World Of Warcraft Is Finally Bringing Humans And Orcs Together
World of Warcraft has a very particular way of operating, and frankly, the game has never really had to alter itself too much. It may introduce a new expansion to freshen up the experience every once in a while, but for the most part, it ain't broke, so why fix it?
One of the very fundamental facts of the game is that humans and orcs are segregated, in two separate areas, never for them to meet lest it ends in a bloodbath. It's a law of the land that has been maintained for all 18 years of the game's lifecycle - but it seems this long-standing feud could be coming to an end.
World Of Warcraft Is Testing Human And Orc Co-Op
World of Warcraft has revealed that for the first time in the game's history, humans and Orcs are going to be able to fight side by side - rather than against each other.
Blizzard has said that there are a couple of reasons why this change is being made - to work on some more organised instanced gameplay, where "social barriers will have the greatest negative impact on people's ability to access these experiences on their preferred terms", and so that new players don't find immediate allegiances and faction wars so jarring.
The World of Warcraft made the announcement on Twitter, revealing that cross-faction dungeons, raids and rated PvP are about to enter testing, so it might not be long before it actually arrives in-game.
How Will WoW's Human And Orc Integration Work?
Click to enlargeThe following is exactly how this integration will work, as per the World of Warcraft website:
- "Players will be able to directly invite members of the opposite faction to a party if you have a BattleTag or Real ID friendship, or if you are members of a cross-faction WoW Community.
- Premade Groups in the Group Finder listings for Mythic dungeons, raids, or rated arena/RBGs will be open to applicants of both factions, though the group leader may choose to restrict the listing to same-faction applicants if they so choose.
- "Guilds will remain single-faction, and random matchmade activities like Heroic dungeons, Skirmishes, or Random Battlegrounds will all remain same-faction (both because there is less faction-driven pressure around random groups, and to avoid compromising the opt-in nature of the feature by randomly placing a queuing orc in a group with a night elf)."
It's incredibly interesting that the game is taking up such cross-play so late in its cycle, but it's certainly welcome. Finally, we may have a chance to see humans and Orcs living together in peaceful harmony. Well, at least for the time being.