Hot take: Worgen should have been a class, not a race

[Razion]

Lorewise, if a worgen were to bit an orc and the orc ran away, wouldn't the orc later become a worgen? It just seem weird that only Gilneas humans are worgen when it's a curse that affects anyone alive. I guess they limited it to Gilneans for gameplay purposes..

The Tomes of Karazhan as well as the Grizzly Hills worgen quest lines where the player can be afflicted with a bite that increasingly gets worse seems to imply consistently that without treatment any race could be turned.

[Clone]

I would be on board for this, human and NElf for Alliance, and orc and troll for Horde.

[KOUNTERPARTS]

Ehhhhhhhh...


After reading that, they shouldn't have been a playable class NOR a playable race.

[Razion]

I would be on board for this, human and NElf for Alliance, and orc and troll for Horde.

A formerly Forsaken of the Royal Apothecary Society found in Pyrewood Village as a Worgen in Classic went by the name Apothecary Berard. Berard the Moon-Crazed in the current game is likely him. There's certainly more room for other examples of the Worgen Curse spreading to other races still (such as the Tomes of Karazhan and the Grizzly Hills).

[Varvara Spiros Gelashvili]

I would be on board for this, human and NElf for Alliance, and orc and troll for Horde.

I'd prefer horde got there own weird mutation. No copy and pasta along factions anymore. Blood elves with purple skins were cancerous enough.

[bloodmoth13]

This was my opinion too. No worgen even fights as another class, they fight with claws instead. The fantasy of worgen is being a werewolf, its ridiculous that you can play a human that transforms into this feral musclebound primal beast, only to shoot fireballs from a wand...
The culture of gilneans is cool and all, but i think worgen are goofy as shit. Im certain if they ever make wow2 they will make worgen an option for druids

[LemonDemonGirl]

Ok, if they were going to be Faction specific, what would the Horde get? Vampires?

[Zuben]

Worgen affliction is supposed to be this great strength boost, there was a whole comic about how op it's supposed to be, but it doesn't translate to in-game power. Play a worgen, you are just as powerful as the rest of the races. That's a noticeable weirdness, but then again we could argue other races should differ in power as well (e.g. tauren warrior Vs gnome warrior). Since the game understandably homogenizes everyone to the same base level of power the worgen race option is less about their affliction and more about Gilnean aesthetic difference to Stormwind, same as Kul Tiras. In that sense they pass as a race option.

I think void elves are far more disbelief-inducing. They are elves, high and blood, coming together by infusing void into their mind and bodies. Why do they do that? Because it grants them access to a great power, similar to worgen. Same as worgen this power doesn't translate to gameplay, the void elves are just as capable as any mundane race. Where the concept of void elves as a race fails more than worgen is that their transformation was by choice and came with a serious drawback: they constantly have to wrestle with the Void to keep their sanity. It's a great sacrifice to gain power. Which they essentially don't gain. Conceptually they are like demon hunters, but because they are a race instead of a class none of their Void existence is usable outside some silly racials that don't matter. The absurdity peaks when you see a void elf vendor. Why would anyone choose to be exiled from their homeland and constantly wrestle with their sanity if they're just going to live life as a merchant?

[AsheruWolf]

The Tomes of Karazhan as well as the Grizzly Hills worgen quest lines where the player can be afflicted with a bite that increasingly gets worse seems to imply consistently that without treatment any race could be turned.

I still love that quest chain as a Worgen...

NPC: WERE YOU BITTEN?
My Worgen: Errr.... Nope.
NPC: JUST ONE BITE CAN CHANGE YOU...
My Worgen: I'm Good... You know who your talking to right?

[Easyclassictopkeklel]

the thing is...nobody cares about wows shitty lore. ^^

[Maxilian]

And void elves could have been a class. I don't see any reason to play non-priest void elf.

I think the idea of a Warrior empowering it physical capacities with void magic is a cool theme

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Lorewise, if a worgen were to bit an orc and the orc ran away, wouldn't the orc later become a worgen? It just seem weird that only Gilneas humans are worgen when it's a curse that affects anyone alive. I guess they limited it to Gilneans for gameplay purposes..

Well... they would most likely turn into Feral worgens, the Alliance is, at the moment, the only one that have a way to "regain" their sanity, with the NE ritual and there's the Gilnean potion that temporarily give you back your sanity.

So IMHO it makes sense that we don't see it in the Horde.

Also i like to think that the Worgens (Gilneans) try not to pass on the curse, reason why when they fight using their "natural weapons", they mostly stick to using their claws.

[Maxilian]

Worgens should be a race, but better done, like actually giving birth to new worgens

they should also have a full wolf form, for rp and awesomeness purposes

It doesn't bother me that much that they do not have baby worgens, but i would like this to be worked on, i mean...

In Heartstone (yeah not the best source), the Genn greymane card says when he's summoned: "This curse has become our greatest strength.", so maybe expand on this, making the Gilnean completely embrace the curse, maybe getting the curse become a "rite" of passage to adulthood or something like that.

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What bothers me though is that both Night elves and humans can be worgen. Although one could argue that forsaken have a comparable situation as there are Dark Rangers, but we just don't get to play them.

Well to be fair, that problem is not only for the Worgens, is the same for Lightforged, Void Elves and, you could even say, Mecha-gnomes.

I do hope that someday they give the Worgen the option to have their humanoid form be a human or a NE, and let the LF expand their teachings to other races, like Humans (i mean... the head of the LF is a human)

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BTW, i do agree that Worgens should be able to use their claws more often regardless of class.

All Worgen should get the Monk option to just hide your weapon, so you can fight with your claws.

[matrix123mko]

I think the idea of a Warrior empowering it physical capacities with void magic is a cool theme.

Fair point. However, I would like more purple effects then.

[Sagenod]

What about the Tauren? Heckin minotaurs that are stronger and more durable than any of the other playable races. If you want a Worgen class then how about a Tauren class?

[Pachycrocuta]

If we turn worgen into a class, then the forsaken should be turned into a class. Undeath can affect any race.

[AsheruWolf]

The real problem with Worgen lore right now is the fact new Worgen can't be made...

And yes before you tell me... But Asheru in the Heritage Armor quest Tess tells you she would have the champion give her the curse if her father would not...

Well one issue about that. It took a Night Elf ritual with the Scythe of Elune to tame the feral curse... The Scythe of Elune is now depowered thanks to using it to save Azeroth so... Any newly bitten Worgen will become feral... Such a joy to have a well written lore.