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Originally Posted by
Nindoriel
The story behind the Death Knights is that they are already champions when the Lich King takes them and turns them into Death Knights. Elwynn does not train people to be Death Knights. Nor would Darnassus train their people to be Demon Hunters. Unless Blizzard whips up a story where Death Knights first come to the Alliance and the Horde and then offer Level 1 players to turn them into undead, unless they make Demon Hunters, a secret organization that has nothing to do with the Alliance and the Horde, joins Darnassus and Silvermoon, I don't see how they would make sense as a level 1 character.
Demon Hunters have to at least have an explanation as to why they're there, and that can best be done in their own starting zone. The Demon Hunters have a lot of backstory. The rituals they go through, blinding themselves, fusing with demonic energies, becoming partly demonic themselves. There is no class identity in the normal starting zones, aside from one quest of a trainer. They would not do the Demon Hunter justice if they did not deal with what it means to be a Demon Hunter. If you're a level 1 Demon Hunter, you're already wearing a blindfold, you have demonic vision, tattoes all over your body, you already have demonic appearance, you can turn into a demon, you already have powerful glaives - and then the questgiver tells you to go kill some boars - that does not sound interesting.
It's much better to have a whole starting zone dedicated to what it means to be a Demon Hunter. You arrive as a Level 75 player for example. You're a Night Elf warrior, you've already seen a lot, already fought in a lot of battles. Then the first quest explains how you even got here. Your character was always interested in the powers of a Demon Hunter and in his research came across information that led him to this secret Demon Hunter cult. He learns what it means to be a Demon Hunter and goes through the rituals step by step. You fight your own demons as a rite of passage and so on. At the end of the experience, which could be around level 80, you are a full-fledged Demon Hunter. Then you can have a story that explains why you would now assist your old faction again, for example the Demon Hunters can feel the return of the Legion in the very near future and send you back to your faction in order to offer help against the demons and form a symbiotic bond. You help us, we help you. We both have to be prepared for what is about to come. The Night Elves might not be easily persuaded to integrate them into their society (shit first the Highborne, now Demon Hunters, what's next?) but some of the other leaders might make a good case when they argue that their knowledge about demons might become useful, and we'll need all the manpower we can get.
A lot of this is similar to how Death Knights get their first own runeblade, how they engrave it in the forge, how they steal their own steed and turn it into a Deathcharger. How they are freed of the Lich King's control at the battle of Light's Hope. If the game does not introduce such a lore-heavy class properly, then it will be a big disappointment for many people. In any case, you can't tell me that a DK or a DH killing boars, wolves, gnolls or quillboar is feeling heroic.