Do you think that allied race lobbying actually works?

[RayoftheSun]

Some of the allied races are answers to people's requests over the years. Mechagnome, Zandalari, Maghar, Dark Iron Dwarf were all requested pretty regularly over the years, so in that sense these are answers to players' requests, yes.

But if you mean people coming up with 100 artificial examples of potential allied races since the release of the first allied race and now, then no, these aren't being used. People seem to misunderstand how long old concepts of things being released are. Vulpera were probably thought up as an allied race back when players were progressing Emerald Nightmare. Sethrak were never meant to be, and just because there were some people who wanted them in 8.0 and 8.1 doesn't mean they could happen.



There was definitely a vocal minority asking for mechagnome options over the years. If anything, this confirms how the forum reality does not reflect what the actual player base wants.

The mechagnome fanbase may be smaller, but I'd argue they are more deserving of mechagnomes then Sethrak fans are out of Sethrak. Reasons why:

1. They consistently and inecessantly trashed and dumped on the mechagnome fanbase and the race inself. And it wasn't just 1 or 2 people doing this. Just about every Sethrak fan I've met is like this. Especially the ones from the discord. I've also seen this to be the case with Vulpera fans.

2. They won't acknowledge the existence of mechagnome fans and always try to write them off as either being just 1 or 2 people or only wanted to spite Sethrak fans.

3. I have even seen mechagnome fans getting attacked and bullied by these people. The Sethrak fanbase is honestly probably the most toxic of the fanbases out of all allied race fanbases.

[Varodoc]

Though not the best solution, I do find Zandalari's moonkin form that looks like an Arakkoa to be pretty cool and to some degree satisfies the itch for Arakkoa. Not fully of course.

One thing I do wonder though. Blizzard did seem to explicitly add the high elf customization for high elf fans. This could counter the idea that they don't listen to some extent.

Those options should have been there since the beginning, even if Helfers didn't complain. Alleria the Ren'dorei leader retains her high elf form.

[Kithelle]

It's almost like locking them behind Mechagon was... bad.

Locking allied races behind awful rep grinds obviously wasn't the answer, and Blizzard finally realized it.

It's not like these restrictions have stopped people from unlocking other allied races...was either a lot of work or just a long slow grind (LF and VE were literally just slow grind doing the daily rep WQs) Gnomes are probably the least popular race in WoW. The numbers speak for themselves and they come in like MGs were a hugely popular allied race. I unlocked and play every allied race except Gnomes...I'm not pulling numbers out of my ass, it's the truth...there isn't a huge amount of MG fans.

I notice how they didn't say anything about VE or LF, even though they're both more popular than MG....they just lashed out at me because MG aren't popular.

[oblakoff]

The mechagnome fanbase may be smaller, but I'd argue they are more deserving of mechagnomes then Sethrak fans are out of Sethrak. Reasons why:

1. They consistently and inecessantly trashed and dumped on the mechagnome fanbase and the race inself. And it wasn't just 1 or 2 people doing this. Just about every Sethrak fan I've met is like this. Especially the ones from the discord. I've also seen this to be the case with Vulpera fans.

2. They won't acknowledge the existence of mechagnome fans and always try to write them off as either being just 1 or 2 people or only wanted to spite Sethrak fans.

3. I have even seen mechagnome fans getting attacked and bullied by these people. The Sethrak fanbase is honestly probably the most toxic of the fanbases out of all allied race fanbases.

Lets all agree that all three races mentioned in this post are a joke

[Kithelle]

Though not the best solution, I do find Zandalari's moonkin form that looks like an Arakkoa to be pretty cool and to some degree satisfies the itch for Arakkoa. Not fully of course.

One thing I do wonder though. Blizzard did seem to explicitly add the high elf customization for high elf fans. This could counter the idea that they don't listen to some extent.

I'm not saying they never listen, just they don't listen often....and sometimes it takes them bumbling and screwing things up before they admit that the players were right. I honestly would have waited till SL and just gotten High Elves as opposed to got Void Elves than later just just a Helf skin :|

[CheckThyself]

If so lets start lobbying for ogres!
Been wanting to play an ogre since new models for them came out in warlords of Draenor

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Flatly no. I've come to accept if it's a player race reskin, it's happening. If it's not, it's not happening.

Kul'tirans and Zandalari were core races that were refitted to Allied Races after they came up with the system.

[dcc626]

Of course it works. The rabble just needs to be loud enough.

hey, how you enjoying those accountwide essences? ....

[Kathranis]

Well, they definitely listen to player feedback. It's not the sole deciding factor, but I think if they see a lot of players clamoring for a specific race becoming playable, its priority in their big race list gets bumped up, and likewise if something isn't met with much if any positive reception, it'll fall down the list.

Whenever they develop a new non-playable humanoid race for the game now, there's an implicit understanding that they could become a potential allied race down the line, and I'm sure they're very conscious of that when designing them and when looking at player reactions. Some fail to make much of an impact (ankoan), others are immediately popular (vulpera).

And then you can look at the changes they've made to void elf and blood elf customization in SL and see that they very clearly do respond to feedback if it's loud enough and/or easily achievable enough.

[qwerty123456]

Not really. People wanted real mechagnomes and got amputee gnomes, people wanted Vykrul and they got obese humans, people wanted Yaungol and Taunka and got moose antlered tauren, people wanted high elves and got emo tentacle elves, people wanted sethrak and got amputee gnomes, etc....

[Swnem]

I would say it worked on Vulpera.

I do think it was s mistake to listen and screw the plan like that (i am convinced the Nazjatar goblins were gonna be it). But, it is nice they did. But, now they have to adapt for it. The Vulpera currently have little reason to be in the horde. So, their story needs to be developed now.

The devs listen, but it is very rare they do exactly what is suggested. They have this arrogance where they think they can improve every suggestion. But, often they do the opposite.

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The mechagnome fanbase may be smaller, but I'd argue they are more deserving of mechagnomes then Sethrak fans are out of Sethrak. Reasons why:

1. They consistently and inecessantly trashed and dumped on the mechagnome fanbase and the race inself. And it wasn't just 1 or 2 people doing this. Just about every Sethrak fan I've met is like this. Especially the ones from the discord. I've also seen this to be the case with Vulpera fans.

2. They won't acknowledge the existence of mechagnome fans and always try to write them off as either being just 1 or 2 people or only wanted to spite Sethrak fans.

3. I have even seen mechagnome fans getting attacked and bullied by these people. The Sethrak fanbase is honestly probably the most toxic of the fanbases out of all allied race fanbases.

You forum feuds have no influence in dev decisions. Stop taking it personally. Playing the victim is what gets tiring.

Mechagnomes are in. There is no need to act that way to people that like other options. You are not a victim, you are the bully.

[Unholyground]

Well, void elves kinda show that it works. But clearly not if Blizzard doesnt find the race interesting.

Ogres must be the most requested with Naga. And the Jinju

You know what too both Ogre and Naga I would be ok with being neutral races, maybe give them unique skin tones to each faction as well so you can stick out a bit more if you want.

[Venziir]

Vulpera were always supposed to be an allied race. Even way back in the BFA beta they had datamined animations for handling the Heart of Azeroth, a heritage amor, two genders, quite a few customization options, could wear all sorts of gear AND had a unique dance. No, lobbying for allied races isn't and never was a thing.

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I would say it worked on Vulpera.

I do think it was s mistake to listen and screw the plan like that (i am convinced the Nazjatar goblins were gonna be it). But, it is nice they did. But, now they have to adapt for it. The Vulpera currently have little reason to be in the horde. So, their story needs to be developed now.

The devs listen, but it is very rare they do exactly what is suggested. They have this arrogance where they think they can improve every suggestion. But, often they do the opposite.

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You forum feuds have no influence in dev decisions. Stop taking it personally. Playing the victim is what gets tiring.

Mechagnomes are in. There is no need to act that way to people that like other options. You are not a victim, you are the bully.

Besides helping the Zandalari to a point where they even sit on the Zanchuli Council? Oh and let's not forget how the Horde saved them from the Alliance.

[Swnem]

Vulpera were always supposed to be an allied race. Even way back in the BFA beta they had datamined animations for handling the Heart of Azeroth, a heritage amor, two genders, quite a few customization options, could wear all sorts of gear AND had a unique dance. No, lobbying for allied races isn't and never was a thing.

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Besides helping the Zandalari to a point where they even sit on the Zanchuli Council? Oh and let's not forget how the Horde saved them from the Alliance.

Yeah, that is tacked on. The alliance has no reason to attack them. It was forced. Especially after BfA.

[Tziva]

Not really. I think Blizzard is interested in making allied races that the playerbase will like -- no one wants to sink a ton of time and resources into something their customers won't play -- so folks sharing what they are enthusiastic about probably has influence. However, I don't think they would make an allied race out of something that they didn't think was cool or that didn't fit into the story purely because people whined loudly, so I don't think "lobbying" as a concept works.

[Biomega]

I mean, sure, they SHOULD respond to what a lot of players want. That's only natural.

But where they draw the line between what is and is not enough players wanting something is still up to them, and most likely won't include weird and out-of-place demands - which, to be fair, are also unlikely to be requested by a lot of players in the first place so it all works out.

[Razion]

I think they should add what they think they can make the most fun. It doesn't do any good to fulfill popular demand if they think they can make something else more enjoyable. Like, would Gilgoblins have been more fun than Vulpera? As players we can say what we think is more fun to us conceptually, but the people who make the game at the end of the day at least should have a better grasp when it comes to making things for the game what they think will actually turn out to be more enjoyable - or at least, that's the hope anyway. Nowadays people may be a bit more cynical of the aptitude of the ability to determine these kinds of choices for us - hindsight is always 20/20 especially as players... even if we're the ones initially making the same suggestions for what actually ends up making it in and yet in the end it just doesn't turn out that great. Sometimes execution doesn't meet the expectation and over the years it has been pretty grating at least for those who are vocal about it.

I don't think a popularity contest necessarily makes the most fun games. Some games have been made that happened to be great which did meet player demands in the past - crowdfunded games, and certainly games that iterate a lot based on player feedback get a degree of success that way. But the feedback always has to be taken and considered and not adhered to blindly. Ideas are great and everything, but ability to execute is important too. If the result isn't going to meet expectation, I think in those cases it's better to get a hold on that early and make the decision to try something else that will.

Ultimately games are supposed to be entertaining if not fun, and games that don't meet expectations seems rife for disappointment especially if people are throwing around popular voted ideas into the mix -- because those ideas are the ones that are probably the easiest to break and not meet I think. A surprise feature that fails is a throw away, but a really popular much requested feature that fails is that much worse. But the payout when the surprise feature works, versus a popular requested feature that also works I think ultimately depends on execution which has to be caught by those making the game and those critically giving feedback during the creation process.

[owbu]

Of course that works. Blizzard has a whole department dedicated to collecting data on what players talk about.

You just cant do it alone. There needs to be a couple thousand other guys who want the thing you want.

[Venziir]

Yeah, that is tacked on. The alliance has no reason to attack them. It was forced. Especially after BfA.

Well duuh? The war is over. And the Alliance *did* have reason to attack them, they were aiding the Horde.

[RayoftheSun]

Not really. I think Blizzard is interested in making allied races that the playerbase will like -- no one wants to sink a ton of time and resources into something their customers won't play -- so folks sharing what they are enthusiastic about probably has influence. However, I don't think they would make an allied race out of something that they didn't think was cool or that didn't fit into the story purely because people whined loudly, so I don't think "lobbying" as a concept works.

I mean. There is mechagnomes. Those were added dispite the constant requests for Sethrak. Some people do like them though.

You just cant do it alone. There needs to be a couple thousand other guys who want the thing you want.

Sometimes there ideas that are good even though they may not be requested often.