Cross-faction guilds are coming to World of Warcraft in the Embers of Neltharion update on May 2nd. Blizzard has a new preview outlining just what this means and how it will work.
Cross-faction guilds are the latest way that Blizzard is opening up ways to play in World of Warcraft. Cross-faction grouping and instances have been around for a little while now, so when it comes to guilds, some of this will be familiar. Yet, since this is about guilds, there are some guidelines that have to apply to structure the whole process.
Which faction a guild leader belongs to will determine the guild’s primary affiliation. So if you’re part of the Horde, then your guild could open up to Alliance members, but the primary faction will still be reflected in a few ways, including in achievements and vendors.
Unlocked shared Perks, as well as guild repairs and shared chat will be for all, but there are some limitations. This means that if you do join a guild that has the opposite primary faction, you’ll be locked out of certain achievements. One example the new preview gives is a Horde guild working towards the Alliance Slayer guild achievement. Alliance-affiliated members of that guild won’t be able to contribute there. (And it would be odd to ask them to, so this is a call that makes sense.)
Another important limitation that was announced in the new preview is that there will still be adversarial relationships in the outside world. This means that a cross-faction guild will still find that its members will only be able to play together in instances:
“Opposite-faction guildmates can only play communally inside instances; they'll still be considered Unfriendly to each other (or Hostile in War Mode) in the outdoor world.”
Blizzard has had to figure out how to make this work for those who want it, without being totally lore-breaking. So this seems like one way to keep breaking down some barriers for those who want to play together, but still preserving some aspects for those who still pledge to their own factions.
For more, read the preview at World of Warcraft.
