Design Peeve #3
Asterax differentiates itself as much by what it doesn't do as what it does. This is part of a series of posts explaining Design Peeves we don't agree with and are trying to avoid.
Permanent Player Boundaries
I think "RvR" is the politically correct term. It's where you join a game faction, and you're in for life. Your interaction with other factions is limited--you can't do their quests, walk freely in their towns, or often even speak to their players.
Now, like the rest of these pet peeves, it's not entirely damnable. You'd just need some pretty strong reasons to do it. A storyline that doesn't matter or a canon you're taking enormous liberties with everywhere else isn't enough.
Even Blizzard's realized it, so now they're planning a Faction-Change Service.
Look at Star Wars Galaxies factions. Each had their own bases and quest lines, but they were mostly inhabiting the same space. The PvP on/off switch, the relatively neutral centers for commerce and travel, and the free communication between factions led to players spending much of their playtime with the opposing faction (knowningly or not) when they weren't fighting the war. The net effect was that you knew the enemy. You knew their PvP heroes as much as your own, and were much more engaged because of it.
You won't find any MMOCrunch posts about Asterax lamenting how it's impossible to find any fun because there's no one to play with. Players are so stratified that the subset with whom you can actually play falls below critical mass. We're small, this game is going to be fun whether there's 2000, 200, or 20 players logged in.