ALL RACES should have the same racials, but with unique flavor (like hearthing)

[Nathreim]

Screw that I think racials should be more OP. T

[docterfreeze]

Racials are actually pretty balanced right now. Belves had a slight advantage in uldir during zul progress, and nelves had an advantage during the reaping affix. Other than that, all dps racials sim within 1% of each other.

[Grimbold21]

Gryphons are a dwarven thing.

[plz delete account]

I will say that with unique Hearthstone animations there's definitely a lot of room to give players something to flex about, raids, achievements, PvP, these things could all reward prestigious hearthstone animations that players could brag about

I can't wait for datamined wing models from the SL alpha to determine which one would fit my DK best

[Accendor]

We really, really do not need to make more things the same.
Like really. No.

[Agrias2x]

No they shouldn't have the same racial abilities. That's such a dumb idea.

[DechCJC]

I’d be ok with this, happy even. The racials are nearly redundant for the most part as they are but are ludicrously better in certain situations.

This is especially the case for PvP, it’s very hard to not feel shoeboxed into either human, orc or undead. I find it very hard to justify losing 20% reduction to stuns where it’s possible; when you get to higher ratings it feels even more punishing to not have the ‘good’ racials.

I’m not a fan of them as they are, they should be entirely cosmetic or quality of life tools. I pretty much never play races I actually enjoy because I feel like I’m crippling myself, It doesn’t feel good.

I do feel like the people disagreeing that they should change are looking at this from an entirely PvE perspective where, I’d agree, the difference is largely negligible to most but the top .1%.

[Dellis0991]

No, naw we good! Fuck that nonsense!

[Rotted]

Playerbase: We want identify back

Also playerbase : Remove one of the only aspect left in game that gives us identity!

[DechCJC]

Playerbase: We want identify back

Also playerbase : Remove one of the only aspect left in game that gives us identity!

You can have racial identity without massively skewing balance. If anything, they could add more racials, just not ones that effect combat massively. See my earlier post on the last page for more on them.

The identity of a race shouldn’t be defined by if it’s objectively the best or not. Vulpera setting up camp, mechagnomes becoming a walking toolbox and undead breathing underwater are good racials, we need more of this.

I don’t entirely agree with the OP that all racials should be the same but with a different skin though.

[Thetruth1400]

No, racials make it interesting. The problem is the faction divide or not allowing guilds to have cross faction members.

No, it doesn't make anything interesting, it's just background stat buff fluff.

Now sure, I wouldn't take it as far as OP in removing racials completely, but making them identical across factions. So for example, Humans and Orc would have the exact same racials, just with different fluff to describe them. That way, racials still exist, but neither faction has any that could be considered a one faction advantage.

[LemonDemonGirl]

Turn "Hearth" into a racial ability, but give it a unique animation for each race.


HORDE:

Race	Animation	Unlockable Options	Already In-Game
Zandalari	"Worship" spellcasting, then Loa spirit appears and carries them off	Loa	YES

Making hearthing a racial ability is one example, with the added benefit of also freeing up a bag slot that has never been free since your first day of playing. Plus the little arrow on the Hearth icon means you could remove some bloat from the Toy Box panel (563 and counting, with no signs of stopping).

Soo Bwonsamdi's just going to grab my character and run away? That's....pretty funny lol

In all honesty, I agree with just making Hearth an ability instead of an item that takes up space

[Alga]

No, just no.. Sometimes this forum is suprising on how stupid ideas can get.

[tmamass]

What do you think?

I am just glad that you dont work for Blizzard. So YOUR bad wish will never happen!
We get it you DONT like rpgs. how about you play something else where everyone is equal like CS?

[plz delete account]

Holy necro my guy, what were we talking about again?

You were talking about flavor, I think. Until this expac, all we've had for flavor is capes

[Elias01]

Yees please lets tune game around 0.1% of min maxers nothing can go wrong with that.

[Mardux]

I don't mind the racials being unique, but they shouldn't directly affect your combat effectiveness like the troll haste buff etc. There will always be certain races that are preferable that way even if they do their best to balance it.

Its interesting that you chose troll to single out even though alliance is the clear winner when it comes to racials giving dps and/or utility.

- - - Updated - - -

No, it doesn't make anything interesting, it's just background stat buff fluff.

Now sure, I wouldn't take it as far as OP in removing racials completely, but making them identical across factions. So for example, Humans and Orc would have the exact same racials, just with different fluff to describe them. That way, racials still exist, but neither faction has any that could be considered a one faction advantage.

PvP trinket = stat buff. Torrent = stat buff. War stomp = stat buff. Stone form = stat buff. Gift of the naaru = stat buff. Arcane pulse = stat buff. Bull rush = stat buff. Light's judgement = stat buff. Teleport = stat buff. Fireblood = stat buff. Haymaker = stat buff. HOLO = stat buff. Bag of tricks = stat buff.

I don't know why anyone ever thought any of these racials did anything buff give stat boosts. Thank you for setting us straight.

[Erlking]

I think removing racials that give combat benefit is a good idea. They should add other type of racials, for example goblins having bank access.

[gaymer77]

Honestly the only way Blizzard can balance racials at this point is to remove ANY form of flavor from them and just let racials be passives for professions, resistance, reduced hearth, etc etc etc. Remove haste, damaging abilities, or CC removals (EMFH/WotF/Escape Artist). That would allow players to pick races they like aesthetically or for lore reasons. This would solve the flavor of the month PvP picking. It would allow people to pick a faction they enjoy the story of instead of picking a faction because their racials are "the best" to be.

[Mellrod]

I'd argue that the asymmetry between races is part of their charm. It's what makes them unique and sets them apart as a race. Making them all functionally uniform takes that charm away. Not every race needs a bonus in [profession] if it doesn't make sense, you can get to max crafting level without it. Not every race needs a Mole Machine to TP them everywhere, just get toy/engineering items, choose a class with teleports, etc etc. I think racials that provide pvp advantage should just have similar abilities available as pvp talents that other race/classes can select. We already see this with the CC/snare clear talents. If you aren't a human, you don't need to worry about not having EMfH, because you can just choose from various PvP talents that serve the same purpose.

The sense of specialization and that comes from having a character/class combo with a specific set of skills is what makes races interesting, beyond just the cosmetic appeal. I honestly wish they would take this concept further. Perhaps at character creation you get a big list of racial perks dependent on your race/class combo, and you choose a limited number from the list. This would allow you to mix-and-match some minor perks that compliment your play style (keyword: compliment, not define). Most of these racials would be minor enough that it enriches your game experience without ruining game experience for other players. Perhaps you could even obtain new ones for future characters through achievements or other means, similar to how we obtain allied races right now.