3 What ifs - which will you choose?

[Mace]

This is a fun speculation thread. To lighten the tone and indulge our theories or realms of possibilities.

I’ve Split this into 3 sets of question options as the poll creation is limited. Pick which one you prefer.

Motivation is simple, I’m curious what people think

Question 1
What if Dracthyr were only available to 1 faction? Which should they join, Alliance or horde?

Most races are either one faction or the other, if this was the case what should they have done?

Question 2
If only one of Pandaren or Dracthyr would be in your faction, which would you pick?

These are the only two race available to both factions, in the case they weren’t and one went one way, which would it be?

Lore wise Pandas we’re skewed towards Horde and Dragons seem more alliance race bonded, but that’s usually irrelevant. Humans are suspicious of Dragons after Deathwing’s meddling and destruction - but then everyone should be after cataclysm, yet the orcs have mistreated dragons badly.

Which makes more sense? Which do you like?

Question 3
Would you prefer the Dracthyr forms to be two separate races, one new race in the draconicn form and an allied race in the visage form?

This isn’t so hard. Visage form could have been a humanoid race with dragon blood made with the dracthy - one being humanoid infused with draconic essence the other being draconic infused with humanoid.

I’m this case thought, Draconic would have no visage form, but maybe could take the form of a race of your choice similar to the Orb of deception - ie not customisable at all, and on a cool-down or out of combat. The trade off would be customisable gear in dragon form

Visage form allied race would be Evoker plus other classes, but Draconic form race would be Evoker only for now.

Question 4

Draconic form should have had a male and female distinct model

Well, this might be silly, but as all the above I am curious.

[StillMcfuu]

Alliance can have both of them.

[Mace]

Alliance can have both of them.

Lol. I did not expect that response.

I’m the case of the forms being separate races , I would say alliance get the Draconic one to give it an extra monster race and the horde get the visage one cos they already have blood elves and human female option would be appreciated more there.

I should have had alliance or horde get both for forms as Sel parade races.

Altho tbh, Pandaren and Dracthyr do seem a bit tame. They don’t have the hardcore threatening feel orcs, Tauren or trolls have. Even blood elves feel more dangerous than either

[Dancaris]

Lol. I did not expect that response.

I’m the case of the forms being separate races , I would say alliance get the Draconic one to give it an extra monster race and the horde get the visage one cos they already have blood elves and human female option would be appreciated more there.

I should have had alliance or horde get both for forms as Sel parade races.

Altho tbh, Pandaren and Dracthyr do seem a bit tame. They don’t have the hardcore threatening feel orcs, Tauren or trolls have. Even blood elves feel more dangerous than either

IMO - Pandarens are maximum neutral race. Even those who choose Alliance or Horde. Even Ayissa and Ji are neutral as they can be gameplay-wise.
And Dracthyr, at least for now - neutral too. They care shit about some red dragon grudges with orcs, and they care shit about Onyxia.
To me - they should be more like full neutral with both sides available to explore with single character.

[Mace]

IMO - Pandarens are maximum neutral race. Even those who choose Alliance or Horde. Even Ayissa and Ji are neutral as they can be gameplay-wise.
And Dracthyr, at least for now - neutral too. They care shit about some red dragon grudges with orcs, and they care shit about Onyxia.
To me - they should be more like full neutral with both sides available to explore with single character.

That's interesting, I wonder if Deathwing's brood taking to humans would or should carry on in the Dracthyr. Humans may be more skeptical about them because of Onyxia and Deathwing aka Lord Prestor, yet it is quite clear they have a strong affinity to humanity more than any other humanoid race.

It potentially makes them more interesting on the alliance than on the horde.


Pandaren were given greater affinity to the horde via the vol'jin story, I know many cal lit part of the horde bias phase, but there isn't much before that. Before than I think historically it would be the Night elves the Pandaren would have affinit to /remember, but Chen Stormstout's joureny put him more incontact with horde races..


I would think Pandaren o the allinace might be more interesting because of their monstery/furry appearance brings more variety tot he alliance - whiles the ohrde already has tauren an d Vulpera for furries, and trolls, undead, orcs are more the monster type.

[loras]

I like the idea of splitting up the drac'thyr into two distinct races.
The rest seems quite uninteresting to me, as i am a fan of neither drac'thyr nor pandaren (though dragons do indeed lean towards the aliance and pandaren to the horde, even if just slightly in the case of the latter).

[Lodreh]

Well with Dracthyr being only Evokers... would that mean Pandaren could be only Monks in this scenario... in which case it would cause some unbalance as Monks have 3 specs including a Tank. Maybe Dracthyr would have a Tank spec in this scenario... that would make this a much more weighted choice. Having said that I prefer Alliance/ Horde to go away and let racial stories unfold naturally where the PC can aid any group.

[Mace]

Well with Dracthyr being only Evokers... would that mean Pandaren could be only Monks in this scenario... in which case it would cause some unbalance as Monks have 3 specs including a Tank. Maybe Dracthyr would have a Tank spec in this scenario... that would make this a much more weighted choice. Having said that I prefer Alliance/ Horde to go away and let racial stories unfold naturally where the PC can aid any group.

No, it would be as is, Dracthyr only evokers, for now, but in the case of the two forms being separate races, both would be able to be evokers

Although would be quite something if only Pandas could be monks, but they never walk back such changes.

[AngerFork]

Putting aside some of the logistic issues behind Pandaren/Dracthyr being only one faction (locking one faction out of Evokers fully, for instance), I feel that between the two Dracthyr would fit better with Alliance & Pandaren with Horde. While Humans might be distrustful of dragons after their experiences with Onyxia, Deathwing, & Wrathion, the Horde is aligned with the Dragonmaw who themselves have an extremely dark history with the dragonflights. Aside from someone like Ebyssian, there are not going to be many dragons who trust the Horde leading to very few representatives to introduce the race. The Alliance on the other hand has recently shown more of a willingness to ally with questionable allies...after all, they now are home to the Void Elves, who house a power that may well devour them or their sanity at any time.

Pandaren on the other hand...they'd fit well with the modern Horde (at least better than with Garrosh's). They have seen what dark emotions can do & are quicker to forgive past transgressions than most. As a people, they had to fight back against slavery & a seemingly heartless foe much like the Orcs did. They've got a penchant for exploration, which fits with the nomadic Tauren.

As for the question of two separate races vs. one race...I think it works better as one race. Splitting them into two separate races would feel weird when it comes to things like lore and abilities. As is, Blizz can tell a solid story about a creation of Neltharion's that works well with mortal DNA as opposed to dragon-infused humanoids & constantly in draconic form dragon-like creatures.

[Lionwoman]

Alliance can have both of them.

And the vulperas.

[Lochton]

Luckily too late to do such things, and I don't think Dracthyr should be reserved to any faction, nor Pandaren, heck, I even think Goblin should be able to choose Horde or Alliance since they are in the Alliance too. If it wasn't for the story, even Vulpera could've been a neutral race.

[Zendhal The Black]

And the vulperas.

We'll hand over diaper...mechagnomes to the Horde. We have enough monster races allready

[Thundering]

I would prefer the removal of the Horde & Alliance.

[Nymrohd]

I am confused, is anyone else asking these questions or is it just idle wondering?

[sensei]

And the vulperas.

Can we send them the blood elves too?

[Mace]

I am confused, is anyone else asking these questions or is it just idle wondering?

The latter really.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Dracthyr would never join the Horde, not after what the Horde did to Dragonkind, destroying their own world and nearly destroying Azeroth several times.

Likewise it makes no sense for the Pandaren to join the Horde over the Alliance, but aesthetically the Pandaren fit the Horde better than Alliance (or at least, Wei Wang's and Bernie Kang's Pandaren, not the cutsey ingame Pandaren we got).

Visage form shouldn't be in the game at all. It doesn't fit the aesthetics of the game. Looks like they came from a tumblr cartoon.

Yes Draconic form should have a male and female distinct model. Females can have the sleek model Dracthyr have while males can get the bulky Drakkonoid models we always wanted.

[DatToffer]

The genderless model is fine. They still should have made it more like the drakkonid.

[Kyphael]

Factions are becoming less important so this level of semantics is almost pointless to me. Whether Dracthyr were just for Alliance, Pandaren just Horde, it's becoming just more about aesthetics. That seems like a no-brainer, but there is so little emphasis on race distinction, and role in lore that I'm jaded to the point where races, one of the most exciting aspects of the game once upon a time, really don't matter anymore. It doesn't help Dracthyr seem very boring. Of course if they introduced Mok'nathal, or Ogres, or Saberon as playable, I think I'd get excited again, but Dragonflight and Dracthyr just aren't doing it for me. This is the first expansion since WoD I'm sitting out at launch with no plans for going back. Shadowlands drove me away and Dragonflight's Dracthyr aren't reeling me back.

[Loveliest]

Last question - no. I find it pretty weird putting breasts on everything (diablo 3 comes to mind). It's fine to not have gender dimorphism in some races, especially since dragons themselves don't have it.