World of Warcraft bids farewell to faction warfare – and long-term. But what will happen to the “War” in Warcraft now?
Fans of World of Warcraft look on with astonishment and sometimes a bit of concern at the changes coming in the coming months. Much of the game seems to be in flux, and what was almost a fixed law for nearly two decades is now being softened. Alliance and Horde will soon play together. However, the WoW chief said in an interview: It was time to uproot the game and its foundations.
Who is speaking? Ion Hazzikostas, the Game Director of World of Warcraft. He is basically the boss who leads the development of the game and has to approve decisions in the end. In an interview with the magazine IGN, he talked about the upcoming changes and what they mean for the future of WoW.
What is changing? The interview discusses a new option that will come to the game with Patch 9.2.5 later this year. For the first time in history, Horde and Alliance can form groups together and then tackle dungeons, raids, or even PvP battles.
What did Hazzikostas say? In the discussion, Hazzikostas clarifies several points. Over the years, they often quickly responded to community requests with a dismissive “No,” because the wish would have shaken the foundations of World of Warcraft. However, a change in thinking has taken place, so the developers want to implement the players’ wishes whenever possible. He stated:
[We] are reassessing these things that our community has always wanted and to which we said “No.” One of their wishes was the option for cross-play in some form. The answer to that was always: Well, it’s Warcraft, Orcs against Humans. It’s Horde against Alliance. That defines our entire IP.
But that has long since ceased to be true, Hazzikostas later says. Warcraft is much more than just Orcs against Humans; that was already the case in Warcraft III. After all, the last chapter took place in Hyjal, where Horde and Alliance had to fight together against a common enemy.
That is not the world we want to create, but also not the world or the story we have told in the last 20 years since Warcraft III. In the end, it has always been about the factions finding each other to defeat Archimonde and stop the great threats to the world.
He later added:
It is easy to assume in the short term that the core idea consists of ‘Horde against Alliance.’ And I believe if you go back to Warcraft I or Warcraft II, yes, it was literally just that because it was simply a 2-faction RTS game where the plot was created to provide a reason for the fight between the two factions.
However, starting from Warcraft III, I believe that the ideals of World of Warcraft were more about adventure, exploration, and the fact that we basically have more in common than what separates us. That both Horde and Alliance want to defend their homeland, find a home, and fight for family, honor, and justice.
Without war, a core pillar of WoW is missing – or?
From the Game Director’s statements, the question inevitably arises whether World of Warcraft is thus giving up one of its brand cores. After all, the conflict between Horde and Alliance has been one of the central themes of the game for many players. Many forums mock the change and refer to the MMORPG as “World of Peacecraft” if Alliance and Horde can play together.
And indeed, Hazzikostas explains that there would only be “one way” with these changes. The freedoms that players of both factions will be granted will only increase.
This is a process that only goes in one direction. We will not loosen the rules and allow social groups to develop only to later say: “Forget it, that was a mistake.”
It has also been confirmed that the faction war will likely no longer play a major role in the future. The basic “Horde against Alliance” will probably no longer be a focus of the story. Nevertheless, there will still be tensions; however, these will be told through characters and groups, not by the factions as a whole.
Hazzikostas explains that they will focus on multiple perspectives in the future, such as those of the survivors of the Burning of Teldrassil, of Genn Greymane, or members of the Forsaken. Players will be able to decide for themselves where they stand regarding these events.
World of Warcraft is adjusting its fundamental principles, albeit slowly. But this could be exactly the change that the once greatest MMORPG needs.
