No matter how many times it’s explained, the point never seems to stick. None of those cities you mentioned were previously in game faction exclusive race capitals. They were added for the first time to the game as either neutral or not even a city.
This situation with Silvermoon is 100% Alliance bias which I expect to be addressed next expansion with the Horde getting 2/3rd neutrality of Exodar as the Last Titan hub.
I’ve made my peace with the neutrality of Silvermoon in Midnight and I’m more so calling for the flags in the neutral areas to actually be neutral with red and blue coloring.
You should be half right. The Horde should get 2/3 access to an Alliance city but no, if we are getting a draenei themed city, it shouldnt be the Exodar. It will likely be a brand new city.
Make the new draenei city a flying city(but isnt the Exodar) problem solved.
Did they show any amount of the city that the alliance get to use? Honestly, it may still be heavily in favor of the alliance. If they’re given a smaller space, then as a new hub, they would still be given all the same perks and usable vendors to any primary hub. However, if the alliance space is smaller, it may still be beneficial considering how close all the vendors and stuff will be.
Personally, Silvermoon is a nightmare to have to explore and navigate. Way too much space and running. I’m sure the exodar has the same problem. If they put everything in a nice convenient little corner, that might be better than having to explore each corner of the city just to get the same 3-5 vendors or profession trainers.
I’m just saying, from a gameplay standpoint, it sounds super convenient to me.
It was adjoined to the original Alliance of Lordaeron during the Second War, and after it’s destruction during the Third War the Kirin Tor (and all survivors of the destruction) were explicitly aligned with the Alliance.
It’s been canonically neutral since it’s inception into World of Warcraft, but that’s also mostly a matter of their being more focused on magic than politics. If it’s the case that Dalaran should be considered as neutral because a small portion of their city-state is neutrally-minded, then it must also be the case that Kezan and Undermine should be considered as neutral because a large portion of their city-state is neutrally-minded.
This doesn’t work. There’s currently a faction imbalance with one Horde faction exclusive race capital losing 2/3rds exclusivity. For gameplay faction balance purposes, this needs to also happen to an Alliance faction exclusive race capital. There’s a lot of dev hints about Exodar and Draenei areas getting a revamp, and since Exodar can fly and we’re going to Northern next expansion with a light themed expansion, the Exodar seems like a natural fit for a neutral hub. Dalaran no longer exists as the hub like we had it in Wrath. Also, since Exodar entered the game at the same time as Silvermoon in TBC, it would be fitting to have the Alliance city that gets 2/3rds neutrality be Exodar.
Having it be a brand new city doesn’t address the faction imbalance caused by having a Horde exclusive race capital lose 2/3rds exclusivity. If it’s a brand new city, then it would just be completely neutral or neutral with each faction having a sub area.
All that matters for gameplay purposes is the city’s history in WoW. Dalaran has always been neutral in WoW from the moment it was added.
The problem with your take is that it’s not gameplay centric. It’s lore centric. Lore treatment will always be subjective, and you can’t balance out lore treatment. You can balance out gameplay treatment by giving each faction the same number of faction exclusive cities.
It will be an “Alliance city” that lorewise is the new capital of the Draenei. It just should not be the Exodar. It should be a brand new city akin to Shattrath. If you want it can also be the capital for Last Titan. I dont particular care how they justify it in lore.
Its part of the draenei heritage questline. It ends with the draenei building a new city(whether it would be using the base of the Exodar or not isnt really mentioned, but I would like to think it would be a brand new city sort of like Shattrath)
