Based on this series of tweets/replies from Watcher. https://twitter.com/WatcherDev/status/1433074852248776704
Picture it, Gadgetstan, 2023. My friend and I join together to queue for some dungeons. As a draenei protection paladin, he can get us in there faster than I can alone as an undead rogue. We relax in chat until the queue pops, then we enter the dungeon.
The new additions to our group include a blood elf priest as a healer, a dwarf enhancement shaman, and a zandalari druid. We run the dungeon quickly and I even get an axe from the dwarf because itâs not an upgrade from him. Since nobody wants to sit in queue again, all 5 of us jump right into another dungeon togetherâŚ
How It Would Work
You select mercenary mode anywhere you can choose between warmode and regular play.
While in mercenary mode, you can group with members of the opposite faction on your friends list.
In queues for dungeons/raids, your faction (or the group leaderâs) is still given priority, but if it would be faster to group you with mercenaries in the opposite faction, it will. This way, the other two modes still take priority for their dungeon/raid queues.
/pvp does not make you hostile to anybody in your party, but it does still flag you against anybody else as normal.
You still cannot enter non-neutral towns or opposite faction capitals safely, so be careful when accepting a summon to Ragefire Chasm or the Stockades.
The buff âMercenary Oathâ makes it so you cannot attack other mercenaries even during events where PVP could happen, like during quests, unless they take place in an area with free-for-all pvp.
As with normal and warmode, you wonât see chat channels or queues that would phase you differently.
Thatâs my idea for how to safely implement the option without overshadowing the rest, allowing those who want to play with friends cross-faction to do so without hurting anybody who prefers to keep their allegiances clear. Do you have anything that you would like to add/do differently to implement something like mercenary mode?
Horde Player One: Pushing KSM. LF Tank RaiderIo X required. No scrubs.
Alliance Tank: Applies.
Horde Player One: Wrong Race. Denied.
Another Alliance Tank: Applies.
Horde Player One Wrong Race. Denied.
Horde Tank: Applies.
Horde Player One: Finally, a Tauren Tank. Mercenary Mode sucks. We need split factions again.
You already get jerks like that now. Canât win against them, and definitely shouldnât design around them.
That person can choose not to flag mercenary. Easy as that.
Just pointing out it wouldnât make a difference. Alliance races suck compared to Horde, which is why people gravitate to Horde more. Why would you even bother with some Alliance casual when you can get a better Horde race by default?
Itâs too bad I canât post meme responses, because thatâs like, just your opinion⌠You get the picture. And you still havenât acknowledged that you can just not flag for it.
In every key Iâve ever done nobody was ever declined, accepted, or otherwise based on their race. Iâve never even heard it matter in other peoples keys, outside of something like jokingly making fun of a vulpera or nightborne.
Maybe on your level 60 character that is world 10 in raiding and pushing 28s that matters, but for most the race is largely meaningless.
Agreed, and since itâs a totally different option beside warmode/regular, you never have to worry about it interfering with how you want to play the game. bonus points it would be amazing as an option for RP servers.
Thatâs why this is a work in progress idea. I imagine once you are flagged pvp, your ally can no longer help you until you leave combat and remove /pvp for the 5 minute timer. That would be an easy way to do it. Youâre basically breaking the freedom, but the flag remains so they wonât attack you and you canât hurt them.
It will always be a work-in-progress because itâs unfeasible. The game is designed around the faction barrier and you cannot alter that without removing the faction barrier everywhere. Which is a big no-no.
You can have merc mode for queued content (normal & heroic dungeons, LFR, and queued holiday bosses). But thatâs it. It wonât work anywhere else. Because it would have to work everywhere else. A group is a group is a group.
Thatâs not always true either. If right now Iâm in a group and somebody flags pvp, it wonât let me heal them until I also flag pvp. This would be the same.
Or alternatively, it becomes ffa with the people in your group, as mentioned above this.