It actually didn’t take much thinking that a race change service would make sense especially after Blizzard allowed faction switching. Switching factions is more of a leap than switching races within the same faction. In a way race switching was possible even before but it involved switching factions then paying for another one later on when the service is available again but this time choosing a different race like going from an Undead warlock to a Human Warlock then an Orc Warlock. That being said, I was actually a bit surprised that this service actually came out before patch 3.3’s release.

Basically the mechanics of the race change service has similarities to the faction transfer except that of course since you aren’t switching factions, a lot of things aren’t affected. The service costs $25 per transaction and is different and separate from a faction transfer so you cannot change factions using this service. Characters at least level 10 are eligible for this service, except for Death Knights who need to be level 60. This service also includes a name change and a re-customization as part of the package but this is purely optional. You can change your race every three days.

After purchasing a race change you’ll need to be logged out of the character involved for at least 30 minutes. When the change has been completed, necessary reputations will be changed accordingly but things like achievements, honor points, arena points, mounts, titles, non combat pets and such similar things will not be affected by this process.

Click here to see the complete Race Change FAQ.

Post from: WOW Obsessed

class character creation

CM Nethaera confirmed that a paid Race change service will also be available in the future. This will allow players to switch races within the same faction as long as the class supports it. This is great news especially considering that there will be new class/race combinations coming in the Cataclysm expansion as well as the new races Goblin and Worgen. For those who want a Troll Druid, Gnome Priest, Tauren Paladin or one of those new combinations you could sweat out playing another race first and by the time the expansion comes out or at least by the time you’ll be allowed to switch to those races then you’ll be able to do it.

Post from: WOW Obsessed

faction switching

Well it’s been announced and players have been resigned to it and just when everyone seems to have mellowed down about this issue, Blizzard shocks the community a bit more by releasing the service sooner than what a lot of people expected. You look at the forums right now and you’ll see that a lot of people expected this by cataclysm or at least by patch 3.3, not now.

Yes the paid faction transfer service is here and you can see the FAQ about this through this link. here are a few basic things to know about the faction transfer.

# The service will cost $30 per transaction (not including any applicable taxes)
# This service will be available to characters level 10 and above. Death Knights will have to reach level 60 before they can switch factions.
# When the faction change is complete, the character can choose any race from the other faction that is available to that character’s class. (no blood elf paladins turning into gnome paladins, sorry)
# 60 days after purchasing a faction change, you’re eligible to purchase another one. If you switch back to your original faction (meaning paying for another one), you can choose any race available to your class and not just your original race.
# Everything not related to your faction will be unchanged by this process. Those that are faction related could be changed or even removed. check the FAQ for more details.
# An example of the above: All Argent Tournament reputation will be reset by availing of this service.

Post from: WOW Obsessed

class character creation

Right now I want to focus our attention on a specific set of information that supposedly will come in the next expansion. The leaked information from MMO Champion states that aside from the supposed new races Worgen and Goblin, new class combination for existing races should be available. This is what they could be offering instead of releasing a new class. Blizzard did this in TBC when they allowed Draenei Shamans and Blood Elf Paladins so at least that part of this news is plausible. The supposed new class/race combinations listed in MMO Champion are as follows:

Alliance: Dwarf Shaman, Gnome Priest, Dwarf Mage, Night Elf Mage, Human Hunter

Horde: Undead Hunter, Troll Druid, Tauren Paladin, Tauren Priest, Orc Mage, Blood Elf Warrior

There are quests that suggest that at least some of these combinations will be really be possible. In fact one of them is already in the game. That odd quest that starts by the Horde Dalaran portals and takes you to Thunderbluff to deliver a wounded soldier’s shield has you listen to a conversation about a Druid philosophizing about following the Sun aside from the Moon to achieve true balance. This could lead to following the Light and making Tauren Paladins and Priests possible. In the 3.2.2 PTR, there’s a quest that starts Darnassus where a Highborne mage offers his services to Tyrande Whisperwind, which could lead to the Night Elf Mages.

On the other hand some of these class combinations just sound absurd. For example, there’s really no lore behind allowing Dwarves to be Shamans and even worse, Trolls to be Druids. A Troll Druid would be sacrilege! Dwarf Mages and Blood Elf Warriors are a bit plausible because they really did exist in the beta stages (beta of TBC for the BE warrior) before they were taken out. Human and Undead Hunters just sound silly and so do Gnome Priests, even if it really would be cool if Gnomes finally had a healer class. If Undead hunters could tame undead animals then that would make the idea fit a bit but that’s still pushing it.

That’s this piece of news for you. It’s so crazy, you don’t really know if it’s true or not! Wait til you read the rest of the stuff that was leaked out in MMO Champion. That’s for another post though.

Post from: WOW Obsessed

Goblin

But it’s fun to speculate even if this is likely false. Let’s assume that this whole thing is true. Here’s what I came up with as to the classes that these two races can be and their racial abilities:

Worgen

Classes: Warrior, Rogue, Hunter, Paladin, Warlock, Death Knight

Rogues just seem to match that idea of killing machines lurking in the shadows just like Worgen usually are. Assuming Gilneas would be the capital of these guys, the Gilneans have their faith in the Holy Light making the paladin class a bit of a possibility. As for Warlocks, maybe it could have something to do with some practitioners of dark arts influenced by SFK.

Racials:

Worgen Fury: Increases haste by 1% for 10 seconds. (3 min cooldown)
Frenzy: + 1% Crit chance for all party members.
Worg speed: increases walk/run speed by 10%
Shadow resistance: increase shadow resistance by 10

Goblin

Classes: Warrior, Mage, Rogue, Warlock, Shaman, Death Knight

This is just based on the fact that I’m pretty sure I’ve seen equivalents of Goblin shamans, warlocks and mages while leveling.

Racials:

Small but terrible: Increases critical strike chance by 1% for 15 seconds. (3 min cooldown)
Money wise: All vendor purchases cost 2% less
Engineering specialist: Engineering skill +15
Nimble: Agility increased by 5%

Now I know these sound really funny and unlikely but remember this is an exercise in imagination. It actually made me think quite a bit especially with the racials. I was always thinking we don’t want the racials to be too awesome but I think the ones I have above could still be guilty of that.

Post from: WOW Obsessed

faction switching

According to CM Nethaera, while cross faction transfers are going to be allowed, inter-faction race switching will not be allowed. This is a bit shocking for me since logically switching races within your faction is a smaller step than crossing over to the other faction. I remember reading their justification (can’t seem to find it anymore) went something like this. Making a mistake on faction choice is a more forgivable mistake than a mistake on racial choice.

It’s definitely sad that we won’t be able to switch races between our faction. I know several people who would have wanted to change races. Even I was thinking of changing my Blood Elf warlock to an Orc. Who knows though? If they’re allowing faction switching already, it just might take a little time before they give in to inter-faction race switching.

Post from: WOW Obsessed