RPing the new sub-races

[Veluren]

So general worldbuilding thoughts now that everything is settled in and announced for the time

How do you figure/intend to RP the new races if you try it at all? Obviously there will be stereotypical depictions (Void Elves being edgy, Zandalari/Nightborne being better than thou, ect. ect.)

But everyone treats a character differently.

I'd likely make my shaman and Zandalari and have him do very Zandalari things, blood magic, dark loa worship, ect. ect.

[Deleted]

I don't even play alliance, but my prerequiste for doing so has been met: playable Dark Irons. What with how Dwarves can roll almost every class, I'd love to make a Dark-Iron-only guild. Rabid Dagran Thaurissan II loyalists who will do everything they can to see him take his rightful place as the Lord of the Three Hammers. The thing is, he's only the heir to the Dark Iron and Bronzebeard clans, not the Wildhammer clan... so that's a bit of an obstacle. As long as Falstad Wildhammer lives, the Dwarven race cannot be united.

Actually, I think this idea lends itself more to fanfic, as I'd love to see a Wildhammer rebellion drawing liberally from the historical Jacobite rebellion amongst the Scottish Highlanders. The whole business would start when Muradin dies under mysterious circumstance. With Brann Bronzebeard nowhere to be found, Moira moves to disband the Council of Three Hammers and transfer power directly to her son, the rightful heir, with her acting as sole regent (naturally). Falstad obviously rejects this proposal, and flees a Dark Iron led coup of Ironforge. Falstad appeals to the leaders of the Alliance, but as hostilities have escalated with the horde the Alliance is in dire need of Ironforge's resources and production - this means deference to the Empress Dowager of Ironforge. So, Falstad and the Wildhammers take to the hills. An additional subplot would have them chasing the trail of Brann Bronzebeard - if he can be found, the Bronzebeards of Ironforge might be persuaded to rise up against the Empress Dowager and her Dark Iron regime.

[Techno-Druid]

Any roleplayers planning on rolling a nightborne or highmountain tauren?

[DeuZWw]

I Like how Void Elves can be like the one race that understands the void and how the Light isnt a saviour, but just another side of a the coin.

i am not sure if i will be doing any of the new races for real. but i like the possibility of being a Void Elf, not as an Edgy character, but as someone who represents the good part of the void and understands that the light can corrupt just as much as the void but they hide their malicious intents behind False Absolute Justice.

Something on that line.


Nightborne is just like Blood Elves, addicted to magic. not much to explore here.

i rather have a regular horned tauren than the new one. i'm disappointed that they made a whole new race of tauren with Druidic blessed Horns, instead of giving Druids a customization that let all playable druids to have Druidic features(Horns, Feathers, claws, etc..) much like Demon Hunters right now.

i have no idea how much different Zandalari trolls would be from our regular darkspear. maybe more evolved in some ways, since the lack of Hunch and Wilderness. but idk.

Dark Iron Dwarves is kinda cool when you think about it. you can RP as an Old servant of Ragnaros, you could even rp as having a grudge against other races because of ragnaros destruction at the hands of the heroes of the Horde and the Alliance. SPREAD THE WORD OF OUR FIRE LORD SAVIOUR!

LightForge Draenei, another new race that should have been customization options for Draenei Paladins and maybe Priests. Common, the whole backstory, motivation and main Enemy are exactly the same as the Draenei. i'd rather have Outland Broken Draenei led by Akama instead.

[DeuZWw]

Do people ever actually comprehend lore or does the dialogue go in one ear and out the other? Nightborne are not addicted to anything any more as of the Arcandor fruit being distributed. And blood elves haven't been addicted to anything since Velen purified the Sunwell. They removed the mana tap racial after BC, to illustrate this point.
Also Void Elves suck. pass it on.

Alright, then Let me fix.
Nightborne is just like Blood Elves, they *were* addicted to magic/fruits. not much to explore here.


the point is that they are pretty much a addicted to something race. much like bloodelves.

Check here: http://wowwiki.wikia.com/wiki/Wretched

Familiar? Yes, very.

however, thinkin about it, you probably can RP as someone inspired by your own current character heroic deeds in suramar, and stuff like that.

[Halyon]

Nightborne are similar to blood elves. Some of them are obnoxious borderline (or actual) narcissisists, then there are the pretty cool, grounded people like the Farstriders (and others). Lady Liadrin and Lor'themar are pretty cool.

Probably gonna be somewhere in the middle of those with my Nb hunter. Might re-roll to something else though, we'll see, but the hunter spirit in my edgelord heart just won't leave.

[Dastreus]

Well my warrior has always been a "High elf mercenary", so I am sticking with that and race-changing from human to void elf... assuming there's a normal skin tone option.

[Veluren]

Thoughts so far on my characters, since I made the OP and then bolted.

Nightborne: Former city guard, was loyal to Elisande basically up until she was ousted. Begrudging respect towards the Blood Elves for their similar plights, obnoxious and prideful to the rest of the horde races he's been ordered to help. I'm debating which class I would like best for that still.

Void Elf: Doctor (priest) who fell afoul of a sadistic demon who put a withering curse on him. Healing other people, be it through magic or medical aid makes him ill and weak, hurting makes him feel better, still a huge believer in the Hippocratic Oath ideologies so he spends more time than not sick as a dog because he refuses to not heal people. This was technically my BE, but I think the concept fits him better as a void elf.

Zandalari Druid: Dinomancer, that's as far as I've got since we need more of their lore. I may also racechange my Darkspear Shaman who's a worshiper of Bwonsamedi, he's very morbid and really weird, but he's a good person at heart.

[Santern]

Most likely a void elf warlock who's in the Alliance to conduct genocide on the Horde whenever he gets the chance.

[Deleted]

A great question. I'd like to play them all but will likely focus on one or two.

For my Dark Iron concept, depending on the circumstances of our recruitment of them. Are they dwarves from shadowforge city? Or are they an independent clan that moved to Kul Tiras? If they're from blackrock mountain, I'd like to play a rifleman or some sort of mercenary who still holds a deep hatred for the orcs, since the dark horde has been fighting the Dark Iron Nation for years now. Thus he would be one of the first in line against the Horde, fighting at the different fronts of the upcoming war.

If they're an independent clan that moved to Kul Tiras and is acquired there, I'd play either a slimy merchant that does business with the Kul Tirans or the unorthodox, racist Master-of-Arms at the court of a local noble (since a friend of mine has been playing a tirassian nobleman for years now and will likely return to his fiefdom with BfA).

Regarding the Void Elves I'd be interested in playing a fallen mage who succumbed to the whispers of the void in order to enhance his understanding of the fundamental workings of being, but ultimately getting corrupted by his new powers until Alleria helped him and his kin in controlling them. Not planning to be too edgy, although you can't evade it by playing such a concept, I guess. He would be a philosopher and magic-enthusiast that would be greatly saddened by the burning of Teldrassil, because it results in a loss of magic to the world as a whole. Yeah, something like that.

For the lightforged Draenei and the Highmountain Tauren I'm not sure, tbh.

Although I don't play Horde very often, I'd like to try a Nightborne Spellfencer or a Zandalari Loa-Priest. Nothing special planned, though.

[Techno-Druid]

I definitely want to roll a Dark Iron Dwarf and a Zandalari Troll.

For the Dark Iron, I'm thinking somewhat of a notorious blacksmith that's immigrated and set up a shop in Ironforge. Hopefully the addition of Dark Iron dwarves will increase the amount of roleplayers in Ironforge. It's sad that I rarely see people IC there.

For my Zandalari I'm thinking of a dinomancer, conservative, but willing to align himself with Horde interests. Maybe with a lavish, elitist personality.

[TriHard]

So general worldbuilding thoughts now that everything is settled in and announced for the time

How do you figure/intend to RP the new races if you try it at all? Obviously there will be stereotypical depictions (Void Elves being edgy, Zandalari/Nightborne being better than thou, ect. ect.)

But everyone treats a character differently.

I'd likely make my shaman and Zandalari and have him do very Zandalari things, blood magic, dark loa worship, ect. ect.

Most void elves will just be RPed as high elves, they're the same anyway. Those wings are only a part of the armor set if I recall correctly, so you've essentially got a normal high elf without that set.

And I don't think Zandalari will get Shaman like some think. Judging from the recent Zandalari trolls we've encountered, Hunter, Warrior, Druid, Mage, Rogue and Priest is what I think they'll get.
I can't really recall the Zandalari being very attuned to the elements like the Darkspear.

In terms of Nightborne, it would make more sense for them to defend Silvermoon and not Orgrimmar. So the best locations for them would be Silvermoon, Eversong and Quel'danas.

[TheramoreIsTheBomb]

I wonder if we can get the double-bladed lightsaber as a Nightborne warrior?

[Caerule]

I don't intend to roll any of the new Allied Races myself, but I do run a RP guild, so will be guiding players rolling these into how to RP them properly. So I'll go ahead and post my view on them, and the benefits and challenges for their RP. First Horde, then Alliance, from easiest, to hardest.

Highmountain:
I like em. Their personalities are just like regular Tauren. They offer new appearances. We just spent an entire zone befriending them. For Roleplayers these guys just offer more choice for those that would like to roll a Tauren. And there are several themed tribes to choose from.

The only way you could possibly mess them up is trying to give them a backstory with an origin anywhere else but the Broken Isles. That said, I do not think we will see overly many of them. The main thing they add, is choice, for people already inclined to roleplay a Tauren character.

Nightborne:
Pretty good choice! I had already been campaigning for the inclusion of these guys in the Horde. We got to see a ton of their city and culture. Assuming unlocking them requires people to have worked through all of their questlines, no one will be rolling them clueless about their lore. While their character niche is smaller than Blood Elves, as they are all arcane city-dwellers, they add new playstyles too. I could imagine a Spellblade RPer, or a hunter with a Mana Saber pet. And the concept of roleplaying a character that has no idea what has happened in the last 10.000 in the outside world is intriguing.

That does pose the greatest risk. Playing ignorant can be hard, especially when also trying to portray a generally smart race. A Nightborne's knowledge of the world is low, but the urge of many people to have answers, is high. I can see some people making the mistake of claiming they are actually Night Elves, or that they actually existed out in the world outside of Suramar, while the shield was up. But other than causing elf-haters to groan in frustration for their addition, I don't see them as causing much difficulty.

Zandalari:
This could be very interesting. I can't say too much about it, before we get to know more about them. So far we've mostly been faced with the Zandalari on the warpath directed by the Prophet Zul. We've yet to meet their aristocrats, shopkeepers and diplomats. It promises to be interesting at least. As these guys walk a double road, combining an advanced civilization on the level of elves, with the savagery and religious aspects found in all Trolls.

That can be challenging. As can be the accent and learning the many names of things like Loa important in your culture. I have no idea yet what their attitude will be. Will they see us as worthy allies, or are they a greater race willing to indulge us lessers as long as we prove useful?


Lightforged Draenei:
I think the main appeal to these guys is their appearance. They look awesome! And a new variation of Draenei. Who wouldn't be a fan? We got to see them for a whole long patch cycle. Draenei who spent countless ages under Xe'ra's tight guidance. If you want a noble or zealous character, they seem a great choice. And overall they aren't an enormous departure from the Draenei we know. And the concept of having a whole new planet to explore in Azeroth, can be an interesting challenge.

Their disadvantage, I feel, is that they have been fleshed out only limitedly, used mostly as background characters, with the Azeroth crew with Velen leading the story. An even bigger disadvantage is the limited character variety found among them. Despite 17.000 years of indoctrination by the Light, the normal Draenei have freedom of opinion, and the same flaws and desires of their Eredar ancestors. You see a ton of them go Sargerai on Draenor when their loyalty is tested. The Draenei reforged in the Light by the Elder Naaru Xe'ra are very unlikely to have such varied personalities. Those old ways have past. The Light has forged them anew, as its loyal weapons. As such, your character choices are basically A. Benevolent. B. Zealous.

Dark Iron:
Ah, the cunning Dark Iron. The proud, the unscrupulous. You enter Blackrock Depth, to find the Dark Iron openly deal with Twilight Hammer, and have prisoners and slaves meeting torturous fates, in cages in the walls. Now, under Moira, these guys have reclaimed their place in Ironforge, and are trying to conquer a better position for their people, and quite possibly white-wash their past a little. Still, they are Dwarves with Dwarven features. If you know and like Dwarves, then you now have extra options at your disposal.

Unfortunately, we have seen very little of their new path, in the game itself. We have seen Moira work her schemes for Dark Iron power and acceptance in Ironforge in written media, but we have seen little ingame. Added to that, as a former villain race, they face the twin problems of being very attractive for evil roleplayers, and having the stigma of being easily recognized as someone that probably does not have noble intentions. That may not be fun for everyone involved, but we have yet to see how much story we will get ingame for them.

Void Elf:
This is going to be a total shit-show...
They are a totally new thing, popularized by Alleria who hasn't been bad at all. Bringing pale elves to the Alliance is going to be popular as hell. They add all-new lore.

But they are going to be roleplayed terribly. These are Blood Elves that were doing research too dark and dangerous for even Blood Elves to accept. They are with the Alliance, because it is Alleria's condition for saving them from a fate worse than death. In short, they aren't what people wanted. And people tend to RP what they want. So a ton of people are going to roleplay them as if they are High Elves. Some will do so legitimately, selecting hair, skin color and outfit suitable for High Elves, which I assume Blizzard will allow. But there will be plenty who will want the "cool dark" look, but will also claim to be High Elves. And it gets even more complicated by people playing Void Elves pretending to be High Elves for greater acceptance. Which is fine, but in the end, it's going to be impossible to know which type you are dealing with.
And there will even be the type to go "I am no Void Elf. I am a San'layn Darkfallen!", which now have evil looking elves to build upon.

Giving us a "Dark" elf option with little pre-established lore, and cool appearance. I may be pessimistic, but I feel the majority of people rolling this will not be succeeding in doing an actual Void Elf justice. As if playing an elf properly wasn't already a difficult challenge for many.

Future races:
Kul Tiras Human and Brown Orc are definitely next. By that time we'll have seen much of both races. I think it'll be fine. Bring on Ogres and Vulpera next, I say.

[Skoll Shorties]

Highmountain Tauren don't differ too much from regular Tauren. Though there involvement with the Horde is not as long as our current Tauren. As for Zandalari I think it'll be pretty darn interesting to see them join the Horde after having such a negative reaction with their encounters with the Horde and its people.

[ringpriest]

Dark Iron Dwarves is kinda cool when you think about it. you can RP as an Old servant of Ragnaros, you could even rp as having a grudge against other races because of ragnaros destruction at the hands of the heroes of the Horde and the Alliance. SPREAD THE WORD OF OUR FIRE LORD SAVIOUR!

I've got to say I really like this one - a Dark Iron priest (or shaman or mage if available) who is devoted to his people, and thus grudgingly supports the Alliance in general, but who just won't stop grumbling and muttering about the so-called heroes who defeated the Firelord, twice!

[Veluren]

I've got to say I really like this one - a Dark Iron priest (or shaman or mage if available) who is devoted to his people, and thus grudgingly supports the Alliance in general, but who just won't stop grumbling and muttering about the so-called heroes who defeated the Firelord, twice!

It's a good concept, I had a really aged Dark Iron Mage (Back when the closest you could get was a dark skinned IF dwarf with the red-eyed face) who was extremely unpleasant because his son was one of the many nameless dark iron guards that got cut down in the final approach to Thaurissan but he was forced to help the Alliance.

I might revisit that concept with proper Dark Irons showing up.

I'm also fighting the urge to just make a Nightborne DIO, since chronomancy is an established school of magic in Suramar and we see several people use time manipulation in various ways.

[mariachi]

I've always found night elves terribly uninteresting and shallow despite living for tens of thousands of years but I'm going to try making a Nightborne work. One of my major pet peeves with night elves (worshiping trees) is now present in Nightborne too (a tree that produces fruit to cure magic addiction) but, thankfully, there's a link to blood elves that I find far more interesting overall. Stories about overcoming addiction and treachery are way more interesting than the series of unfortunate events that is kal'dorei lore. There's even pieces of political intrigue.

[Techno-Druid]

I've always found night elves terribly uninteresting and shallow despite living for tens of thousands of years but I'm going to try making a Nightborne work. One of my major pet peeves with night elves (worshiping trees) is now present in Nightborne too (a tree that produces fruit to cure magic addiction) but, thankfully, there's a link to blood elves that I find far more interesting overall. Stories about overcoming addiction and treachery are way more interesting than the series of unfortunate events that is kal'dorei lore. There's even pieces of political intrigue.

Night elves did have going for them with their WC3 portrayal; savage, qausi-matriarchal, notably nocturnal, etc with a Japanese and Celtic tinge. A lot of that seemed to be watered down though.

[Hallowseve17]

I've mentioned it before, and I'll mention it again, I plan to resub come BfA. Last time I played was during MoP, I played on Wyrmrest Accord and loved the Horde roleplaying scene there. I had Alliance on Moon Guard, but I may try a different RP server for Alliance. The ERP is a bit too crazy. Maybe Argent Dawn EU is a good one? Anyway, to the point!

I will definitely try my hand at all the allied races, as I've been a subrace enthusiast for a few years now. I have some ideas for my Horde allied race characters, but I'm not sure what I want to do with the Alliance ones yet. I have an idea for my Zandalari, but haven't picked a class yet. I'm going to make him a bit arrogant and scholarly, but still troll-like. For Nightborne, I want to do something different than most stereotyped blood elves, but I'm not sure yet.

I'll happily take ideas and suggestions.