The streamer Preach talks about the changes to World of Warcraft. He believes that some of it can be attributed to FFXIV.
Many things are currently changing in World of Warcraft. Especially the news that Horde and Alliance will soon embark on adventures together has drawn many streamers and content creators to express their opinions. Preach is no exception. He believes that this might partly be the “fault” of Final Fantasy XIV.
Who is speaking? Preach, sometimes also known as “Preach Gaming”, is a fairly prominent streamer who has accompanied World of Warcraft for many years and has conducted interviews with the developers. He has always advocated for the community’s wishes and asked critical questions. However, in recent months, with the emergence of the sexism scandal, Preach has turned away from World of Warcraft and now treats the game as a secondary matter. However, he continues to cover major announcements.
What does Preach say? Preach is among the numerous streamers and players who have turned away from World of Warcraft in recent years and have given the competitor Final Fantasy XIV a chance. Like many others, he has found a new home in the MMORPG from Square Enix. After all, there has been quite a large exodus of players who, disappointed with WoW, have looked for other MMORPGs.
Preach discussed the announcement of Cross-Faction play and said the following:
Perhaps the flow of [players] towards Final Fantasy is the best thing that could happen to World of Warcraft. Maybe it’s the best thing that could ever happen. That’s great. I think that’s awesome.
Preach refers to what he has said multiple times in his streams. He believes that Final Fantasy has contributed in some way to the changes currently happening in World of Warcraft. The mere fact that WoW players had a comparable alternative and could thus “let go” of WoW is, in his opinion, causing the developers to rethink their strategies. Considering that Final Fantasy XIV was originally influenced by World of Warcraft, it’s nice to see how the games would now grow together.
Later, he adds:
I hope this opens the door for some really big, cool raids, perhaps with multi-guilds, raids for 40 characters. That would be cool because you would have access to all [players]. If something really big in the story involves the factions, that would be outstanding.
Will this have story implications? Although Preach hopes that the introduction of this cross-play feature will have an impact on the story, it seems that this is not the case for now. Blizzard has already announced that this feature will likely not be justified or necessary within the story. After all, there is currently a truce between the Horde and Alliance, although some parties within the factions (survivors of the Night Elves or Genn Greymane) do not think much of this.
One should not expect large “story raids” that require the presence of both factions, as this would also contradict the goal of optionality.
Do you agree with Preach that perhaps Final Fantasy played an important role in the changes occurring in WoW? Or do you see no connection?
