I know Blizzard said they wouldn’t be but come on. They are, and that’s a good thing. It’s a stronger, organized system that makes a clear distinction between the core and allied races.
So if you want to predict what the next allied races will be, look at what we haven’t seen yet-Gnomes, Worgen, Goblins, and Undead. Not Ankoan, not Arakkoa, and DEFINITELY not Vulpera.
I don’t think it’s correct to term it as such because it implies one version is a lesser representation of the original race. (Personal bias: Void Elves are lesser.) I think the term Allied Race is correct because it clarifies which race is core to the faction and which isn’t.
I don’t think the people asking for playable Vulpera really care whether they’re considered an “allied” race or not. The allied race system doesn’t preclude playable vulpera in any way.
I said “DEFINITELY” because I sincerely hope they never get to the creation screen in any form. But, yeah, my whole point is that the allied race system precludes them.
I’m not saying your rationale doesn’t make sense, because it definitely does and “allied races” absolutely are synonymous to what we’ve been calling “subraces” thus far. However, when people support playable Vulpera they tend to point to the massive amount of evidence that suggests their eventual inclusion that is documented on the Vulpera megathread.
Allied race or otherwise, I do believe Vulpera are an inevitability. I main Alliance anyway so fox folk on the Horde aren’t going to affect me too much. But if people are worried the Vulpera are going to take an AR “slot” that is meant for the goblins… well, 8.2 has totally got me on board with the theories that kelfin are coming as well.
Hopefully they both show up so that everyone can get what they want here.
I know there is a massive amount of evidence that they’ll be made playable. I’m just saying that if they ever unfortunately do, my bet is that they’ll be a core race. Hopefully with a unique skeleton. But I definitely agree with you about the Gilblins. They would be awesome.
Allied races are the result of Blizzard starting work on a massive customization upgrade for the various races, only to realize there was a way to monetize it. The only allied races that are new models are the latest pair, and all the others that aren’t don’t share any of their hairstyles with their ‘parent’ race despite literally having identical models.
It’s a tinfoil hat theory, but that’s the only reasoning I can think of, they had all these hairstyles made and ready, and one thing that stood out to me… Dark Irons have tattoo options, but before? The dwarf clan that used tats were the Wildhammer Dwarves, never Dark Iron.
So they were never intended to be subraces, they were meant to be a customization influx… before money kicked in.
I mean they are like sub-race because they are versions of our original races but I think it’s more about using the model frames we have now for less work in the creation of them. I do not believe that will exclude Vulpera from becoming an allied race someday soon!
Vulpera already use the goblin skeleton. There’s no reason to craft an entire new one, which is a massive undertaking, when they already have functioning models. But that’s also more of a point to why they’d be the goblin sub-race.
I don’t think gilgoblins are very likely at all though. Neither them or the ankoan showed much interested in leaving the ocean and joining us. Land is not their thing, they even complain about it. The story never panned out in that direction.
I guess then we’d have to define what the difference between a “core” race and an “allied” race is. For instance, if Vulpera don’t have any genetic relationship (in lore) with any of the previous races but they still require a rep grind to unlock, does that make them an allied race or a core race? If they’re released as is, using the goblin skeleton but with a plethora of unique animations and don’t require a rep grind, does that still qualify them to be a standalone core race? Kul Tiran humans have rigs, skeletons, and models that are developed completely from scratch, meaning they could have been a totally unique core race but were instead placed behind a rep grind just like the other allied races, so does this mean that skeleton/rig is irrelevant when it comes to racial definitions?
What I’m trying to say is that, ultimately, it doesn’t really matter what label Blizzard slaps on new races at this point. Playable is playable, and we’re kinda just splitting hairs unnecessarily by saying “oh well Vulpera totally won’t be an allied race; they’ll be a core race!” Ok… but that doesn’t really mean anything.
It means Goblin fans would have their Goblin AR.
It means the Alliance wouldn’t get rekt by getting Gnomes with prosthetics while the Horde receives a brand new race instead of any Goblin-based AR.
It means the Alliance would also get a new core race should Vulpera be introduced as a core race.
It matters. It really does. Vulpera most definitely won’t ever be a new allied race. Core race? Sure, why not.
Of all the possible allied race combinations, Vulpera, given their interaction with the Horde and already existing model/skeleton, seems like the most realistic choice.
That’s only true if you honestly believe that the addition of one allied race permanently precludes the addition of another. They’ve never said that’s how it will work, and there’s nothing stopping them from just tacking on a “page 2” for the allied race system. It’s been pretty successful thus far, despite the criticisms, so I’m optimistic we’ll see additional iterations of “core” races like forest trolls, taunka, broken draenei, etc. etc…
Forgive me, but as an Alliance player I get really exhausted by arguments like that. My level of enjoyment on the Alliance is not dependent on what cool models the Horde end up getting. I play Alliance because I enjoy the offerings that are on the table right now. I would not feel “rekt” if the Horde suddenly got fox people while we get cyber gnomes. Although, to be fair, this is probably because I love cyber gnomes, and I would sort of hope that people who choose to play Alliance would be able to tolerate one of their faction’s most iconic races.
They once said that allied races wouldn’t necessarily come in pairs, and of course the forums lost their mind because they believed this meant that the Alliance would be losing out. If they have something cool that they want to give to a faction, I want them to follow through with that idea. I don’t want them having to go “well gee, I guess we’d better come up with some half-baked idea on the spot to preserve racial parity so that the forums don’t hate us.” That’s not a good way to go about content development.
Also, your statement makes the presumption that core races are in any way more valuable than allied races. But, seeing as how the Kul Tirans, an allied race, have a completely original skeleton and animation rig, the line between what is a core race and what is an allied race is very blurry. If we got a race of slothmen tomorrow that were completely new in lore yet all their animations were shared with a night elf male, I’m not sure I would consider that more valuable than an allied race that actually had the animation work put into it to make it look distinct.
There’s no reason for us to value “core” races over “allied” races, especially when we can’t really define these terms comprehensively yet.
Having the same model isn’t what connects an allied race to their parent race. Kul’tirans and Zandalari both have different models than Humans and trolls. Vulpera are in no way related to the Goblins.
Core races are special. Allied races are sub versions of those races. They definitely have to be genetically related. If you can’t consider Vulpera a sub version (lorewise and design-wise) of Gnomes, Goblins, Undead, or Goblins then they can’t be an allied race.
Okay, but from a utilitarian perspective why should this matter to us, the player, at all? What inherent value is there in a race that is, lorewise, not connected to an existing race compared to one that is?
Vulpera have a lot of work put into them, but not to the same extent that the Pandaren did when they were unveiled as a completely new race. The fact that vulpera share a skeleton and most of their animations with goblins is something that knocks them down a few pegs from “pandaren” and inches them closer towards “zandalari troll.”
If lore is the only reason that they are excluded from the allied race system, I don’t really see why that’s relevant at all, or why the Alliance would be “missing out” if the Horde ended up getting Vulpera while the Alliance got Mechagnomes or something like that.
See, I feel like this is a non-issue. One, I don’t want to entertain the thought of Vulpera being added as a race. Two, I don’t think Blizzard is ever planning on it because of the allied race system they made, which I described above.
I highly doubt the devs put this much concern or restrictions on themselves when they decide on Allied races. Which is why they are called Allied Races and not Sub Races. Anyone can be an ally.
I know it’s easier. But for races worth making into core races (like Ogres, Ethereals, Arakkoa, and Ankoan/Jinyu) they will take the time to make them as special as the others. Vulpera shouldn’t be either imo.