None of the new races can be Death Knights (or Demon Hunters)

[Maarius]

you got me there, thanks for your source!

still, from the Forbes interview:

Newman: Will all classes have a playable allied race for their faction in the expansion?
Hazzikostas: Not demon hunter or death knight.

pretty clear statement

[Syegfryed]

i don't see a single problem, dks have a lot of options already anyway, if fit lore it will happens.

[Xorzor]

In response to the topic title: boo hoo! Does it really matter? If you like the class, play it. The race shouldn't matter. We have enough racial issues IRL!

[Wildberry]

I mean, does it really make sense Lore-wise though? Every seems to be under the impression that it does, but I disagree entirely.

With regard to Death Knights, here are a few quotes:
Korgaz Deadaxe has arrived at Acherus to aid us in recruiting additional death knights. He has an eye for potential.

I cannot emphasize enough that it is of the utmost importance that we replenish our numbers during the battle with the Burning Legion.
The demon armies are nearly endless and we are few.
Speak with Korgaz when you are ready to recruit additional death knights.

Greetings, Deathlord. It is an honor to serve you.
I have been keeping an eye on the casualties of the Alliance and Horde upon the battlefield. Supply is limited, but there are some very promising prospects...

--(Source)

So, we clearly see that the Ebon Blade is creating new Death Knights from the corpses in the Broken Isles. Are we supposed to assume that they've only raised Horde/Alliance Death Knights? There are plenty of Nightborne, and Highmountain corpses, even on the Broken Isles.

Beyond that, even if we assume that the Ebon Blade didn't raise any Nightborne/Highmountain, who's to say that Arthas didn't? There is an in-game hint to Scourge presence on the Broken Isles considering this:

Thought to be given by Razuvious to his most gifted acolytes, it is unclear how this band escaped the walls of Naxxramas. Could the Lich King have sent his own agents to the Broken Isles?

--(Source)

Now, assuming the Scourge was active on the Broken Isles at some point, this justifies not only Highmountain Death Knights, but Nightborne, too. Yes, many were locked behind Suramar's barrier, but exiles are canon. You can argue those aren't the same subset of Nightborne that are playable, but that's entirely irrelevant. Goblin Death Knights were canonically Steamwheedle Cartel members, yet the Bilgewater Cartel holds the "playable" Goblins.

Really though, the "Scourge" avenue isn't necessary. Ebon Blade Death Knights make perfect sense for both Highmountain Tauren and Nightborne.

Void Elves should automatically have Death Knights, simply because Blood Elves have them. What exactly is going to prevent a Blood Elf Death Knight from being interested in the Void? (Especially given the link between the Void and Necromancy). Hell, the fact that Dar'khan Drathir is involved at all should pique some morbid curiosity from Blood Elf Death Knights.

So lore-wise they work. Not only do they work, but they work from within the existing framework, rather than requiring new "lore" like Tauren Paladins.

That leaves to things to iron out; The Death Knight starting zone, and Heritage Armor.

Regarding the starting zone, I actually don't know why people find this to be a stumbling block. Allied races already skip their regular starting zones (1-10) by starting at level 20. Why can't allied races simply start at 58? Or, even 55 but spawn them in Nighthold/Highmountain etc. Allied races are, according to Blizzard, for "experienced players," right? I doubt experienced players need their hands held through the Acherus intro. Beyond that, should we really write off sensible race/class ideas simply because Blizzard tied the DK starting zone to WotLK lore? Again, allied races already skip starting zones.

Heritage armor is another non-argument. Why not simply prevent, say, Nightborne Death Knights from obtaining heritage armor? I mean, getting from 20-58 isn't that much of a time sink even now, but if it's such a sticking point for Blizzard, I'd assume most people would be more than happy with allied race Death Knights, even if they couldn't earn heritage armor by leveling them.

tl;dr: Every allied race but Lightforged should be able to roll a DK. Lore supports it.

[Airwaves]

Why would any become demon hunters when the legion has been defeated? I doubt the demon hunters would even allow anyone to become one now.

DK Nightborne and Highmountain tribes would make sense since the DKs were reviving the fallen on the broken shore but only if they started at 110. Which blizzard isn't going to allow. Like there's a few pandaren DKs lore wise I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a few Nightborne and Highmountain tribes lore wise. Just never player wise.

[Wildberry]

Why would any become demon hunters when the legion has been defeated? I doubt the demon hunters would even allow anyone to become one now.

DK Nightborne and Highmountain tribes would make sense since the DKs were reviving the fallen on the broken shore but only if they started at 110. Which blizzard isn't going to allow. Like there's a few pandaren DKs lore wise I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a few Nightborne and Highmountain tribes lore wise. Just never player wise.

Why would they have to start at 110?

[Airwaves]

Why would they have to start at 110?

Makes no fucking sense otherwise. Why would a nightborne dk start in the plaguelands? It already annoys me allied races start at 20 because it makes zero sense.

[Wildberry]

Makes no fucking sense otherwise. Why would a nightborne dk start in the plaguelands? It already annoys me allied races start at 20 because it makes zero sense.

Well, whether it bothers you or not, there's precedent for allied races skipping starting zones. Just let allied race Death Knights start anywhere from 55-58 in, say, Nighthold or Highmountain, thus skipping the Acherus intro. It's not necessary, and it just hinders things that otherwise work.

I mean, if we're going by your logic, why would any DK have gone back to Outland just prior to the Wrath of the Lich King canonically? What sense does it make for Bilgewater Goblins, who joined the Horde after the cataclysm, to head to Northrend halfway through to defeat the Lich King?

[Drusin]

What do we think about this?

I'm just waiting for something other than an elf breed to be a Demon Hunter so I can go and say "told you so" on threads that are years old and get banned.

#pettyWap