World of Warcraft: Forever has suffered a bit of a PvP debacle since its official release last week, with faction imbalance drama hitting a high – but Blizzard is working to remedy it.
Yes, the studio is well aware of the issue – one that, if you're out of the loop yourself, has seen folks complaining about everything from too many Horde players to unplayable PvP realms – and a recent update on its official forums proves as much.
"It's vitally important that the PvP rulesets in WoW: Forever have balanced factions where both factions vie for supremacy," it begins, and I'd certainly agree there. "Creating memories of epic victories and stunning defeats that we all remember for years to come," after all, is what it's all about.
Blizzard says that that ideal balance, however, isn't there – even if it is "close," so to speak: "While even the most extreme case in a region is currently at roughly a 55/45 split, that is not as close as we want it to be."
In turn, the developers are rolling out some changes… and, unsurprisingly, restrictions.
"To better set the stage for the neck-and-neck conflicts we all want, we've adjusted the character creation system to better recognize the overall state of faction balance in each region's PvP rulesets, rather than what may feel like snapshots of points in time," Blizzard explains.
"Our goal is to bring things as close to a 50/50 faction balance as possible." And, yes, this means you can't create characters willy-nilly.
"In the short term, that means that it will become increasingly difficult to create characters on the more populous faction in each region – currently Horde on North American PvP rulesets or Alliance in EU Roleplay-PvP," as the devs say.
"As everyone settles and shifts, these may flip to the other side," though. It might be a bit annoying to Horde hopefuls in the US or those who prefer teaming up with the Alliance in Europe, but it makes sense.
In Blizzard's own words, "We recognize that while restrictions are in place, it can be frustrating to not be able to start playing a specific faction in that moment, but this is a necessary trade-off for the long-term health of the ruleset, especially early on when guilds are being established and rivalries developed."
The current imbalance isn't sustainable, basically, not to mention all of the controversy it's sparking.
Blizzard concludes that "World of Warcraft: Forever's PvP is at its best when the Alliance and Horde are on equal footing, and we are dedicated to helping maintain that balance so that we can all witness battles at the epic scale that has made WoW: Forever PvP so memorable thus far" – and I'm hopeful, personally.
All of the commotion has put me off dipping my toes into PvP, but Blizzard's adjustments might just change that.
Here's hoping we see better balance between the factions in PvP in the days to come in both the US and EU – it's evident that Blizzard's on the case, at least.
