Project Lore

Warning! This post is speculative and potentially spoiler-heavy. I won't lie. I've been cringing inside at the thought of Garrosh Hellscream replacing Thrall. How could he? What would this mean for the fate of the Horde? And why would Thrall allow it? Amatera's recent post on glimpses of the changing Horde on the PTR solidified that even more. I am not a fan of Garrosh, to put it lightly, and based on the comments on that post, plenty of others aren't, either. In fact, it's easy to name plenty of other Horde leaders who would make a better Warchief. Among the contenders, on one humorous forum thread: Cairne Bloodhoof (which would be difficult if he's dead), Saurfang, Sylvanas, Hogger (/chuckle), Westfall Chicken or a Sickly Gazelle. And with all this mounting contention against Hellscream, it was only time before the issue would be addressed via Blue Post. Kisirani took the call in a thread questioning Hellscream's ability to lead the Horde. Here's what was said:

"Garrosh is a character with a lot to prove. I realize there's a great deal of consternation out there concerning the tales of what's to come, but I want to reassure you that we understand that concern. We know where you're coming from. Why are we still going this route? With all respect, you haven't seen the entirety of who Garrosh is. You've seen a great deal of his faults, certainly, but people grow over time, and you may find, come Cataclysm, that he is not quite the disaster you portend. :) (Mind you, that doesn't mean he's Thrall, either.)"

Can you hear the collective sigh of relief? No? Well, I'm still not exactly crazy about the idea, either. But it does remind me that what we're hearing so far is only bits and pieces of what surely will be a much larger, more complicated story. If you think back to the Burning Crusade, we did see a slightly different side of Garrosh. Before he knew of his father, Grom Hellscream's heroic death, Garrosh is portrayed as ashamed, intimidated at the thought of becoming a great leader, and even a little depressed. Thrall's news that Grom had fought valiantly to his redemption is a huge part of what transforms Garrosh into the strong, confident, belligerent being that we now know. But at least we see that he is capable of growth and change as a character. My guess is that there's going to be some massive world event leading up to the Cataclysm, or it may even be the Cataclysm itself, that forces Garrosh to grow as a character once again. Let's hope that by the time Garrosh leads the Horde, if this indeed is to come, that he is a multi-dimensional character with more layers than the surface one we've seen up until now. And if that's not the case, then may Thrall (or one of those other potential leaders - I'd root for Sylvanas) overthrow him and retake the Horde!

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We reported, pre-Blizzcon, that Blizzard had created several new Twitter accounts, each focused on one of the company's key franchises. Some of you started following them instantly, while others maintained their distance from the social networking site wonder what, precisely, it could offer beyond the usual community or news features. Well, so far, the latter would be right. Posts have generally concerned themselves with daily questions, opinion polls, and highlighting the more creative aspects of the Blizzard fandom (things like fan art, stories, and, most recently, papercraft). Though there is an on-going Battlecry contest -- in which fans of the Horde or Alliance update their own accounts with "For the ____!" whenever their side's banner is lifted -- there have yet to be any prizes that you can actually use within the game. But, a recent post on the Warcraft Twitter page hints that might not be the case for long:

We are talking to our licensing department about giving out some#WoW in-game pets/mounts through Twitter. Looks promising. Stay tuned.

That's right, soon enough, you could be earning in-game content just for participating in the usual Twitter shenanigans. I can tell you from personal experience that it's not a sham, either. I recently won a Starcraft 2 Beta Key through Blizzard's Starcraft Twitter page. Generally, these contests involve little more than "re-tweeting" a phrase or offering up your own thoughts on a given subject. At 140 characters, that's not very hard at all. So what sorts of things might Blizzard actually give out? According to another tweet from yesterday, quite possible pets and mounts normally available only through loot cards:

What types of in-game prizes would you like to see us give on Twitter? Interested in #WoW TCG loot items? Spectral Tiger Mounts maybe?

This is wonderful news for those who have no interest in playing (or spending money) on the Trading Card Game. I wouldn't expect to see anything game-changing to be offered through these contests, but vanity items like Spectral Tiger Mounts, alone, are desirable and rare prizes. Do you think this sort of giveaway might get you to sign up for Twitter if you haven't already? Well, if you do, please make sure to follow Project Lore and myself, as well! We're always keen on having new friends to talk to!

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We knew they were coming soon, but not this soon! Looks like Blizzard has given the Paid Faction Change service the go-ahead and it's now available for use (WoW or Battle.net ID necessary to log-in). Of course, according to the website, there are a few conditions to consider before you make the shift:

• The faction change process is not immediate, and a character will not be available for play while a faction change is pending. Under normal conditions the process should take under an hour, but please allow up to several days for a faction change to complete.
• During this process, you will select a new character race from the opposite-faction races that have the character's class available. You cannot change a character's class.
• To see how character-specific information such as achievements, reputations, and items are affected by a faction change, refer to the Translation Table.
• A realm transfer is not included in a faction change. However, the restriction on having members of both factions on a PvP realm has been lifted, so you can have characters of both factions on a single PvP realm.
• A character can change factions once every 60 days.
• Not every character will be eligible to undergo a faction change. If applicable, the reason a character is not eligible will be brought to your attention before payment is rendered. For example, faction changes may not be possible on certain realms or only one "direction" of faction changes may be allowed on a given realm.

Orcs becoming Humans! And Humans becoming Orcs! What has Azeroth come to?! A comprehensive FAQ, which can be also be found on the Faction Change site, details things even further. Here are some highlights:

• You can only transfer one character per transaction (so if you're planning to go full Alliance of full Horde, expect to pay out the nose).
• The character to be transferred must be at least Level 10 (under that, you might as well just make a new toon on the opposite faction).
• In addition to changing factions, you will also get to re-customize and re-name your character.
• You can switch a character back to their original race/faction, but that requires another paid transfer (and likely falls under the 60-day rule).
• The Faction Change itself is represented by a button next to your selected character on the character select screen, which will appear after you have been logged out for at least 30 minutes. The screens you go through will be similar to those used in the New Character Creation process, and you will be able to preview the changes before confirming.
• Your old character's name will be locked from use for 90 days, assuming that you decide to change it back.
• Items, Equipment, Titles, Achievements, etc. will remain unchanged unless they are faction-specific, in which chase they will be switched out for an equivalent.
• Non-combat pets, even faction-specific ones, can be transferred.
• A character who is being transferred will have their quest log cleared and all related items will be destroyed. Faction-specific quests which contributed to achievements will no longer be counted.
• Reputation will remain intact, though primary faction reputations will be transferred to their equivalent (i.e. Orgrimmar for Stormwind).
• Flight paths will be changed, but will remain level appropriate (a level 40 transfer will not automatically have all of the flight paths available to their faction).
• Friend and Ignore lists will be reset.
• Guild Masters cannot take advantage of this service.
• PvP-related currency (arena points, honor, etc.) will be carried over, except for any earned between the last maintenance and the time of the Faction Change.
• Mail and Auctions needs to be cleared before the change is made.
• Having more than a certain amount of gold per level will prevent you from using the Faction Change (this is over 20,000 at Level 80).
• This service cannot be used to change races within the same faction. That feature will be implemented later.

Whew! That's quite the list of requirements, but if you think you're ready to deal with them, keep in mind that you're still going to have to plunk down 30 USD for the switch. That currently makes it the most expensive of the character modification services, indicating that Blizzard considers this quite a big deal (and so should you). While Horde is outnumbered nearly 3-to-1 on my server, I can't say I really have any friends on the Alliance side, so it's unlikely that I'd ever change factions without an accompanying server transfer, too (55 USD, yikes!). How many of you out there are planning to make use of the Paid Faction Change, and why?

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Cataclysm Countdown is a series of informed speculative articles concerning things we might see in the next expansion that I will be posting every day this week, leading right up to Blizzcon. In the interest of thought purity, I will do my best to steer clear of recent “leaked” material, relying upon it only where it logically connects with the existing lore. Nothing hereafter is official or has been confirmed/denied by Blizzard at the time of its writing. The Lich King falls. The Argent Crusade's task of defeating the Scourge is over, and with it the tenuous cooperation between the Alliance and the Horde. A new threat arises from the depths of the ocean and brings death and destruction to both sides. Jaina Proudmoore and Thrall take it upon themselves to protect the world at large, ascending from their positions as faction representatives. In the interest of self-preservation, the remaining forces of the Horde and Alliance cease any remaining ties. Instead, tempers flare as Garrosh, the new Warchief of the Horde, and King Varian Wrynn bare fangs at each other and decide to drag their people, once again, unto the brink of all-out, bloody-nosed WAR. The stage is set for a conflict greater than Azeroth has ever seen before. But how will we experience it? Ahh... the way things used to be! World of Warcraft, despite its name and pedigree, was not built from the ground up for PvP play. Ever since the game's release, Blizzard has added more and varied ways of engaging the enemy, but it's always been compartmentalized and shoved just to the side of primary content. Even Lake Wintergrasp, arguably the crowning jewel of PvP combat at the moment (it both maintains the scale of a Battleground and affords access to certain rewards typical of World PvP). Though it's far from perfect, Wintergrasp will likely be the template for this part of the game moving forward. Let's stop for a moment, though, and let our imaginations run wild, yeah? WoW, at its pinnacle, should emulate the large-scale, world-wide conflict that the series is known for. Ideally, that means  bunkers, forts, and whole armies fighting with each other in all zones across Azeroth. Players would be able to not only construct siege vehicles, but hire mercenaries, create defensive buildings, and upgrade units. OK, have a good image in your head now? Well, hold onto it, because that's only a dream. With the changes we are expecting to see to the rest of the game, PvP on that level would be near impossible to implement. Let's not forget all the balancing that would be involved in the creation of so many new game systems. We've got to face the reality that World of Warcraft just can't support such an overhaul in its core gameplay. Will we see something approaching that near the end of the series? Quite likely, through patches and incremental additions along the way, but not right now. Still, that doesn't mean we won't see PvP combat expand in Cataclysm. The key really is just to find a happy medium. I see this as taking at least one of two forms:

1. Zone-wide PvP -- With many zones being re-purposed in the expansion, it stands to reason that a few of them could play host to open fighting. Those with high amounts of resources, or those that straddle the border between core Horde and Alliance territories will be the ones most impacted. The first that comes to mind is the Hillsbrad/Arathi area of Eastern Kingdoms. With the Scourge threat defeated and the Plaguelands theoretically in the process of returning to normal, little stands between the Alliance reclaiming Lordaeron than the Forsaken. With his new found allies, the Worgen of Gilneas, on Undercity's doorstep, Varian is in a good position to retake the former Human kingdom. The Forsaken, with some help from the Blood Elves, would fight back to protect the only place they can call home. Several areas like this can be spread throughout the world map, with control of them affording certain buffs or rewards.
2. Objective-based play -- True World PvP would be hard to manage. Imagine a full PvP server, but one where control of the world actually matters. Instead, what not have a series of smaller objectives that each side needs to take and hold. Holding a number of these sites at any given time would afford lesser rewards, perhaps some sort of points or honor to every player in the general area. These points could then be used to purchase faction rewards in the main cities. Final Fantasy XI did something like this with crystals needed for crafting professions, and so has WoW to an extent (with Stone Keeper Shards and the like), though it was necessary to engage in PvE content to obtain those items.

But then again, who knows? We may just see a few new Battlegrounds and Arenas to fight in. I'm sure PvP will move forward in certain respects, but at the end of the day, the balance between fun and fairness is what needs to be maintained. Considering either of these ideas, servers with already lop-sided populations would potentially see one faction completely shut out of rewards. Objective-based gameplay may be more suited to accessibility, considering that when more capture sites are placed in the world, it becomes harder for either side to dominate completely. Covering every objective would quickly spread forces thin, but it would allow the opposite faction to rally up and take a few of their own. The only difference in this case would be that one side would gain points, and thus rewards, at a faster pace. However, this approach runs the risk of placing less importance on any given objective. It would be less lore-centric, and some out-of-the-way objectives would fall into disuse. Zone-based PvP would certainly centralize the conflict, and the consolidation of forces would allow Blizzard to do more interesting things within each area. While balance is a greater issue here, Wintergrasp-style buffs could preserve the spirit of competition. So what are you guys looking forward to in terms of Player versus Player action in the next expansion. Are my ideas too far-fetched? What about ideas of your own? Do you think PvP might get the shaft as Blizzard focuses on expanding the lore and PvE content? We've only got a couple more days until we find out for sure!

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BlizzCon! Rumors incoming! With BlizzCon less than two weeks away there is no surprise that we are starting to see leaks and rumors. MMO-Champion had reported on the races first with their data mining showing new Halloween masks that featured Goblin and Worgen races (of both sexes) and then pixiestixy brought us news today that WoW.com confirmed this information with sources close to the company, and specifically that Goblin will be Horde and Worgen will be Alliance. To be quite honest, this news is a little underwhelming. This doesn't specifically add content outside of the starting zones and is quite a bit of work (all items have to be remodeled/skinned for these new races) for something that really doesn't ADD to the gameplay (argue all you want but it's merely a cosmetic upgrade). With the races apparently set in stone (we will know for sure at BlizzCon) I find that to be disappointing. The announcement of Blood Elves and Draenei had a much stronger impact because of the classes that you could use with those races, which were previously exclusive to the Horde (Shaman) and Alliance (Paladin). Blizzard really should make these races start out neutral (can't interact with any Alliance/Horde player characters) and either the actions you take through your questing will decide your faction at, say level 20, or you just flat out get to choose. With faction transfers incoming, this would seem to be a logical extension of that model and where Blizzard wants to make the game as accessible and varied as possible. This alongside the lore implications that both these races are (generally) faction nuetral. Based on past experience though I am inclined to believe that the new races are in the next expansion. We knew about Burning Crusade days before BlizzCon 2005 and BlizzCon 2007's announcement of Wrath of the Lich King was known a few days before as well. Funny though was that when I picked up my press badge that year they gave me a program guide with all the details about WotLK (which hadn't been officially announced) so that kind of killed the suspense of the opening ceremony but it was nice to see that the rumors were true. With BlizzCon so close I expect to see a lot more "rumors" pop up, at this point be skeptical of nearly everything from this point on and we will all know August 21st (and we hope to see you there!)! Let us know what you'd like to see related to the new races, do you think picking your faction in game (rather than associated race) would be a good idea? What kind of ideas do you have if they continue down this path of alternating race/class additions every other expansion?

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It may come as no surprise since we've been speculating on this for quite some time, but it seems that folks over at WoW.com have confirmed from "multiple sources close to the situation" that the next expansion will be World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, and will include the Worgen and Goblin as playable races.

While Goblins have up until now remained neutral, with currency their only faction of choice, WoW.com reports that the Goblin will be playable for the Horde in the new expansion (Go Green!). We've already received a ton of feedback from our previous speculative posts on what the implications will be for having this wide-spread race specific to only one faction. What will happen to the neutral cities, such as Ratchet, where they are a mainstay? I suppose we'll find out with time - perhaps some of the Goblin NPCs will remain neutral, or maybe we'll see a major upheaval of some of those villages. It could make for some great new lore - not to mention the Great Sundering, which also should make for a fun expansion topic.

So that leaves the Worgen, who up until now have played a much smaller role than that of the Goblin. They apparently will be joining up with the Alliance. We've already seen a glimpse of what the female may look like through Halloween masks revealed a while back. Now it just makes me wonder if all the additional masks revealed later (murloc, Naga, plus already available playable races) may have just been added to throw us off the trail? Maybe they're just included because they inevitably will play a large role in an expansion about the Cataclysm. Or, perhaps we'll see a couple more playable races still (One can hope, right?).

All this is still very preliminary and I'll feel a lot better about the information once we've gotten some kind of official comment from Blizzard. But that likely won't come until BlizzCon - and hopefully we'll learn much, much more at that point. New playable races alone don't equal a full expansion, so I'm sure there will be plenty more to report on in the coming weeks. Until then, I'll be crossing my fingers that I will soon be able to play green!

What does everyone make of these leaks and the possible lore behind them? Would you play a Worgen or Goblin? How do you think Blizz will handle all the complications related to turning Goblins for the Horde?

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As we've said before, we are on a bit of a hiatus from making videos. So, to help hold you over we wanted to remind you of all of our past episodes that we have, including some of our favorites. This week we'll bring back the Deadmines episodes that were not only a blast, but also spawned the infamous "Tigers can't use bridges" saying that so many people loved. If you just can't get enough of Project Lore be sure to check out our huge archive of previous episodes and follow our Twitter for the latest updates!

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Source image courtesy of MMO-Champion. It is often that we find hints of new or as-yet-unreleased content by carefully and dutifully digging through the files of new patches. Few are better at this than Boubouille of MMO-Champion, a site nearly unparalleled at breaking this brand of news for our favorite game. But I'm not so sure about one of their latest. Boubouille has managed to scrounge up several graphics of Hallow's End masks that depict both Goblins and Worgen. Traditionally, these masks have only been made from playable races, and the next expansion is predicted to focus primarily on the Maelstrom, which would theoretically feature zones such as the Goblin home city of Undermine and the isolated kingdom of Gilneas (which may or may not have fallen victim to a Worgen invasion -- after all, it is suspiciously close to Shadowfang Keep!). Little has been confirmed by Blizzard themselves, but the evidence certainly tips in favor of these races being prominent players in forthcoming events, if not completely playable. So what's holding me back? Not excitement, that's for sure. Worgen would be a great addition, and it'd be nice for the Horde to have their very own little people. But the fact of the matter is that both Goblins and Worgen (read: werewolves) are creatures traditionally associated with Halloween, which may explain the inclusion of their masks for the holiday. Despite my skepticism, there is one key point that intrigues me: there is a female Worgen mask. Of course, this is only fair and in keeping with the tradition of offering a mask of both genders for players to wear, but I'm not aware of any female Worgen currently existing in the game (at least none that take on an appearance apart from the generic model). Looking at the image provided by MMO-Champion, you can see softer, almond-shaped eyes and a smaller nose, perhaps implying that they might account for playable options in the future. Ultimately, everything at this point is simply an educated guess, but Blizz's own loremaster, Chris Metzen, has stated that they are "doing some awesome stuff for Gilneas." Worgen are apparently naturally evil, battle-worn creatures, but it wouldn't be beyond reason to see them do a turn for the Alliance. After all, the story of Warcraft is all about people or races being redeemed or damned through their actions. Darkspear Trolls shied away from the cannibalism prevalent amongst their people, the Forsaken have made strides to separate themselves from the Scourge, and who can forget the once benevolent High Elves transforming into magic-addicted wretches after the corruption of the Sunwell? Who's to say there isn't some small contingent of Worgen trying to earn their place in the world by rising above their race's natural anger and ferocity? The discovery of these masks certainly gives us food for thought, if no concrete answers. Teasing us this far ahead of the expansion is awfully cruel of Blizzard, but if they are in the files now, might that imply that we'll see a release before the next time Hallow's End rolls around? I'm eager to know how everyone else feels about this development. Is Blizzard just playfully baiting their fans (as they have for so long with the Pandaren), or is this serious evidence of things to come? If playable, do you think that Goblins and Worgen are locks for the Horde and Alliance respectively? Which would you like to play as, and would you be willing to switch factions just to do so? And why does that female Goblin mask look exactly like Fiona from Shrek?

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Well folks, it looks like we have some, but definitely not all the answers regarding how the possibility of faction changes announced earlier this week could work. Wednesday, Blizzard blue poster Nethaera updated his original post on the subject with a few more details on the matter - probably because of the incredibly high number of questions (and complaints) that players posted. Several of the updated answers relate to questions regarding the race of characters who request a faction change.

Q. Will we be able to switch between the races on our own faction? A.. No. Players will only be able to switch to a race of the opposite faction. Q. Will I be able to choose the race on the opposite faction that I want to change to? A.. Yes, but you will only be able to switch to a race that has your class type available to it. So if you play a human paladin, you’d only be able to change to a blood elf paladin. Q.Will I be able to switch back to my original faction but a different race? A.. No. You will only be able to switch back to your originally chosen race.

This clarifies up several of the issues that could have resulted if Blizz didn't go about things carefully. You'll be able to decide what race you want to play in the opposite faction (and although it isn't explicitly stated, one would guess you'll also get to personalize the toon just as if you were re-rolling anew). To a certain extent. Of course, they're not going to all of the sudden allow every race to play every class. So if you're, say, a human paladin who wants to switch factions, you'll be limited to playing a blood elf. An Orc Paladin? That would just be weird. Or how about a Tauren rogue (you hear their hooves, but never see them)? Blizz will never allow us to learn THOSE secrets. Back on a serious note though, this also means that players wouldn't be able to faction change twice and end up with a toon of the same faction but different race. This seems like a pretty obvious move on Blizzard's part. But it's good that they clarified that pretty quickly for all those skeptics out there. Onward to more answered questions:

Q.How much will it cost? A.. We do not have further information on this at this point in time. Q.How often can you change your faction? A..We do not have any information to share on this at this point in time, however we will have restrictions on the frequency by which players can change their faction.

So maybe these are more like non-answers. It seems like the faction change would cost something. Will it cost RL money, like it does if you want to change realms? That seems the most likely scenario to me. But there also could be some kind of in-game cost as well.

Q.. How will the switch between reputation, gear, mounts, etc be handled? A.. We’ll have more details for you at a later point in time, though we plan to keep these as close to a reflection of the other faction as much as possible.

This part seems like it will be a HUGE pain in the ass and a ton of work for Blizzard. Basically, for every single faction- dependent item you can possibly get in-game, Blizz will have to try to match it with an equivalent of the opposing faction. Certainly, there will be many items that will match up perfectly. But there's also certain to be injustices on both sides. And that's just for gear. What about for reputation? For example's sake, say you're exalted with Thrallmar. The logical Alliance equivalent would seem to be Honor Hold. But what if the gear/mount you want is through rep with Kurenai? I foresee a related QQ fest coming. And one more important question answered so far:

Q. How will this affect the balance of Horde and Alliance on the realms? A.. We are taking great care in how we implement this new service in order to maintain balance between the factions on the realms but do not have any further details to share.

Once again, this seems pretty obvious. If anything, Blizz would probably want to use the service as a means to balance out servers that are heavily populated by one faction over the other. Maybe they'll do something similar to their character transfers out of over-populated realms: Offer free faction transfers only if you're, for example, an Alliance character on an Alliance-dominant server. Then again, would anyone WANT to switch factions under those circumstances? Well, that's it so far, and lots of questions still remain: Would faction changes be allowed on a PvP server? If so, would you be required to switch ALL of your characters' factions on that realm?  It seems like Blizzard would have to make that requirement - either that or require a server change, too, if you want to only change one toon's faction. And of course, when will all this happen? It seems like it's still a long ways off. And another thing: If you decide to faction change, then change back, would you be able to regain your old gear/rep/stuff, or would it be matched with equivalents twice, and in the process change into something new? If it's the latter, the result could lead to some exploits. And I'll add another question, since I grow attached to all aspects of my characters: Will toon names stay the same? Now that we have a little bit more information, I'd like to know what you all think of this service. How do you think this will go, once it's implemented? And what do you think are the implications of it all? Will a sense of faction pride fade? What about knowledge of the lore - would you want to switch to a level 80 toon of another race for which you don't know all the back-story? Stay tuned for more information as it's released!

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Azeroth is quickly becoming the plastic surgery capital of the virtual universe! You can modify your character's name, face, hairstyle, even gender. And soon, you can even completely change which race you play, too! According to a post from Blue Nethaera, Blizzard has finally heeded the call of players who wish to carouse with friends of the opposite faction:

We wanted to give everyone a very early heads-up that, in response to player requests, we’re developing a new service for World of Warcraft that will allow players to change their faction from Alliance to Horde or Horde to Alliance. There’s still much work to do and many details to iron out, but the basic idea is that players will be able to use the service to transform an existing character into a roughly equivalent character of the opposing faction on the same realm. Players who ended up creating and leveling up characters on the opposite factions from their friends have been asking for this type of functionality for some time, and we’re pleased to be getting closer to being able to deliver it. As with all of the features and services we offer, we intend to incorporate the faction-change service in a way that won’t disrupt the gameplay experience on the realms, and there will be some rules involved with when and how the service can be used. The number of variables involved increases the complexity of implementing this service, but we plan to take the time needed to ensure that it lives up to expectations before officially rolling it out. We’ll go into much more detail on all of this here at http://www.WorldofWarcraft.com as development progresses. In the meantime, we wanted to let you know that because this type of functionality requires extensive internal testing well in advance of release, you may be seeing bits and pieces of the service in the test builds we use for the public test realms moving forward.

This represents the company's boldest step yet in allowing character customization. Blizzard's not kidding when they say that there are a lot of variables to consider when switching one's race, and it goes beyond simple cosmetics. You have to take into account such things as potential shifts in server population. Alliance races, on the whole, are played far more than their Horde equivalents, and on my server it's more than 2-to-1 in their favor. There are already too few people worth playing with, without having to worry about more turning coat and joining the other side. FOR THE... Alliance? And then there are issues such as race-specific abilities and stat changes that will no doubt occur if you go through with the procedure. While the overall impact might be small (a several-point decrease in Stamina, for instance), it's still something worth thinking about before you make the jump. And what about quests, reputation, or faction-based achievements? Will you have to start from scratch, aside from the gear and items you've already accumulated? According to Nethaera's post, we may or may not see parts of the new service appear on the PTR, but it seems highly unlikely that it will be implemented in the forthcoming content patch. Nonetheless, if you've ever wanted to hide from people in-game, it won't be very long before someone could potentially erase their footprint from any given server, changing virtually every notable aspect of their character in the process. Interesting prospect for a fictional world, huh? What do you think, readers? Are you up for this change? Itching to level up with some of your cross-faction friends or simply looking for a different experience altogether? What lasting impact might this have on the underdog Horde? How much would you pay for the ability to wholly modify your race or faction?

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