World of Warcraft just shared a blog post breaking down how cross-faction guilds will work. This highly-anticipated feature comes to World of Warcraft as a part of the upcoming Patch 10.1.
Embers of Neltharion, also known as Patch 10.1, is the first major content update for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight arriving on May 2. Embers of Neltharion adds an expansive subterranean zone, story quests, outdoor activities, a new raid, and tons of other awesome stuff to World of Warcraft. However, one of the most exciting new features is the ability to form cross-faction guilds.
In a recent blog post, World of Warcraft detailed how cross-faction guilds would work once they are introduced in Embers of Neltharion. Players will be able to invite members of the opposite faction to their guild as long as they are Battle.net friends, or otherwise part of the same Battle.net community. While in the same guild, players from both factions can benefit from unlocked perks, guild repairs, chat, and other conveniences. However, members of the faction opposite of the guild’s primary affiliation – determined by the guild leader’s faction – will be unable to contribute to specific achievements, such as Alliance Slayer.
Outside the guild, members of opposite factions will operate as they have since World of Warcraft introduced cross-faction play. If they are not grouped up or in an instance, Alliance and Horde players will still be flagged as unfriendly – or hostile if in War Mode – even if they’re guildmates. This could lead to some fun events where guildies from both factions choose to meet in a specific place for a world PvP brawl.
Most players are excited about cross-faction guilds being enabled. Though it served its purpose for its time, the faction divide split the player base in half for most of World of Warcraft’s lifespan. Allowing players from both WoW factions to play with one another was huge, effectively doubling the amount of people one could run content with. Allowing them to form guilds is the next logical step, allowing raiders, roleplayers, and casual fans to better communicate and coordinate with their friends regardless of faction allegiance.
There will always be some players who prefer to keep the factions fully separate. Luckily, like cross-faction play, cross-faction guilds are fully optional. These fans will still be able to form guilds with only Alliance or Horde characters, ensuring that the age-old World of Warcraft conflict can still live on in some fashion.
World of Warcraft is available now for PC.