Blizzard releases WoW race changer

Blizzard has today launched a new service for World of Warcraft that allows players to change the race of their characters and unlock all the various bonuses and abilities of that other race.

The switch can only be done on an inter-faction basis however - so there's no switching from Alliance to Horde. Also, a racial switch will cost you $25 per character. Realm transfers will remain a separate transaction.

The introduction of the service has proven a tad controversial with fans, who are claiming that Blizzard is selling out functionality of the game to whoever has the most money, though Blizzard obviously refutes such claims.

There are plenty of restrictions laid down on racial swaps too, the full list of which is below.

• Under normal conditions, a race change should be ready immediately after rendering payment and completing the steps in this process.
  
• You can select a new character race only from those in the same faction that have the character's class available. You cannot change a character's class.
  
• A character's current home city reputation level will switch values with their new home city, and their home city racial mounts will convert to those of their new race. Refer to the Race Change Translation Table for more details.
  
• A realm transfer is not included in a race change.
  
• A character can change races once every 3 days.

Blizzard is also hosting a race swap FAQ for fans who have any specific questions.

Let us know your thoughts in the forums.