Crypt Lord class now possible thanks to Dracthyr Evokers?

[Nightshade711]

Because Nerubians aren’t bears, and they’re not beasts.

Turtles aren’t bears.
And we’ve got druids in lore turning into spiders using the Nerubian models so…

Because Crypt Lords have unique abilities. Also even if we’ve talking about insect forms, the Druid class doesn’t have the ability set to properly represent it. Dinosaurs work with bear and cat form. Insects don’t.

They have had abilities to represent it. And they likely could have cosmetic glyphs to help with it should blizzard think it’s necessary. Even though it’s not necessary.

Only because they erroneously believe that Blizzard is going to reskin abilities to match the form.

They very well could with glyphs or some other customization system for spell visuals.
Blizzard made it clear that it’s at least on their radar. It’d be an easy win for them without needing to add in a new race or class two xpacs in a row.

[Teriz]

It’s pretty clear that a lot of the Evoker fantasy is based on Onyxia. Even in interviews before launch they compared Evoker’s visage to being “Onyxia in disguise” if we wanted.
Deep Breath in particular is literally Onyxia’s “breath” ability.
Tail swipe & Wing Buffer started with her too. Unless you’re gonna say Alexstraza in Hots existed before vanilla WoW.

Onyxia doesn’t have healing fire or life-binder attributes.

Um. They still do in classic. And the fantasy of it exists still in the Druid class across media like hots.

And in classic there’s no Adaptive Swarm, so it’s still one ability.

Which isn’t needed.
The fantasy of all of your """required""" abilities can be achieved with cosmetic glyphs or even a Druid of the Nightmare class skin, if Blizzard goes that route.

Except Blizzard isn’t going to do cosmetic glyphs just to prop up a form.

The fact that you say they’re even a “evil druid” kind of shows that.

Nothing wrong with using an existing class to help readers understand what I’m proposing. The simple fact of the matter is that this class concept has design space because the existing Druid class can’t house it.

[Nightshade711]

Onyxia doesn’t have healing fire or life-binder attributes.

No but other dragons have in lore (and pretty sure gameplay too) long before hots existed.

And in classic there’s no Adaptive Swarm, so it’s still one ability.

How does that make sense?
“These two abilities exist in the games but because they’re not put together only one ability exists”

Except Blizzard isn’t going to do cosmetic glyphs just to prop up a form.

Um, the glyphs wouldn’t be to just prop up a form.
They’d be supplemental to each other with the whole “Druid of the nightmare” theme.

Nothing wrong with using an existing class to help readers understand what I’m proposing. The simple fact of the matter is that this class concept has design space because the existing Druid class can’t house it.

There’s nothing saying the Druid class couldn’t house it.
Visually OR lore wise.

[Teriz]

Turtles aren’t bears.
And we’ve got druids in lore turning into spiders using the Nerubian models so…

But they’re beasts, and according to Blizzard, they’re the Dino version of bears.

They have had abilities to represent it. And they likely could have cosmetic glyphs to help with it should blizzard think it’s necessary. Even though it’s not necessary.

Uh a single ability isn’t enough to represent anything. It’s like saying Mage Dragon Breath is enough to represent dragons.

They very well could with glyphs or some other customization system for spell visuals.
Blizzard made it clear that it’s at least on their radar. It’d be an easy win for them without needing to add in a new race or class two xpacs in a row.

Again, they’re not going to completely redraw an existing Druid class with glyphs over simply implementing a new class. That’s nonsense.

[Nightshade711]

But they’re beasts, and according to Blizzard, they’re the Dino version of bears.

Sure and beetles can be the insect version of a bear.

Uh a single ability isn’t enough to represent anything. It’s like saying Mage Dragon Breath is enough to represent dragons.

Of course not. That’s why you’ve got a long list of lore tying insects to druids & druids of the nightmare.

Again, they’re not going to completely redraw an existing Druid class with glyphs over simply implementing a new class. That’s nonsense.

“Simply” implementing a new class. If it were so “simple” then why not add a new class every xpac? They could’ve made a new class fit every time we didn’t get one.

Besides as I said, Blizzard said it’s on their radar, they likely wouldn’t do that if they didn’t have any intentions of acting on it.

[Teriz]

No but other dragons have in lore (and pretty sure gameplay too) long before hots existed.

Yeah, red dragons, which is what Alexstraza is.

How does that make sense?
“These two abilities exist in the games but because they’re not put together only one ability exists”

Because in no playable version of WoW can you have those abilities in your spell book at the same time.

Um, the glyphs wouldn’t be to just prop up a form.
They’d be supplemental to each other with the whole “Druid of the nightmare” theme.

Yes, again propping up the form.

There’s nothing saying the Druid class couldn’t house it.
Visually OR lore wise.

They can’t house it because the class lacks the abilities to do it.

[Nightshade711]

Yes, again propping up the form.

If you say so, but you’re conveniently forgetting that druids of the nightmare exist.

They can’t house it because the class lacks the abilities to do it.

Lore wise they do, as said.
And there’s no reason they couldn’t add Druid of the nightmare themed cosmetic glyphs. (Or a class skin)

[Teriz]

Sure and beetles can be the insect version of a bear.

The Crypt Lord is not a bear.

Of course not. That’s why you’ve got a long list of lore tying insects to druids & druids of the nightmare.

Druid of the Nightmare is the opposite thematic of the playable Druid class.

“Simply” implementing a new class. If it were so “simple” then why not add a new class every xpac? They could’ve made a new class fit every time we didn’t get one.

Besides as I said, Blizzard said it’s on their radar, they likely wouldn’t do that if they didn’t have any intentions of acting on it.

It's "simply" compared to creating a mirror spec that is full of abilities mechanically tied to another spec. Blizzard tried that with Paladin and Shaman and it failed spectacularly.

What you're arguing for here is if Blizzard took Retribution Paladin during WotLK and created a Death Knight made entirely out of glyphs instead of "simply" creating the Death Knight class. If that sounds completely terrible, that's because it is.

- - - Updated - - -

If you say so, but you’re conveniently forgetting that druids of the nightmare exist.

Nerubians aren't Druids of the Nightmare, and the playable Druid class can't be Nightmare druids.

Lore wise they do, as said.

Which means absolutely nothing. Lorewise a Paladin can become a Death Knight. Gameplay-wise players can't turn their Paladin into a Death Knight. So the lore really doesn't matter much in that case.

And there’s no reason they couldn’t add Druid of the nightmare themed cosmetic glyphs. (Or a class skin)

Outside of it taking a massive amount of development time for a decidedly niche purpose? Outside the fact that a glyphed out Druid can't properly provide the fantasy requested?

[Nightshade711]

The Crypt Lord is not a bear.

Neither is a turtle.

Druid of the Nightmare is the opposite thematic of the playable Druid class.

Same could’ve been said for Thornspeakers who focus a bit more on the “death” side of the cycle and use drust magic.


Dark Rangers are the opposite thematic of the hunter class, yet they’re represented in the hunter class especially with customization and a single ability.
(Hunters with their wide variety of nature based abilities)

Nerubians aren't Druids of the Nightmare, and the playable Druid class can't be Nightmare druids.

Except we got druids of the nightmare using forms that have the classic nerubuan skeleton.

Which means absolutely nothing. Lorewise a Paladin can become a Death Knight. Gameplay-wise players can't turn their Paladin into a Death Knight. So the lore really doesn't matter much in that case.

Sure you can it’s called rerolling.

Outside of it taking a massive amount of development time for a decidedly niche purpose?

That’s not saying blizzard can’t do it.
If they can make new spell visuals for a new class and every raid/dungeon/NPC then surely it won’t be too much extra effort for a class skin.

Outside the fact that a glyphed out Druid can't properly provide the fantasy requested?

So being a humanoid that can turn into bug using bug abilities isn’t fulfilling the fantasy of a humanoid turning into a bug using bug abilities?

[Teriz]

Dude it makes sense for ANY “animalish mob type” to disguise himself in humanoid form to avoid other humanoids be scared to death but we just can’t have all of them in a playable form.

Who said all? The Nerubians are simply a highly intelligent race of spider people who fit all the necessary criteria for race/class inclusion outside of their bodies simply not being very compatible with armor and weaponry. You give them a humanoid form to bridge that gap. It sort of helps that there are other Aqir races that already have humanoid forms, including the Nerubians themselves.

I can’t honestly see all these people interested in playing as a Nerubian.

I can, since Azjol Nerub is a popular expansion concept, and if Blizzard goes the route of shapeshifting, this class can be an alternative to the Druid class. Especially those Druid players looking to be more like Nightmare Druids.

- - - Updated - - -

Neither is a turtle.

According to Blizzard, it's the Zalandari version of a bear, hence why its called bear form.

Same could’ve been said for Thornspeakers who focus a bit more on the “death” side of the cycle and use drust magic.

Thornspeakers didn't exist until Blizzard needed a KT Druid. In other words, that lore exists solely to justify KT Druids.

The Crypt Lord predates the WoW Druid class.

Dark Rangers are the opposite thematic of the hunter class, yet they’re represented in the hunter class especially with customization and a single ability.
(Hunters with their wide variety of nature based abilities)

Actually that's false. Hunters had access to black arrow for years, and have Wailing Arrow currently in their talents. Also Dark Rangers had several standard arrow abilities lifted from Hunters. The Dark Ranger was always linked to Hunters, especially when they showed up in the Hunter class hall during Legion.

Except we got druids of the nightmare using forms that have the classic nerubuan skeleton.

And I have no issue with Blizzard utilizing Elereth Renferal as a basis for a spider-based Crypt lord spec.

Blizzard can do it that way since there's no way to do it on the playable Druid class.

Sure you can it’s called rerolling.

Which would mean I'm a completely different character, not my paladin.

That’s not saying blizzard can’t do it.

The certainly can do it. The issue is that there's no reason for them to do it because it would mechanically restrict Druids, and this concept.

If they can make new spell visuals for a new class and every raid/dungeon/NPC then surely it won’t be too much extra effort for a class.

It would actually take more effect because abilities for the Nerubian would be mechanically tied to the existing Druid class, instead of Blizzard being able to work with a clean slate.

So being a humanoid that can turn into bug using bug abilities isn’t fulfilling the fantasy of a humanoid turning into a bug using bug abilities?

So we're back to believing that Blizzard is going to redraw the entire Druid class to give them a Crypt Lord form? That's complete nonsense. A race/class coming in with an Azjol-Nerub expansion is far more likely and feasible.

[Ielenia]

Because Nerubians aren’t bears,

Dinosaurs aren't bears either. And yet they're still using bear abilities.

Draining life force from one to restore the DK is pretty much Blood magic. That’s what Death Pact did.

Draining life force.... from undead units?

Well not really, since runic weapons are a core aspect of the DK class. If that Titan weapon was a core aspect of the Paladin class, then your argument would be relevant.

Here's the thing, though: the "ice power" was something that was exclusive to the Frostmourne, if we go by what WC3 has shown us about the DK unit in the campaigns and multiplayer maps. The player DK does not wield Frostmourne.

Because Crypt Lords have unique abilities.

So what? We don't need those specific abilities as long as the end product adequately represents the Crypt Lords from WC3. And since you consider the dracthyr and evokers to "properly represent" Alexstrasza from HotS (especially when a considerable number of people disagree with you), this feels incredibly double-standard-y out of you.

Also even if we’ve talking about insect forms, the Druid class doesn’t have the ability set to properly represent it.

Your discussion with others in this thread regarding that subject say otherwise. They can fit, especially if ability graphic customization through glyphs are allowed.

Dinosaurs work with bear and cat form. Insects don’t.

I don't see why one would work but the other wouldn't.

It’s rather unavoidable.

It is very avoidable, really, especially since you already admitted that the lore can be altered to allow basically anything and everything. But regardless, it's still bad faith to just constantly flip-flop between "game mechanics" and "lore" every other post, and then act as if the conversation has "always been about game mechanics".

Only because they erroneously believe that Blizzard is going to reskin abilities to match the form.

"Erroneous". You can't say they're being in error in believing that since you have no concrete, objective evidence that Blizzard is not and won't ever do something akin to what they're suggesting. That'd be like me saying that you "erroneously" believe Blizzard one day will add a tinker class. I can't say that because I have no knowledge about what Blizzard would and wouldn't add to the game.

[Teriz]

Dinosaurs aren't bears either. And yet they're still using bear abilities.

It's a reptile bear. Just like the cat form is a reptile cat.

Draining life force.... from undead units?

It is what it is.

Here's the thing, though: the "ice power" was something that was exclusive to the Frostmourne, if we go by what WC3 has shown us about the DK unit in the campaigns and multiplayer maps. The player DK does not wield Frostmourne.

We're talking about their vampiric runic blades, not frostmorne.

So what? We don't need those specific abilities as long as the end product adequately represents the Crypt Lords from WC3. And since you consider the dracthyr and evokers to "properly represent" Alexstrasza from HotS (especially when a considerable number of people disagree with you), this feels incredibly double-standard-y out of you.

Uh, the Evoker class is loaded with draconic abilities from Warcraft's dragon heroes. Are going to somehow load up the Druid class with abilities from the Crypt Lord, Anub 'Arak HotS, Anub 'Rekhan from WoW, and various insect-based NPCs?

I don't think so.

Your discussion with others in this thread regarding that subject say otherwise. They can fit, especially if ability graphic customization through glyphs are allowed.

And there's zero chance Blizzard would completely reskin the Druid class with glyphs to accommodate such a theme. Again, it'd be like Blizzard reskinning the Paladin class with glyphs to make them into DKs. They created a new class instead of trying to perform that debacle, and that's what they'd do in this case as well.

I don't see why one would work but the other wouldn't.

Because there's no unique abilities that dinosaurs possess that the Druid class can't emulate. Druids can't emulate the abilities necessary to make the Crypt Lord a viable concept.

"Erroneous". You can't say they're being in error in believing that since you have no concrete, objective evidence that Blizzard is not and won't ever do something akin to what they're suggesting. That'd be like me saying that you "erroneously" believe Blizzard one day will add a tinker class. I can't say that because I have no knowledge about what Blizzard would and wouldn't add to the game.

Yeah, I don't need concrete evidence to state that Blizzard isn't going to reskin an entire class to create a thematically opposing concept. Blizzard didn't do it with Paladins and DKs, they didn't do it with Warlocks and Demon Hunters, they didn't do it with Mages and Dragons, and they wouldn't do it with Druids and Nerubians. The notion is patently absurd.

[Ielenia]

It's a reptile bear. Just like the cat form is a reptile cat.

By the simple fact it's a "reptile", it means it's not a bear. By that logic, we can say the nerubian tanking for is an "insectoid bear" even if it doesn't graphically resemble an actual bear.

It is what it is.

So not blood magic, since it is used on undead units.

Uh, the Evoker class is loaded with draconic abilities from Warcraft's dragon heroes. Are going to somehow load up the Druid class with abilities from the Crypt Lord, Anub 'Arak HotS, Anub 'Rekhan from WoW, and various insect-based NPCs?

Give them more abilities? No need. A glyph that alters the graphic effects of some of the abilities? I don't see why not.

And there's zero chance Blizzard would completely reskin the Druid class with glyphs to accommodate such a theme.

You don't know that. You don't know if there's zero chance, or 100% chance, or 50% chance.

Again, it'd be like Blizzard reskinning the Paladin class with glyphs to make them into DKs.

They could still do it to bring a possible "void melee" concept into the game.

Because there's no unique abilities that dinosaurs possess that the Druid class can't emulate. Druids can't emulate the abilities necessary to make the Crypt Lord a viable concept.

They could if given glyphs to change the appearance of some of their abilities.

Yeah, I don't need concrete evidence

Actually, you're wrong. You do need concrete evidence if you're going to make statements of fact. If you position is that Blizzard is never going to do X, then you need to show evidence. Otherwise you're just stating your own biased opinion as fact.

Blizzard didn't do it with Paladins

They could still very well do if they decide a "void melee" concept would be better suited as a reskin of the paladin class and its abilities instead of its own separate class, for example.

they didn't do it with Warlocks and Demon Hunters,

Arguably they did, when they gave the Metamorphosis ability to the warlock, and kept expanding on it until Warlords of Draenor.

they wouldn't do it with Druids and Nerubians.

You don't know that. Maybe they will.

The notion is patently absurd.

That is nothing but your own opinion. You're free to have it, but you shouldn't state it as fact.

[Nightshade711]

According to Blizzard, it's the Zalandari version of a bear, hence why its called bear form.

Just like a beetle would be the insect version of a bear when/if its added.

Thornspeakers didn't exist until Blizzard needed a KT Druid. In other words, that lore exists solely to justify KT Druids.

So they couldn’t do this with something like Undead druids that use Nerubian inspired insect forms?

Especially since there’s already lore prescient for druids turning into insects with nerubian models?

Actually that's false. Hunters had access to black arrow for years, and have Wailing Arrow currently in their talents. Also Dark Rangers had several standard arrow abilities lifted from Hunters. The Dark Ranger was always linked to Hunters, especially when they showed up in the Hunter class hall during Legion.

“Druids had access to Insect Swarm for years, and currently have Adaptive Swarm in their talents. Insects were always linked to Druids, especially when they showed in-game shifting into insects during Legion.”

And I have no issue with Blizzard utilizing Elereth Renferal as a basis for a spider-based Crypt lord spec

Blizzard can do it that way since there's no way to do it on the playable Druid class.

You seem to be confusing the words “can’t” and “won’t”.
You’ve yet to provide a single thing saying how blizzard COULDN’T just apply this whole fantasy to druids if they wanted.

The certainly can do it. The issue is that there's no reason for them to do it because it would mechanically restrict Druids, and this concept.

How would it “mechanically restrict druids”?

Cosmetic glyphs never mechanically restricted any class.
Green fire didn’t mechanically restrict warlocks.
Rank 4 essences didn’t mechanically restrict the Azerite essences.

It would actually take more effect because abilities for the Nerubian would be mechanically tied to the existing Druid class, instead of Blizzard being able to work with a clean slate.

Huh?
So you’re saying that:
Reskinning a few abilities.

Is harder to do than;

Generating a whole new class with 4 talent trees, code each ability within the talent tree, add animations and spell visuals for each ability
AND
Generating a whole new race with it’s own racials (with its own coding, balancing, and animations), animate and code a complex set of animations (mind you it’d need every emote), and voice acting for two body types?

So we're back to believing that Blizzard is going to redraw the entire Druid class to give them a Crypt Lord form? That's complete nonsense. A race/class coming in with an Azjol-Nerub expansion is far more likely and feasible.

“The class nobody else asked for is more likely than a concept the community has been asking for forever and that the Game Director even mentioned they took notice of”
Huh

[Teriz]

OP Updated.

By the simple fact it's a "reptile", it means it's not a bear. By that logic, we can say the nerubian tanking for is an "insectoid bear" even if it doesn't graphically resemble an actual bear.

If its not a bear, then why does it still say Bear Form?

So not blood magic, since it is used on undead units.

It did the exact same thing in WotLK and it was listed as a blood ability;

https://www.wowhead.com/wotlk/spell=48743/death-pact

Give them more abilities? No need. A glyph that alters the graphic effects of some of the abilities? I don't see why not.

The hilarious thing about all of this is that they gave Zalandari druids a bear form and a cat form with a reptile skin and called it "Bear Form" and "Cat Form" instead of giving them a Direhorn model and a Raptor model (which they could have easily done), and renaming the abilities Direhorn Form and Raptor Form. Yet you guys actually believe those same developers are going to give Druids a Crypt Lord form and redraw multiple abilities to accommodate said form.

You don't know that. You don't know if there's zero chance, or 100% chance, or 50% chance.

See the Zalandari Druid example. There's zero chance.

They could still do it to bring a possible "void melee" concept into the game.

See the Zalandari Druid example. They're not going to do it.

Actually, you're wrong. You do need concrete evidence if you're going to make statements of fact. If you position is that Blizzard is never going to do X, then you need to show evidence. Otherwise you're just stating your own biased opinion as fact.

Fine, use the Zalandari Druid example. They had Dinomancer Zalandari trolls, Direhorn models, Raptor models, and even abilities from Dinomancers called Direhorn Form and Raptor Form, and you still got nothing more than a reskinned cat and bear form. Again, if you think the same people that did that are going to do what you're proposing, you're sorely mistaken.

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Just like a beetle would be the insect version of a bear when/if its added.

So they couldn’t do this with something like Undead druids that use Nerubian inspired insect forms?

Especially since there’s already lore prescient for druids turning into insects with nerubian models?

I'll repeat;

The hilarious thing about all of this is that they gave Zalandari druids a bear form and a cat form with a reptile skin and called it "Bear Form" and "Cat Form" instead of giving them a Direhorn model and a Raptor model (which they could have easily done), and renaming the abilities Direhorn Form and Raptor Form. Yet you guys actually believe those same developers are going to give Druids a Crypt Lord form and redraw multiple abilities to accommodate said form.

“Druids had access to Insect Swarm for years, and currently have Adaptive Swarm in their talents. Insects were always linked to Druids, especially when they showed in-game shifting into insects during Legion.”

It's one ability. Evokers have several red dragon abilities in multiple specs.

You seem to be confusing the words “can’t” and “won’t”.
You’ve yet to provide a single thing saying how blizzard COULDN’T just apply this whole fantasy to druids if they wanted.

See Zalandari Druid dino forms.

How would it “mechanically restrict druids”?

Cosmetic glyphs never mechanically restricted any class.
Green fire didn’t mechanically restrict warlocks.
Rank 4 essences didn’t mechanically restrict the Azerite essences.

Because Green Fire wasn't thematically opposite of Warlock's theme. Nightmare Druids and Crypt Lords are thematically opposite of the Druid class' theme. Further, it mechanically restricts Druids because Blizzard has to construct abilities with the insect form in mind- Unless it's a gimmick.

“The class nobody else asked for is more likely than a concept the community has been asking for forever and that the Game Director even mentioned they took notice of”
Huh

Again, see Zandalari Druid dino forms. You guys thinking that Blizzard is going to go all out with these customization glyphs are seriously overblowing things.

[Grapejuicee]

Race/combo thing ain't a real thing. Dracthyr getting more classes has been more or less confirmed.

And where it takes 2 years or 10, evokers will eventually make it to mortal races.

[Nightshade711]

It's one ability. Evokers have several red dragon abilities in multiple specs.

Yeah, and Wailing Arrow is one ability.

Everything you say in saying “Dark Rangers are represented by hunters” could easily be made for “Nerubians are represented by druids”

Which is funny because Crypt Lords are even classified as Druids in Hearthstone lol

Again, see Zandalari Druid dino forms. You guys thinking that Blizzard is going to go all out with these customization glyphs are seriously overblowing things.

Yeah Zandalari forms.
One of which has a completely unique skeleton & animations compared to literally every race’s forms.

They could easily do that again if they wanted to.
But then again they might not even have to, it won’t be hard to adapt Nerubian-themed forms into the bear and cat skeleton.

Just like they somehow fit dinosaur-themed forms into Zandalari’s bear/cat forms.

[Vaedan]

https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Visage_(racial)

Well, yes... and your point is?

A player sized dragon is still a dragon.

Dracthyr are mortal and dragon hybrids, a product of Neltharion's experiments. If you are unaware of that, go and play the game. By being hybrids, even their physique is different and more humanoid. They are not the same species as Alexstrasza and thus can't transform into a dragon form like hers.

See Deep Breath or Breath of Eons.

Wrong. You probably don't know much about Evokers. Deep Breath or Breath of Eons does not protect you while airborn, as I said in my previous post. Alexstrasza's heroic takes her to skies where is untargetable and avoid everything on the battlefield. This is not the case with Evokers. While they share a skill in which they fly and breath to their targets below, it is mechanicaly different. A DH and priest PvP talents would be actually more similar to what Alex does in HotS.

Also, Deep Breath is Black and Breath of Eons is bronze, so Alex can't do that. She is red.

Again, where did I say that they’re exactly alike?

Page 17. You said evokers can do everything Alexstrasza can do. I said it is not true... not on the mechanical level. They only share draconic theme.

Again in both cases you have a character switching in and out of visage form into dragon form and dealing damage or healing using red (and green) dragon abilities.

And again, it is just thematic overlap, actual mechanics are different. Evokers play nothing like Alexstrasza from HotS. If she is their source material, they evolved past her concept.

Yet Abundance is a green spell and entered the Evoker class as Emerald Blossom.

Abundance is life spell. Save for its animation nothing indicates it is spell used by green dragons and we have never seen any green dragon to cast one. Emerald Blossom is different thing. Both is ground AoE with delay, one heals for static amount of health, one scales with target max HP. The source inspiration is clear, but again, different spells, different effects.
I also hope that I don't have to remind you that in WoW, dragons can't use spells of other flights. That is also reason why Deathwing experimented in creation of Dracthyr and later chromatic dragons. He wanted ultimate dragons who will be able to wield power of all flights. Red dragons can't use powers of green dragons.

Oh? Before Alexstraza which one?

Basicaly every dragon in game? To name few dragons which were in game before WotLK: Onyxia. Nefarian. Sapphiron. Nightbane... plus countless non named dragon mobs all around the world.

So again we’re going to ignore visage form, the ability to heal and deal damage with fire, the mastery being based on Alex, multiple abilities in the Evoker class that directly come from Alex HotS, etc.?

Again, I am saying that all these are thematic inspiration, most of them comes from general abilities of any dragon in WoW universe - visage forms, using wings and tail in combat to knock their enemies. It is nothing special to Alex. The rest is just theme which did not translate precisely to the Evoker gameplay as it is on Alexstrasza in HotS. It feels similar, but it is different. Class mechanics are different and you can hardly say that static burst single target healer which Alex is in HotS captures what evoker is in WoW - a highly mobile class, centered around hots and time-reversion. Two completely different things.

Except Druids no longer have insect swarm, so that just leaves adaptive swarm, which is a single ability. Again, we have dozens of red dragon abilities in the Evoker class, so how is the single insect-based ability comparable?

Are you sure it is dozens?
Living Flame, Fire Breath, Cauterizing Flame, Renewing Blaze are all red abilities Preservation gets... 4 abilities are not dozens. While Preservation has some use of Red spells, these are mostly part of Devastation, a DPS spec. You should probably log into a game and play the class.

No matter, it is not really important how many spells at this moment the one class or the other has. The insect theme is already part of druid and was from the very beginning of WoW. At this time, it is underused theme for druids, but nobody can say it can't change.

Which are completely irrelevant since they’re not combat forms, and they have no corresponding ability beyond the form.

Why exactly are non-combat abilities irrelevant? Is visage form also irrelevant for evokers? If so, why do you always point them as one of the examples how they are connected to Alexstrasza?
Travel forms are as relevant as any other abilities. They are precedent that Blizzard made the effort and made special druid forms which are completely different to default forms. We even have different forms available to all races through glyphs and also special racial forms, like bats, ptaerodactyls and zandalari moonkin (which is also completely different to what other moonkin forms are).

One insect spell in WoW is not “some”. Btw, you know it’s slim pickings when we have to use Hearthstone cards for WoW abilities.

Yes, for now it is... but it does not change a fact that the insect theme is part of druid archetype in WoW. Also, picking Hearthstone is as good as picking HotS, which you seem to be focused for Alex and Evokers.

[Teriz]

Race/combo thing ain't a real thing. Dracthyr getting more classes has been more or less confirmed.

And where it takes 2 years or 10, evokers will eventually make it to mortal races.

It isn't confirmed, and Blizzard themselves called Dracthyr Evokers a race/class combo on multiple occasions.

[Ielenia]

If its not a bear, then why does it still say Bear Form?

Because it's just an ability name. Just like how the zandalri guardian druid's ability is called "Ironfur" despite the dinosaur having no fur, only scales. Much like tauren priests having a talent called "Light of the Naaru" despite the fact tauren priests don't worship the light or the Naaru.

It did the exact same thing in WotLK and it was listed as a blood ability;

https://www.wowhead.com/wotlk/spell=48743/death-pact

That doesn't really count because this is an ability created for the DK, and it could be argued that it was moved to the Blood spec to even out the ability listings.

The hilarious thing about all of this is that they gave Zalandari druids a bear form and a cat form with a reptile skin and called it "Bear Form" and "Cat Form" instead of giving them a Direhorn model and a Raptor model (which they could have easily done), and renaming the abilities Direhorn Form and Raptor Form. Yet you guys actually believe those same developers are going to give Druids a Crypt Lord form and redraw multiple abilities to accommodate said form.

They didn't give the zandalari druids a completely new, different shapeshifting abilities. It's actually the exact same abilities as the night elf and tauren druids. The only difference is that the ability has a different graphic due to the race. It's not hard to get an ability to have different forms depending on the race.

And you can see that right now because in the game exists only one "Bear Form" and only one "Cat Form" for the druid class, and not different "form" abilities for each race.

There's zero chance.

See the Zalandari Druid example. They're not going to do it.

That is just your bias talking with zero concrete evidence.

you're sorely mistaken.

The only one "sorely mistaken" here is you as you continue to assert your own opinion as facts with zero evidence aside from your own biases.