A long-running game like World of Warcraft is inherently reticent to big changes. Plots and mechanics that have been built upon for years now could be upended by something seemingly small like cross-faction play.
It's a safe assumption that many players could suspend their disbelief in service of a more cohesive multiplayer, but others would likely be put off by such a core change to the formula.
World of Warcraft is already in a precarious place with many of its players, so that drastic of a shift is something that needs to be considered carefully. Looking toward the future is key for World of Warcraft. A shake-up as major as cross-faction play could be what the game needs to reinvigorate some players, and make it easier for new players to jump in regardless of which faction their friends have joined. On the flip side, that kind of change has a lot of baggage as well.
There's a lot more competition from MMOs like Final Fantasy 14 than historically, in which World of Warcraft has largely dominated the space. Change could be what the game needs most, and at least trying out a version of WoW where the factions can play together might be the mix-up Blizzard needs for its long-running online game.
Share Share Tweet Email. The Alliance, with this fresh hurt of another King allegedly killed at the hands of an orc, gladly take up arms against the Horde once again. The faction war at the end of Legion was completely pointless, yet blizzard thought it was necessary to make the horde evil and wipe out an alliance race. Horde chopped up and burn all the trees of Ashenvale, the source of pulp for making Alliance toilet paper. Alliance and Horde still hold a great deal of pain and suffering from the years of war s.
Maybe our puppet Alliance leaders preach for peace but the people still remember the atrocities the Alliance has commited, we dont accept peace. At the end of it all, the Alliance and the Horde will never completely get along for one simple reason:.
On the Horde side there are still Sylvanas loyalist hiding like hydra agents within the faction. We would never do that. And thus fighting over this stupid name dispute, the alliance and horde are pulled into another war of elvish origin. Who are the REAL high elves? I know there are tens of thousands, maybe more, in that exact same boat around the world. We'd love to do something for them. That World of Warcraft might one day let players group together regardless of faction might seem like heresy, but there's plenty of narrative precedent for it.
It's been a long-running meme that many of WoW's expansions start with both sides warring with each other until some existential threat comes that forces the Horde and Alliance to band together for survival. It happened in Mists of Pandaria, it happened in Legion, it happened in Battle for Azeroth, and even the current Shadowlands expansion has the ancient feud on the backburner.
As Hazzikostas said, though, it's a big problem with a lot of considerations, so I wouldn't expect to see Horde and Alliance players holding hands and frolicking through flowered fields any time soon. That said, it's becoming increasingly clear that some kind of bridge between the two factions might be necessary.
With over 7 years of experience with in-depth feature reporting, Steven's mission is to chronicle the fascinating ways that games intersect our lives. Whether it's colossal in-game wars in an MMO, or long-haul truckers who turn to games to protect them from the loneliness of the open road, Steven tries to unearth PC gaming's greatest untold stories.
A Tushui and Huojin in battle. The Skyseeker , an Alliance gunship that was escorting Horde prisoners from Pandaria to Stormwind City , somehow crashed on the great turtle-island Shen-zin Su. Two months following the rediscovery of Pandaria, the main Alliance and Horde forces finally arrive on the myth-shrouded continent. Both the Alliance and Horde land on opposite sides of the beach of Krasarang Wilds and established their main bases of operations: Lion's Landing and Domination Point.
The conflict at Krasarang Wilds reached its peak, with both the Alliance and Horde fighting each other to drive their enemies from the new continent.
Not wanting to waste orc lives for such a dangerous endeavor, Garrosh delegates this task to the blood elven Reliquary , neglecting to warn them of the mogu danger and resulting in several blood elven casualties. Lor'themar Theron himself is incensed at this callous disregard for his people's welfare, and rifts continue to form between the Regent Lord and the Warchief. However, the Horde calls upon agents of the Sunreavers to assist in circumventing Jaina's protections, [] and several Horde members succeed in subtly entering the city and stealing the Bell from the Cenarion Enclave.
They teleport the Divine Bell outside the city, subsequently handing it to Garrosh Hellscream. To the Sunreavers' surprise, however, their involvement in the theft of the Divine Bell was uncovered by the current ruler of the Kirin Tor , [] Jaina Proudmoore, who proceeded to expel the Sunreavers from the Kirin Tor, [] imprisoning all those who surrendered peacefully inside the Violet Citadel, and putting to the sword all those who resisted.
She calls upon the Silver Covenant and several Alliance troops to assist with the purge. In a desperate attempt to locate Aethas Sunreaver and break out the Sunreavers, Grand Magister Rommath led a strike force within the city of Dalaran , [] fighting his way through the city to forewarn the unaware Sunreavers of the impending arrest, securing reliable escape routes for those broken out, and attacking the Alliance and the Silver Covenant.
Rommath succeeds in his mission, culminating in locating and breaking Aethas out of his imprisonment in the Violet Citadel. Rommath and Aethas escape the city and return to Silvermoon , where Lor'themar and Halduron Brightwing are overseeing portals funneling in the escaped Sunreavers. Relations between Lor'themar and Garrosh break down, as well as putting an end to the talks between the regent lord and King Varian Wrynn that they were secretly engaging in in order to bring Quel'Thalas back into the Alliance.
Though driven back to Hellscream's Horde, Lor'themar hopes dearly that Garrosh's new treasure , bought with the blood of Lor'themar's people, destroys him. The sin'dorei prepare to mobilize their forces. Rommath states that Theron himself would make a fine Warchief, and the regent lord notes that it may indeed come to that, demanding his blades and vowing that the next move will belong to him.
Varian, upon hearing about the purge, reveals to Jaina in disappointment that he was attempting to bring the blood elves into the Alliance through secret diplomatic means, and that by attacking their people she has forced their hand. An unapologetic Jaina states that such endeavours are foolish as once Horde means always Horde and that he should not show weakness of such a sort.
Varian returns to the war, with only the unified Alliance at his side. Thrall , having returned to Durotar with his beloved Aggra and their newborn child, is roped into Garrosh's conflict after the Warchief attempts and fails to murder Vol'jin. Thrall finds the isles under martial law, the Darkspear rounded up by Thrall's very own Kor'kron.
After relieving the isles of their control, Thrall ponders how best to deal with Garrosh, concluding that simply challenging him for the right to the Horde would be ill-advised at this point. Instead, he takes up leadership of the isles in the Darkspear heroes' absence, and plans to confer with Vol'jin before making any rash moves.
After hearing about the Horde's acquisition of the [ Divine Bell ] , Prince Anduin Wrynn began searching for a means to counter its power.
His research has led him to an item known as the Harmonic Mallet. The Harmonic Mallet was last seen in the hands of the Monkey King. The tomb of the Monkey King is located in Tomb of Conquerors , where he and his mogu adversary are frozen in jade.
As legend has it, the Monkey King and a Mogu named the " The Jade Warlord " were in the middle of a duel until both of them somehow became petrified in jade. Anduin discovered an incantation to release him from the jade imprisonment but it would release the Jade Warlord as well. After the Alliance champion defeats the Jade Warlord, the Monkey King asks the champion to solve his three riddles in exchange for the whereabouts of the Harmonic Mallet : an instrument used by the Pandaren rebels in ancient times to counter the mogu's Divine Bell by turning its power into pure harmony.
When news reached the Alliance that Horde forces were amassing in huge numbers at Emperor's Reach , everyone expected Garrosh to use the Divine Bell. Knowing that time was of the essence, Anduin stole the Harmonic Mallet and went to stop Garrosh personally. Garrosh rings the Divine Bell and it turns his kor'kron into Sha. After they are dispatched by the player, Prince Anduin Wrynn intervenes and tries to deter Garrosh from using the Divine Bell.
Anduin's pleas fell on deaf ears, however, and Garrosh used the Divine Bell to sha infest his champion Ishi , who the player then has to fight. Though Garrosh encouraged his troops to master the Sha energy, in the end, none of his champions were able to do so. In the aftermath of the battle, Anduin used the Harmonic Mallet to turn the Divine Bell's chaos into pure harmony. This stuns Garrosh but Garrosh recovers and strikes at the bell and destroys it; causing its rubble to fall on Prince Anduin.
The impact of the bell has caused Anduin's bones to shatter. Believing Anduin dead, Garrosh lets the Alliance champion leave to relay the fate of Anduin to King Varian; thereby illustrating the price for his continued defiance. Using a signal flare for immediate evacuation, they fly to Lion's Landing where Varian mourns and tends to his son, ordering for Velen to be sent to their location at once.
Both Varian and Jaina Proudmoore are furious at this assault and swear to make Garrosh pay. Ishi turned by the [ Divine Bell ]. Anduin counters the Divine Bell with Harmonic Mallet. Varian and Jaina tend to an injured Anduin. Kirin Tor Offensive confronting the Sunreaver Onslaught. With the Thunder King's power fused with her staff, Jaina plans on using the Thunder King's terrible power on Garrosh when the time comes.
Garrosh orders the excavation in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms , violating the sanctity of the land, which greatly angers Taran Zhu and orders the Horde to leave the Vale. Sunwalker Dezco states that not all of the Horde follow the warchief's orders anymore and tries to apologize for the desecration.
Dezco requests for an opportunity to bring Hellscream to justice and make things right with the pandaren. Taran Zhu acquiesced to Dezco's appeal and gives the Horde until the season's end to remedy the situation. In response to this, the Kor'kron have enforced martial law in the entirety of orcish territory and erected new fortified outposts to cull the rebellion. While the Alliance grows stronger amid the pressures of war , the Horde, under the weight of Garrosh's command, continues to fracture.
The Darkspear Trolls are rebelling, Orgrimmar is on lock down, and the Warchief has sent crews into the Vale of Eternal Blossoms and into the Northern Barrens in search of resources to push his war machine forward. He's alive and well thanks to Chen Stormstout 's aid and he's not alone.
Both Chen and Thrall are with him but he needs the aid of more members of the Horde to truly rebel. Things aren't all that peaceful in the Village and Horde champions soon need to help deal with the Kor'kron who have managed to lock down the Troll section of Orgrimmar and are looking to take control of other Darkspear Troll strongholds before things get too out of hand. Once Horde champions have purged the Kor'kron from Sen'jin Village, they'll be sent to Razor Hill as Vol'jin works his way and his troops toward Orgrimmar.
Razor Hill is just a temporary stop for Vol'jin and the rebellion, but before they can move on toward their ultimate goal, they're going to need supplies —lots of supplies.
Horde champions will be asked to go out into the Northern Barrens to steal supplies from the various Kor'kron supply locations. After months of preparation, the Alliance war machine is turning toward the heart of enemy territory. But Varian Wrynn doesn't want to commit any regular forces until he knows exactly what to expect. SI:7 spies outside of Orgrimmar were sent to scout out a naval landing site, learn the enemy's weaknesses, and give Alliance landing forces any advantage they can find.
Using top-secret SI:7 gadgetry, the king's scouts got an early look at the forces that will be arrayed against them when they assault Orgrimmar and also discover that the Horde is falling apart.
The trolls are in active rebellion. By escalating this rebellion, the SI:7 agents have devised a plan to sow chaos and bloodshed behind enemy lines without risking a single Alliance soldier. Alliance players are being sent personally as an envoy of the Alliance to the rebel leader: Vol'jin of the Darkspear. With a little deft political maneuvering, Alliance players earn his trust, securing a potential Alliance beach landing and ensuring that trolls and orcs kill one another up and down Durotar.
By killing Kor'kron in the Barrens and delivering their stolen supplies to the rebels, the Alliance ensure that Garrosh's power structure crumbles around him. The war between the Horde and Alliance isn't confined to land. Both factions are in the midst of a battle for naval supremacy on the High Seas. After numerous clashes, the Alliance and any Horde rebels within the Horde fleet eventually call for a ceasefire and decide to focus their naval strength against Orgrimmar.
The actions of the warchief led to the unthinkable: the awakening of the last and the most dangerous sha prime, the Sha of Pride , and its subsequent corruption of the Vale. This rallied the world's faction to finally besiege Orgrimmar.
High King Varian Wrynn has rallied the Alliance war fleet and has managed to breach Garrosh 's blockade over Kalimdor. Their fleet comprising of reinforcements from Stormwind , Dalaran , New Tinkertown , and Ironforge ; sailing on Alliance ships armed with heavy artillery, has set sail for Bladefist Bay , blocking every access to Orgrimmar and preventing any reinforcements coming from the sea.
Also, the night elf Sentinels under Tyrande Whisperwind 's command began marching with siege weapons towards Orgrimmar , planning to use them once Vol'jin 's forces attacked the gates. In the meantime, Vol'jin and Baine Bloodhoof rallied their forces, gaining control of most of Durotar and the Barrens ; they also obtained the support of the Bilgewater Cartel , which supplied them with heavy siege weapons.
Many orcish citizens of Durotar who opposed Garrosh joined the rebelling forces as well. The blood elves and the Forsaken sent reinforcements across the sea from Lordaeron , planning to regroup them with the rest of the rebels once the Alliance attacked Bladefist Bay.
Garrosh, however, was prepared for the siege and managed to bring reinforcements to the city before the start of the rebellion. The Dragonmaw clan under Zaela 's command was charged to protect Dranosh'ar Landing against the invading naval forces, General Nazgrim and his forces were sent to defend the main gate, and the Kor'kron legions were placed inside the city, guarding the underground entrance to Garrosh's compound. Garrosh also gained the aid of the Klaxxi , earning reinforcements from them as well.
After mopping up the damage in the Vale, a combined Horde and Alliance force launch an attack on the capital, ultimately leading to the underground part of the city and a final confrontation with Warchief Garrosh himself. Once defeated, Garrosh is taken in custody by Taran Zhu to let him face trial in Pandaria , a solution approved by both Thrall and Varian Wrynn.
After that, with the agreement of the other Horde leaders, Thrall appoints Vol'jin as new Warchief of the Horde. Jaina Proudmoore tells Varian to take advantage of the Horde's weakness to dismantle it, but Varian chooses to stop the war, and warns Vol'jin that if his Horde fails to uphold honor, as Garrosh's Horde did, the Alliance will return to end it.
The forces of the Alliance and Horde under Khadgar cooperated during the start of the Iron Horde invasion and worked independently without attacking one another across the campaigns on the alternate Draenor focusing on the real threats. The Alliance at least on one occasion helped the Horde - to defend Warspear against Hellscream's submarine. They also attacked one another in several naval missions across Draenor's seas. As the Battle for the Broken Shore neared its end, the Horde had become overwhelmed by the attack and was forced to retreat.
This, in turn, however left the vulnerable Alliance to the Burning Legion and King Varian Wrynn had to sacrifice his life to ensure his remaining forces got out alive.
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