Getting Back to Azeroth (Future Races and Allied Races)

[Susanoo]

Since the developers have stated the next expansion will be getting back to WoW's roots and focus more on the smaller stories of Azeroth what do you all presume will be the next race and/or allied races to join the Horde and Alliance? These are my choices for future races/allied race. Lets see yours!

Horde

Ogres- Ogres have been a long desired race for the Horde since classic. They were considered for Cata but ultimately the developers chose Goblins instead. The Ogres have a large amount of lore and history with the Horde and it is long overdue for the Stonemaul Clan to be inducted into the Horde and become a playable race. Ogre lore has also been significantly expanded upon with WoD and Chronicles to make the race less of a dumb brute race but a more intelligent race with a deep history. Racial Mount Boar. The classes I believe Ogres would be are: Death Knight, Warrior, Hunter, Shaman, Monk, Mage, Priest, Warlock.

Mogu- This one is a bit more controversial but I believe the Mogu could be a candidate for a future playable race. With the Mogu's relationship to the Zandalari Trolls this could be the established link for a Mogu Clan to be introduced into the Horde. The Mogu have a developed lore and history that is established and could be a potential candidate for a playable race. The one problem with the Mogu is the lack of females in their culture but as we know Retcons are a thing and to be honest I don't see the retcon of female mogu being lore breaking. Racial Mount: Quilen. Classes: Warrior, Rogue, Hunter, Shaman, Mage, Warlock

Horde Allied Race

San'layn (Darkfallen): I understand that many people are against the addition of more Elves into the game; however, playable undead elves that are not death knights have been a long sought after race. I agree that that after the San'layn there should probably not be any more Elves added into the game but because of the long desired customizations to be an undead elf it justifies the adding of the San'layn. The San'layn have already been established in the lore and was hinted at becoming an allied race during the alliance war campaign. I believe it makes sense for the San'layn to finally reach out to the Forsaken and seek out joining the Horde. Mount: Undead Hawkstrider. Classes: Death Knight, Warrior, Rogue, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Warlock.

Alliance

Vrykul: The ancestors of the human race is a possible addition to the Alliance. The Kul Tirans have established a relationship with a surviving Drust and it is possible they could use that connection to bridge more Vrykul to join the Alliance. As a titanforged race it would make sense for them to join the Alliance because their race has faced hardship since Wrath and could probably benefit them to be inducted into the alliance. This is another race with an established lore and would be a fun one to play. Racial Mount: Bear. Classes: Death Knight, Warrior, Hunter, Shaman, Druid, Priest, Mage, (Warlock?)

Jinyu: This one is a bit more out there but the Jinyu are already part of the alliance and are a unique race that could be added into the Alliance as playable. They dont have much lore but this could be expanded upon and provide the Alliance with a more primal type race. I think it is possible to introduce the Jinyu as a playable race however my only issue is that I wonder how many people would play a fish person race? Mount: Waterstrider. Classes: Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Monk, Mage, Priest, Shaman.

Alliance Allied Race

Broken (Krokul): The broken have been long part of the Alliance and it is also a bit weird that we just ditched the Krokul on Argus and just left with the Lightforged instead. I think it makes sense to introduce the Broken from Azeroth, Outland, and Argus into the Alliance. The broken are a very cool race that would make a great allied race given their lore history. It would also be a way to add a Draenei type race with more darker attributes. Racial Mount: Talbuk or Ruinstrider. Classes: Death Knight, Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Monk, Shaman, Warlock, Priest, Mage.

[Civciv]

Since the developers have stated the next expansion will be getting back to WoW's roots and focus more on the smaller stories of Azeroth what do you all presume will be the next race and/or allied races to join the Horde and Alliance? These are my choices for future races/allied race. Lets see yours!

Horde

Ogres- Ogres have been a long desired race for the Horde since classic. They were considered for Cata but ultimately the developers chose Goblins instead. The Ogres have a large amount of lore and history with the Horde and it is long overdue for the Stonemaul Clan to be inducted into the Horde and become a playable race. Ogre lore has also been significantly expanded upon with WoD and Chronicles to make the race less of a dumb brute race but a more intelligent race with a deep history. Racial Mount Boar. The classes I believe Ogres would be are: Death Knight, Warrior, Hunter, Shaman, Monk, Mage, Priest, Warlock.

Mogu- This one is a bit more controversial but I believe the Mogu could be a candidate for a future playable race. With the Mogu's relationship to the Zandalari Trolls this could be the established link for a Mogu Clan to be introduced into the Horde. The Mogu have a developed lore and history that is established and could be a potential candidate for a playable race. The one problem with the Mogu is the lack of females in their culture but as we know Retcons are a thing and to be honest I don't see the retcon of female mogu being lore breaking. Racial Mount: Quilen. Classes: Warrior, Rogue, Hunter, Shaman, Mage, Warlock

Horde Allied Race

San'layn (Darkfallen): I understand that many people are against the addition of more Elves into the game; however, playable undead elves that are not death knights have been a long sought after race. I agree that that after the San'layn there should probably not be any more Elves added into the game but because of the long desired customizations to be an undead elf it justifies the adding of the San'layn. The San'layn have already been established in the lore and was hinted at becoming an allied race during the alliance war campaign. I believe it makes sense for the San'layn to finally reach out to the Forsaken and seek out joining the Horde. Mount: Undead Hawkstrider. Classes: Death Knight, Warrior, Rogue, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Warlock.

Alliance

Vrykul: The ancestors of the human race is a possible addition to the Alliance. The Kul Tirans have established a relationship with a surviving Drust and it is possible they could use that connection to bridge more Vrykul to join the Alliance. As a titanforged race it would make sense for them to join the Alliance because their race has faced hardship since Wrath and could probably benefit them to be inducted into the alliance. This is another race with an established lore and would be a fun one to play. Racial Mount: Bear. Classes: Death Knight, Warrior, Hunter, Shaman, Druid, Priest, Mage, (Warlock?)

Jinyu: This one is a bit more out there but the Jinyu are already part of the alliance and are a unique race that could be added into the Alliance as playable. They dont have much lore but this could be expanded upon and provide the Alliance with a more primal type race. I think it is possible to introduce the Jinyu as a playable race however my only issue is that I wonder how many people would play a fish person race? Mount: Waterstrider. Classes: Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Monk, Mage, Priest, Shaman.

Alliance Allied Race

Broken (Krokul): The broken have been long part of the Alliance and it is also a bit weird that we just ditched the Krokul on Argus and just left with the Lightforged instead. I think it makes sense to introduce the Broken from Azeroth, Outland, and Argus into the Alliance. The broken are a very cool race that would make a great allied race given their lore history. It would also be a way to add a Draenei type race with more darker attributes. Racial Mount: Talbuk or Ruinstrider. Classes: Death Knight, Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Monk, Shaman, Warlock, Priest, Mage.

These are cool and fantastic but I think we'll get a new class rather than a new race.

[Alanar]

Both San'layn and Vrykul should be horde.

I don't care, sue me.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

These are cool and fantastic but I think we'll get a new class rather than a new race.

Part of the appeal of AR's is that they are far easier to implement, and have a lot less of gameplay weight than a new class, and they are a good selling point.

I think it would be a good idea to add more AR's regardless of a new class, and WoW needs the hype boost rn so they should go for both.

[october breeze]

Ye, lets give horde more cool stuff to shift the population even further toward horde. While doin that, just abolish factions, turn all alliance into npcs and rename it to World of Hordecraft.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

Since the developers have stated the next expansion will be getting back to WoW's roots and focus more on the smaller stories of Azeroth what do you all presume will be the next race and/or allied races to join the Horde and Alliance? These are my choices for future races/allied race. Lets see yours!

Horde

Ogres- Ogres have been a long desired race for the Horde since classic. They were considered for Cata but ultimately the developers chose Goblins instead. The Ogres have a large amount of lore and history with the Horde and it is long overdue for the Stonemaul Clan to be inducted into the Horde and become a playable race. Ogre lore has also been significantly expanded upon with WoD and Chronicles to make the race less of a dumb brute race but a more intelligent race with a deep history. Racial Mount Boar. The classes I believe Ogres would be are: Death Knight, Warrior, Hunter, Shaman, Monk, Mage, Priest, Warlock.

Mogu- This one is a bit more controversial but I believe the Mogu could be a candidate for a future playable race. With the Mogu's relationship to the Zandalari Trolls this could be the established link for a Mogu Clan to be introduced into the Horde. The Mogu have a developed lore and history that is established and could be a potential candidate for a playable race. The one problem with the Mogu is the lack of females in their culture but as we know Retcons are a thing and to be honest I don't see the retcon of female mogu being lore breaking. Racial Mount: Quilen. Classes: Warrior, Rogue, Hunter, Shaman, Mage, Warlock

Horde Allied Race

San'layn (Darkfallen): I understand that many people are against the addition of more Elves into the game; however, playable undead elves that are not death knights have been a long sought after race. I agree that that after the San'layn there should probably not be any more Elves added into the game but because of the long desired customizations to be an undead elf it justifies the adding of the San'layn. The San'layn have already been established in the lore and was hinted at becoming an allied race during the alliance war campaign. I believe it makes sense for the San'layn to finally reach out to the Forsaken and seek out joining the Horde. Mount: Undead Hawkstrider. Classes: Death Knight, Warrior, Rogue, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Warlock.

Alliance

Vrykul: The ancestors of the human race is a possible addition to the Alliance. The Kul Tirans have established a relationship with a surviving Drust and it is possible they could use that connection to bridge more Vrykul to join the Alliance. As a titanforged race it would make sense for them to join the Alliance because their race has faced hardship since Wrath and could probably benefit them to be inducted into the alliance. This is another race with an established lore and would be a fun one to play. Racial Mount: Bear. Classes: Death Knight, Warrior, Hunter, Shaman, Druid, Priest, Mage, (Warlock?)

Jinyu: This one is a bit more out there but the Jinyu are already part of the alliance and are a unique race that could be added into the Alliance as playable. They dont have much lore but this could be expanded upon and provide the Alliance with a more primal type race. I think it is possible to introduce the Jinyu as a playable race however my only issue is that I wonder how many people would play a fish person race? Mount: Waterstrider. Classes: Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Monk, Mage, Priest, Shaman.

Alliance Allied Race

Broken (Krokul): The broken have been long part of the Alliance and it is also a bit weird that we just ditched the Krokul on Argus and just left with the Lightforged instead. I think it makes sense to introduce the Broken from Azeroth, Outland, and Argus into the Alliance. The broken are a very cool race that would make a great allied race given their lore history. It would also be a way to add a Draenei type race with more darker attributes. Racial Mount: Talbuk or Ruinstrider. Classes: Death Knight, Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Monk, Shaman, Warlock, Priest, Mage.

TBH while I like these, I'd also like to see neutral Allied Races, especially if cross play between factions is a possibility.

For example, given Vrykul's history with humanity, they make more sense as a Neutral Allied Race rather than Alliance. There really is nothing that really makes them loyal to humans, and we already have a neutral version of Vykruls through the Valarjar. Same for the Mogu really. I don't see the value in segregating player choice right now where it can be avoided.

Nonetheless, AR's such as Broken, Jinyu, San'layn and Ogres do make sense to remain factioned. Personally I'd like some mixed raced options as well, and I think Mok'nathal and Half Elves could be a nice paired counterpart.

[sighy]

One thing i could see standing int he way of the huge races like Ogres, Mogu and Vrykul is that Blizzard would have to significantly expand theri animation rigs, in order to bring them up to par, with the playable race ones. Kul'tiran Human they could justify, because they were basically one of the main groups of the xpac. But something like San'layn for the Horde and lightbound undead, for the Aliance is something i find very plausible.

[username993720]

Since the developers have stated the next expansion will be getting back to WoW's roots and focus more on the smaller stories of Azeroth what do you all presume will be the next race and/or allied races to join the Horde and Alliance? These are my choices for future races/allied race. Lets see yours!

Horde

Ogres- Ogres have been a long desired race for the Horde since classic. They were considered for Cata but ultimately the developers chose Goblins instead. The Ogres have a large amount of lore and history with the Horde and it is long overdue for the Stonemaul Clan to be inducted into the Horde and become a playable race. Ogre lore has also been significantly expanded upon with WoD and Chronicles to make the race less of a dumb brute race but a more intelligent race with a deep history. Racial Mount Boar. The classes I believe Ogres would be are: Death Knight, Warrior, Hunter, Shaman, Monk, Mage, Priest, Warlock.

I agree. The Stonemaul clan has already been established as the clan to join the Horde, with Gey'arah bringing them with her from alternate Draenor.

As for a skeleton, they would either use the Kul Tiran one or the Maldraxxus Gladiator one.

Mogu- This one is a bit more controversial but I believe the Mogu could be a candidate for a future playable race. With the Mogu's relationship to the Zandalari Trolls this could be the established link for a Mogu Clan to be introduced into the Horde. The Mogu have a developed lore and history that is established and could be a potential candidate for a playable race. The one problem with the Mogu is the lack of females in their culture but as we know Retcons are a thing and to be honest I don't see the retcon of female mogu being lore breaking. Racial Mount: Quilen. Classes: Warrior, Rogue, Hunter, Shaman, Mage, Warlock

Agree as well. With the Rajani Mogu joining us in 8.3, it is a hint towards their future playability.

Also, female Mogu model exists, so it's not a problem.

Horde Allied Race

San'layn (Darkfallen): I understand that many people are against the addition of more Elves into the game; however, playable undead elves that are not death knights have been a long sought after race. I agree that that after the San'layn there should probably not be any more Elves added into the game but because of the long desired customizations to be an undead elf it justifies the adding of the San'layn. The San'layn have already been established in the lore and was hinted at becoming an allied race during the alliance war campaign. I believe it makes sense for the San'layn to finally reach out to the Forsaken and seek out joining the Horde. Mount: Undead Hawkstrider. Classes: Death Knight, Warrior, Rogue, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Warlock.

Have to disagree on that. We're already getting Venthyr. There's no need for another vampiric race.

Alliance

Vrykul: The ancestors of the human race is a possible addition to the Alliance. The Kul Tirans have established a relationship with a surviving Drust and it is possible they could use that connection to bridge more Vrykul to join the Alliance. As a titanforged race it would make sense for them to join the Alliance because their race has faced hardship since Wrath and could probably benefit them to be inducted into the alliance. This is another race with an established lore and would be a fun one to play. Racial Mount: Bear. Classes: Death Knight, Warrior, Hunter, Shaman, Druid, Priest, Mage, (Warlock?)

Not sure on the Vrykul. I lean more towards the Drust, as they have joined Kul Tirans and, therefore, the Alliance.

Jinyu: This one is a bit more out there but the Jinyu are already part of the alliance and are a unique race that could be added into the Alliance as playable. They dont have much lore but this could be expanded upon and provide the Alliance with a more primal type race. I think it is possible to introduce the Jinyu as a playable race however my only issue is that I wonder how many people would play a fish person race? Mount: Waterstrider. Classes: Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Monk, Mage, Priest, Shaman.

Not sure if Jinyu, but if they add a Blademaster class, then the Ankoan will surely be added.

Alliance Allied Race

Broken (Krokul): The broken have been long part of the Alliance and it is also a bit weird that we just ditched the Krokul on Argus and just left with the Lightforged instead. I think it makes sense to introduce the Broken from Azeroth, Outland, and Argus into the Alliance. The broken are a very cool race that would make a great allied race given their lore history. It would also be a way to add a Draenei type race with more darker attributes. Racial Mount: Talbuk or Ruinstrider. Classes: Death Knight, Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Monk, Shaman, Warlock, Priest, Mage.

I don't know if the Alliance gets them, as Hatuun hates Velen and the Draenei. But, it would definitely be the Argus kind, as they use the updated Draenei model.

[loras]

These are cool and fantastic but I think we'll get a new class rather than a new race.

Ditch the San'layn and the Jinyu and we're agreed.

Ogres, Broken and Vrykul are all long overdue, and Mogu would indeed fit nicely.

Ogres are just a long time coming, viking giants should draw some more brutishly inclined people to the alliance (they are currently lacking on that front), Broken too are a cool addition and mogu are unique and a welcome asian-mongolian-sorta brute theme that is definitely absent at present from either side.

[mizeri]

i am all for mogu for the horde, the female model looks pretty good

[Aresk]

Since the developers have stated the next expansion will be getting back to WoW's roots and focus more on the smaller stories of Azeroth

Where was this said?

As for your list, the ogres make sense, though the mogu are a bit...hostile toward the Horde, and the San'layn were eradicated in BfA. I'd much rather see races that they've had at least some positive relationship with at some point. For instance, the gilgoblins or the amani.

For the Alliance, I don't think there's anything wrong with the suggestions, but I'd like to see something from the Sentinel side of the faction. Maybe mountain giants or keepers/dryads, though both would require more work than existing races to fit.

[shise]

Both San'layn and Vrykul should be horde.

I don't care, sue me.

If we are to break logical lore sense, then the coolest should go to the Alliance in a desperate attemtp to bring faction balance

- - - Updated - - -

One thing i could see standing int he way of the huge races like Ogres, Mogu and Vrykul is that Blizzard would have to significantly expand theri animation rigs, in order to bring them up to par, with the playable race ones. Kul'tiran Human they could justify, because they were basically one of the main groups of the xpac. But something like San'layn for the Horde and lightbound undead, for the Aliance is something i find very plausible.

Plus new character architecture to fit all the gear and so on.

That alone is a good reason for it not to happen or to happen very slowly.
It would also make good sense to implement such important additions slowly.

[Highlord Hanibuhl]

Why do people insist on Jinyu and Vrykul for the Alliance.. we don't want those morons!

If they got the resources to come up with cool races, they can.. but not those reject races!
Heck, I would prefer Furbolg over both of them.

But knowing Blizzard, it's probaby gonna be an elf-variant and a human-variant

[Susanoo]

Where was this said?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/venture...searching/amp/

“ Hazzikostas: I don’t think it is, no. That’s definitely feedback we hear as well. There are some who like that escalation. We’ve faced the Titans. What comes next? Let’s go through the whole cosmology. There are others who miss just being in an inn in Elwynn Forest, being an adventurer on a more humble scale. At this point the WoW protagonists are heroes. You’ve done a lot of stuff. You’ll probably never go back to being anonymous adventurers in the forest. But Azeroth is the heart of the WoW franchise, and it started with orcs and humans and dwarves and night elves and the rest. We want to get back to that too. There’s room to tell a big cosmic-scale story, and there’s also room for more traditional core fantasy. That’s not something we want to lose sight of. Even going all the way back, this isn’t necessarily something new. The first expansion for WoW was going to Outland. We had the draenei coming in effectively spaceships and landing on Azeroth. There was a lot of cosmic stuff there. But we want to cover the whole gamut. It’s something we think about when we’re planning expansions as well. We maybe alternate between something that’s more traditional and terrestrial, and then something that’s higher concept.”

It’s heavily speculated the next WoW expansion isn’t going to be based off of a huge cosmic battle that we have to defeat but instead a return to Azeroth.

[rayvio]

it's absolutely ridiculous that after seventeen years we still don't have playable Ogres. they're one of the iconic races of the original RTS games, long term members of the Horde (they were members of the Original Horde and joined the Modern Horde through Rexxar's WC3 campaign) and yet playing WoW not only can you not be one, you'd probably never even realise that they're members of the Horde at all since almost every Ogre we meet is either an enemy or neutral

[Narwhalosh Whalescream]

I just want ogres and hozen mannnn.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I would love if we got a non-bideal race. Blizzard can do it if they really wanted to.

• Nerubians. Have multiple models for different castes. At the very least, the Cryptlord needs to be playable.

• Mantid. You should be able to attack with your fore-pincers as well.
  Naga.

• Centaur/Magnataur/Genesaur/Tol'vir

Easy to implement just by taking a preexisting skeleton and tweaking it a little bit:

• Ogres (use the Pandaren or Kul'tiran male skeletons).

• Saurok (use the male Worgen skeleton)

• Jinyu/Ankoan (use the male Night Elf skeleton)

• Etheral (use male blood elf skeleton)

Aside from Ogres (which should be Horde), I think races added going forward should be neutral. It's pretty much impossible to justify races joining the Horde. The Belves going Horde in TBC made no bloody sense; the elves had a long established history with the alliance and suffered far more at the hands of the Horde than they ever did from "muh Garithos", and the Belves actually had culture and values in common with the Alliance. Blizzard keeps having bend over backwards and contrive silly reasons for races to join the historical unstable Horde over the Alliance (Nightborne and Vulpera being the most blatant offenders). The Pandaren model was fine: the race as a whole does not join with a faction. You are playing the 1% that decided to venture out into the world and get involved in a faction conflict, and there is no reason to be locked out of either.

[geco]

Why do people insist on Jinyu and Vrykul for the Alliance.. we don't want those morons!

If they got the resources to come up with cool races, they can.. but not those reject races!
Heck, I would prefer Furbolg over both of them.

But knowing Blizzard, it's probaby gonna be an elf-variant and a human-variant

It would be a good mental exercise to think of what an interesting breed to give to the alliance.

The alliance already has a legacy of having races that come out of absolute nothingness so there is no problem with inventing.

I would say that more than elves look for some way to put Diadras or Ent as a race.
Maybe something like elven souls put in trees or they don't "old" young people who call themselves "young".

Another that comes to mind is the great Elf-Naga that has already been said several times. Perhaps with similar mechanics to the Warguens.

In other words, the Kaldorei need more races that can feel that it makes some sense to be in the alliance and incidentally recover their population in some way.

[username993720]

Where was this said?

As for your list, the ogres make sense, though the mogu are a bit...hostile toward the Horde, and the San'layn were eradicated in BfA. I'd much rather see races that they've had at least some positive relationship with at some point. For instance, the gilgoblins or the amani.

The Rajani Mogu are a friendly faction of Mogu introduced in patch 8.3.

For the Alliance, I don't think there's anything wrong with the suggestions, but I'd like to see something from the Sentinel side of the faction. Maybe mountain giants or keepers/dryads, though both would require more work than existing races to fit.

Very unlikely to happen.

- - - Updated - - -

Aside from Ogres (which should be Horde), I think races added going forward should be neutral. It's pretty much impossible to justify races joining the Horde.

Really?
Mogu and their alliance with the Zandalari trolls.
Forest Trolls being members of the Horde.
Gilgoblins.
Etc...etc....

[Highlord Hanibuhl]

It would be a good mental exercise to think of what an interesting breed to give to the alliance.

The alliance already has a legacy of having races that come out of absolute nothingness so there is no problem with inventing.

I would say that more than elves look for some way to put Diadras or Ent as a race.
Maybe something like elven souls put in trees or they don't "old" young people who call themselves "young".

Another that comes to mind is the great Elf-Naga that has already been said several times. Perhaps with similar mechanics to the Warguens.

In other words, the Kaldorei need more races that can feel that it makes some sense to be in the alliance and incidentally recover their population in some way.

Well there's

- Furbolg > A long history of alliance with the Night Elves
- Tuskarr > Neutral, but Alliance could use a tribal race..
- Sethrak > Neutral but have some Vulpera-enemies, so could work

They need to flesh out Jinyu and Saurok first, if they're willing to make them an allied race. Vrykul is just tall humans. Then we got fat humans, skinny humans and tall humans...

Heck.. they even straight-up invented Void Elves and Lightforged, so it'd be no problem if they can retcon some other race.