World of Warcraft is on its way to the release of the 11.2.5 patch, which determines the halfway point from the launch of season 3 of The War Within and the eventual release of the Midnight expansion. The patch will launch on October 7 and include WoW‘s Legion Remix event, which is highly anticipated by fans due to the sheer amount of free cosmetics one can farm, including unique mounts, as well as the fact that Remix events typically make the player character OP and capable of soloing most content in the game. Still, while Midnight is the next big thing, it was marred by controversies from the get-go, even though it may finally be healing from one of its worst.
Players lamented several issues with World of Warcraft‘s Midnight expansion, mostly tied to its reveal in August. These are:
- A cinematic that doesn’t really “sell” the expansion and features plastic-y character models, as opposed to TWW’s.
- A big focus on housing, which makes it seem like a core part of the expansion, rather than actual story progress or relevant new content.
- The return of World of Warcraft‘s Haranir as a playable race, which seems disconnected from The War Within and Midnight itself, now.
- The addition of a new Demon Hunter playable race for the Alliance’s Void Elves, but no new playable race for the Horde side.
- The fact that Silvermoon City was presented as the new expansion hub, with a “small” section dedicated to Alliance players, who would be killed on sight everywhere else.
The biggest issues are the latter two, as a new playable race for Demon Hunters dedicated to only one faction is dividing World of Warcraft‘s playerbase, and the fact that the expansion’s main hub is mainly for one faction for the entire expansion can feel like an unnecessary punishment that takes the game back years. However, fans may be getting their deserved happy ending soon with both of these pressing problems.
October 1 is Going to Be a Big Day For World of Warcraft Fans
Blizzard has already confirmed a Midnight deep dive from the developers for October 1, so fans can expect more news regarding the expansion and its contents. This may not be the resolution that the newly sparked WoW Alliance vs. Horde debate needs, depending on what is shown, but it may at least clarify things regarding the approach to Silvermoon City as a hub for both factions.
How World of Warcraft's Alliance and Horde Can Explore The Main Midnight Hub
Originally, Blizzard devs described the remade Silvermoon City in Midnight as a Horde hub with a little space reserved for Alliance characters, which would otherwise be killed on sight elsewhere in the city. The kill-on-sight part may still apply, but the original statement has since been de-escalated by the official website’s Midnight info round-up, which instead refers to the city as fully explorable by Horde characters and explorable up to two-thirds by Alliance ones.
World of Warcraft's Demon Hunter Controversy Explained
The second faction-specific issue comes from Demon Hunters, which have historically been only available for Night Elves and Blood Elves, so one race per faction. With Midnight’s new Demon Hunter spec in WoW, though, Blizzard is adding the option for players to unlock Void Elves as a playable race for the class. This is thematic given the fact that the new Devourer spec is entirely Void-based, and Blizzard has also stated that it currently makes sense for Void Elves to become Demon Hunters because they are in a place where they are willing to sacrifice everything.
Why There is Hope For Nightborne Demon Hunters in World of Warcraft
This is problematic for Horde players, though, as it means skewing the race selection for Demon Hunters two versus one in favor of the Alliance. The most immediate step to remedy this would be to add another playable DH race, this time for the Horde, and World of Warcraft‘s Nightborne perfectly fit the bill. They may not be perfect story-wise, but recent datamining reveals that Nightborne can indeed perform Demon Hunter animations. The caveat is that they are technically using the same model skeleton as Night Elves, so the reason that this is happening now and never in the past may be due to some update, but it’s still a step in the right direction.
How World of Warcraft May Address Its Alliance vs. Horde Problem in Midnight
If Silvermoon City has Horde-only areas that don’t truly preclude players from exploring as they please, the controversy may sort itself out — especially seeing how having city guards kill Alliance players on sight would also be immersion-breaking given the expansion’s context. Likewise, if Nightborne now becoming able to perform Demon Hunter actions is not a mistake, it means that Blizzard is indeed planning to make them playable for the class in the future, which could happen as early as within Midnight itself, rather than in World of Warcraft‘s The Last Titan or beyond.
This remains speculation for the time being, but it is extremely unlikely that Blizzard will make World of Warcraft‘s Silvermoon City the main hub for the entire expansion, only for it to be mostly inaccessible to and unplayable for Alliance players. Demon Hunters may be on a different level, though, and it’s also possible that if the Nightborne don’t gain access to the class, the Horde will get a similar treatment for a different race and class combination further down the line, as hinted by Blizzard devs at the Gamescom reveal.