Slightly off-topic, but I’ve been thinking about the Wrathgate recently in regards to faction conflict and cross-faction presentation.
While most focus is on Putress and his betrayal, I think that Dranosh’s charge is just as important - because as an Alliance player, I think that’s the last time that we saw an epic Horde charge that assisted us rather than attacked us. The music, the moment of uncertainty and worry on the part of Bolvar and the Alliance troops- and then the Horde smashed into the Scourge, and it was awesome. It felt good to cheer the Horde there, even in solely the Alliance’s headspace.
And I think the lack of more of those moments is one of the underlying issues of the faction conflict.
Specifically talking from the Alliance’s headspace, we need more moments like that so that making peace after faction conflict makes sense (because as it is right now, making peace with the Horde feels like Monty Python’s king building yet another castle in the swamp - an exercise in futility. Everyone watching knows how it will end (again)). More moments like Dranosh’s charge would help because then we would see how the Horde is a benefit in battles against our shared enemies, rather than only being told. And from a Horde headspace (which I have had trouble staying in after BfA, so please add your own thoughts), those moments show that the Horde is powerful and active in the main PvE plots, and give unreservedly epic moments to cheer for.
Now, the above paragraph is about solely the occurrence of events, and I think there’s another key element of that Wrathgate cinematic which has faded out of the faction conflict story to its detriment: Scenes of the factions - not just the tiny handful of featured telenovela cast members - showing respect and/or even admiration to each other.
Anduin may speak well of the Horde, but it lacks weight. Similarly, Baine may speak well of the Alliance, but it also loses weight, because both of them say these things regardless of what the other faction actually does.
Bolvar and Dranosh nodding to each other at the Wrathgate was great. Because they are people who absolutely would be fighting the other to protect their own factions, but in this moment, they respect each other’s morals enough to turn their back to the other and respect each other’s power enough to battle a deadly foe together. It feels genuine because there is another believable option for them than cooperation - Baine and Anduin do not feel like they would try to kill the other to help their own faction, and thus they cannot invoke the same theme.
Plus, Bolvar and Dranosh aren’t faction leaders surrounded by people who express different views - they feel more representative of the common soldier’s POV, rather than unique outliers. I think Nazgrim and Taylor also fit this dynamic, so their respect for the other felt genuine. Captain Garrick and Warlord Grimaxe feel like they’re continuing the tradition, but unfortunately I don’t think those characters had enough of their own partisan history to make bridging the faction conflict feel meaningful. (Which is also why recurring minor characters are so important - new characters created just to prove a point can’t make that point as effectively as an older character who believably grows into the same role.)
And I think this showing of cross-faction respect from within one faction’s partisan experience is important for the overall health of the game - because the other faction will always exist, should always have a share of focus, and will have to have believable conflicts and resolutions. That’s difficult when the story makes it feel like the other faction is solely a detriment to your own favored faction or even the entire setting - like the current Alliance feeling that the Horde does nothing but kill Alliance and then sit out PvE stories, or the Horde feeling that the Alliance hogs all PvE stories and relegates the Horde’s role to occasional villain or useless sidekick.
Even within purely PvP/faction conflict stories, I think this respect should appear at least as often as occurrences of putting down the other side. Have Alliance soldiers be relieved because they know that even if they lose, the Horde won’t kill the civilians in the town they’re protecting, because they know from experience that the Horde only fights warriors. Have Horde soldiers comment on how fiercely their opponents fought and how happy they are to have a worthy foe. Have little things that show how each side can win and lose gracefully without hating the other side for it. Have more faction conflict stories which end more like BGs, where once a goal is met, the other side retreats and it doesn’t end with killing everyone (which is also a good way of featuring recurring characters). The setting and the players need better examples for how to like the other faction without going so far as to be an Anduin or Baine.
This post got quite a bit rambly, but I think this is an easily-overlooked issue which exacerbates every other issue related to the faction conflict, and deserves more attention. Plus, I had to write it out so that I could understand what it was I was thinking.