How can blizzard make race you choose matter?

[Beloren]

It should be different if it is a dwarf hero that is solving all these quests, or that it's a blood elf hero and not a night elf hero that helped out the nightborne - and while the story can still go exactly the same way, because afterall, it is really the NPCs that affect, we can at least get something to show for being a race.

Take magic, Dalaran might seem to be the wonder and hold the secrets of magical knowledge to astound everyone - except if you're a blood elf, or you're a night elf highborne or nightborne (if they become playable), and it should be reflected.

Not everyone's human or orc and it should show. How many times have you read quest text and wondered - hang on, doesn't he know I'm a Blood elf, or I'm actually a ... ?

I like how you gather order resources for your class order, what if they did the same things for race as well? In addition to doing stuff for your Order Hall, you also have your Capital City campaign and do stuf for your race. And it can influence the story in interesting ways, for e.g. the horde NPC toons and warriors will be dominated by your race's troops.. so no more seeing orcs all the times or humans, if you're a blood elf, you'll see Blood elves, if you're a gnome the Brokenshore would have been full of GNome troopers.

Go to a place like Suramar - you will hear the Blood elf perspective..sure the nightborne and night elves would be the ones you're ddealing with and you'd hear their side, but then you will have blood elves coming in to help, and they'd be giving you quests concerning the nightborne - if the story has the nightborne going towards the night elves, you could be doing interesting things like sabotaging it even while trying to help them, if not you could be trying to persuade them to ally with you instead..


Long and shot, your race would matter. What if you were a troll? You would be hearing a lot more about Vol'jin and his replacement and how the Troll view all the night elf stuff you experience in Suramar, Azsuna and Val'sharah - would it be scorn to see what happened to the nightborne? would it be sympathy? You can't help but think a goblin would be angling for rewards and a gnome would want to retrofit gnomish engineering to help the elves... all sorts of crazy potential.

While it might be too late for Legion, it's certainly something they can do for 8.0 ... can you imagine? With sub-races in the picture, all the race insight you would get on everything for being a race.. and it doesn't have to detract from the main story at all, what can happen can still happen, but you can have your race play an integral role or at least see it's reaction to what you experience.

[Cl4nK]

Yeah, I've thought about this before and how Blizzard dropped the ball hard.

For instance, once you get the Marksmanship Artifact, one of the NPCs praises it and coments how it was used in the war against trolls. Except my character is a Troll, and you're exalting the very weapon used to desecrate my homeland and kill my race.

Not amuzing in the slightest.

[Deleted]

Yeah, I've thought about this before and how Blizzard dropped the ball hard.

For instance, once you get the Marksmanship Artifact, one of the NPCs praises it and coments how it was used in the war against trolls. Except my character is a Troll, and you're exalting the very weapon used to desecrate my homeland and kill my race.

Not amuzing in the slightest.

They're talkin about forest Troll. And yeah, every Troll should accept that the fact that they are living is a mercy of the Elves.

[Queen of Hamsters]

It's enough that they cater to class and spec fantasies. MORE than enough.

[Beloren]

It's enough that they cater to class and spec fantasies. MORE than enough.

no it isn't.. it's good that they cater to class/spec fantasies, but it's even better for races. In fact taking the class/spec approach to race/sub-race will give a lot more lore exposure on races even if they're not part of the main story line, you get a lot more info

Furthermore it really does matter.. it should matter to Tyrande if you are a night elf, a normal alliance member, or a horde. IT should matter to the Kirin'tor that you are a blood elf helping them, it should really weigh on the larger matters.

They don't have to change the main storyline at all, but the fact that you're of your race should really show.

e.g. if it was a blood elf toon helping the nightborne, you should see blood elves mixing in with the nightborne and night elves in Shal'aran, helping out, and should get to hear more of what the blood elves think of it all..whether it's the hunger, the night elf city, Elisande or the resistance. etc

and some reactions should vary - they dont' have to write a part for every race for every situation it is just that some races will or should garner a different response or more reaction. A lot of things have no effect on the larger plots anyway, so it's nice that you can have the flavor for being your race reflected in the story.

[Sylfaine]

They're talkin about forest Troll. And yeah, every Troll should accept that the fact that they are living is a mercy of the Elves.

Wait what.

[Al Gorefiend]

It'd be a massive undertaking, or a single expansion gimmick. Plus with all the toys that transform your race it really doesn't matter what race you choose in the end.

In the end, if you're a Pandaren questing through Pandaria you just have to accept the fact that you'll get NPCs saying "wow, you look strange, where do you come from?".

[Trassk]

Saw this guy in stormheim:



Conclusion, I wanna play as a vrykul!

[Leodok]

Well, there are a few quests that are different depending on your race, class, or something you did (the Light's Heart final quest text is different if you're a demon hunter or if you killed Illidan).
I doesn't happen that much right now, but I can see it increasing in the future. Of course it won't ever be different for every quest or even a majority of them.
Also, in future expansions some NPCs could say something about our race, in the same way they say something about our artifacts when we walk past them right now.

I would like the next expansion to focus more on race than class fantasy. Having a village or part of a city working as a class hall could be pretty cool.

[Wyrt]

We'll probably never see it. "Class fantasy" was the great homogenization of races.

[Beloren]

It'd be a massive undertaking, or a single expansion gimmick. Plus with all the toys that transform your race it really doesn't matter what race you choose in the end.

In the end, if you're a Pandaren questing through Pandaria you just have to accept the fact that you'll get NPCs saying "wow, you look strange, where do you come from?".

it should matter, I was in Stormheim, dealing with those goblins that fake the Tauren left them in charge... there is no way, basd on their requests that a Tauren, a Blood elf, a Night elf or a goblin would fall for that, but i'd expet a different reaction.. I know our toons do it anyway cos they're moneyg rabbers, but I expect a goblin toon to be going "wink" "wink" at the NPCs, then demanding something valuable as a reward instead of the trsh you get from them

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I would like the next expansion to focus more on race than class fantasy. Having a village or part of a city working as a class hall could be pretty cool.

that's a great idea, excepet ofc, the Capital itself could be the race hall, - I mean, the only reason we have calss halls is because they never had a base or main HQ before right? now they do - and they could expand them in the future.. like the druids and mages could get a phased version of the whole Val'sharah and Dalaran etc, the priest hall could grow intoa City or move into Shattrath for e.g. the Draenor one.

[Wyrt]

that's a great idea, excepet ofc, the Capital itself could be the race hall, - I mean, the only reason we have calss halls is because they never had a base or main HQ before right? now they do - and they could expand them in the future.. like the druids and mages could get a phased version of the whole Val'sharah and Dalaran etc, the priest hall could grow intoa City or move into Shattrath for e.g. the Draenor one.

Well, first off, not every race has a city. And second, some cities could really use some updates.

And the reason most classes didn't have a main base was because most of them were tied to racial lore as well. I greatly dislike that my draenei vindicator is forced to be part of the human paladin order in a human class hall. Expanding it would not make me like it anymore. I picked draenei, not human.

[Mirishka]

The people asking for this stuff would be the same people complaining that the expansion took 6 months longer to get out because Blizz added 'racial flavor' to every quest, story etc. There is only so much time in the day, there is only so much they can do.

The amount of class/spec-specific content in Legion is unprecedented, but leave it to the internet to find a way to say "it isn't enough!"

[Beloren]

Well, first off, not every race has a city. And second, some cities could really use some updates.
.

Then what a perfect time to make sure they all do, it's not like we don't have cities for them.

Gnomes have Gnomeragan, with a Capitals being race halls, srely that means the city can actually be relevant, and they can do far more in a capital than in a order hall.
Worgen can go back to Gilneas, Goblins can use Kezan, and Trolls can use Zul'Gurub

And the reason most classes didn't have a main base was because most of them were tied to racial lore as well. I greatly dislike that my draenei vindicator is forced to be part of the human paladin order in a human class hall. Expanding it would not make me like it anymore. I picked draenei, not human

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The people asking for this stuff would be the same people complaining that the expansion took 6 months longer to get out because Blizz added 'racial flavor' to every quest, story etc. There is only so much time in the day, there is only so much they can do.

The amount of class/spec-specific content in Legion is unprecedented, but leave it to the internet to find a way to say "it isn't enough!"

the internet want MOAR !!! MOAR !!!

[Lorgar Aurelian]

Yeah, I've thought about this before and how Blizzard dropped the ball hard.

For instance, once you get the Marksmanship Artifact, one of the NPCs praises it and coments how it was used in the war against trolls. Except my character is a Troll, and you're exalting the very weapon used to desecrate my homeland and kill my race.

Not amuzing in the slightest.

it wasnt your home land the war was with forest troll the zul'amni the dark spears are jungle trolls an off shot from the zul'garbashi.

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They're talkin about forest Troll. And yeah, every Troll should accept that the fact that they are living is a mercy of the Elves.

how is it a mercy of the elf's the zandlari and the jungle trolls have never had conflict with the elf's and the elf's came from trolls......

[Zandalariprelate]

no it isn't.. it's good that they cater to class/spec fantasies, but it's even better for races. In fact taking the class/spec approach to race/sub-race will give a lot more lore exposure on races even if they're not part of the main story line, you get a lot more info

Furthermore it really does matter.. it should matter to Tyrande if you are a night elf, a normal alliance member, or a horde. IT should matter to the Kirin'tor that you are a blood elf helping them, it should really weigh on the larger matters.

They don't have to change the main storyline at all, but the fact that you're of your race should really show.

e.g. if it was a blood elf toon helping the nightborne, you should see blood elves mixing in with the nightborne and night elves in Shal'aran, helping out, and should get to hear more of what the blood elves think of it all..whether it's the hunger, the night elf city, Elisande or the resistance. etc

and some reactions should vary - they dont' have to write a part for every race for every situation it is just that some races will or should garner a different response or more reaction. A lot of things have no effect on the larger plots anyway, so it's nice that you can have the flavor for being your race reflected in the story.

If this were a rpg with a lot of expantions maybe the could make the race of the character relevant but with 13 differents races with a lot of combination, yeah not gonna happend with the class lore and inmersion is the best they can do and i really enjoy that, an warlock who enslave powerful generals of the legion or a rogue taken down the detheroc plans for iniciate another faction war

[Aucald]

I think a couple of quest text or dialogue changes that reflect race would be alright, and some of those *do* already exist in the game. But speaking in terms of gameplay concerns it's simply easier to contextualize based on class as opposed to race - achieving both would require a time commitment that would make other content difficult to realize. At the end of your day it's your choice of class that truly differentiates you as opposed to your race - the use of faction (e.g. Horde vs. Alliance) is also a kind of shorthand and catch-all that further differentiates the playerbase.

[FelPlague]

Yeah, I've thought about this before and how Blizzard dropped the ball hard.

For instance, once you get the Marksmanship Artifact, one of the NPCs praises it and coments how it was used in the war against trolls. Except my character is a Troll, and you're exalting the very weapon used to desecrate my homeland and kill my race.

Not amuzing in the slightest.

their talking about the forest trolls who were savages and nothing near what the darkspear trolls are... its allmost like the trolls have helped murder millions of trolls before... and there is differant clans of trolls... and their talking about the amani trolls.... not the darkspear...

[Leodok]

that's a great idea, excepet ofc, the Capital itself could be the race hall, - I mean, the only reason we have calss halls is because they never had a base or main HQ before right? now they do - and they could expand them in the future.. like the druids and mages could get a phased version of the whole Val'sharah and Dalaran etc, the priest hall could grow intoa City or move into Shattrath for e.g. the Draenor one.

I don't like the idea of the whole capital being the "race hall", as it would basically mean only humans can go to Stormwind, dwarves to Ironforge, etc. A district or a big building is enough.

[Deleted]

haha, blizz doesn't even care to give trolls a leader to replace voljin... they are never going to put in the effort to do that...