Faction Change Service is live!

[Holyssa]

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.h...81652&sid=1

The new World of Warcraft Faction Change service is now live. As we mentioned previously, [ http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.h...79410&sid=1 ] we’ve been in the process of developing a new service for World of Warcraft that will allow players to change their faction from Alliance to Horde or Horde to Alliance for a fee. After purchasing a Faction Change for a character, a player can choose any race of the opposite faction that is compatible with the character’s class. For more information on the Faction Change service, please read the FAQ, [ http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml...S&tag=FCFAQ ] or visit the Faction Change page [ https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/fac...ange-intro.html ] to get started.

Based on further community feedback, we have also decided to offer a race change service in the future. Players who choose to switch races will be able to change their race within their same faction and class. Additional details will be released at a future date.

Obviously, you need to log in with your WoW account/authenticator to see the Faction Change page.

And one monster-sized FAQ:

What is the Faction Change service?

Our Faction Change service is designed to allow existing characters the opportunity to change their designated faction (from Horde to Alliance or Alliance to Horde).

How do I begin the Faction Change process?

To begin the Faction Change process, please visit the Account Management page, select the Faction Change option, and carefully follow the instructions provided.

How much does this service cost?

Each Faction Change costs $30.00 USD (not including applicable taxes). This covers a single Faction Change for a single character.

Is this service taxed? If so, how can I tell if my purchase will be taxed?

Players in select states in the U.S. may be subject to taxation when using our Faction Change service. This list includes, but is not limited to:

- New Mexico

- Texas

Can I change multiple characters' factions at once?

No. The Faction Change service only allows one change per transaction. If you would like to change multiple characters' factions, you will need to pay for each one separately.

At what level can I change a character's faction?

Characters level 10 and above are eligible for a Faction Change.

Will PvP realm restrictions prevent me from changing a character's faction?

No. PvP realms no longer possess any faction-based restrictions. You may now play Horde and Alliance characters on any realm you wish.

Will this service allow me to customize a character and select a different name once its faction has been changed?

Yes. Each Faction Change purchase will also provide the target character with an included re-customization and optional name change.

When I change factions, can I select any race for the character?

You may select any race of the new faction provided that it is available for the character's class.

Does that mean I can use this service to change the character back to its original faction?

Absolutely; however, this will require purchasing another Faction Change.

When I change a character back to its original faction, can I select any new race?

Yes. As noted previously, though, you will only be able to select a race that is available to the character's class.

Will I be able to select Cataclysm races and class combinations for a character once they're available in game?

Details are not available at this time. As development continues, though, we hope to provide more information.

How often can I change a character's faction?

You may change a character's faction every 60 days.

What happens after I initiate a Faction Change?

Once your payment has processed and after you have remained logged out of the game for at least 30 minutes, you will see a new button to the left of the character's name upon next login. Clicking on this button will allow you to select the character's new faction and race, as well as customize the character's look and name. These steps will greatly resemble the character creation process.

To complete the Faction Change, press the button labeled "Click to change your character's faction" and confirm your selections. If you do not wish to change the character's faction immediately, you may do so at a later time.

What will happen to the character's old name?

If you opt to change the character's name, the name will be locked from use on the realm for 90 days. You are not required to change the character's name, though; this is simply an option we provide included with the Faction Change.

What will happen to the character's equipment when I change its faction?

Equipment which is not considered faction-specific will remain unchanged by this process. Faction-specific equipment, however, will be automatically exchanged for a cross-faction equivalent. You can view a full list of faction-specific equipment and their cross-faction equivalents here.

**Please note that neither enchants nor socketed gems will be affected by an exchange.**

Will the rest of the inventory (materials, alternate currency, etc) be affected in any way?

As with equipment, items which are not considered faction-specific will remain unchanged by this process. Faction-specific items will be exchanged for a cross-faction equivalent. You can view a full list of faction-specific items here.

What will happen to the character's mounts when I change its faction?

Mounts which are not considered faction-specific will remain unchanged by this process. Faction-specific mounts will be exchanged for a cross-faction equivalent. You can view a full list of faction-specific mounts and their equivalents here.

What will happen to the character's non-combat pets when I change its faction?

Non-combat pets will not be affected by this process and will be available once the character's faction change completes. This even includes faction-specific non-combat pets.

What will happen to the character's achievements when I change its faction?

Achievements which are not considered faction-specific will remain unchanged by this process. Faction-specific achievements will be exchanged for a cross-faction equivalent. You can view a full list of faction-specific achievements and their equivalents here.

What will happen to the character's titles when I change its faction?

Titles which are not considered faction-specific will remain unchanged by this process. Faction-specific titles will be exchanged for a cross-faction equivalent. You can view a full list of faction-specific titles and their equivalents here.

What will happen to the character's reputation levels when I change its faction?

Upon changing factions, the reputation level associated with the character's previous race will become the reputation level of the new race. All other racial reputations will be converted according to the following chart:

Orc (Orgrimmar) ↔ Human (Stormwind)

Tauren (Thunder Bluff) ↔ Gnome (Gnomeregan Exiles)

Undead (The Undercity) ↔ Night Elf (Darnassus)

Troll (Sen'jin) ↔ Dwarf (Ironforge)

Blood Elf (Silvermoon) ↔ Draenei (The Exodar)

Additional faction-specific reputations will be converted into their cross-faction equivalents (if a cross-faction equivalent exists). You can view a full list of qualifying faction-specific reputations and their equivalents here.

Faction neutral reputations will not be affected by this process, and faction-specific reputations which do not possess an equivalent will be lost.

What will happen to the character's quests when I change its faction?

Quests which are active in the character's log at the time of the Faction Change will be cleared and all quest items associated with these quests will be destroyed.

With this, completed quests that are considered faction-specific will be removed from the list of completed quests and no longer count towards any running "quests completed" totals. Should you ever elect to change back to the original faction, the original list of completed quests will be restored. Completed quests that are considered faction-neutral or possess a cross-faction equivalent will be unaffected or automatically exchanged without any detriment to the quest completed totals.

What will happen to the character's flight paths when I change its faction?

All flight points associated with the character will be reset and you will receive a new list of flight points which are appropriate for the level and new faction.

What will happen to the character's "Friends" and "Ignore" lists when I change its faction?

The character's "Friends" and "Ignore" lists will be reset following a Faction Change.

What will happen to the character's Guild and Arena team(s)?

The character will not be affiliated with any Guild or Arena team following a Faction Change. Guild and Arena team tabards will be removed and Arena team ratings will be reset as a result. If the character is a Guild Master, you will not be able to perform a Faction Change.

What will happen to the character's honor and Arena points?

Any honor points, Marks of Honor, and lifetime honorable kills will not be affected by this process. Earned Arena points will carry over, as well; however, any pending Arena points accrued after the last maintenance period, but before your Faction Change is initiated, may be lost.

What will happen to the character's mail and auctions?

Active mail and auction items will prevent a character from Faction Changing, so please be sure to pull all mail from the mailbox and take down any auction items prior to initiating the Faction Change process. These items will be handled as normal inventory.

Is there a gold limit for Faction Changes?

Yes. Characters possessing too much gold for their designated level bracket will not be eligible for a Faction Change. Please use the following table as reference.

Level 10 to 30: 300 gold

Level 31 to 50: 1000 gold

Level 51 to 69: 5000 gold

Level 70 to 80: 20000 gold

Where will the character be located after the Faction Change is complete?

Once the Faction Change is complete, the character will be moved to the capital city of its new race.

What will happen to the character's Armory profile?

Once you have completed the Faction Change process, the character's Armory profile will be updated to reflect any faction, racial, gender, or name changes. Please note that our Armory system is still in beta at this time, so the character's profile may not immediately display the updated information.

Will this service share a cooldown with the Character Transfer, Character Name Change, or Character Re-Customization services?

No. The Faction Change service will not share its cooldown with any of these services.

Can I use this service to change race on my existing faction?

No. We will be releasing a Race Change service in the near future for this purpose.

Will this service share a cooldown with the Race Change service?

Yes.

Can I purchase a Faction Change for a character that has a pending Name Change or Re-Customization or is in the process of being transferred?

No. Before you may initiate a Faction Change for a character, please complete any pending Name Changes, Re-Customizations, or Transfers. These pending transactions will prevent you from initiating a Faction Change.

When will I be charged for the character's Faction Change?

You will be charged immediately upon pressing the confirmation button on the Faction Change page.

Is there any way to cancel a Faction Change while the process is pending?

Because your payment method will be charged immediately upon confirmation, you will be unable to cancel the process once you have pressed the confirmation button and the Faction Change process is underway.

Is there any way to reverse a Faction Change once it's completed?

No. Once a Faction Change is done, it is permanent. You may, however, purchase another Faction Change to switch back to the original faction once the service cooldown time has elapsed.

For a list of stuff that gets converted (mounts, etc), see this list:

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/faction-change/index.xml

Note that it may not be complete...though it appears very thorough. I can't imagine how much their code monkeys had to go through to get the kinks out of all this crap. Maybe NOW they can dedicate more energy into un-borking instance servers!

[Maube]

would love to swap Ischie for Horde, but alas that will jsut have to wait =p maybe I can wait until the expac comes out and see if I can make her a troll

[Holyssa]

Sooooo...Holy played mad scientist, tried out this new thing, and decided to share the results.

Took my ol' human main from moons long ago, and made it a Hordie. I began the process at 6:00AM EST, and finally got the email to unlock her around 6:45PM, despite the confirmation page saying the process may take "several days". Perhaps the news has not circulated enough yet, and the line isn't all that big.

Wow. The new gnome-brains diet really worked! Her thighs have never looked better. But I digress. So far, it seems to have been picture perfect in the conversion process. Although I did notice a few (minor) nuisances:

- Argent Tournament progress gets wiped (Blizzard stated this already...but my mage never did that stuff, so I didn't panic). Maybe they will fix this once they find a programmer insane enough to convert all that crap

- Some items based on faction achievements got duplicated. For example: the Black War Bear from For the Horde/Alliance. It probably counts the achievement twice as it switches the Faction Leader kill credit.

- Certain items from Alliance-only quests survive the change. Junglewalker Sandals were sitting in my bank much to my surprise, considering it's a boot model unavailable to Horde by normal means. Maybe other items like Dartol's Rod will convert, since it's a quest item that can be kept even if you abandon the chain?

- Some mount conversions may not be perfect. I know for a fact that Uly had a yellow Qiraji Battle Tank, because my raid lead at the time pre-assigned us all colors till 40 people each had a bug. This morning, I was welcomed by a GREEN one O_o

- You keep "classic" PvP titles. Ever wanted to see a High Warlord Blood Elf or Grand Marshal squidface? Keep your eyes peeled around towns (although it's definitely not me, as I'm only a Senior Sergeant lol)!

- Faction specific quest progress got wiped CLEAN. Ulyssa (as a human) had the Northrend quest achievements for all zones except Icecrown. I flew into Howling Fjord last night to find countless yellow "!" icons.

What does this mean? A L80 Alliance character can milk Northrend clean of quests from 70 -> 80, convert, then do all the Horde ones from 70 -> 80 for a farkton of gold, not to mention greens that can be sold or DE'd for free dust. Then there's also the nice boost in Horde Expedition faction from this, as well as overall quests done for the 3k quest achievement. Very nifty, and I'm sure gold farmers will find a way to exploit this soon enough...

Overall, Blizzard seems to have done their homework with the Faction Change system, despite it coming out unusually quick. I honestly expected this to hit circa 3.2.2 given how complicated it seemed. Bravo, code monkeys!