The most possible playable races

[iadamson]

Vrykul



Joining The Alliance

- Male & Female faces included on Halloween masks that leaked Worgen & Goblin as the playable races for Cata.

- Provides another human-like race to the alliance, which they seem less racist or hesitant to accept into their ranks.

- A possible clan in the south seas could join the alliance. They are known to be sea fairing, perhaps one band settled in the south seas and developed different culture more accepting of humans. Perhaps this clan was banished or something from Northrend and had connections to the light, another Alliance Paladin race contender.

- Would make a good counterpart race, if Horde received Ogres as they are both somewhat ‘giant’.


Ogre



Joining The Horde

- Stonemaul ogres are already members of the Horde, and contributed greatly to the Horde Navy's current revival, as the builders of Juggernaughts.

- Some orcs treated ogres with respect: Orgrim Doomhammer was rather fond of his ogre bodyguards.ToD #?. Cho'gall was the leader of an entire orc clan as was Mogor. While the Ogre-Mage Dentarg was one of Ner’zhul closest confidant and an important member of the mostly defunct Shadowmoon clan.

- Individuals like Lizzarik and Jorb supply weapons to the Horde on a daily basis.

- The Mok'Nathal clan is composed of both Orcs and Ogres.

- Though his predecessor disliked the Horde, under the leadership of the half-ogre Rexxar the Stonemaul clan joined the Horde and remain allies to the present day.

Joining The Alliance

- Ogres, like draenei, humans and night elves, have suffered at the hands of orcs in the past, which could potentially give them reason to unite with the Alliance against the Horde. Nevertheless, the reformation of the Horde into an honorable force of "good" may have dissolved some of the old animosity.

- Historic feud with the Alliance. However, this is interchangeable, as blood elves had a historic feud with the Horde prior to joining them.

- The Laughing Skull Clan, an ogre-led clan, managed to betray the Horde and join the Alliance at one point in Warcraft II. However Mogor the Ogre, their leader, although still alive in Outland, has become hostile to everyone.

Neutral

- Male & Female faces included on Halloween masks that leaked Worgen & Goblin as the playable races for Cata. A picture of a female Ogre exist in Warcraft 1.

- They have their own architectural style.

- The King of the Ogres quest in Outland and Brewfest Gordok ogres, proves that both Alliance & Horde can work well with Ogres.

- Adult ogres can be between 6'5" - 7'5" (males) and 6'2" - 7'2" (females).HPG 19. Shorter than the ingame tauren males (8 ft tall).


Naga



Joining The Horde

- The nagas and blood elves allied during the aftermath of the Third War.

- Horde and naga share a common enemy Night elves. This could be used to tie them into Horde.

- The naga mindset and background is similar to the blood elves and Forsaken undead. They also share the same views on the arcane as their fellow Highborne exiles, the blood elves. Blood elves get along well with the naga — with whom they share Highborne ancestry. However, the only naga that have joined with blood elves are those that traveled to Outland. Recent lore has the blood elf racial leader considering what’s best for his people, perhaps this is the answer to the ambiguous statements. “Considering old alliances”

- They have changed much physically, like the Forsaken, and are also viewed as evil by their former brethren.

- Rebel tribe joining the Horde, possible in South Seas Expansion.

Joining The Alliance

- Cooperation between the naga and the night elves is possible as shown in a the Warcraft III: the Frozen Throne mission: The Brothers Stormrage.

- The naga were all highborne elves before their transformation at the Sundering.

Neutral

- They have their own unique language, Nazja and own unique architectural style.

- Naga already have graphical support for utilizing equipment, most upper and lower body armor (although this doesn't appear to be implemented very well) and weapons (minus helmets).

- Other races don’t show boots, and bracers are rarely visible. Helms and capes are optionally visible but still equipped. Trinkets, rings, and necklaces don’t have visuals. Extending this exception to pants isn’t over the top.

- For mounting issues they could coil the tail parts of their bodies so they could sit on saddles and form to the circumference of the seat. Similar to how a snakes sit coiled on a large tree branch. Or the Naga could position themselves so their tails just drape down the side of a mount, using strong tail muscles to stay up right.

- Possible Forsaken-type lore. The invention of a new naga tribe against Azshara and the Old Gods is always possible, as Blizzard has made lore adjustments in the past, and we've seen what Metzen can do.

- In a concept art of Booty Bay, numerous buildings were marked with the word "Naga Entrances".

- Were included on masks that hinted towards Worgen and Goblin races for Cata.

Furbolg



Joining The Horde

- Gorn One Eye of Timbermaw Hold mentions that the Horde is interested in potential furbolg allies and has tried to communicate with them.

- Furbolgs regard the tauren with esteem.

Joining The Alliance

- A small band of cave-dwelling furbolgs in the Barrow Deeps pledged their allegiance to Tyrande Whisperwind after she saved their shaman from corruption.

- In War of the Ancients, Furbolg have joined the Earthen and Night Elves. In this alliance there are Tauren also, but it consist mostly of the Alliance races

- The Stillpine Tribe has formed an alliance with the draenei.

- Furbolgs are historically a peaceful people, close to nature and friends of the night elves. Furbolgs have long been friends of the night elves. They visit the night elves in Ashenvale frequently, seeking guidance, camaraderie, and information.

- Furbolgs are one of the main races in the Alliance Player's Guide. They have strong connections to the Alliance although they are not yet members.

Neutral

- The Barkskin tribe of furbolgs united with the Alliance and the Horde in the Battle of Mount Hyjal.

- The furbolgs are an incredibly ancient race that existed even before the Titans even set foot on Azeroth. This raises some questions as to their origin, and may work in their favor.

- They have their own unique language, and own unique architectural style.

- Furbolgs are widespread, and can be encountered in various zones across three separate Azerothian landmasses - Kalimdor, Northrend and the Azuremyst Isles. A new tribe could be discovered in the south seas.
- Dartol's Rod of Transformation introduced new animations for Furblogs in 3.0.1 such as eating, using a bow and using objects like chests, ontop of standard animations such as sitting, lying down and dying.

- After the war, emissaries from both the Alliance and the Horde approached the furbolgs and invited them into the affiliations, but they declined both. Perhaps it was their reluctance to choose between their friends, the night elves and the tauren. They do seem to be closer to the night elves, but they don't want to claim themselves the enemies of the tauren simply by association. Though refusing to join the Alliance or Horde at the present time, future events may lead them to join; or a separate tribe (the Barkskin, for example) may choose to accept the tauren or night elves' invitation.

Drakonid



Joining The Horde

- The Dragonmaw Clan joined up with the Horde in Cataclysm, in the beginning of the Twilight Highlands quests. Rumor has it that the dragonmaw can turn into Drakonids. Something goes wrong, a group can't change back; boom, horde has drakonids.

- Kalecgos seemed to be in love with Anveena Teague, who was the physical incarnation of the Sunwell. He could lead a faction of Drakonid to join the Horde to help protect the Sunwell.

- In the Sunwell trilogy, Krasus and several blue dragons helped the blood elves.

- The Horde has previously had strong connections with dragons, but these have been through dark deals or use of force. It is unlikely that any of Alexstrasza's red dragon brood (with the exception of Korialstrasz, who was a good friend of Broxigar) will ever forgive the orcs for their enslavement in the Second Great War. However, members of the other broods have no grudges against the Horde.

Joining The Alliance

- It is believed that they may have evolved from humans. It is true that one was a human, at least: Maxnar the Ashmaw.

- Early Warcraft lore states that Alexstrasza gave an oath of non-aggression to the dwarves, humans and elves of the Alliance as long as she was in power over the Red Dragonflight, and she has a deep hatred for orcs. This suggests a reason for the Red Dragonflight to join the Alliance.

- Jaina joins Kalecgos in the fight against the Horde in order to help recover a powerful artifact of the blue dragonflight, the Focusing Iris. She survives the ordeal, but sees the Horde in a new light with a new antagonism towards orcs.

Neutral

- It is implied that Nefarian has been killed according to The Burning Crusade Manual, which would leave surviving members of the Chromatic dragonflight without a leader or indeed any discernible purpose. Weakened and under threat from other denizens of Blackrock Mountain, it is possible they could join a player faction.

- Possibly introduced as playable in an Emerald Dream expansion.

- If an Aspect joined a faction, its' dragonflight would no doubt honour such an alliance.

Tom Chilton about Drakonids as a playable race

VideoGamer.com:
“Regarding new races, what possible new races are there left in the Warcraft universe that are suitable for being playable?”

Tom Chilton:
“There are a lot of them that we already know about that are creatures that are out there. I don't want to give away too many of the things that we have going on in our minds for different possibilities. But there are certainly possibilities that don't necessarily limit us to coming with completely new things that players will never have seen before. In fact one of the things that we learned from doing the draenei is that it's important to seed the race in the world. It was harder for players to 'get' the draenei thing because they kind of came out of nowhere. They'd been referred to in previous Warcraft games but nobody had really ever seen or dealt with them. So it was a little harder to do, whereas with Blood Elves it was a lot easier. What we learned from that is we do wherever possible want to seed that potential, even if it's in a small way. An example I could throw out there would be, in Blackwing Lair we had the drakonid race. We always looked at those and said, oh that would be a pretty cool player race - it would be cool to play as one of those guys. There's not a lot there as far as, where did they come from and what are they? But they are in the world and it wouldn't be completely inconceivable that a player would end up being able to play that, and we could continue to expand on the depth of that race and that sort of race.”

[lloskka]

The first and only vote u need. Furbolg WIN

[Deleted]

None of the above, but I can't put a finger on which race then. I would LOVE to see Ethereal as a playable race but I guess that is impossible due the fact that they are "pure energy" so it should be technical difficulty to wear armor.

[Qprah]

Furbolg can be pretty easily ruled out because we have just had a bear race released in Pandaren. Possibly as a subrace of Night Elf but not as a stand alone race.

Ogre is a shoe-in for Horde because its the obvious next choice.

High Elves can be pretty easily ruled out because Blood Elves and Night Elves. Possibly as a subrace of Human but not as a stand alone race.

Drakanoid, Naga, Ethereal and Vrykul are super unlikely just because they have never and would never side with one faction over the other, as they despise anyone other than their own race, or in the case of some prefer the profit of being neutral.

They COULD make Drakanoid's as a metamorph for a new Dragonsworn class, but not as a race.

[Serenais]

Hm. Probably naga, being able to turn back to their original night-elven looks (similar to worgen and their human looks), joining the Alliance. It would be tough, but they could be led in by the highborne who are already among the Alliance. They would, of course, not be a group led by Azshara, more like a rebel offshoot of the race. This would also prove an interesting storyline, since the naga joining would definitelly not be without some major bumps.
Of course, then the Horde would really require some sort of shapeshifting race. Probably the ethereal (who probably have good relations with the goblins, or at least some sort of understanding)

[Zaelsino]

Ethereals have a good chance too imo. They're unique and humanoid enough, and also have the potential for massive customization.

[huth]

Drakanoid, Naga, Ethereal and Vrykul are super unlikely just because they have never and would never side with one faction over the other, as they despise anyone other than their own race, or in the case of some prefer the profit of being neutral.

There's quite a few neutral or even friendly Drakonids around. As MoP has shown, being a neutral race is not a hindrance.

[Thelxi]

Drakonid and no ethereals or high elves? lol

Naga out of these

[Galbrei]

I'd add the Broken to the list, can't see a good reason to implement them as the new Alliance playable race to contrast with ogres for the Horde.

[Scummer]

Only one of the ones listed I think we will definitely see added would be Ogres and it's pretty clear that they will be Horde and would perhaps have Rexxar having some sort of involvement.
Naga I could perhaps see but I feel they might be too dark to be seen as a new race. Unless we see a group of them like the Klaxxi who reject their Queen and seek out aid in others to aid them with their races problem.

Before MoP I would have Furlborgs would have been a big possibility for the Alliance due to their connection with the Night Elves and due to the fact the Horde is ransacking what's left of their land. However we already have a bear race so I'm not sure what people's reaction would be as there are people who oppose more elves so can't imagine more bears are any higher on some people's minds.
In a manner like High Elves though I'd like to see them involved a bit more with the Night Elves.

[iadamson]

Personally I only think Ogre's & Vrykul (Only because of they're like the exact counterpart to Ogre's, and would easily fit into a South Seas type expansion).

I think Furbolgs would have made it if it wasn't for Worgen, it seems like they took the spot, a more feral race that is close with the night elves. With Pandaren being included I think that also cements that there won't be Furbolg, or atleast for a long while. Perhaps when WoW reaches its end of life cycle, we will see like digital expansion to add flavour and fun/ random race, and just add Furbolg for completeness.

I guess I was kinda fan boying the naga in this one, but it's not entirely impossible, although I due see it rather unlikely.

I'll 100% admit I'm a Drakonid fan boy. But the possibility exist, and dragons are just bad ass.

[Seradai]

Out of the ones you listed, probably Naga... I kinda like all of 'em though

[Daetur]

That's an interesting comment about the Drakonid from Tom Chilton, and, though he mentions them specifically, his view applies to any race they'd implement, and Naga and Ogres are particularly well-seeded into the world. I don't think they'd both easily fit into the same expansion, though.

I agree that Furbolgs are probably not going to happen due to Worgen and Pandaren.

[Deleted]

I think ogres have the most chance in becoming a playable race.

But my biggest thought is that blizzard will introduce a new race that didn't appear yet. High chances them being from another planet.

[iadamson]

Drakonid and no ethereals or high elves? lol

Naga out of these

Heh yeah sorry, ethereals just really have no supporting lore to be put onto a faction, Blizzard would just have to make up the lore (which is 100% possible) and just implement them. So they didn't really fit in with the theme of the post. But yes Ethereals are probably more likely than most races of Azeroth and beyond.

High Elves, possibly there seems to be just as many arguments for them that there is against them. I didn't want it to turn into people arguing the possibility back and forth. Again it seems like a sub-race or something or would require some creative story telling to make them a legit playable race. I didn't want all the points to be based on fan-made theory of "how it could be done". Just getting around the whole blood elf with blue eyes thing is kinda weird and I don't know how Blizzard feels about it, sure they could add them but then would the Horde get an alliance race with different color eyes?

One things for sure though, High Elves are either Extremely Likely or Not likely at all. For that is why I didn't really want to include them, Plus i wanted to stay away from sub-races as much as possible.

---------- Post added 2013-01-24 at 09:10 PM ----------

I think ogres have the most chance in becoming a playable race.

But my biggest thought is that blizzard will introduce a new race that didn't appear yet. High chances them being from another planet.

Read the Tom Chilton quote for the Drakonid in the OP, he speaks about how races that didn't appear yet, or seeded in the lore turn out.

[Zoldor]

Taking the obvious here and going Ogre and Vrykul. I also assumed the horde race path after BE would be Goblin and Ogre. Before BC I wanted Goblin before knowing about Belf...still I could go without Belfs.

[Dasani]

I'd just like to point something out as to the whole how and why a certain race might ally with either faction, even with no existing lore supporting it, and i'll point you to goblins.

While it's true goblins have served the horde in the past (wc2) and were neutral and served both sides of the fence in WC3, the goblins that you actually play in game aren't related to any of those. They were on some arbitrary island that didn't even exist until blizzard decided to make them a playable race, had some random plot device cause the destruction of their home, then washed up on yet another island that didn't exist to be saved by the horde from the mean ol alliance and became members of the horde as a result of all this mess. They had no ties to anyone and through sheer forced plot devices, became BFFs with the horde. That is all it takes and all it will ever take.

Naga would never side with one of the factions because it just goes against everything they are. They serve azshara in a fanatical sense, they wouldn't turn on her. But if blizzard ever arbitrarily decided they wanted naga as a player race, all they have to do is cough up some 15 minute scenario you play through once that connects all the dots that weren't there in the first place to make it "make sense" for naga to ally themselves with whoever they decide.

You really can't apply any existing lore, logic, or common sense to any of it. I mean who would've expected them to just pull draenei out of their ass in burning crusade when the draenei we know today didn't even exist? They completely retconned all the lore revolving around the ACTUAL draenei which they just decided to rename the "broken" and so on.

Blizzard does what they want. You'll never reason out what is coming next, it's like throwing darts at a board in total darkness. You might guess wildly and randomly and end up right, but it was just coincidence, not because it made sense.

Futhermore, given WOW's formula for how it works, the next expansion will have yet another new land mass to explore to provide new zones, new types of enemies, etc. It'll either be yet another continent that wasn't there or they'll travel to some other world just as they did in TBC. In either case, there will be natives that live there friendly to your faction to help force the story along. It's far more likely that those inhabitants will be new races we get to play.

Things like furbolgs, naga, and so on don't make sense unless they are closely related to the core of whatever the next expansion is about. Cataclysm would've been a good time to add new arbitrary races like these because with all the destruction, lost territories, changing landscapes, etc it would've been so many creatures in crisis and made them seek out new allies where they ordinarily might not have. It would've been a perfect time to add new races, which they did of course, but not those. The races must be related to what is going on. Once we know what it'll be called, or where it takes place, then you can start having reasonable speculation.

[PowerGamez]

As a few otehrs have posted - ethereals would be sick

[Gothicshark]

To the OP Your list is incorrect:

Classic Factional (Alliance High Elves, Horde Ogres):
Beastmen(ie Gnolls, Furbolg):
Aquatic (Murlock, Jinyu, Naga):
avian (Harpie, Arakkoa):
Elementiod (Ethereals...):
Classic Nuetral (Broken Dreanei, Drakonid)


I am not sure how to put this but the only two faction specific races that could even be possible are Alliance High Elves and Horde Ogres, however they may make them Half-Elves and Half-Ogres to justify different models for Player Characters.

What we have:

Beastman races:
Tauren, Worgen, and Pandarens


Knife ear races:
Night Elves, Trolls, Blood Elves, and Goblins


Titanic Races:
Human, Dwarves, Gnomes, Forsaken, and Worgen(listed twice because they are humans made beast)

Alien Races:
Orc and Dreanei

So what can we expect from blizzard? Either they could fill out the horde and Allience with the last two remaining traditional Lore races, or they can give a neutral race with the aim for awesome sauce.

Remember they have 3 major story elements left to deal with, Old Gods, Burning Legion, and the Titans.

If they go up against the Old Gods we will see a related race, ie an Aquatic race, a beast race, or avian race. If they go up against the Burning Legion than this will double the possible military size because remember half of the alliance charged through the Dark Portal in WC2, this is were we will find the half elves, and half ogres who would join up. When we face off against the Titans the Dragon flights will want to help, and they will send welps ready to fight aka Drakonid.

[iadamson]

The theme of the post was to be based on existing lore, I recognize other races could easily but added regardless.

But I didn't want to repeat the same reasons over and over again for every possible race in Azeroth.

The OP pretty much originated with the tin-foil hat theory that based on Chilton's comments towards seeding the race within the world. Plus some speculation, and hints that would point in the direction of a new race.

Sub-races of existing races left out simply because they're too similar and the post would be huge to include them all. My understanding of sub-races like High Elves. They're either Extremely likely or not likely at all. It comes down to a judgement call by Blizzard. I didn't want to put all the reasons for having High Elves just to have people argue why there cant be high elves. There is just as many arguments for them as there is against them.

Plus there is already far too many posts about High Elves on this forum already, we need a change or pace to remind us of other possibilities.