Already really digging the new "races" in Shadowlands, hoping some become playable

[Claymore]

The "Brokers" or whatever in Oribos look particularly cool. Very obvious "Dead Cells" vibes, but sick all the same. I'm also pretty taken with the Kyrrian, even though obviously there would have to be some pretty major advancements in the story to allow for them to be playable (which goes without saying for most races anyways, but they in particular are a little dicey).

I remember reading an idea once that maybe you could have a "race" that is essentially kind of a "blank slate", but based on which Covenant you join, you would change appearance to suit them. That sounds like kind of a programming nightmare, but it also does sound kind of dope.

Only way I could see it making any semblance of sense is if this expansion ends with more build-up towards the "Void Lords", in which case perhaps in repayment for the deeds of Azeroth's heroes, the Arbiter would agree to send a few of our Covenant friends back to Azeroth, complete with corporeal forms.

What about you guys? Thoughts?

[Squigglyo]

Isnt everything there 'not living'?

We can cross over because I guess, as long as our souls are in our bodies, we have something that allows us to 'belong' there, and because we arent dead, we can still 'belong' in the land of the living.

But can anything native to the shadowlands even enter the land of the living? Their power, their essense, etc, wouldnt work? My understanding is they craft their bodies from their soul energy, i think outside of the shadowlands they would just be a loose soul

[Deathtrapper]

But can anything native to the shadowlands even enter the land of the living? Their power, their essense, etc, wouldnt work? My understanding is they craft their bodies from their soul energy, i think outside of the shadowlands they would just be a loose soul

If we are to assume the mawsworn are native to the shadowlands, then yes they can travel across the veil into Azeroth, They are the ones that cam and took Anduin, Thrall, Baine etc. They are also the ones that were bringing the old WotLK bosses into Icecrown infusing them with dark magic

[Shedaar]

Are brokers dead or alive tho?
Wasn't explicitly said, was it?
It's just that they travel between "worlds"

[SNES-1990]

I don't get the appeal for Kyrian.

If you want a playable race of white-eyed blue people that all look exactly the same, good news! They're called Nightborne.

[Candy Cough]

I don't get the appeal for Kyrian.

If you want a playable race of white-eyed blue people that all look exactly the same, good news! They're called Nightborne.

I mean they are blue humans so they alrady fit into the boring alliance profile

Humans
Short humans
Tiny humans
Purple humans with long ears
Werewolves that can turn into humans
Fat humans
Humans with bad blood circulation and long ears
Blue humans

That leaves Draenei and Pandaren

That said, I doubt it. Maldraxxus doesent really have race do they? Just undead with armor or every other race size residens can warp their appearance

Which means maybe 1 race from each, and no way alliance gets kyrian over night fae cuzz theyre freakin elves

[Kathranis]

That said, I doubt it. Maldraxxus doesent really have race do they? Just undead with armor or every other race size residens can warp their appearance

Which means maybe 1 race from each, and no way alliance gets kyrian over night fae cuzz theyre freakin elves

There are Necrolords with models based on the Kul Tirans.

If they were to do allied races, I think it's pretty obvious it'd be Kyrian and Night Fae for Alliance and Necrolords and Venthyr for Horde.

Brokers seem like they could be an offshoot of ethereals.

[Deathtrapper]

But can anything native to the shadowlands even enter the land of the living? Their power, their essense, etc, wouldnt work? My understanding is they craft their bodies from their soul energy, i think outside of the shadowlands they would just be a loose soul

If the Mawsworn are native to shadowlands they 100% can travel through the veil Sylvannas created into Azeroth, they are the ones that abducted the Horde/Alliance leaders + the ones that were spawning the WotLK Bosses in Icecrown during the prepatch event.

[username993720]

The 4 covenant races will be playable in the future.

Kyrians have a male and a female model (using the female Vrykul skeleton), up-to-date animations and textures, and some customization options.

Venthyr have a male and a female model, up-to-date animations and textures, and some customization options.

Sylvar have a male and a female model (using the female Draenei skeleton), up-to-date animations and textures, and some customization options.

Maldraxxus Gladiators have a male and a female model (females use the female kul tiran skeleton, and males a modified ogre skeleton), up-to-date textures, not sure about facial animations - as their faces are always covered, and their abnormal size.

Brokers have up-to-date animations and textures, but lack faces and gender-distinct models. however, i do believe that they are a prototype to playable Ethereals, as their culture as traders and their looks resemble them very much.

[MatthiasLehner]

Do I like these new races in SL? Yes I do.
Do I think it makes sense for the entities that literally created as the afterlife's servants, that live on anima to join the world of the living? Absolutely not.

It makes 0 sense and would feel extremely off. I'd rather blizzard to utilize these assets with adjustments for the future races.

PS: Quite a few of them have almost no facial animations as well + not built like when Vulpera was released initially in BfA.

[username993720]

Do I like these new races in SL? Yes I do.
Do I think it makes sense for the entities that literally created as the afterlife's servants, that live on anima to join the world of the living? Absolutely not.

It makes 0 sense and would feel extremely off. I'd rather blizzard to utilize these assets with adjustments for the future races.

PS: Quite a few of them have almost no facial animations as well + not built like when Vulpera was released initially in BfA.

Playable Vampires do not make sense? we've got Werewolves already. Angels and Fauns are also mythical creatures that lack representation within the playable races. they would fill that niche and fantasy pretty well.

[loras]

The "Brokers" or whatever in Oribos look particularly cool. Very obvious "Dead Cells" vibes, but sick all the same. I'm also pretty taken with the Kyrrian, even though obviously there would have to be some pretty major advancements in the story to allow for them to be playable (which goes without saying for most races anyways, but they in particular are a little dicey).

I remember reading an idea once that maybe you could have a "race" that is essentially kind of a "blank slate", but based on which Covenant you join, you would change appearance to suit them. That sounds like kind of a programming nightmare, but it also does sound kind of dope.

Only way I could see it making any semblance of sense is if this expansion ends with more build-up towards the "Void Lords", in which case perhaps in repayment for the deeds of Azeroth's heroes, the Arbiter would agree to send a few of our Covenant friends back to Azeroth, complete with corporeal forms.

What about you guys? Thoughts?

We literally have forges that create living stone in Northrend and Pandaria (and which are likely not the only ones), if we want we could just forge new bodies for them ourselves if the arbiter's a bitch.

[LostSinclair]

There is lots of Allied Race bait in this expansion no denying that. But as cool as the brokers are I'm afraid they are currently at Etheral levels of likelihood to becoming playable. One of the biggest red flags that a race can be moved up is male and female models. They might have the voices but they're all identical. Still it would shock me if we didn't get some new races to play with by 9.1 or .2 (they did say none were planned for launch)

[Ryzeth]

I think rather than giving a faction a race, they should make more races like Pandaren that can be in either faction. It would thematically fit, seeing as how they have no ties in the Shadowlands, to either faction.

[Gurahk]

I think they've already responded to the allied race question by saying that many of these races are out of the question due to how the Shadowlands works.

[loras]

I think rather than giving a faction a race, they should make more races like Pandaren that can be in either faction. It would thematically fit, seeing as how they have no ties in the Shadowlands, to either faction.

This, it's weird enough already that individuals of certain races (humans, goblins, highmountain tauren, lightborn draenei, nightborne, maybe even void elves) cannot simply choose to work for either faction, as all of them have eithet worked with both factions or have been at times outright enemies of the faction they are currently in.

So yeah, it'd be a long overdue breath of fresh air.

[MatthiasLehner]

Playable Vampires do not make sense? we've got Werewolves already. Angels and Fauns are also mythical creatures that lack representation within the playable races. they would fill that niche and fantasy pretty well.

Let me say this again,
Their aesthetics and cultures have no issues.

It's their lore and who they are, fundamentally. SL is not another planet, it exists in a completely different dimension of afterlife, these creatures are created in a completely different realm, with specific purposes and resources that only exist in SL. Even throughout the intro and leveling experience, they remind us that the way between Shadowlands and Azeroth should never exist and must be closed for the very balance of life and death.

Will Blizzard let these literal afterlife entities leave Shadowlands just for the sake of recycling the resources they've created? Possibly.
Would it be a good thing lore-wise? Only if they have suitable explanations by the end of this expansion.
Currently, it makes 0 sense to bring any of them down to the world of living.

[Cyanu]

They are not races... They are the souls of the dead...

[Inoculate]

Isnt everything there 'not living'?

We can cross over because I guess, as long as our souls are in our bodies, we have something that allows us to 'belong' there, and because we arent dead, we can still 'belong' in the land of the living.

But can anything native to the shadowlands even enter the land of the living? Their power, their essense, etc, wouldnt work? My understanding is they craft their bodies from their soul energy, i think outside of the shadowlands they would just be a loose soul

Draka was seen as stealing plans from a Burning Legion world. Kyrian ferry the souls of the living from every world to Oribos. Nathrazeim also do just fine. I think it's safe to say they can interact with reality.

Though i wouldn't want to see them outside of the Shadowlands as playable races. Just wouldn't feel right.

[Claymore]

Yeah, there are definitely some pretty glaring issues that would need explaining, if it works AT ALL. And frankly, I can't imagine a reason that someone from the literal afterlife in WoW would be interested in joining the armies of Azeroth specifically, unless it was in service against a larger threat like the Void Lords.

That, or perhaps the forces of the Shadowlands would converge and help us heal Azeroth and remove Sargeras's sword? That seems like something that could be pretty important. And if so, it could potentially explain a need for some among the Covenants to need some way of traveling across "the veil" to our world.

I've yet to make it to Maldraxxus, so I suppose the "Necrolord" model I'd previously had in mind, was something closer to this:

https://gamepedia.cursecdn.com/wowpe..._Necrolord.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ef1GxhyU4AEf657.jpg

But also, I suppose having a Faction-split of Covenants also doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, all things considered. I'd be totally down for having them usable on either faction.

I still kind of come back to the concept of perhaps initially creating your character, you start off as a generic "soul" (like when you die in Bastion; haven't died in any other zone yet). You're immediately given an option which Covenant you choose to belong to (right at the start, instead of waiting until later), taking on a suitable appearance, and then traveling to either Stormwind or Orgrimmar to pledge your loyalty. Maybe when questing in Shadowlands, you temporarily "become" those other covenants while questing, which would be kind of a cool easter-egg.

...honestly, though? The more I think about it, the more far-fetched the idea really seems. Which is a bummer, because I *really* dig the Kyrrians for some reason (which is funny, because they're literally just "blue humans", but coupled with the white cloth and Ancient Greek aesthetic, they just seem very cool).