[WotLK] Race/Faction change

WoW Classic Wrath of the Lich King Classic Discussion
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Edit: I made a thread in the Community Council on this topic as well.

Another day, another discussion thread on a topic that will surely not devolve into name calling. :smile:

Let me first start by saying that no, I am not here to push in favor or against Race/Faction change, I am simply looking to start a conversation about this topic and see where people stand on the subject.

As usual for my threads, questions:

  1. Do you think Race change should be available in WotLK Classic? Why?
  2. Do you think Faction change should be available in WotLK Classic? Why?
  3. Hypothetically speaking, should either of those be implemented, what kind of restrictions should they include?

My personal thought on the subject:
I would rather neither be implemented, but I don’t mind either way.

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They’ll come, give it until late ulduar / toc when boosts run their course and blizz is left lickin their lips for more moolah!

“We’ve since decided to add race / faction change due to it being in line with the ‘spirit’ of wotlk”

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Yes, many of us got unobtainable Mounts (Scarab Lord, Gladiator Dragons, Al Ar, etc), Titles and other small items that will go away with Wrath such as Tier 3 sets, not to mention SWP gear. I think forcing people to re-roll their 2 year old character is just absurd when this was a Feature available in Wrath and I believe Blizzard already did many Changes to the game where the “Roleplay” argument doesnt fit anymore.

I think Faction Changes could be harmful for the game compared to Race Changes, but i wouldn’t mind it if adding Race Changes meant adding Faction Changes aswell. I don’t wanna abandon my 2 year old character.

Make it a 1 time per account or 1 time per character service. Increase the price of it if they’re afraid of it affecting their Boost service.

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  1. Yes. It benefits the one who wants to purchase it far more than it negatively effects anyone who isn’t the purchaser.
  2. Yes. It benefits the one who wants to purchase it far more than it negatively effects anyone who isn’t the purchaser.
  3. No restrictions or a small cooldown.
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Paid Race Change and Paid Faction Change should both be available. The cooldown should be 120 or 180 days.

I have no intention of using either service, but both were available during the original WoTLK and both services should be available in LKClassic.

It is not hyperbole to state that LKClassic will have 1/100th of the players as the original WoTLK (BRING IT ON, DELIMICUS), so if these paid services keep players subscribed (and logging-in), these services keep the game going. And generate more BobbyBuxxx™, so win/win/win.

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I agree with Jeddite. These changes and restrictions were originally in place to “help preserve the community right?” Just allow it, the community is trashed and not like it was back in 08 and 09.

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As someone who deleted my first max-level characters, a female UD warlock and a male Belf priest to reroll male UD for both, for the aesthetics as well as the racials, during the original TBC, I’ve been happy that race change hasn’t been introduced yet. That feeling of permanence of choices has been satisfying in that it’s nostalgic.

However, I don’t think I’m strongly opposed to really almost any change that they may bring to Wrath Classic, whether pushing further for a more hardcore Classic feel, or adding more Retail-esc QoL features.

What I’m looking forward to the most about Wrath Classic is playing the classes I am planning on playing (namely DK, and probably either a war or pal alt — or possibly druid), and reliving the content with a group of people to enjoy it with.

I’ve noticed the New Group finder UI for Wrath Classic and have been really enjoying cross-realm/cross-faction grouping in Retail, so wouldn’t even be bothered by that!

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  1. Yes. I’ve played all of TBC as a subpar race for my class, and it has done nothing but negatively affect my game experience. I played every single arena game at an inherit disadvantage because of a decision I made 3 years ago to play a race I thought looked cool without thinking years into the future. Original WoTLK implemented a solution to this problem with race changes, and removing that solution does nothing but cause problems.

  2. Yes. I don’t feel nearly as strongly about faction changes as I do race changes, but they were in original WoTLK and should be in Classic as well. At this point most people have gathered on mega-servers with 100/0 faction balances. There’s no server balance for them to hurt. With that being said, I do at least understand the argument to not include faction changes (as opposed to race changes that have absolutely no reason to not be included).

  3. Whatever restrictions originally existed on them. If someone what’s to change their race every x days, that’s on them. It doesn’t affect a single persons gameplay experience except their own.

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The lack of informed decision making is what is causing problems. #nochanges should mean

  • race change
  • fac change
  • name change

Making players play a game without knowledge of your decisions will lead to more problems than had you just told everyone up front “yes or no”

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  1. Do you think Race change should be available in WotLK Classic? Why?

YES. It was available in original WOTLK and should be now. WOTLK comes with significant racial changes and you should not be punished for your choices which were relevant to previous expansions.

  1. Do you think Faction change should be available in WotLK Classic? Why?

Same as above

  1. Hypothetically speaking, should either of those be implemented, what kind of restrictions should they include?

1 x faction transfer per month
race change unlimited.

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btw I would pay $100 a pop for each of these services so would many of my friends, TAKE MY MONEY ACTIVISION

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Race change is fine, faction change isn’t.

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Like LFD, this has already been discussed to death for months before you came along.

That said:

  1. Selling race changes is less dumb than boosts and the original wrath sold it.
  2. See above.
  3. Only restriction it needs is to be on same faction, not switching to opposite faction.

Blizzard has always been stupid with restrictions. “You can’t move PVP to PVE.” Pointless. “You can’t change your name or model.” Again, pointless. Race changing is a bit more advanced but don’t see why it can’t be sold on the store. ALL of these would be more ideal than boosts, which they decided to sell instead.

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Nah, it’ll just get deleted when the CM’s wake up for the day because it’s a topic they don’t wish to discuss.

Yes, because it was.

Yes, because it was.

The same restrictions that were placed on it in Wrath.

Who the hell thinks we’re actually getting a reproduction of Wrath any more, with this myriad of changes? Not me.

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Yeah I’d like it. I made a belf hunter with no intention to raid, just to casually level with my partner. Now I’m high end raiding and I’m forced to do less dps because of a selection i made at the character select screen.

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  1. Yes, race change is has little effect on the community. Factions remain in balance. I have invested lots of gold and time in professions and riding. Would destroy my connection to my character to have to start from lvl 1 on a new character just because I want to look different.

  2. No, opens up possibility of faction imbalance. However, might make things even on some servers if enough go. Depends on the server and how many people are interested in changing.

  3. Restrictions should be made on faction change because it causes faction numbers to change and server imbalance is an issue. If it was implemented, then maybe you can only change to the lesser population faction and that is final for that toon. No restrictions on race change because it keeps the player in the same faction.

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  1. Yes, it is neither fair nor fun to have to level a completely new character in order to change race for whatever reason, mostly for aesthetic preference but also to benefit or experience from different/better racials. Many players have extremely difficult and time consuming achievements such as scarab lord, rank 14 etc.

  2. Yes, from the POV of a GM it is incredibly restricting when it comes to recruitment, especially on OCE. Also the same reasoning as above in terms of having to level a fresh character.

  3. No or little restriction on race change. 90 day cooldown on faction change.

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Yes but limited to only 2x per toon.

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I’d still love an explanation from Brian Birmingham why faction change is the one thing he’s insisting on an “RP Explanation” as to why it doesn’t exist, while allowing things like server transfers and boosts.

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Because the profit comes FROM the boost. They make more money if you boost a new character, rather than just faction transfer.