Why are people so intent on new playable races?

[Brades1990]

I've wanted to be an Ogre since WC3. I will continue to scream for ogres until I get them. We should of had Ogres instead of Goblins, Goblins have the smallest % of players therefor should never have been added. #Facts

The beauty of hindsight.

[Spinster]

Some of the non-playable races are really interesting and charming, enough so that players want them expanded upon. That means Blizzard is doing a great job, really. It is always a good thing when players are clamoring for "MOAR" of something.

I personally would rather see sub-races before adding any new races. But I would like to see one of the cat races make it to playable.

[Awsyme]

I think we probably have enough races already, although I sort of expect nagas as a race if ever blizzard does a deep sea focused expansion (whether they will or not, given how badly the one ocean zone failed is another matter but its possible as Queen Azshara is probably one of the only big bads left unused).

What I'd really like it to see more race class combos - preferably ones that require achievements or the like to unlock. At the minute wow lore is just... silly. So why not allow people to make a race and class combo they like? You might really like undead and want to play a paladin. The game tells you 'well... Too bad' - which is a shame as this is the avatar you're going to be running around with for ages. Literally the only class combo I could see as being a problem is druid/feral forms + race. As that would take more art time.

[Bosen]

I believe for many,acting out the lore and fantasy of a particular race helps drive the desire to invest time in World Of Warcraft. Racial traits are,what I find,to be another interesting gameplay aspect of the game.

New starting areas and capitols are another aspect of new races that I enjoy.

[elmoe420]

I think Blizzard might get a lot more bang for their buck by simply adding further customization options to existing races (more along the lines of sub-races) than they would adding completely new ones.

It is good to keep in mind here the incredible amount of work that goes into adding a new race with a unique model and animations. Remember that they need to make sure every item that is available in the game looks good on these new models which is absolutely non-trivial.

Also remember that there is a real danger that any races which don't look similar to humans will see low player adoption. One can tell from the numbers published on this site and others that those races which most closely resemble humans are highly favored by players. As someone already pointed out, Goblins are a good example of this.

The last thing to keep in mind is that Blizzard must constantly weigh the effort to add a feature to the game versus the amount of playtime it will yield for their player base. Things like new races take a lot of time to implement but from a players perspective don't always feel like 'additional content'. Again coming back to the bang for buck, would it be better to devote those art and animation resources to building other aspects of the world that players might get repeated engagement from instead?

Some things to think about when asking for new playable races!

[RockmSockm]

I would love to see naga or ethereals added to the game.

The races added so far have been very lackluster and poor choices.

People want more races because they want more options than rolling a 20th character of a race they have already played multiple times.

WoW will never stop being human alliance story mode no matter how many races there are.

WoW honestly doesn't have that many complex racial animations. It would take less amount of time to add a new race animation wise than all these new druid forms and hunter quests.

Don't even have to give them a new starting area, just make up a story where they get lumped into one of the other 100 areas.

[Gaexion Ramza Beoulve]

Why wouldnt toys that change your race be sufficient?

That would be fine, if they actually existed.

[Huntaer]

F
Second, you spend the majority of the time in-game looking at your character's butt, and some people just prefer lots of variety in which butts they can choose to stare at.
(That's what the game is, a butt-staring-simulator.)

And this ladies and gentlemen is why a lot of men play female characters :P (including me)

[De Lupe]

Well, considering the new class comes with four somewhat-custom models that are all elves with new audio and a backstory that gives them about as much presence in the world as most any race gets... well, more Elves is kinda already happening. (Much like DKs, obviously)

What's annoying about even getting Tauren lore is that they bypassed doing it by having new Tauren in Northrend. Then new Tauren in Pandaria. Then new Tauren in Highmountain. Imagine if every time we went to a new continent there was a >50% chance we'd find a new set of Elv-ah crap.

Well, I have no objection to new Tauren races getting lore. Afterall, all of them are related to each other. The advantage of a race of nomads is that they have roots everywhere.

But, yea...give Mulgore Tauren lore! I want to know what Baine's plans are for his people. How are the Grimtotems handling their new lives in TB? What scheme is Magatha up to? How's Dezco coping since his losses in Pandaria? GIEF TAUREN LORE!

[Polybius]

if each race got a fair amount of story in every expansion, and felt included in the direction of their faction... then sure, more races would be great. but for fucks sake, some of our most favorite races havent been shown in any measurable way... since idk when. way too long imo.

you'd still be playing the same thing, why not put more effort into making what we already have, feel new and exciting?

its not really that simple because you have minor groups that love "X-factor" about "class/race Y" where a majority dont have any feelings about it. so somebody is always squashed in the effort.

Because we pay for this MMORPG.

[Notshauna]

Because races create new options that can't be replicated with current races. For example a Naga would look very different from any other one of your characters and have a very different flavor. And while there are little mechanical implications for my Demon Hunter being a Night Elf over a Naga, it'd lead to very serious character interactions.