I know this will never happen but I really think it’s a shame that the Sethrak, who have an amazing place in the lore, a living god watching over them, and a connection / counter to the Vulpera allied race, should be denied to us.
When the Alliance needed aid, the Sethrak were there. When the Sethrak needed aid, the Alliance was there. While the Horde helped win back the Temple of Sethraliss, it was the Alliance who secured their interests. Just as the Vulpera and the Horde helped one another, it was the Horde that ultimately secured their interests. So what’s wrong with the Sethrak joining the Alliance?
Are Mechagnomes (like the Dark Irons) really worthy of the title “Allied Race” or are they just another customization option that was given it’s own racial abilities? Alliance, by now, should have Naga and Sethrak while the Horde should have Ogres, Vulpera. All the other “allied races” should have just been subraces, customization and racial sets for them.
I wish Blizzard would at least consider this and acknowledge the possibility.
I agree with you; I think mechagnomes should have been a customization for current gnomes.
I think the biggest problem with sethrak is a housekeeping one and one I’ve puzzled over - what reputation do you tie to the Sethrak for the Alliance to grind to Exalted? Every other Allied Race is tied to a rep grind.
I think mechagnomes came about as an easy answer for 1) a rep grind; 2) a questline achievement; and 3) one the Alliance feasibly have ties to.
They can always create one if they must. I am against rep-grinding for race unlocks in general, so honestly I couldn’t care less about their “housekeeping” issue. I remember when Draenei came into the alliance and had about a goose egg of reasons for doing so beyond “Hey Night Elves, we sorry about the island, we’ll clean it up. Hey, wanna be friends?”
I’m definitely in the camp that Allied Races shouldn’t have been a rep grind in the first place. Achievement lock I’m not as iffy about… but it’s a poorly implemented system designed to boost player retention.
The problem is, Blizz kind of locked themselves into a format and, if they changed it to make it easier/make it fit the narrative, one would have argument against it.
But I’m wholly in agreement with you that the entire system is bunk, really, and sethrak made sense for the Alliance. I want to be a snek.
Still annoyed that the Sethrak and Alliance seemed like a dropped plot. What was the point in having Alliance befriend the snake folk in the first place if they were just going to ignore collaboration with them? Sethrak would have been a good counter to Vulpera.
Aesthetic, culture, story, geography, etc… Just about everything. On my Alliance character, I save the leader of the good Sethrak from dying, and that’s all that happens. It’s just there to justify why they’re neutral to the Alliance, and why we get a foothold in Vol’dun.
On my Horde character, I save some Sethrak, one of the three stones that hold a seal, defeat the enemy of the good Sethrak, restore their Loa to life into the bargain, and then continue to protect Vol’dun and all of it’s denizens. I introduce the good Sethrak to the Vulpera and establish an Alliance of sorts between them.
The Sethrak worship a Loa, which is decidedly a troll and thus a Horde cultural point. The Sethrak live on the Zandalari Island, meaning they’re geographically close to two other Horde races. Their dress and buildings likewise all come off very much as Horde to me.
I guess those are all reasons why I think it would be particularly interesting to have the Sethrak go Alliance - it’s a breath of difference in their current race line-up.
But then again, I’m of the opinion that the faction barrier is also a moot point that should be removed to some extent. Cultural exchange is good!
I’m fine for something different in the line-up, but I’d like for it to make sense. If the Sethrak were native to Kul Tiras, they worshiped a sun god, and the Alliance helped save them, I’d be pretty okay with them being Alliance.
I don’t like the idea of a Horde race being put on the Alliance or vice versa.
It’s probably the same excise they use with the ogres, “can’t figure out how to make females”. Which I suspect is more that they can’t figure out how to make them pretty.
Well, Sethraliss is a female Sethrak Loa, with a slightly different model, but the difference is almost nothing. Blizzard seems to favor sexual dimorphism in playable races.
Female Ogres would probably be based on the female Kul Tiran skeleton, like Rexxar’s is based on the male.
It would be really refreshing if they took a step away from human gender models. Use birds as a template, for example, and have males identified with flair and color.
I like the idea Mandogus. It allows the artists to be far more creative or they could add the opposite gender to the opposite faction. That could usher in a bridge over the faction divide easily.
And there is still a way to make Sethrak relevant. I made my own post in regards to it but I’ll be vocal about it elsewhere. Blizzard has said they want our ideas.
Have the heroes interact with Sulthis and or Sethraliss in or about the Shadowlands.
Do quests for them, grind some rep for them or whatever Covenant they may be tied to.
Sethraliss, the Loa has died and been brought back. She should know something important for us. Sulthis, the deceased Keeper is another Sethrak NPC that could appear in the Shadowlands. I bet they’d be thrilled to bits that we helped Vorrik, the Sethrak people and deal with Mythrax again.
I want them for Alliance but at this point I don’t care which way they go. I just want them and I think Sethraliss and Sulthis are valid story based excuses to have them as a playable race introduced in Shadowlands.