Blizzard Announces Mandatory Faction, Race and Class Changes Coming

Warning: This post is meant to be taken tongue in cheek, while trying to prove a point.

In a recent announcement blizzard has said that they intended to expand on the success and exceptionally good reception that the cross realms zones have received while trying to balance the game and are taking it to the next step in balancing the game to be better for everyone, "If they like it or not", Daxxarri, a community manager on the US forums, is quoted as saying.

The following is an excerpt from the announcement on the main page:

We are proud to announce our continued efforts in balancing the game by addressing the faction imbalance, race imbalance, sex imbalance and class imbalance in the coming months.  Over the next year we hope to make the game more balanced than it has ever been in our efforts to push forward our vision of how you, the player, really wants the game.

The following is a schedule for when you can expect the changes:

December 18th, 2012, 5.1 Released and mandatory faction balancing being enforced.
March 12th, 2013, 5.2 Released and mandatory race and sex balancing being enforced.
July 23rd, 2013, 5.3 Released and mandatory class change balancing being enforced.

Please use this thread for any discussion on the matter and I will attempt to answer any reasonable questions.

Personally I am a bit worried about this change.  I paid to sex change characters, I paid to race change characters, I paid to faction transfer characters and I paid to server transfer characters.  They have already dismissed my concerns about paying to be on a smaller server by placing me on a larger cross realm zone against my will.  This will just further enforce things on me I might not want.

What if on my main server, being it is leaning slightly alliance they want to turn some of my characters horde.  I do not want them horde.  What if they change my only blacksmith or only engineer horde, I like having at least one of each profession on that server.  Can I change back?  The word mandatory seems to make it seem like I can't.  If they change my warrior, which is my engineer to horde and I pay to change it back can they force it to turn horde again and once more I would be put in the position that I paid to be for something they will not let me have like I paid to be on a small server and they said screw you, we are putting you on a large server?

After reading the announcement I have so many questions but if you have ever read here before I do not post on the battle net forums because it is a cesspool there and I do not want to deal with the garbage community that they do not moderate or the rude community managers that herd us all together like cattle and all but call anyone that disagrees with them an idiot.  So I decided that others would ask my questions and I would pick and choose some of those questions and answers to share here, at least the ones that I personally find important to me.

Now to the questions and answers that impact me, and maybe you.

Q: "I paid to be on a small server and was forced on to the cross realm zone does this mean that if I paid to be horde I could be forced to be alliance?"

A: "No one is forcing you to do anything, you can choose to not play, you can pay to faction change or you can embrace the changes and understand we know what you want better than you know what you want.  Your opinion really doesn't matter.  That is why we do not care if you paid to be on a small server and put you in a cross realm zone and that is why if your server is heavy horde we might change you to alliance to help balance the game.  It will be better for everyone, trust me.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "Being you mentioned class changes for 5.3 does that mean we will also be getting a paid class change service?"

A: "Yes.  It has been asked for by the community for a long time and we felt that it was about time we added it to the game.  As you know we attempt to give the people what they want but there will be some restrictions.  If you are moving from a high played class to a low played class the price will be cheaper than moving from a middle played class to a low played class.  This is in an effort to try and help balance the classes.  If you play a low played class you will not be allowed to change your class as it would create a further imbalance and we are trying our best to correct that.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "If you are going to "enforce", your own words, class changes, why would I pay to change my class when you are going to do it for me for free like it or not?"

A: "If you want to pay to change your class and it makes an imbalance we will just change someone else to compensate.  For example, if you go from a warrior to a priest we will change one priest on your server to a warrior.  Your money means you have a choice and your choice means something when it comes with payment.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "If our money means something then how come me paying to be on a small server did not matter?"

A: "Why ask stupid questions?  I am not going to dignify that with an answer but wanted to tell all the people that keep bringing that up how great the cross realm zones have been for the game if you would just take your head out of your ass long enough to stop complaining about a few dollars wasted you would notice it. If anything, you people paying to be on small servers are the reason we had to do this.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "So what you are basically saying is that if I change my class I am screwing someone else out of theirs?"

A: "No, not at all.  They will, in turn, have the ability to pay to change their class too.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "If people keep paying is it possible it can come back to me and make me change even if I paid to change at one point before?"

A: "Possible?  Yes.  Likely? No.  Our data shows that not everyone is willing to pay for services like that so sooner or later the break point will come where everyone gets to play the class they like and we create a balance that is better for the game all at the same time.  Impressive right?
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "You were always against class changes, what changed?"

A: "The proving grounds are being added in 5.3 along with class changes.  When someone pays for a class change or is upgraded to a class change they will have to clear a series of class specific providing grounds that should make sure they have the acceptable skills to play their new class.  They will stay in that phased proving ground until they are capable of completing it.  So if they are bad, they are not going to be playing that class, simple as that.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "Upgraded to a class change?  If I want to play a death knight I would not consider being forced to be a warrior an upgrade."

A: "And you are always right?  We have the data, we know better than you.  If you are chosen to be a warrior it is with good reason.  Whether you like it or not does not matter.  Leave it to be someone that rolls a death knight to complain about being a warrior.  I'll make sure your name is on the list for one of the first accounts we upgrade when this is implemented.  Female gnome warrior has a nice ring to it if you ask me.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "What if I do not want to play a horde character?"

A: "I have three words for you, Paid Faction Transfer.  Seriously, you could not figure that out on your own?
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "Is it really needed to go this far?  50/50 male/female, 50/50 horde/alliance, all classes equally represented, etc?"

A: "For the betterment of the game, yes.  And in case you are wondering, I have all the data that proves that.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "Why would there need to be sex balance?"

A: "How do the dwarves have little baby dwarves if there are no females?  The game needs to have some balance in everything and we think it is important that there is a balance of the sexes just as much as we believe that there should be a balance in PvP.  The only difference is that it will be a lot easier to balance the sexes as that is an exact number.  It will not effect your game play and will be better for the game.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "What if I do not want to be a male/female?"

A: "Do you really think you, as one person, is more important than the entire balance of the game?  Don't be so selfish.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "If I pay to play this game shouldn't I have some say in how, where and as what I play it?"

A: "Of course you shouldn't. Remember one thing.  This is my game, you just pay for it.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "Why don't you just force us to play the specs you want us to play too being we will no longer have the right to choose what server we play on, what sex our character is, what faction, what class or what race?  Where does it stop?"

A: "We can't spoil everything for you but I will say this, in 6.0: Return of the Legion, we will be adding a mandatory spec alignment to the game which should all but remove any wait time from any random content ever again.  It is a long term goal of ours to bring the best game we can to the players and by making sure everyone is playing the roles that are needed to create that balance is just a small part of it.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "What if someone doesn't know how to heal?  Will they still have an option to DPS and if not how can they do quests?"

A: "Excellent question, thanks for not being a whiny little bitch like everyone else has been here and asking about game design.  If someone does not want to heal they can just leave their character in the proving grounds and roll another character, that will be allowed by the game, as only characters that are needed, race, sex, faction, spec and class will be capable of being created now.  From the list of what is open, they can decide.  As for your second question, no, they will not have a DPS spec, they will need to learn how to quest as a healer but fear not.  All healers will have an NPC that can be used to tank for them while they are questing just as all tanks will have a healer NPC that will keep them healed.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "You finally mentioned something I love, NPCs that will allow me to quest as a healer or tank.  Thanks for adding that."

A:  "You're welcome.  That was all my idea, so feel free to praise me because I am so perfect and awesome and I am turning this game into the greatest game ever as long as everyone steps in line and does things exactly how I tell them to do them.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "Don't you think is it a little obnoxious to ask people to just step in line and do everything you say?"

A: "Can't you tell a joke when you hear one.  I did not mean it as you are taking it.  You seem to think you have a choice and you don't.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "So basically what you are saying with all these changes coming in the next year is that I have to play the class you want me to play, the race you want me to play, the sex you want me to be, the faction you want me on, and fill the role you want me too, no matter what I want to do?"

A: "You forgot one important thing, you have to play on the server we want you to play on.  It all started by us taking money from people that wanted to transfer to another server for whatever reason and then completely ignoring their desire to be on said server and putting them on the one we wanted them on.  But yes, all you said, and the server thing.  That is what I am saying.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "Is there any way to stop you from doing this?  The community is in an uproar, just look at all the forums here and on fan sites all around the net, no one wants this."

A: "You had your chance to stop this but you didn't.  When we made cross realm zones and people complained and then let it go while they got distracted by mists which was not cross realm you basically lost your voice.  You said to us, its okay, as long as we have new material to play.  So we will be releasing content faster, as the schedule shows just like you wished, and we will be changing your character as we wish, and you will like it, just like you now like cross realm zone.  Out of sight, out of mind.  Three months of being a warlock and you will get used to it.  Don't worry about it.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "So all of these ideas came from the cross realm zone?"

A:  "Absolutely. You paid to be on a small server, we screwed you over and put you on a massive merged server against your will, you complained for a while and then you fell in line like the sheep that you are.  You will all continue to fall in line and play whatever class, race, role, we want you too because you are all sheep.
- Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street"

Q: "But I want to be a paladin."

A: Suck it up buttercup.  I am sick and tired of I want, I want, I want.  Just do what we tell you to do and stop being so selfish, I have all the data and I know what is best for the game.  All of you people are just whiny little selfish jerks that would not know what is best for the game and I am sick of it.  I am done answering questions for the day.  GC out"

 Warning: This post is meant to be taken tongue in cheek, while trying to prove a point.