Hey there, I’m aware of the interview answers pertaining to this topic but I’d like to bring up a few points. I believe an opt-in system is far more flexible and healthy for the overall game.
As one of the only horde players in my obv alliance moon guard guild, having to walk in with them is tough, let alone if we’re not a full 5 and have to try to get people to join as we go. I FULLY understand the concept behind “we don’t want to force people to cross faction if they don’t want to.” I agree, they shouldn’t have to, however I also believe the solution given is still restrictive.
This point also goes for LFR queueing mind you. I’d personally envision either an npc hanging out around the dungeoneers or a little toggle on the queue pane, I believe it could be very healthy for queue times later in to the night to have a potentially larger pool of players.
I understand the potential snag of faction purists then being down on their luck, but I’d like to think perhaps a “this queue is taking a while, would you like to one time search cross faction?” wouldn’t be too bad. Could also have a faction based call to arms to incentivize if those numbers fall.
6 Likes
Queued content should just be cross faction. Add a way to opt out for people who are very attached to their faction, but I don’t think they should be allowed to make the gameplay experience worse for the majority who just want to get into a dungeon/LFR.
It’s really weird how everything at the higher end is cross faction by now, but the majority of players are still stuck being griefed by faction restrictions.
Questing, particularly in older expansions, I can see reasons for, but all the stuff that’s already identical for both factions already (WQs, recent expansion questing etc) should be at the very least party-syncable.
9 Likes
I like the faction divide but I feel the mercenary system could be used so you can queue with your friends without a full group when in different factions. This could help maintain some level of separation while letting people queue together.
4 Likes
I agree, a merc system or everyone just being faction appearance mirrored to your faction like caverns instances so it looks like it’s homogenized.
2 Likes
Just wanted to add that I too have heard a bunch of friends complain about not being able to queue together due to faction restrictions that still remain.
3 Likes
Cross faction dungeons were announced in January 2022, as a 9.2.5 shadowlands feature. https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/23761709/development-preview-cross-faction-instances
The wording used was “Should be able to operate seamlessly whether they’re a same-faction or cross-faction group” and “This functionality will also apply to legacy instances, and is available at all levels,”
We shouldn’t have to wait this long (approaching 3 years later) for basic functionality and shouldn’t be taking steps backwards. Releasing a system before it is ready due to cutting QA, crunch of hard deadlines set months in advance, is not a standard of quality i support enthusiastically. I miss when “Blizzard Polish” had meaning and I want to return to that time again.
2 Likes