Elixir of Tongues will make cross-faction communication possible very soon

Today’s World of Warcraft Q&A came with some good news for roleplayers in search of cross-faction communication. While this type of communication was previously possible with the addon Cross RP, its ability to allow players to interact across factions was disabled with the launch of patch 8.1. Needless to say, this was a huge disappointment to roleplayers that had been actively using the addon, who were silenced with no real warning.

However, this change wasn’t intentional – or rather, it wasn’t intended to break that particular addon. It was designed to address potential security holes in regards to community chat. Cross RP’s functionality getting effectively nixed was an unfortunate side effect that wasn’t intended at all — and Blizzard is working on a pretty unique solution.

Cross-faction chat has always been a tricky subject in WoW. It was removed in vanilla specifically because in a game where two factions are at war, players can get toxic. Of course they still can, but with the language barrier in place it’s just a bunch of gibberish. For roleplayers, it’s a different story entirely because they really want to understand each other.

To that end, Blizzard is introducing a new item: the Elixir of Tongues. Essentially it will allow players to understand whatever language is being spoken to them, regardless of faction. You won’t be able to speak in that other language — you’ll just be able to hear it. But if you and the person you’re speaking to are both using the Elixir, you’ll be able to understand each other perfectly. With the Elixir, players will be able to actively choose when they want to hear the other faction, no addons necessary.

Details are still being hammered out in regards to the Elixir – Hazzikostas suggested it may be sold in the Dalaran Underbelly or some other out of the way location, and you’ll be able to stock up on it, like the popular Inky Black Potion. Although a release date wasn’t given for the Elixir, Hazzikostas mentioned it’s being actively worked on and may even be available over the weekend. While it may not be the most ideal solution to the addon-breaking issue, the addition of the Elixir should be a great tool for the roleplaying community – or anyone that just wants to hear what the other side is chattering about.