How does one switch factions? This is what happened to me.

Actually a better question there would be why. The point is though, and I have no idea if this the norm, it only seems to be, that WoW players tend to stick to their faction. Since I have been playing WoW I have stuck to the Alliance faction of things. I liked humans, dwarves, etc. Lately though I have found myself playing more and more on the Horde side of my server. I almost have a Paladin to 80, and I even faction changed my shaman, making an orc out of it. I have a druid on deck I plan on leveling as soon as the new random bg system comes out. All the while, my other characters have been left out in the dust, not really being played. Why is this really? What causes someone with over two years of seeing the same people, to jump ship and go to the other side? That is what I want to explore a bit here.


I am sick of doing the same thing over and over again.
Even with multiple alts, different methods of leveling, etc, someone eventually gets sick of seeing the same damn building designs, seeing the same races everywhere, so a little change can be nice. This, at least for me was the way I started dipping my foot into the Horde waters. It was certainly nice to see the different buildings, and not be attacking people in them, on them, around them, etc. Also in the old world especially, the quests feel different, there are different areas to explore, and you get more knowledgeable about them. Sure as Alliance I have gone through the Barrens. But it was on horseback, tearing ass through the place, usually to find an elder, or bonfire. However, when you're level 12 and wandering around on foot, you realize the zone actually looks kind of nice. It's not Elwynn, but then again right now, that's part of the charm.

I found some fun people in my wanderings.
Remember when you first fired WoW up? You maybe knew a person or two, maybe a real life friend who got you into the game, or maybe you knew no one, stranger in a strange land. Well at least for me, trying a Horde character brought that strange feeling back. Granted it was done with heirloom items now, but still, just that feeling of being a stranger to everyone. It was nice in a way, and like when I started the game on Alliance, I ended up running into a few people I liked being around, and ended up joining the guild one of them was making. Actually I have been with those same people since then. So really it was a lot like when I first started. Admittedly, part of the reason I first made a Hordie was to escape always being around people I knew, but after a while, you start to crave it again, especially in a game like WoW.

Where the fuck did everyone go?
This was the reason that really got me to move over and not really look back so far. After everyone got sick of raiding in my Alliance guild, a lot of people quit. Not the guild. The game. I still have my Alliance guild, and it looks like there are a lot of members, but no. Most of those people are on hiatus. Granted I still talk to these people and it is great, but talking to them in-game right now is just not a possibility. So then with the breakdown of my guild, do I what, leave the guild, lose the bank slots and somehow find another surprisingly good casual guild? I am not willing to take that risk, and I have a group of great people on the Horde side. So why not? Ill just start playing there. (Side-note: Funny thing. One of the last people from my guild that still plays the game has since made a Horde character, and joined the guild I'm in, it's fun.)

Conclusio! (Not actually a word.)
Will I go back to the Alliance when Cataclysm comes back, and with the expansion, all my old friends? I truthfully have no idea. While put-off by the more monster-ish races of the Horde when I started WoW, I find myself more wanting to use them now, more then ever. I sometimes consider biting the monetary bullet and paying to move all my toons over to the Horde-side. That though would involve me losing my guild, and I think my Crusader title on my human paladin. Plus I have no want to lose track of my Alliance friends. However, cant help but wonder, I mean I managed to keep up with them thus far, so why not? It's honestly food for thought. So really I guess in the end all I can really say is so far I do not regret switching, but I have no idea if that switch will go all the way.

2 comments:

Rice_Powered said...

Because a boatload of us on the alliance side quit? DID I SAY BOAT? WUT.

Anyways, Horde-side does offer a different gaming experience if you've been playing Ally for most of your WoW-life.

Like, my dad plays horde and sometimes I have no idea how his quests are since they are more horde specific (especially vanilla wow quests) + the different path of quest zones you go to as you level grind.

galu529 said...

That was the problem I faced when logging in to my character. I felt like everything was stagnant. Walking around to the same buildings, seeing the same goddam names running around the capital cities, and God help me if I had to go through the wetlands and do the same quests over and over with alts. It is sickening.

I never did go all the way with my Undead. However thinking about it now the one big draw of the game to me originally was the fact that it felt very big and enabled me to escape to another realm where I felt adventurous for going some place I didn't know. After reading what you wrote I may try and level my Undead and give the other side of the game a shot.

Cheers