WoW's Faction Change Service

07 Jul 2009 at 10:54:45 by Bill Vaughan

When Blizzard recently announced the big changes it has planned for World of Warcraft, many fans were unsure what to think of the idea. Some were cynical of the motives behind the radical change in policy, claiming that the paid service to swap a character's faction will be just another way for Blizzard to get more money from us.  But Blizzard claims it is introducing the option due to demand from players, and the ability will enable people to play with friends who had picked the other faction.

At first glance, being able to swap from Horde to Alliance or vice versa sounds useful. It will allow more flexibility with characters in addition to the earlier name change feature and 'character recustomisation', which permits us to completely re-design the appearance of a toon, including a change of gender.

However, many WoW players are unhappy with the idea of being able to change something so fundamental in a character. Has Blizzard gone too far with this idea, or is it just another handy utility for players? Worldofwar.net writer Semiiramiis gives her thoughts on the upcoming change.

I started off as a pen and paper gamer, and stayed away from PC games because quite simply they did not offer the level of immersion I was looking for. I successfully remained PC game free, in spite of the best efforts of one husband, one best friend, and two children all doing their best to get me involved. All of that changed in the very end of 2005, when my best friend told me he had found the game for me. It had, in his words, everything I was looking for and very little that I wasn’t. Dubious, I watched the husband and children attack it, and finally decided to give it a try.

I started World of Warcraft on the 20th of January, 2006. I didn’t just start a game; I started a relationship that has now lasted longer than a lot of marriages, with my alter ego, a seven foot female anthropomorphic bovine named Damaris. I was warned well ahead of time that my decision to roll Horde meant that I was not going to be getting any help from my husband or my best friend, who are both Alliance on my server. I understood then that I was not going to be playing with them, and I made a choice.

Not everyone then was always happy with the decisions they made, but we all understood that to make changes required a reroll, and it was just something we dealt with. It made us consider our choices carefully, and when we finally gave up, it made us work hard to build a new character. We were put through the same rigours as any starting toon, with the iconic baby quests, the starting zones (I have survived Barrens chat, and yes, I know where Mankrik’s wife is!). If you rerolled, then at least you put in your time to share the same experiences as your other faction mates.

I moved my way through the Barrens, and came to the great capital city of the Horde, Orgrimmar. I was so moved by this that I toggled walk to absorb it all, and at the end, I came to Thrall. For those of you who speed clicked your way through this encounter, and never bothered to pay attention, he asks when he greets you… “Have you come to serve the Horde?” And surely, I did. I am a dyed in the wool horde player. My t-shirt even says it. My factional identity is almost as strong as my racial identity, or my steadfast belief in my own class. For the Horde. Strength and honour. Lok’tar ogar.

Patches came, and patches went. The game changed, which I do believe is a good thing. Leveling eased, which I feel is a fair offset to the fact that the low zones on many servers are desolate wastelands. I greeted the chance to discover new content with my old time friend eagerly. The basic truths remained self evident, it was still my game, and she was still my cow.

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