Gate, hostilities were once
again reopened between the Horde and Alliance much to the dismay of
Thrall and Jaina. This story line seems to set the stage for what could
become a battle of epic proportions between Horde and Alliance. To
further the idea of an epic battle lurking just over the horizon the
news that Thrall may be replaced in Cataclysm by a more war loving
leader leads us to conclude that the oncoming battle is closer than we
think and not to be avoided.
So to make changing faction almost as simple as a snap of the fingers
seems to directly contradict the hostile environment that Blizzard has
given rise to and wants to further promote in Cataclysm. Even on PvP
servers where the ganking of opposite faction players is the norm and
hostilities should be at their peak, thanks to faction changes you now
have the option to play both Horde and Alliance.
Where is the realism I ask? Sure you can level a toon of the opposing
faction, but at least you have to work to get there. That leveling
process in my opinion is the time to forge friendships, grow to dislike
the opposing faction, and learn to love your own. Or maybe
I’m just an uber geek with too much time on my
hands.
Either way I still feel that race changes should have come first, with
faction changes coming second, or not at all. Race changes would have
given basically the desired effect, revamping a toon almost completely
without turning traitor and going to the other side. While I love
Blizzard, and their game I can’t help but wonder if they only
added this option for monetary gain. While I understand it’s
the job of a company to make money, where does the want for money end
and staying true to the game begin?
Not that I’m completely unhappy with the results of faction
changes. My guild has picked up a few awesome players that have decided
to make the leap, and I’m sure that other guilds have
benefited as well. But it also offers up a host of new problems that
will have to be addressed by all.
Now guilds not only have to worry about troublemakers hopping from
guild to guild within their own faction, now these would-be
troublemakers can easily start all over again on the opposing faction.
Since communication between Alliance and Horde guilds happens less
often it will be harder to weed these people out as effectively.
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Another smaller but important issue I can see happening is those who
choose to faction change and decide that they regret the move. If a
player has never played for an extended period of time on the other
side they may be unhappy with what they find there. This could lead to
lack of interest in playing,playing, poor performance, and eventually
the player could stop playing all together. Or at least until they are
eligible for faction change again.
Thankfully after looking at the data at WoW Census it appears that the
faction changes have had little to no affect on Horde and Alliance
population. As always they are fairly even, with Alliance slightly
ahead. I will admit when I first heard the news the first thing to go
through my head was “Oh great just what we need a billion
more Night Elves named Legolas or some variation of it.”. No
offense intended to any Night Elf.
This does not appear to be (thankfully) the case at all. It appears
those jumping ship so to speak are those who are very certain about
their decision and do not take the choice lightly. This means that very
few people overall are actually using the faction change option so far,
making the population of both Horde and Alliance remain relatively
normal.
So faction changes are not the pure evil that many thought they would
be. The World of Warcraft universe is still spinning, the Zeppelins
have not crashed out of the sky, nor is there an infestation of Night
Elves. While it does not coincide with the looming war that Blizzard
has alluded to, and has opened up new problems to deal with,
there is also the potential for great good to come of this change.
That being said, I know where my loyalties lie, and my passion for my
faction runs deep. I can say without a doubt that I will probably never
use the new faction change option. Lok’tar ogar! For the
Horde!
Join us on our forums to discuss your thoughts on faction changes, or
if you have used the faction change option yourself please share your
experience.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our World of Warcraft Game Page.
