Jump to content
FORUMS
Sign in to follow this  
Staff

Cross-Faction Instances (Official Preview)

Recommended Posts

uqhu41s.jpg

Blizzard is breaking the faction divide in Patch 9.2.5 allowing friends from the opposite faction to play together. Check out the official preview of cross-faction instances coming in the latest patch!

Blizzard Logo(Source)

Make frenemies of your enemies when you party with players from the opposing faction!

As initially outlined in a previous post, cross-faction instances will break the faction divide by allowing friends from the opposite faction to play together. It will also expand opportunities for players to pursue their favorite group content.


Grouping Up

To invite members of the opposite faction to a party, players must have a BattleTag or Real ID friendship or be members of a cross-faction WoW Community.

Players will have the ability to find Premade Groups in the Group Finder for dungeons (Normal, Heroic, Mythic, and Mythic+), raids, rated arena/RBGs, and also Torghast. However, the group leader may restrict the listing to same-faction applicants if they choose.

Once in a party, members of the opposite faction will remain unfriendly while outside of instances, though they will be able to communicate through party and raid chat, as well as use /say and /yell within proximity of one another.

WoWClassic_GenericUpdate-StranglethornPvP_Blog-Thumb_1200x675_JM01.jpg

Upon entering a dungeon, raid, or rated PvP match, however, all members will be friendly and able to assist each other in combat, trade loot, earn shared achievements, and otherwise fully engage the same way members of the same faction do.


Guilds

Guilds will remain single-faction, and random matchmade activities like Heroic dungeons, Skirmishes, or Random Battlegrounds will all remain same-faction.


Legacy Instances

WoWClassic_GenericUpdate-Onyxia_Blog-Thumb_1200x675_JM01.jpg

The functionality of the cross-faction instance feature will also apply to legacy instances and is available at all levels. However, there will be several older instances that cross-faction parties cannot enter due to faction-specific components, and they are:

  • Trial of the Champion
  • Trial of the Crusader
  • Vault of Archavon
  • Icecrown Citadel
  • Baradin Hold
  • Siege of Boralus
  • Battle of Dazar'alor
  • Darkmaul Citadel (Exile's Reach dungeon)

Cross-faction instances are ready for you to reach across the faction divide in the Shadowlands 9.2.5 content update. We'll see you in the Azeroth!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, N3ilo said:

so in other word its useless...... nice

please whine more about how no matter what blizzard does, its bad or wrong.. I truly enjoy the whining.. no really i do..

 

34 minutes ago, Prophet001 said:

This is a sad sad day when World of Warcraft becomes World of Holdhandscraft

😢

lol

Please see above...

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
  • Haha 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Prophet001 said:

This is a sad sad day when World of Warcraft becomes World of Holdhandscraft

😢

lol

How is this the "Holdhandscraft"? It helps 20% to play with the other 80%, it does help for some pugs, but it doesn't change too much. There are still various limitations.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
24 minutes ago, Arcling said:

How is this the "Holdhandscraft"? It helps 20% to play with the other 80%, it does help for some pugs, but it doesn't change too much. There are still various limitations.

This. Helps balance the servers that are lacking in one faction or another.

1 hour ago, Krimzin said:

please whine more about how no matter what blizzard does, its bad or wrong.. I truly enjoy the whining.. no really i do..

 

Please see above...

I agree. Faction wars at this point is out dated. I honestly like the idea of the horde and alliance finally putting things behind. Would be cool to see minor wars here and there due to friction but overall, it's about time they go forward with this.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Rhondis said:

This. Helps balance the servers that are lacking in one faction or another.

Well, it's all crossrealm, so not it's not about the servers. They don't matter outside of mythic, plus there aren't enough Alliance players for server-based balance. But it's certainly going to help with some PuGs. It is a step in the right direction, but for a feasible solution, we will also need crossfaction guilds.

Edited by Arcling
  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is like throwing a glass of water on a 5 alarm fire that's been burning for years.  If it had happened years ago before the problem got so bad it  might have actually helped and done something and it does absolutely nothing now.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

i can understand that some dont like it lore wise but its nice for m+ and i can play with some alliance dudes again

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I wonder if the alliance/horde ratio would change at all if they remade all racials to be cosmetic only.

It's crazy how skewed it's become over the many years of its evolution.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, TyZone said:

I wonder if the alliance/horde ratio would change at all if they remade all racials to be cosmetic only.

It's crazy how skewed it's become over the many years of its evolution.

Doubtful, communities have already moved years ago and the snowball effect has only worsened since then. There would be no incentive to move back to Alliance, as long as people can't play together everywhere. Even if some of the current racials are good, it's not enough. No guild would risk to transfer now and severely reduce their recruitment pool.

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
14 hours ago, Arcling said:

How is this the "Holdhandscraft"? It helps 20% to play with the other 80%, it does help for some pugs, but it doesn't change too much. There are still various limitations.

 

14 hours ago, Rhondis said:

This. Helps balance the servers that are lacking in one faction or another.

I agree. Faction wars at this point is out dated. I honestly like the idea of the horde and alliance finally putting things behind. Would be cool to see minor wars here and there due to friction but overall, it's about time they go forward with this.

From a pure game play perspective, yes it's a good thing. People not being able to do things because there's no one else to do them with is bad.

However, from the perspective of the game's design principles and foundational elements, it's a bad thing. Factions will *never* be outdated because they are a cornerstone of what makes Warcraft... well... Warcraft. There is MMO after MMO after MMO with no factions and WoW is unique in that aspect.

Losing faction identity is sad imo.

Maybe you guys just play PVE servers and so you've denied factions for yourselves already. If that's the case then you can't really see this point of view.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
16 hours ago, Krimzin said:

please whine more about how no matter what blizzard does, its bad or wrong.. I truly enjoy the whining.. no really i do..

 

Please see above...

its not whining its my opinion my unhappy little friend. its a waste in my eyes.

wow now i can finally play the race i really like and keep my beloved guild... except i cant do anything with them besides raiding and m+ -.-  i cant quest with them or do random dungeons with them at the start of a new xpac or patch because we can hurt each other.

im pretty sure this will help many people and its a good thing but its just not enough

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Honestly even lorewise this makes sense.    The Alliance and Horde still fighting in the face of several Cosmic invasions, otherdimensional elemental attacks, afterlife being auto damnation, and so on is ridiculous.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
20 minutes ago, Migol said:

Honestly even lorewise this makes sense.    The Alliance and Horde still fighting in the face of several Cosmic invasions, otherdimensional elemental attacks, afterlife being auto damnation, and so on is ridiculous.

It's not actually ridiculous lore wise.

Fighting amongst peers while facing a greater enemy is a common event in history.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, Prophet001 said:

However, from the perspective of the game's design principles and foundational elements, it's a bad thing. Factions will *never* be outdated because they are a cornerstone of what makes Warcraft... well... Warcraft. There is MMO after MMO after MMO with no factions and WoW is unique in that aspect.

Losing faction identity is sad imo.

Coming from Warcraft 3, it already felt like Night Elves and Undead were folded into two factions due to gameplay limitations. In Warcraft 3 they were their own distinct factions. Plus it was also more about fighting bigger threats. So I disagree about two factions being a cornerstone. If anything, making two factions has sidelined anyone who isn't human or orc, because both factions are mostly represented by the art style, buildings and characters from these two. Outside of these two races, elves of various flavors got a lot of attention, but most races did not. They were only relevant when content was directly tied to them. Let's also not forget that we had PvP mercenary for years now. What is the lore for it? None.

After all, gameplay =/= lore, so you could still have stories revolving around factions or races. But we might not see it due to other limitations, like budget cuts or player population. Shadowlands already had "neutral" content, and next expansion will likely be the same. Besides, as it is, it's not worth making faction-specific content, if Alliance one will only be seen by 25-35% of player population (not to mention even fewer are going to finish all of these quests), so at this point it's just better to make "neutral" content.

4 hours ago, Prophet001 said:

Maybe you guys just play PVE servers and so you've denied factions for yourselves already. If that's the case then you can't really see this point of view.

There are no PvE/PvP servers since they introduced a war mode. Only normal and RP ones. And world PvP is pretty much dead, which is also suffering from faction imbalance (something is telling me you aren't playing Alliance in war mode).

 

Edited by Arcling
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I`m happy they decided to implement this I do not understand why people are upset about it its just a option you can always opt out of it.

For some one ho has friends playing on both sides I see this as an absolute win, 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
13 hours ago, Prophet001 said:

However, from the perspective of the game's design principles and foundational elements, it's a bad thing. Factions will *never* be outdated because they are a cornerstone of what makes Warcraft... well... Warcraft. There is MMO after MMO after MMO with no factions and WoW is unique in that aspect.

I have to disagree. I did my fair share of both PvE and PvP, I have respect for both sides. But as I mentioned previously - faction warfare being outdated still holds up. Especially if we are talking about story here both times now we have heard from both N'zoth and the Jailer that there is "something to come", We still have no clue what that may be - but having the faction's still fighting one another doesn't help anyone or Azeroth in the bigger scheme of things. It makes sense that all of Azeroth is willing to put aside differences and work along side each other, it shows growth and improvement on both sides. 

 

Now that's not to say that factions in itself is being taken away or that PvP all together will be removed. Surely not, both of these aspects do play into what makes WoW unique which I agree with you there. And in some sense the hatred between both factions will also still be there as both sides will try to take one another down which in some still plays into the unique identity of WoW as well. 

 

Overall story and gameplay wise - it's a smart decision on Blizzard to try to co-mingle the factions together. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I love how some people talk about world pvp and how it affects it and such, when it literally does not because you do not have PvP servers for a while, only RP server with warmode ON or OFF..

AND ALSO

World PvP? Try and do that with 7 and a half people and the server and all people on it will suffer..

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
10 hours ago, Rhondis said:

I have to disagree. I did my fair share of both PvE and PvP, I have respect for both sides. But as I mentioned previously - faction warfare being outdated still holds up. Especially if we are talking about story here both times now we have heard from both N'zoth and the Jailer that there is "something to come", We still have no clue what that may be - but having the faction's still fighting one another doesn't help anyone or Azeroth in the bigger scheme of things. It makes sense that all of Azeroth is willing to put aside differences and work along side each other, it shows growth and improvement on both sides. 

 

Now that's not to say that factions in itself is being taken away or that PvP all together will be removed. Surely not, both of these aspects do play into what makes WoW unique which I agree with you there. And in some sense the hatred between both factions will also still be there as both sides will try to take one another down which in some still plays into the unique identity of WoW as well. 

 

Overall story and gameplay wise - it's a smart decision on Blizzard to try to co-mingle the factions together. 

Well we disagree then which is fine.

If think if you want something factionless then there's more than enough options without taking that uniqueness away from WoW.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
Sign in to follow this  

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

  • Similar Content

    • By Starym
      We have another triple entry in the hotfix ledger, as Radiant Echoes gets more improvements in retail, while Season of Discovery and Cata Classic get additional class changes.
       August 7  (Source)
      Player-characters
      Steady Flight should no longer be removed after entering an Arena. Quests
      We tuned up the Prototype Shredder MK-03 so that “Eye for an Eye” can be completed. Radiant Echoes Event
      Increased Flightstone and upgrade Crest drop rates in the event. Reduced the HP scaling on all event bosses so that they should be killable in a more-reasonable timeframe. Developers’ notes: This includes both ‘minibosses’ (e.g. Hogger, Thorim) and final bosses (e.g. Remembered Onyxia, Ragnaros). Season of Discovery
      Hunter Heart of the Lion once again has a 100 yard range. Warrior The Focused Rage rune will now correctly reduce the cost of Meathook by 3. Cataclysm Classic
      Fixed an issue where Faerie Fire did not deal intended amounts of threat when used on NPCs targeting another unit.
    • By Stan
      Due to a bug introduced with the War Within pre-patch, some players are receiving item level 250 gear from the weekly cache.
      We've seen numerous reports on Reddit and the official forums that the Last Hurrah weekly quest on live servers drop low-level gear for some players. Apparently, the bug was first introduced with the War Within pre-patch two weeks ago and still hasn't been fixed.
      Here's an example of a low item level drop from the Cache of Awakened Treasures by Omnifox.

    • By Starym
      Week 2 brings quite a few changes, as Hunters in particular rise up, while Shadow has a really bad time. The top 3 remains the same and very consistent, so let's jump in and see what's going on.
      Warcraft Logs Points
      The below logs are based on POINTS, and not actual damage or healing, meaning they log the timed completion for the specs, with higher keys getting more points, obviously. The time in which the dungeon is completed is also a factor, but a much, much smaller one, as it grants very few points if you do it significantly faster than just any in-time completion. We're also using the Normalized Aggregate Scores numbers, for clarity, meaning the top spec is marked as 100 and then the rest are ranked in relation to that peak point.
      All Keys
      95th percentile DPS
      The top 3 remains quite stable with the Evoker-Paladin-Warrior trio reigning supreme. We see the first change of the week right after that though, as Frost DK continues its upward march in dungeons as well as in raids, taking 4th from Elemental. Both DKs are on the rise, as Unholy also moves a spot up, taking advantage of Shadow's precipitous 5-spot fall to the bottom of the top 10. Arms remains stable as two Hunters burst in, Beast Mastery taking 8th and Marksmanship 9th, as Frost Mage disappears down towards the bottom. Speaking of the bottom, Devastation gets some new roommates there, as Outlaw and Destruction fall and give Enhancement and Feral a break.

      Mythic+ All Keys 95th Percentile Data by Warcraft Logs.
      All Percentiles
      As with the top percentiles, the top 3 remains solid, but 4th is immediately changed, thanks to Shadow's massive drop in performance this week. The Priest loses even more ground here, falling 9 spots into 13th, opening 4th up for Arms. Beast Mastery moves even higher here, grabbing 5th and moving in front of Elemental and Frost DK, as Marksmanship brings up the rear and completes the Hunter sandwich in 8th. Affliction breaks into the top 10, just ahead of Unholy which dropped to the final spot.

      Mythic+ All Keys All Percentile Data by Warcraft Logs.
      Raw DPS U.GG DPS Rankings
      U.gg's rankings are based on actual DPS taken from Warcraft Logs data, focusing on the top players and span the past two weeks.
      Frost DK finds itself on top in the raw DPS rankings, as Augmentation isn't calculated properly here. Fury and Arms grab the next two spots, moving ahead of Ret, and the Fyr'alath wins continue in 5th, where Unholy finished the legendary axe streak. Even Survival joins the Hunter good times in 8th, where all three specs gather, just ahead of Balance who closes out the top 10.
      Mythic+ All Keystone DPS rankings by u.gg.
       
       
      For even more in-depth data for each individual key head on over to Warcraft Logs. And if you're interested in more info on the specs themselves you can always check out our class guides (updated for the pre-patch), as well as our Mythic+ guides and Mythic+ tier list.
    • By Stan
      For the next two weeks, the Archaeology quest for Spirit of Eche'ro is available on live servers, so don't forget to get the rare mount before it's gone for 6 months!
      How to Get the Spirit of Eche'ro Mount
      1. Download MapCoords or some other add-os that displays coordinates in the game.
      2. Teleport to Azsuna from the Stormwind/Orgrimmar Portal Room or use your Dalaran Hearthstone to reach Dalaran (Legion) if you have one in your inventory.
      3. Seek out Archaeology Trainer Dariness the Learned in Dalaran at 41,26 and learn Archaeology if you already haven't.
      4. Accept The Right Path quest from the Archaeology Trainer and make your way to Thunder Totem in Highmountain.
      5. Talk to Lessah Moonwater to accept Laying to Rest. For the quest, you must collect 600 Bone Fragments of Eche'ro by rotating between four digsites in Highmountain. The exact locations with coords are outlined below.
      Digsite 1: Darkfeather Valley (50, 44) Digsite 2: Dragon's Falls (58, 72) Digsite 3: Path of Huin (44, 72) Digsite 4: Whitewater Wash (39, 65) it takes roughly around 2 hours to get the mount.
      Spirit of Eche'ro
      "The spirit of Huln Highmountain's pet moose."

      Hurry up! You only have until August 21, 2024, to get the mount!
    • By Stan
      MoP Remix characters that will transfer over to retail will receive a gear boost!
      With Patch 11.0.2 now live on Public Test Realms, you can copy over MoP Remix characters from retail! It appears all MoP Remix characters will receive a character boost so you can dive straight into action when the War Within expansion launches.

      We can't unfortunately log in to the game with the MoP Remix char on the PTR so we can't confirm the Item Level of gear for max level characters. However, keep in mind that the gear boost will scale with your level, so if you're below max cap, you will receive gear appropriate to your current level.
      When Can We Expect MoP Remix Characters to Transfer to Retail?
      MoP Remix ends on August 19, so we assume the characters will need to be transferred to retail by August 22 when Early Access begins.
×
×
  • Create New...