[Update]: World of Warcraft has now added cross-faction grouping along with Dark Ranger themed character customization options for elves!

It took far too many years for us to get here, but I'm incredibly happy to say that World of Warcraft will finally be adding cross-faction grouping with Update 8.2.5 on June 1st. This first iteration of the cross-faction system will allow you to group up with either faction for most forms of instanced content: dungeons, raids, rated arenas and battlegrounds, as well as Torghast.

Once in a party you will remain unfriendly to members of the opposing faction, though you will be able to communicate with them through either group chat or proximity chat. Once you're actually in a dungeon, however, you will be able to do everything from sharing loot to earning achievements with them, just like you would with a member of your own faction.

Naturally, there are some restrictions. For example, you will not only be unable to invite members of the opposing faction to your guild, but you also won't be able to simply invite random people you run across in the world. Instead you will need to either be a member of the same cross-faction WoW community or know their BattleTag or Real ID. Alternatively, you can also use the Group Finder to fill out your team as that will give you access to players from both factions.

Besides the long-awaited arrival of cross-faction play, Update 8.2.5 will also bring with it a fancy new questline for Blood Elves and Dark Iron Dwarves. Each side will get their own race-specific storyline to explore, along with unique rewards like the Blood Knight themed set for Blood Elf Paladins!

You can also expect to see Enigma Crucible as a brand new PvP arena, as well as some quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes. If you're interested in all of the details, you can find the full patch notes over at the WoW website.

Once Update 8.2.5 goes live I'll make sure to let you know. Until then, you might want to get your Blood Elf and Dark Iron Dwarf characters up to max level so they can experience the new storylines!