Since the announcement of cross-faction guilds in 10.1, I’ve seen a lot of people request the ability to hang out in the opposite faction’s capital cities. There are some practical quality-of-life benefits that allowing cross faction characters to hang out in each other cities would allow, and the game is always in need for more role-play features. On top of that, the term “World Revamp” has been tossed around a lot lately, and most capital cities are showing their age. Going from Valdrakken to Stormwind is quite a contrast.
Let’s assume some cities get updated; if one Alliance, then also one Horde. Which cities would work best for incorporating cross-faction guilds?
Orgrimmar and Stormwind
(but, no not really)
Orgrimmar was updated in Cataclysm, and I really like the aesthetic they went with. I like it more than the “Flintstones” vibe the old city had. Stormwind has not been as lucky, except that some updates that really feel shoehorned in.
I think these are the worst possible picks for allowing cross faction characters to hang out. They are iconic to their faction and should stay that way. Capital city PvP raids should still be possible, and they would be too easy if you could congregate in the city before they start. These two do not get my vote.
Dalaran
(for the last time)
Dalaran already exists as what we’re going for. It would be good for Dalaran to get tied down geographically. Make it an evergreen place. The city has strong Sigil from Forgotten Realms vibes. The “City of Portals” idea could really be leaned in to. The portal rooms in each of the capital cities could send you to Dalaran, then you could portal to anywhere else from there. If the portals were scattered around the city we would see players running every which way all the time. It would be a city that always felt full and alive. It could function as a permanent secondary hub for each expansion.
Darnassus and Undercity
(or whatever ends up replacing them)
There are a lot of racial capital cities that are occupied by hostile forces or destroyed entirely. There is a lot of demand for these capitals to return. It’s easy to see Blizzard moving these two up the list to bring back.
Given the events that destroyed each of these cities, I don’t see them as being very tolerant of having the other faction just hanging out.
Theramoore
(rebuilt with purpose)
With the new shift towards peace, the Horde could make a good will gesture by rebuilding Theramore, and ‘gifting’ it back to the Alliance. While in reality, it would like what Theramore was like once upon a time for Jaina and Thrall. It could be the place to go for Alliance/Horde relations. It would be even more meaningful now. Theramore could represent the peace between the factions surviving in spite of individuals that want to rip them apart.
Ironforge and Thunder Bluff
(new purpose for forgotten cities)
I don’t think there is much room, or need to update these cities. They feel very ‘remote’ and out of the way. Thunder Bluff especially would feel strange packed full of people. Ironforge was designed to be the central city of the Alliance, and while it needs some aesthetic touch-ups, it’s really fine.
These seem like the most boring choices to me.
The Crossroads and Menethil Harbor
(central hubs)
These cities are both geographically central to their continents. They are both small now, but with plenty of room to be built in to anything. These would also have strong Horde/Alliance flare, without being a single races’ capital. If single faction flavor doesn’t work, Night elf and Draenei buildings could be added to the peripheral of Crossroads and Menethil Harbor could get some Undercity and Quel’thalas architecture. Both cities could probably use new names though. Rename the Crossroads after Cairne and Menethil Harbor after Lothar.
The Echo Isles and Gnomeregan (real cities at last)
Echo Isles and Gnomeregan
(real cities at last)
These cities are voids. Both were updated in Cataclysm, but they are still just starting zones. Gnomes and trolls are on the chill side of things with faction conflict. The Darkspear lost their home to Naga, and the Reganic gnomes lost their home to internal conflicts. Neither has had their home or civilization decimated by the other faction.
They offer radically different aesthetics. If they are set-up to be cross faction friendly, guilds could hang out in whichever one suited them best. Echo Isle obviously has plenty of coastline to expand to, and new islands could be added to increase the size. Gnomeregan is… sort of on the coast as. The mountain it’s under is on the coast, they just is not an opening to the sea that we know of). A new entrance on the west side of the mountain would open right on the coastline. Maybe we could get submarines to ferry us around!
Booty Bay, Ratchet, Gadgetzan, and Winterspring
(so many options)
These are all well established cities that are already neutral in game. Right now they are small town quest hubs, but they could be expanded into so much more.
Booty Bay – If only two of these cities were updated, Booty Bay has to be one of them simply because it’s the only one in the Eastern Kingdoms. The topography around Booty Bay does not leave much room for expansion… on land, but imagine the bay packed with boats representing every faction, race, class, profession, and service crammed in so tightly that you can walk from boat to boat with no issue.
Ratchet – The direct shipping lane from Booty Bay makes Ratchet a natural choice to complement a Booty Bay upgrade. The two cities could function as one mega-city. The boats back and forth would always be full! There is a lot of room in the barrens for expansion. Gazlowe founded Ratchet, and is the new Trade Price of the Bilgewater Cartel. I could see him using his new expanded resource base to invest in the infrastructure of the city he build. Come to think of it, that’s a strong argument for making Ratchet a Horde city. Maybe make Rachet the Goblin Capital and do something else with Bildgewater Harbor…
Gadgetzan – The fan favorite. Ever since the “Mean Streets of Gadgetzan” Hearthstone expansion, players have been fantasizing about what that would look like in WoW. This city already feels the most neutral. There is a ton of room in the Tarnaris desert for it to expand into. Honestly, if everything else in Tarnaris was removed and the city was expanded to fill the entire zone nothing of value would be lost. (The Bronze Dragonflight would need a respectful buffer, and the city could subsume Zul’Farrak)
Winterspring – This city just doesn’t have much going for it right now, but that might work in it’s favor if we’re looking to do a big update. The most interesting thing around are the Furbolgs, which could be very interesting now that we can learn to speak the Furbolg language (Ursine). This city would work especially well if Furbolgs became an allied race.
Bildgewater Harbor and Gilneas
(nice, but underutilized)
Not really on even footing. Bildgewater is already a functioning city, and Gilneas is not. I honestly don’t like Bildgewater Harbor. It’s too close to Orgrimmar and just feel like it’s part of that city. If it expanded at all, they would end up merging in to one super city, which could be cool. With Gazlowe as Trade Prince, I would rather see him expand Ratchet, and this can just become Orgrimmar’s harbor.
Gilneas is done. The whole city is there and it looks great! It needs a scenario where we retake it, and then it needs to actually be re-took (ಠ_ಠ Gnomeregan). Gilneas is another city I see having too much animosity to the Horde to allow them to wander around casually.
Dark Portal and Nordrassil
(significance)
These places are the scenes of two of the most formative events in Azeroth’s history. Putting large settlements around them makes a lot of sense from an out of character perspective more than anything. Narratively, it would work to center our adventures around these monuments that are the impetus for many of those adventures.
No to Netherguard Keep though. I would not want to see the existing settlements in the area upgraded. A new settlement with the object as a center piece (not literally ‘center’. please no more circle cities) is what I would like to see.
Silvermoon and Exodar
(but mostly Silvermoon)
Exodar because it needs to be added to the old world and Draenei are forgiving. Done. Next.
Let’s be real, Silvermoon is THE BEST choice. Honestly It would be alone on this list, but one faction “losing” a city would not be well received.
First, Silvermoon is huge and has a ton of viable unused space. There are ruins next to it that could be repaired and the entire coast north of the city is empty. The size of Silvermoon could be doubled, tripled, quadrupled possibly more without removing anything needed for the Blood Elf starting experience.
Second, the players have spoken, and high elves are back. The variety of elves would give the redesigned city a multitude of styles, and a complex political climate. Visually distinct districts for Blood Elves, and High Elves, and Nighborne, and Silver Covenant, and Illidari, AND Shen’dralar are all possible. Of course, we can’t forget the Dark Rangers, Banshees, Darkfallen, & San’layn. They would open up an excellent opportunity to incorporate forsaken/scourge/nerubian style in to the city. Despite the TEN groups I just named, elves branch out even further into strange and obscure ways. Area’s could be set aside for wretched and withered on the outskirts of the city, or in a magic hospital/rehabilitation facility. Felblood and Felborne could be found hiding themselves in the warlock district. The city could even sport a dungeon with satyrs, naga, fal’dorei, and who know what else like the Stockades or Ragefire Chasm.
There are so many splinter factions of elves with a recent shared history and Blizzard should take full advantage.
Mekgineer Sicco Thermaplugg 