9.0 prepatch allied race

[vertigo12]

Introduction of Allied Races in Legion
Vanilla faction somewhat removed/discontinued
-Zandalari Troll as faction (slated in Cataclysm)
-Thorium Brotherhood as Darkiron Dwarves
- Timbermaw Hold (still neutral race)
- Ogrilla (Outland)
- an Arakoan race

Cycle 1 Allied races:. Introduced in late Legion/BfA pre-purchase
From Pre-BfA Legion Allied Races
Total released number of races: 8
Legion 7.3.5
HMT, Nightborne (both faction in Legion Broken Isles Zone)
Void Elves, Lightforged (faction in Legion Argus Zone)
Cycle 2 Allied races BfA proper
Mag'har Orcs and Darkiron Dwarves 8.1 official unlock (after completion/exalted other faction in enemy territory)
BfA - KT and Zandalari Troll
8.1.5 Siege of Zul'dazar: Zandalari Trolls and Kul'tirans (officially unlockable but marketed pre-BfA)


Some allied races will come with 9.0 pre-purchase:
8.1 Vulpera and Sethrak (as faction) Zandalar zone faction might go full Horde*
8.2 Rise of Azshara patch: Gilblins (Unshackled) and Deepsea Jinyu(Ankoan) , Mechagnomes (Rustbolt Resistance)

8.2.5 Warfront Outland races Saberon and Botani (probably have taken refuge in the Overgrowth) in the Barrens Draenor refuge race might go full Alliance similar to Argus zone.
8.3 Sanlayn and Lightbound ???
8.3.5 - ???

Wildcard allied race: Tortollan neutral race. (Pandaren equivalent for 9.0)

Update NEW SECTION 9.x candidates
-Highborne/High Elf or as customization for Void Elves/Blood Elves and/or Nightborne pre Nightwell Era
- Vrykul c/o Human and/or Kul'tirans
- Mogu by Zandalar Trolls
- Furlborgs either neutral or Horde/Alliance: recruited by Tauren/NE

Summary: Some alied race will be unlocked by the end of the expansion and prior to pre-patch of the next expansion 9.0 as part of the pre-purchase. Some allied races will be unlockable at 9.x similar to DID/MO and ZT/KTH

Race Overview across the Game:

Classic/Vanilla/Original Flavor races:

A: Human, Dwarf, Gnome, Night Elf
H: Orc,Tauren,Troll,Forsaken
Game release date and playability: Nov 2004
Total count:8 for 3 years

BC to Cata:

- BE,Draenei
BC release date and playability: Jan 2007

-Worgen,Goblin
Total count:4
Cata release date and playability: 2010

Total count:4 for 3 years


MoP: 1 Neutral Race - Pandaren
WoD:n/a
Game feature update: lift the ban from playing a specific race tied to a certain expac and all can be played regardless.
Game release date:Nov 2014


Legion:LFD,HMT,VE,NB (introduced as allied race in 7.3.5 and BfA pre-purchase)
Unlockable as of January 2018, April 2018 latest build of 7 3 5
Total Number:4
BfA: DiD(from Vanilla),MO(from BC as faction/WoD),


KT(Vanilla) asTheramore/Kultiran NPC/Mob,ZT(Vanilla)
Total Number:4
Overall total races and playbility: 8 after 4 years officially counted on release of BfA.

Your thoughts?

[Chonar]

Look, unless I can play a Female Lightbound Faceless One Warlock with a honkin' set of three boobs, what really is my reason for living?

[Unholyground]

Mechagnomes and Vulpera will be added almost 100% for sure now. With the data mine we know Vulpera are confirmed with the wording they used in their description. I doubt we are getting more any time soon other than those two. I hope they hold off on new ones until late next expansion.

[vertigo12]

Look, unless I can play a Female Lightbound Faceless One Warlock with a honkin' set of three boobs, what really is my reason for living?

Maybe they would be allied races in the next expansion where could somehow be recruited and faithful to Xal'atath.

[Obelisk Kai]

Mechagnomes and Vulpera will be added almost 100% for sure now. With the data mine we know Vulpera are confirmed with the wording they used in their description. I doubt we are getting more any time soon other than those two. I hope they hold off on new ones until late next expansion.

Mecha Gnomes and Vulpera are, I agree, pretty much guaranteed.

But I think there will be one final pair before the end of the expansion, linked in some way to the Worgen or the Undead. Either variants of both those races as most Allied races have been so far, or a reuse of their models for a new race as the Vulpera are.

[Yarathir]

I've accepted that, sadly, the Alliance equivalent of Vulpera will be the Mechagnomes.

But I hope they'll find time to squeeze Ankoan for the Alliance into 8.3.5 or something if people request them enough.

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Mecha Gnomes and Vulpera are, I agree, pretty much guaranteed.

But I think there will be one final pair before the end of the expansion, linked in some way to the Worgen or the Undead. Either variants of both those races as most Allied races have been so far, or a reuse of their models for a new race as the Vulpera are.

I really feel like this "pattern" or "rule" of reusing skeletons is very overstated that people keep talking about is very overstated.
Nightborne males and Zandalari males both use the Night Elf skeleton, the Zandalari with a few unique emotes.
Kul Tirans reuse no skeleton- maybe a retargeted animation or two, but are mostly unique. The closest they share is ancestry with humans, but that's nothing technical- not a model, not a skeleton. There really is no rule for "okay, so we have these skeletons reused, now we need to reuse a different player skeleton," like people seem to suggest.

Also, Lightbound Undead are a horrendous idea, imo.

[Unholyground]

Mecha Gnomes and Vulpera are, I agree, pretty much guaranteed.

But I think there will be one final pair before the end of the expansion, linked in some way to the Worgen or the Undead. Either variants of both those races as most Allied races have been so far, or a reuse of their models for a new race as the Vulpera are.

I don't think they will since the Horde would have nothing currently in-game that would be a plausible candidate just yet. It could happen but we are getting way too many races lol. I would rather them wait and give us something more unique and other worldly.

[Alanar]

Mechagnomes and Vulpera will be added almost 100% for sure now. With the data mine we know Vulpera are confirmed with the wording they used in their description. I doubt we are getting more any time soon other than those two. I hope they hold off on new ones until late next expansion.

Look so.. this would suck. Why? Because we onky got like 3 races people realy wanted which are zanda, dark Iron and nightborne.. the rest well no one cares. I mean were are wildhammer, forest trolls, vrykul, tuskar.. you know things people want. Vulpera and mechagnomes are two realy boring looking races no one realy cares about.
I guess you are right, but if this was the case the allied race system would just be a failure..

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I don't think they will since the Horde would have nothing currently in-game that would be a plausible candidate just yet. It could happen but we are getting way too many races lol. I would rather them wait and give us something more unique and other worldly.

That already failed with void elves.. so there is that.

[Obelisk Kai]

I've accepted that, sadly, the Alliance equivalent of Vulpera will be the Mechagnomes.

But I hope they'll find time to squeeze Ankoan for the Alliance into 8.3.5 or something if people request them enough.

I really hope the Alliance gets something awesome for their final Allied race, there seems to be a persistent malaise regrding some of the choices made. I doubt it will be Ankoan though. Part of the reason we are so convinced about Mecha Gnomes and Vulpera is the sheer effort that has gone into their models, both are player ready right now. Ankoan are not that, they are barely modified Jinyu.

The Alliance allied race will, based on all other Allied races, be either

1.) Lightforged Undead with the Horde getting a Worgen variant (the Void Elf/Nightborne race swap model)
2.) Use the Worgen skeleton but be a new race (the Vulpera use a Goblin skeleton but are not linked to them otherwise). Sethrak would be a strong candidate here, except they have little no interaction with the Alliance and plentiful interaction with the Horde. Which I find sad, as I feel Sethrak would be a fantastic Allied race and I still hope it turns out, somehow, they will join the Alliance.
3.) Be a Worgen variant of some description.

While the Kul Tirans used a brand new model, that took as much effort as all other Allied race combined. That approach must be considered highly unlikely.

Ion did say they were listening to feedback on requested allied races in his last Q and A, so I guess we may still be surprised. It implies they weren't settled on the final set.

[Yarathir]

That already failed with void elves.. so there is that.

I don't think he means something space-y by that. Just something more unique and interesting like Sethrak.

Void Elves are essentially recolored Blood Elves with a few new hairstyles.

[Alanar]

I don't think he means something space-y by that. Just something more unique and interesting like Sethrak.

Void Elves are essentially recolored Blood Elves with a few new hairstyles.

Yea so void elves are not unique.. and boring imo. Sethrak is just a new race which doesnt realy feel like something that matches the allied race system imo.

[Obelisk Kai]

Yea so void elves are not unique.. and boring imo. Sethrak is just a new race which doesnt realy feel like something that matches the allied race system imo.

Sethrak would follow a precedent laid down by the nigh inevitable Vulpera.

There is just a frustrating lack of build up for them to be included in the Alliance if they are intended.

[vertigo12]

The Nagas could be a new allied race in 9.0, squid faces and probably Nerubians Mantid if everything will be all about Black Empire.

[Unholyground]

I don't think he means something space-y by that. Just something more unique and interesting like Sethrak.

Void Elves are essentially recolored Blood Elves with a few new hairstyles.

More non Azerothian races is what I am thinking. They did pull Void elves out of their asses partially so hopefully they don't do that again but something like Ethereal could be cool. I would love them to make one neutral Allied race even though I know they are adverse to the idea now I think it would work better with a race everyone wants and not Pandas.

[Alanar]

Sethrak would follow a precedent laid down by the nigh inevitable Vulpera.

There is just a frustrating lack of build up for them to be included in the Alliance if they are intended.

Besides that which is true, I dont see them ever add the sethrak anyway.. their model screams npc, but tgat could just be me.
Am I the only one here who just realy hates the vulpera?

[Yarathir]

I really hope the Alliance gets something awesome for their final Allied race, there seems to be a persistent malaise regrding some of the choices made. I doubt it will be Ankoan though. Part of the reason we are so convinced about Mecha Gnomes and Vulpera is the sheer effort that has gone into their models, both are player ready right now. Ankoan are not that, they are barely modified Jinyu.

Vulpera in the beta were also not player-ready. If we do get Ankoan, they will likely show up around 8.3 or 8.3.5, that's months off, and they don't have to make a totally unique rig like for Kul Tirans. It's definitely plausible for them to do if they want to, if they already planned to, or if enough people request it that they decide to do so.

1.) Lightforged Undead with the Horde getting a Worgen variant (the Void Elf/Nightborne race swap model)

Would be quite terrible. Recolored undead, essentially. Plus there is no pattern in what skeletons they reuse as I mentioned before.

2.) Use the Worgen skeleton but be a new race (the Vulpera use a Goblin skeleton but are not linked to them otherwise). Sethrak would be a strong candidate here, except they have little no interaction with the Alliance and plentiful interaction with the Horde. Which I find sad, as I feel Sethrak would be a fantastic Allied race and I still hope it turns out, somehow, they will join the Alliance.

Sethrak aren't on a Worgen skeleton as far as I know, but they might share some retargeted anims. They would indeed be cool, but likely take as much work to make player ready as Kul Tirans did, unlike Ankoan, which can work on a Night Elf rig with a few custom anims.

Also, considering you just implied that the next allied race could be a new model with the worgen skeleton- why couldn't it be Ankoan? If they had to make a new allied race model on the worgen skeleton, they'd probably have to put even more work into that than they have to put into Ankoan right now. Why are Ankoan off the tables because they require a lot of effort to be made playable, but a new model that has to be made from scratch isn't? x)

3.) Be a Worgen variant of some description.

Maybe. It's possible, but there is definitely no guarantee that they will go with a forsaken or worgen skeleton in specific next time around.

Ion did say they were listening to feedback on requested allied races in his last Q and A, so I guess we may still be surprised.

True, but Ion does say a lot of things. He also said that after 7.3.5 and 8.0 they kind of wanted to make allied races more than just subraces or reskins of base races. Which, I mean- Zandalari and Kul Tirans are proof of that. Vulpera are proof of that; Mechagnomes really aren't. :P

But yeah, hopefully they listen to feedback. Personally I'd dig something aesthetically unique for the next allied races after Mechagnomes and Vulpera, so my prime candidates are Ankoan and Sethrak. Ankoan more so, since they would be easier and quicker for them to make player ready.

[Hallowseve17]

We'll get mechagnomes and vulpera next. Then, for the pre-patch, we'll get something brand new, newer, or they'll pull from the old world.

[Alanar]

More non Azerothian races is what I am thinking. They did pull Void elves out of their asses partially so hopefully they don't do that again but something like Ethereal could be cool. I would love them to make one neutral Allied race even though I know they are adverse to the idea now I think it would work better with a race everyone wants and not Pandas.

If Ethereal become a thing ever, they will probably introduced as a new race and not an allied race.

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We'll get mechagnomes and vulpera next. Then, for the pre-patch, we'll get something brand new, newer, or they'll pull from the old world.

People want allied races from the old world besides that is the whole idea of gathering races we met in the past and seek allies... getting a new race which no one knows goes against the whole allied race idea.

[vertigo12]

More non Azerothian races is what I am thinking. They did pull Void elves out of their asses partially so hopefully they don't do that again but something like Ethereal could be cool. I would love them to make one neutral Allied race even though I know they are adverse to the idea now I think it would work better with a race everyone wants and not Pandas.

They could be added on a back to space expac or when we deal with Void Lords already.

[Yarathir]

Yea so void elves are not unique.. and boring imo. Sethrak is just a new race which doesnt realy feel like something that matches the allied race system imo.

To be fair, Kul Tirans, on a technical level (textures, models, skeleton) are pretty near to an entirely new race, but considering Ion said they had to push Zandalari back by months just so they could release both Kul Tirans and Zandalari at the same time, I don't think they're likely to do that again anytime soon.

More non Azerothian races is what I am thinking. They did pull Void elves out of their asses partially so hopefully they don't do that again but something like Ethereal could be cool. I would love them to make one neutral Allied race even though I know they are adverse to the idea now I think it would work better with a race everyone wants and not Pandas.

I know I'm kinda contradicting myself here, but this is just an intuitive thing. Personally (and Blizzard might prove me wrong here) speaking, I consider stuff like Arakkoa, Ethereals, Ogres, Naga, etc. to be more candidates for a full-on race, rather than an allied race.

My personal favored middle ground is an allied race that is a new creature but reuses a skeleton. So, take for example Ankoan on the Night Elf skeleton with a few new unique anims, Vulpera on the Goblin skeleton, also with some unique anims, Mok'nathal on the Kul Tiran skeleton, etc.

They are reusing skeletons and animations, but they are presented as a new species with their own culture, something that Zandalari and Vulpera do well, but Mechagnomes don't do well, since Mechagnomes just feel like more Gnomier Gnomes, whereas it'd be difficult to find any comparison between Goblin and Vulpera other than from an outside, technical perspective.