With some of the datamined stuff about the new Shadowlands Covenant races it got me thinking that the game could use more neutral races like Pandaren that can fit into both factions just fine. If these covenant races are going to be allied races then it would make sense for them to go both ways since heroes from both factions can join the covenants, plus it would get rid of the “horde favoritism” or “alliance favoritism” arguments.
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It’s been said during an interview that they did not like how things ended up going with the Pandaran and that a neutral race is probably not going to happen again.
But… who knows, been a few years since they said that.
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You look like Nickleback
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Blizzard says alot of things these days, and considering how successful allied races have been I don’t think they’d turn a blind eye to a potentially universally fanbase-pleasing alternative to faction restricted races.
Do you have a source for this?
The only thing I remember was Greg Street, just prior to leaving Blizzard, responding on Twitter saying that he personally wasn’t a fan.
@Sivation to @Ghostcrawler:
how do you feel having Pandarian shared between both factions has worked out? Would you do the same if new races were added?
@Ghostcrawler to @Sivation:
Not a fan of it overall. We just didn’t want to deny anyone Pandaren.
Other than that, I have never seen a quote from anyone else from Blizzard talking about this.
Also I am personally of the mind that we ought to just heck off with factions entirely and let anyone play anything. I’ve gotten so bored of Horde v Alliance.
I’m doubtful we’ll see more neutral races going forward. In terms of game design regarding factional PvP, it’s a really bad idea.
What Blizzard CAN do however is let non-Warmode/PvE players communicate, cooperate and even group with members of the other faction finally.
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I agree completely.
But, what others have said about the Pandaren and how Blizzard didn’t really like the outcome it had on Faction balance still holds true. 
Didn’t the Horde torture their Pandaren leader?
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No, zooming in close enough to actually see the models in enough detail to determine their race is a bad idea in PvP. What you want to do is “kill everything red”. As such, I don’t see a problem with neutral factions that have to pick either-or.
I liked the idea that the pandas were neutral but from my understanding that is an unpopular opinion for one reason or another.
I highly doubt we will see another neutral race. I have been wrong before, hopefully this is one of those times.
Haven’t Pandaren and Nightborne/VE already proven if it’s red it’s dead in a PvP setting? I’ve never had to sit and stare at a race model of Pandaren and had to wonder if they’re the enemy or not.
I still have a fool’s hope that one day Mogu will be a neutral AR equivalent for Pandaren. Not as sold on allowing 4 AR to do that at once.
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Well, I play with my eyes open, so outside of needing to see the name plate of a Pandaren, I can generally tell if I’m looking a Hordie or an Alliance right away, even zoomed out.
So how do neutral races make for bad game design in faction PvP if you also have no issue telling an enemy Pandaren from a friendly?
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Because if the name plate doesn’t pop up right away for whatever reason - which is more often than it should be - not being able to tell if I’m looking at a hordie or a friendly can be critical in a first strike scenario.
It’s just game design 101. Saying “it’s not a problem for me” doesn’t make me wrong. If you’re making a factional game, you design each side to be visually different for a reason. Doesn’t matter how many hud elements or red arrows you have pointing out the character model, visual design of the model itself is still very important. Even color differences count, which is why TF2 can get away with just red and blue teams, even if the classes between both sides are the exact same model. WoW doesn’t have a “force faction identity” armor coloring mechanic going for it. It has to rely strictly on model silhouette where it doesn’t have tell tale hints like blue-white ears vs peachy-red ones.
EDIT Though with BFA… they could probably offer the option to forcefully render all hostiles of the opposite faction in warfront armors…
Dude… that was just… cruel, and uncalled for. I think that is one of the worst insults I have ever seen. Just… you should be ashamed.
Unbind the hotkey to turn nameplates on and off. Your issues will disappear.
I’m not going around tapping a hotkey for nameplates, and that’s besides the point.
Solve the issue of immediate faction identity without hud assistance first, then neutral races become practical to explore.
Yes, you are, because your nameplates are randomly disappearing. I have never had that issue after it happened once and I got rid of the keybind in question.
By their very nature an allied race can’t be neutral. Once a race chooses to ally themselves with a faction they are no longer neutral.