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World of Warcraft's Cross-Faction Dungeons Is A Huge Step In The Right Direction | MMORPG.com
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World of Warcraft's Cross-Faction Dungeons Is A Huge Step In The Right Direction | MMORPG.com
World of Warcraft is finally breaking down one of the walls that has helped define its gameplay for almost twenty years as the studio announced earlier this week it was going to be allowing cross-faction dungeons in the MMORPG. The long-standing separation that has stood in its player-base is being eroded: the segmenting of the playerbase along Alliance and Horde battlelines.
Comments
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Yeah I agree, this is a weird thing to praise. It's a sign of decay, not something that is universally great.
A couple of things:
1) WoW was ALWAYS pushed as a faction warring game. This goes against that.
2) While I understand the reasoning, I feel like this move could have been done way sooner. Maybe before the entire expansion where Horde and Alliance were pitted against each other anew.
3) It's a move to help with population decreasing. Bad sign.
Everyone jerking it off as the next best step for WoW is kind of weird.
Whatever. Games evolve. I'm cool with it.
No it's not.
lol yea "game is losing players and queue sucks for instances so we are just merging sides so you can do things even easier"
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Actually that was always there. "Any race, any alliance" was a pre-order bonus as I recall and then it was sold in the cash shop as soon as they had a cash shop.
Being locked to an alliance by race is still a thing in ESO for those who neither pre-ordered or bought it in the cash shop once available.
What ESO did, and they did it gradually, was that they first opened up PUG dungeon groups done through the group finder to all alliances in the same group but at that stage you could not group with those from other alliances outside of the group finder PUGs.
It wasn't until One Tamriel, which happened long after they figured out that 90% of their player base didn't give a crap about PvP or the war in Cyrodiil. that you could group with anyone, anywhere and go play in any zone regardless of your alliance.
Separation makes sense in a game with PvP as its central, core, play loop like ESO had dreams of being - DAoC in Tamriel as it were - but when you throw in the PvP towel as a developer and set-out to PvEfy your game wholesale, it makes sense to remove the segregation and with it the "otherness" of the "enemy."
Back in the DAoC days with their strict separation and the very different classes each of the 3 sides had (which really made the game that much better) we also had friends back in those days
My guild in DAoC played in 3 different servers all together just to get a taste for the other realms although Albion was our main.
Likewise in ESO before One Tamriel many players played all 3 sides. You had to be a pretty ornery and uncompromising individual to not use that as a way to play with your friends.
I'm not picking on you specifically @lotrlore, it's just that I have always had a hard time buying into the much repeated and very exaggerated "can't play with my friends" excuse for doing away with meaningful factions, especially in games where that separation makes sense.
WOW is pretty long in the tooth and hasn't really been taken seriously as a PvP game for a long, long time (like WOtLK and before long time) so whatever, just another step in its PvEfication. Like I said in the other thread, /shrug.
I don't think of it as either a bad thing or a great thing. I do think of it as just another sign of the times where games are all about everyone must have access to everything and everyone equally. If DAoC wasn't already a thing, a 20+ year old thing, you'd have a hard time selling that game concept in 2022. I can imagine all the whining because neither Albion nor Midgard could have Eldritchs, which were the best "wizards" in the game. That is just so not 2022 gaming
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
If it weren't so disappointing, it'd be hilariously ironic. It honestly sometimes feels like this genre is intentionally trying to strangle all risk and innovation out of the market.
Or are we just going to forget all that exists and give them a pass because they're finally "fixing" the game based on feedback, the very same feedback, by the way, that they've consistently told everybody they didn't need or that wouldn't make for a good game, or that the player base didn't actually know what was good for them or the game.
I'm sure the woman that offed herself because she felt trapped and alone while contending with mental abuse and sexual harassment on an Acti-Blizz business trip would be proud.
I mean technically now the skill and lack of will be leveled across both factions but it may come as a shock to one side (frustration) and a welcome benefit to the other.
The other thing I would like to note is there is a rather noticeable difference in culture between the two factions in group content. People play different and communicate differently on each side. While again this will just get blended together this will be a shock for some. This is a topic always somewhere that starts out with "I played horde and they are so elitest and either never talk or when they do it is only to tell me how I did X wrong." Then follows "Alliance is full of noobs and everyone is always angry and just quits runs the second it is going wrong.".
Culture tends to form from those involved in it. In a environment where you are free to go where the culture matches your preference or taste blending them together will also be an experience for some.
Mind you not that I am for or against any of this. I see both positive and negative and we will just have to see in the end.
mmorpg junkie since 1999
I've /spit /chicken /lol , etc on many Hordes along the way and now ..I'll play with them in Dungeons and Raids ?! Seems they just shit on the lore. It was always about Alliance vs Horde, with some exception like .. helping each-other in X or Y story/expansion , but that's it. At the end of the day, we were enemies, fighting for (faction) pride, etc.
Oh well. I mean, is their fault for this mess, aka not enough players to do dungeons and raids, but this is not the way of fixing things. Make better content/x-pacs and ..problem solved, but it seems they are not too confident on their next x-pac so .. they might as well prepare for another failed one.
I remember they banned the Addons after Legion, where you could party with people to complete World Quests faster, with 1-2 clicks, which was a blast, I'm telling you. Now they want to bring people together...from both factions because ....there are not many people left to play with? The irony, "Mr Blizzard". This is ALL on you and well deserved.
I though you learned your lesson from BfA, then with Shadolands, but it seems you...keep on going. I hope Microsoft kick out every man and woman responsible for WoW mess, starting with Ion which it literally blows my mind how he's still in-charge with WoW with 2 failed X-Pacs...in a ROW. If it's not related with..nepotism, then I don't know what it is.
Reporter: What's behind Blizzard success, and how do you make your gamers happy?
Blizzard Boss: Making gamers happy is not my concern, making money.. yes!
World of Warcraft's Cross-Faction Dungeons Is A Huge Step In A Pile of Shit
Fixed title
When discussing next expansion, BobbyK probably told them "I will give you 10 bucks to make the next expansion. And I WILL want change!"
Really?
There has been a balance issue with Factions for years, with majority of player base playing Horde. Leaving Alliance players struggling to fill rosters and achieve the same goals with limited resources.
I know for a fact that community members on Alliance side were encouraging, however, they didn't know if it will ever happen.
So MR/MS non MMORPG writer, what is your solution for retention on Alliance side which would keep both parties balanced?
Oh I don't think you're picking on me! Appreciate the insightful response.
Personally, it's a big deal to me and my friends, but I also know it's not for everyone. Some people just don't care.
I also, cynically (and now more crystal clear) believe this move was made because Blizzard is bleeding users. 24 million compared to 29 million just a year ago? This move was definitely made as a response to a dwindling player base.
Regardless of the reasons, though, I do think it's a good move because there are people out there (like me) who care about being able to play the characters we want with the people we want without a barrier.