I was thinking about this in the context of lore, are there any lore instances where mainstream Horde and Alliance characters faced some sort of Language barrier to communication?
How come Jaina, Thrall, and 1000 other NPC characters are multilingual but the player characters aren’t? Hell even the Kobals “You no take candle” seems to be understood by speakers of both common horde and common alliance.
I almost feel like the fact I can’t speak to alliance players in a common tongue is canonically incorrect.
You probably won’t be able to cross faction communicate unless you are grouped (or in a raid group). Factions aren’t “going away”. They are just adding situations where Cross Faction grouping will be allowed.
Ya, systemwise, I get it’s going to take time and whatever - it’s just a game running on dated engine. I’ll give that a pass.
I just find it really odd that the cannon (quest text, cutscenes, outside media like books/comics) there is no language barrier between the mainstream* factions.
Slay Dragons - childs play.
Seek out a 1000 year old villain in another plane - sure.
Defeat the Lich King in his impregnable fortress - easy.
Slay even BIGGER dragons - whatever.
Go toe-to-toe with your creator - we got that.
Gods! What about litteral gods! - I’m ready.
Travel to the afterlife to confront the concept of death itself - working on it!
The whole WarCraft cannon implodes the instant language barriers exist. The modern Horde’s origins and makeup come apart with any consideration.
Okay, the Orcs being able to understand some Trollish because of their Amani allies is one thing, but how the heck would they have so easily, readily communicated with the Tauren when they first encountered them? …
It’s a WoW Gameplay mechanic, and nothing more. And that’s not really on the developers - early instances of the faction barrier being permeable (Forsaken could speak common) were rife with justifications for said barrier.
Ya, thanks for this. I was genuinely interested in the lore outside the game (I’m not that much of a lore buff).
I don’t know why it’s bothering me, but there’s something strange to me about a system that’s been in game since day-1 that also simply flies directly in the face of all the canonical interactions.
Like if in game everything was the way it is now, but in every cutscene for the last 25 years the alliance character’s faces are upside-down - and no one ever addressed it. but in game it’s back to normal…