Polygon BFA Interview - The Future of the Alliance and Horde

Live Posted 2018/08/17 at 4:45 PM by perculia

Polygon

Click here for the full interview on Polygon

A World Without Alliance and Horde?Polygon

“Well, what I would say is that there is definitely room for what those factions represent to evolve and change and for their relationship to change,” said Danuser. “Those factions are so tied into player identity, when you see those banners, you know what they stand for — they’re personal to you as a player. You did things for that faction, you fought that enemy, you held the line for them, defended your capital. All those things. That wouldn’t be something we would take away lightly. That’s part of the Warcraft DNA. But shaping what those factions mean in the world and how they interact with one another? That’s something this expansion really allows us to focus on and resolve in a way that will be satisfying for players on both sides.”

A Good War

High Overlord Saurfang You think you are here to take me back to Orgrimmar. Back to the Warchief. You are mistaken.
High Overlord Saurfang I have stopped counting the days I have sat in this cell. But it matters not in the end.
High Overlord Saurfang After all she has done, I will never return to the Horde.
High Overlord Saurfang Make sure you know the difference between loyalty and honor.
High Overlord Saurfang And pray you never have to choose.

PolygonPCGamer

We can absolutely trick you. If you think that we're doing something that's blatantly obvious and repeating itself, just stay tuned because we're probably setting you up for a surprise.

parallels to Arthas

Elune had intervened. Perhaps she had even stayed Saurfang’s killing blow. And she wouldn’t be the only force beyond the Alliance to oppose Sylvanas’ true objective.

Sylvanas’s anger grew cold.

She had known this would happen. It had simply come sooner than expected. That was all.

What's Next for the Factions?Elegy

“There has always been some question as to what the Horde stood for,” said Danuser. “And that has changed and evolved over time. Is it this disparate collection of outcasts that nobody will align themselves with? And that’s why they’re together, out of necessity? Or is it this group that’s driven by honor and courage? Players have been able to identify and pull out parts of the storyline that they favor and maybe turn a blind eye to some of the other things, but all of those things have been part of the Horde’s history.

While we’ve had conflicts like the Siege of Orgrimmar, none of those really resolved what the Horde is. Battle for Azeroth is absolutely an opportunity to look at both sides that have made up the Horde storylines throughout the years and pull them together.

“The Alliance is going to have to realign itself. Especially the Night Elves who lose their home. How are they going to react to this? There’s going to be a real self-examination of what the Alliance is about, and how they want to behave. Do they want to get revenge on the Horde, or do they want to build a better world? That’s a question they need to answer.”

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Comment by WillbladeHorde confirmed evil then? This whole article was all about the whole "we aren't going to give you the same thing we've been giving you" but then it immediatly changes to "We're bringing everything that the Horde has done in the past". Don't these statements contradict themselves? They want to not go through the same topics but they focus on the same topics to "bring them together"?Comment by MajoraWhile we’ve had conflicts like the Siege of Orgrimmar, none of those really resolved what the Horde is. Battle for Azeroth is absolutely an opportunity to look at both sides that have made up the Horde storylines throughout the years and pull them together.
Comment by perculiaHorde confirmed evil then? This whole article was all about the whole "we aren't going to give you the same thing we've been giving you" but then it immediatly changes to "We're bringing everything that the Horde has done in the past". Don't these statements contradict themselves? They want to not go through the same topics but they focus on the same topics to "bring them together"?Comment by Dejo93>Polygon
Who even takes them seriously at this point?Comment by omedon666I’m just gonna add a copy paste of something I posted elsewhere:

Not to put another antenna on my “race/faction rules are changing in BFA” tin foil hat... but I couldn’t help but notice that there are little faction crests not only on certain quests, but also on mouseover nameplates for players!

Wouldn’t that be somewhat redundant considering one’s race is already on the nameplate? If you see “troll,” of course that means Horde, right?...

Unless... perhaps that won’t always be a given.

After all, the tagline for this expansion is “declare your allegiance!”

Dun-Dun-DUUUUN!Comment by EasyrokI’m just gonna add a copy paste of something I posted elsewhere:

Not to put another antenna on my “race/faction rules are changing in BFA” tin foil hat... but I couldn’t help but notice that there are little faction crests not only on certain quests, but also on mouseover nameplates for players!

Wouldn’t that be somewhat redundant considering one’s race is already on the nameplate? If you see “troll,” of course that means Horde, right?...

Unless... perhaps that won’t always be a given.

After all, the tagline for this expansion is “declare your allegiance!”

Dun-Dun-DUUUUN!Comment by Rorcanna30Whenever they dilute the game in order to make things more convenient for the players, I worry.

It happened to the leveling experience already before they reworked it with 7.3.5. This game has always had 2 factions, and always should.
That being said, some sort of cross-faction function in raids would be OK, as well as in automated instance grouping. If there's more Alliance than Horde queued, make the Horde players morph into their Alliance-race equivalent. And other way around. Isn't it already done in PVP?Comment by omedon666I’m just gonna add a copy paste of something I posted elsewhere:

Not to put another antenna on my “race/faction rules are changing in BFA” tin foil hat... but I couldn’t help but notice that there are little faction crests not only on certain quests, but also on mouseover nameplates for players!

Wouldn’t that be somewhat redundant considering one’s race is already on the nameplate? If you see “troll,” of course that means Horde, right?...

Unless... perhaps that won’t always be a given.

After all, the tagline for this expansion is “declare your allegiance!”

Dun-Dun-DUUUUN!Comment by goberginSo, my hope is that we end up with FOUR 'factions' at the end of this xpac.
1. PvP Horde
2. PvP Alliance
3. PvE Horde (Still not all that fond of Alliance but meh)
4. PvE Alliance (Not all that fond of Horde but meh on actual fighting- and OK with grouping up)

The last two are basically the 'nope to PvP' crew who are focused on rebuilding and working kinda together when it makes sense and otherwise just doing their own thing.

Or everybody has an option for Free Agency where they just do quests for whomever has the cash and remit a certain amount to their factions (taxes) for faction rep and rewards.Comment by DraccyJust makes me think of talking to Rexxar about why he joined the battle when you meet him in Stormsong.
While the reasoning may feel off, it was a good call back and plants his banner firmly where it should be.

Hopefully we do come to understand what they want the Horde's identity to be.Comment by perculiaSo, my hope is that we end up with FOUR 'factions' at the end of this xpac.
1. PvP Horde
2. PvP Alliance
3. PvE Horde (Still not all that fond of Alliance but meh)
4. PvE Alliance (Not all that fond of Horde but meh on actual fighting- and OK with grouping up)

The last two are basically the 'nope to PvP' crew who are focused on rebuilding and working kinda together when it makes sense and otherwise just doing their own thing.

Or everybody has an option for Free Agency where they just do quests for whomever has the cash and remit a certain amount to their factions (taxes) for faction rep and rewards.Comment by omedon666So, my hope is that we end up with FOUR 'factions' at the end of this xpac.
1. PvP Horde
2. PvP Alliance
3. PvE Horde (Still not all that fond of Alliance but meh)
4. PvE Alliance (Not all that fond of Horde but meh on actual fighting- and OK with grouping up)

The last two are basically the 'nope to PvP' crew who are focused on rebuilding and working kinda together when it makes sense and otherwise just doing their own thing.

Or everybody has an option for Free Agency where they just do quests for whomever has the cash and remit a certain amount to their factions (taxes) for faction rep and rewards.Comment by azartzThis is worrying... They do not trick anyone, the story is headless, period. None of the characters reactions make sense, they sacrifice Horde lore (again) to push this joke further because someone in a high position thought it was a nice idea to make Sylvanas a warchief.
We have had enough empty promise with Garrosh, we all know how it ended.Comment by AutomagI am soooooo over this BS about a third faction. It's not going to happen. Move on...Comment by hugocgcHuh, Polygon thought important to insert the word "evil" between brackets inside a direct quotation of WoW's narrative producer describing the horde.Comment by perculiaI am soooooo over this BS about a third faction. It's not going to happen. Move on...Comment by omedon666I am soooooo over this BS about a third faction. It's not going to happen. Move on...Comment by ZygosI want a 3rd faction... an Undead faction made up of races from both sides. I want to see Undead Orcs, Undead Tauren, Undead Night Elves, Undead Blood Elves, Undead Dwarves, Undead Trolls, and even Undead Gnomes. I want to see Sylvanas break away from the Horde and become the Lich Queen. And unlike with Arthas, I want players to be given the choice to follow her and play Undead versions, with FULL customization options, of the original races affected by Arthas. That would be 8 races, 4 from the Alliance and 4 from the Horde. Orc, Troll, Blood Elf, and Tauren from the Horde, and Human, Night Elf, Dwarf, and Gnome from the Alliance.

Edit:
Come to think of it... why would it need to be strictly from races affected by Arthas? This is a new war. It would make sense to include all races, with maybe the Worgen as being an exception since they are immune to being raised as Undead.Comment by NixeskaI want a 3rd faction... an Undead faction made up of races from both sides. I want to see Undead Orcs, Undead Tauren, Undead Night Elves, Undead Blood Elves, Undead Dwarves, Undead Trolls, and even Undead Gnomes. I want to see Sylvanas break away from the Horde and become the Lich Queen. And unlike with Arthas, I want players to be given the choice to follow her and play Undead versions, with FULL customization options, of the original races affected by Arthas. That would be 8 races, 4 from the Alliance and 4 from the Horde. Orc, Troll, Blood Elf, and Tauren from the Horde, and Human, Night Elf, Dwarf, and Gnome from the Alliance.

Edit:
Come to think of it... why would it need to be strictly from races affected by Arthas? This is a new war. It would make sense to include all races, with maybe the Worgen as being an exception since they are immune to being raised as Undead.Comment by 1809537This post was from a user who has deleted their account.

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