Imagine a radically different approach to factions after the events of Classic WoW… . . . A version of WoW unencumbered by the binary red vs. blue faction dynamic… . . . Total control of your moral alignment… . . . Where major characters didn’t die off, but rather lived on to create their own playable factions… . . . Each with their own cosmic justification, culture, and unique hero class…
ALLIANCE
-Human, Dwarf, Gnome, Night Elf
-Paladin hero class
-Light worshipping imperial order
HORDE
-Orc, Troll, Tauren, Forsaken
-Shaman hero class
-Offworlders and outcasts banded together
ILLIDARI
-Sin’Dorei, Broken, Ogre, Naga
-Demon Hunter hero class
-Monsters bent on the destruction of the Burning Legion
SCOURGE
-San’Layn, Vrykul, Worgen, Skeleton
-Death Knight hero class
-Agents of the Lich King’s immortal army
NEUTRAL
-Pandaren, Goblin, Ethereal, Bloodsail
-No hero class, but can do business with all factions
-Independent factions that do business with everyone equally
Hello dear, I just have a small edit. Now I can’t speak for anyone else but I know for a fact all my gnomes would be neutral so they could finally hang with the gobs
gnomes would NOT be neutral. They’ve always been alliance. The only reason they didn’t send troops during WC3 was because they were fighting the troggs in Gnomeregan.
Buff neutral races so all factions operate on a level playing field
Give the factions all a reason to hate the enemies of a particular raid. Cross raid content. Think ICC where Horde and Alliance both ascend the citadel and battle each other on the way to the Lich King.
Arenas mediated by neutral factions. Cross faction arena & BGs
Primary balance concern would be balancing 4 hero classes against each other. Obviously that’s a nightmare to deal with along with all the different racials. The goal of this post wasn’t to discuss balance, but rather start a discussion on why WoW doesn’t offer more choices of alignment like a proper roleplaying game should.
Red vs. Blue is boring and is a mirror representation of the Right vs. Left in American politics. It is antiquated and Blizzard is already moving towards a more morally grey style of story telling. Why constantly kill off major lore characters when they are amazing enough to run their own playable factions?
I agree with you that the current WoW political landscape is way different than it was at the end of Classic WoW. The scourge and illidari are not really considered anymore and Sylvanas and Tyrande are now in the position to make their own factions. But I’m a Classic guy and so I made this post as if I was Chris Metzen brain storming a multi faction landscape post-classic.
At the end of Classic, the Worgen could’ve gone anywhere story-wise. They could’ve been mindless servants of Arugal and ultimately served the Lich King, thus giving the Scourge faction a chaotic evil druid race. If you remember the questline of Grizzly Hills this could’ve easily been a justification for Scourge Worgen. Werewolves are not necessarily representative of the things the Alliance stands for. It was just written that way for Cataclysm to give the Alliance a big scary unit in their ranks.
I am cool with that. Blood Elves should’ve never been paladins after the events of the Lightwell’s destruction. Their people were annihilated, and most of the Sindorei followed Kael’Thas to Outland and joined Illidan. The Blood Elf starting zone should’ve been their surrender to the Scourge, their abandonment by the Light and the formation of their alliance with the Naga and in turn, Illidan Stormrage who offers them infinite magical energies and revenge against the Legion which was ultimately responsible for the formation of the Lich King. Night Elf paladins make more sense.
I’m going off classic as well. Forsaken inclusion into the horde was incredibly weak. Basically it boiled down to having a city in the eastern kingdoms would be beneficial and that some taurens believe they could reverse death.
Night Elfs wasn’t as bad but they were attacking anything and anyone who was messing with nature.
I would have the two races be like the scarlet crusade and cause issues for the Horde and Alliance that are a constant issue we have to deal with and at times work together bridging the gap for the two main factions during dire times.
Replace Night Elfs with High Elfs for Alliance and Ogres or goblins for the Horde.
The Forsaken were an odd addition and obviously Blizzard’s way of adding playable Scourge (chaotic evil) to the list of role play options when making a character back in Classic. Their existence proves the need for these types of options in a role playing game. They did nothing but cause problems for the Horde in the long run. I am all for the Night Elves and Forsaken schisming from the Horde and Alliance. ideally, Sylvanas would’ve became the Lich Queen and commanded the many undead races. And Tyrande would’ve commanded the forest races such as the Furbolgs, ancients, children of Cenarius, etc.
Ogres make sense in the Horde from a dualistic Horde vs. Alliance point of view, but when you get down to brass tax, the Orcs and Ogres had a really bad history with the Orcs essentially annihilating the Ogre civilization by allying with the elementals of Draenor. The ogres pissed off the elements and are not really shamanistic at all.
Goblins were historically neutral and I felt would be an amazing addition as a neutral race that could traverse into any territory to find the best deals, similar to the Ethereals. But they work perfectly fine in the Horde as well, serving as a foil to the Alliance gnome.
