I’m on-board for World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth focusing on the factional conflict, but there’s a side of the factions in WoW that has always bugged me: the lack of cross-faction interaction. I can’t group with Horde characters while I’m playing an Alliance character, cannot meaningfully help them advance quests, can’t even talk to them. In terms of interaction, they wind up feeling like very smart NPC characters with no options beyond “hit it” or “ignore it.”
By contrast, Star Wars: The Old Republic has two factions that literally cannot coexist in the same galaxy peacefully, and it has actually done a better job of giving both factions chances to interact. At least Sith players can still talk to Republic characters.
The justification of keeping the faction conflict rolling has always struck me as fake; it drives the point home more effectively if your Night Elf isn’t just shooting at random Tauren characters but at people she knows, has grouped with, and even considers friends. But perhaps I’m in the minority here. What do you think, readers? Should MMOs with PvP-focused factions allow players to interact cross-faction, or is it better to keep them separated in gameplay as well as in lore?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
