Does the Allied Races feature mean the end of actual new races?

[shade3891]

Almost all new races/monsters that are currently added have a player rig. I think it's a new way of working for: toys, cinematic events and maybe also a next allied race.
I do hope we get some new and unique races like Ogres (H) and Ethereals (A). But even if they are new the allied system can still be used of course.

[elaina]

I think the allied race process is a more interesting way to introduce new races and there isn't necessarily any limit to how or what they implement.

[Deleted]

Here's the thing, the stocky Kul Tiran are 100% new according to statements made at Blizzcon. They're not edited humans. If they become an allied race, there goes the idea that they have to be simple edits of existing races.

They still feel like something I have seen and played before but altered. And the fact that I can't put my finger on what pisses me off more than it should.

[Ielenia]

This got me thinking. If Blizzard can now endlessly create, roughly speaking, reskins of already existing races and the playerbase in general will be happy, then why waste time and resources on creating something totally new?
What's your opinion on the matter? Do you guys think we'll never see entirely new races with unique skeletons, animations and background in this game anymore?

I think "allied races" is the death of "actual new races" just as much as artifact weapons were the death of "new weapon drops".

[------------------------]

not before they add my fucking ethereals as a neutral race

[Directionalk9]

If Blizzard isn’t seeing a lot of new players coming to the game, they probably have little incentive to add new starting races. And build everything that comes with it. Which 13 years into the franchise’s life I assume is the case. I could easily be wrong and they see far more turnover each expansion, then of course new Races will be coming down the pipeline.

[Amy Lee]

I think they'll add new races sometime in the future. Personally I'm more interested in new classes not races =)

[Dajeki]

i bet blizzard would love it if it did. look how easy it was for them to just reuse animations for everything and make 3 skin tones for each allied race. these expansions are going to make themselves from now on

It kinda looks like the animation is proceduraly animated instead of being done each one frame by frame. The animations are scary on how well the dwarf casting a shaman spell looks the same as an orc, or a goblin.

There is a saying "If you aren't growing, you are slowly dying"

I see blizzard adding some new races in the future with new skeleton, but why would it make sense at the current not to ride out a system that allows decent customization with racials and the reskins?

I actually like that they are working smarter and not harder in that section of the game. I'm sure they will add it if it will make sense.
The game is not making blizzard the money it use to.

not before they add my fucking ethereals as a neutral race

+1 I feel old gods might be a thing in the next expac. These might actually make sense.

I think they'll add new races sometime in the future. Personally I'm more interested in new classes not races =)

New classes are getting harder and harder to make original and balanced.
Maybe tinker, the gnome leader is riding around in an awesome mech. Id honestly like to see more specs than classes D:

[The Man in Room V]

Probably not. Hero classes didn't kill regular ones being added, afterall.

[God Save The King]

I think we will still see new races, but at a lesser rate than before. We have gotten a race roughly every other expansion (BC, Cata, Pandaria). BfA marks the longest "drought" of new races, which will be three expansions in a row without (granted Pandaria had a race and was right after Cata). I think the next time we would see a core race would be in 9.0 or 10.0 at the earliest. In the meantime, I expect somewhere around 4-6 allied races an expansion, assuming they have enough ideas for them.

[Gaidax]

I think it's fine, it opens a path for many customization options previously unthinkable. Eredar, Maghar, High Elves and what not. In the end Horde and Alliance got one extra model they did not previously have and that's what counts in the end.

I just hope they won't go too overboard with nonsense allied races because you can't roll back that shit and Void Elves are like the upper limit of reasonable IMO.

[ManiaCCC]

Vulpera use goblin skeletons, Jinyu use nelf, Unholy DKs are necros, Blizzard said they didnt want a support class in WoW saying it wouldnt work with its gameplay, tinker maybe.

There are no fucking skeletons anymore. Just animation sets, which can be mix-matched on the fly. You can have Ogre with goblin's animation and tauren's animations, ore gnome behaving like forsaken.

Also, animations/models are not reason why allied races are "allied" that's not the point of the system.

To answer OP question, it is very possible that "regular" races wont be added anymore, however it doesn't mean Allied race can't be Ethereal or Ogre.

[Tyrathius]

I wouldn't be surprised if every race from here on out is an allied race just as an excuse to avoid having to do with extra work associated with regular races (for example starting zones).

I doubt every single one will be a reskin though. Too many popular races wouldn't work as reskins (Ogres for example).

[Dastreus]

We won't see any new races outside of allied races, for at least 2 expansions.

[Razion]

They'll probably return to actual new races when it makes sense for them.

New starting areas may not have as much demand, but races that have that distinct original race polish will have growing demand in the coming years.

[Deleted]

I doubt it because there are a ton of races they can use like ethereals, arrakoa, furbolg, naga, jinyu, hozen, ogres, vrykul, those snake folks, the vulpera...do i need say more?...their are even a few arguable classes they could make like tinkers, necromancers, bards.

Vulpera is a goblin reskin,snake people seem to have draenei+worgen animations so they both can be counted as allied races.

[Notshauna]

Probably at least for the foreseeable future. Allied races are incredibly cheap to produce compared to standard races, and thus far they've designed them in such a way as to reuse a lot of assets. So not only do they get to use a race that already exists and has a model, they also get to reuse most druid forms, don't have to make a new leveling zone and thus far it doesn't seem to come at the cost of the race. Races in WoW haven't been worth adding since TBC from a business perspective, as they require a great deal of work for little benefit.

[Bayushi]

I expect we will see new races, but not for a while. Allied races are the new hotness and I anticipate them being incredibly popular with the playerbase, but eventually the complaints about lack of differentiation, racial lore

Well yeah. The Allied Races are Elves, Trolls, Draenei and Tauren.

None of those spell H-U-M-A-N or O-R-C: The only two races Blizzard seems to care about.

[Tantypops]

Here's the thing, the stocky Kul Tiran are 100% new according to statements made at Blizzcon. They're not edited humans. If they become an allied race, there goes the idea that they have to be simple edits of existing races.

Maybe it's just me but the new male Kul'tirans resemble the upright orcs, like current Saurfang. Even their chins look orcish. If this is the case, they may not be "brand new" at all. Also, from wowhead's model viewer, I can see that the male Zandalari cast like Darkspear trolls but many of their assets are from male Night Elves.