World Of Warcraft Will Finally Allow Cross-Faction Raids, Dungeons, And Rated PvP
After nearly two decades of fighting against each other in World of Warcraft, Alliance and Horde players will finally be able to work together to take on raids, dungeons, and even other teams in rated PvP. Blizzard Entertainment’s latest dev blog outlines their plans for cross-faction instances, a feature that players have been requesting for since the game first launched in 2004.
“For years now, many players have questioned whether the rules restricting communication and cooperation between Alliance and Horde need to be so absolute. The faction divide could keep close friends from playing together, or cause players to feel that their faction leaves them with far fewer opportunities to pursue their favorite group content. But these downsides have long been justified in order to preserve a central element of the Warcraft universe—it all began with a game titled, ‘Warcraft: Orcs & Humans,’ right?
But, to quote a one-time Warchief of the Horde, ‘Times change.’”
The studio says that they plan to make cross-faction instances an opt-in feature for those who wouldn’t be caught dead consorting with the enemy. Some faction-specific content will also remain exclusive to members of the same faction while the developers rework its components.
“In terms of in-world fiction and player preferences, there are decades of animosity to overcome,” said the devs. “While we are excited to offer players the choice to reach across the faction divide and cooperate to overcome common foes, we know that there are many who will react warily to this change, and we don’t want to override those preferences. This is about increasing options for players.”
“Once in a party together, members of the opposite faction will remain unfriendly while in the ‘outdoor’ world (and fully hostile in War Mode!), as they do today, though they will be able to communicate through party chat. Upon entering a dungeon, raid, or rated PvP match, however, all members will be friendly and able to assist each other in combat, trade loot, earn shared achievements, and otherwise fully cooperate the same way members of the same faction have always been able to. A major goal in announcing this feature in advance is to make sure we’re capturing all the expectations and requirements for this to be a smooth experience. A group raiding, doing Mythic+ keys, or chasing higher PvP ratings should be able to operate seamlessly whether they’re a same-faction or cross-faction group.”
Cross-faction instances will take a while before they’re ready for release, but the team plans to have the new feature up for testing on the PTR alongside Update 9.2.5 following the launch of Eternity’s End.
Details can be found on the World of Warcraft official site.
