Some classes need more work than others to make work for every race. Shaman need unique totems (they really don’t), Paladins need unique mounts (they really don’t), Demon Hunters need to be elves (then why can’t Void Elves or Nightborne? They both have just as much reason to be Demon Hunters.), Dracthyr can’t be monks because… They didn’t exist 20,000 years ago? But summoning demons from the Burning Legion did, and worship of the Holy Light did? Huh.
Look, all I’m saying is that outside of the ones that obviously need more work to make them ‘work’ (and even that’s a bad example, how long did dwarves go on Human chargers? Remember Tauren riding Blood Elf unicorn horses?) I don’t think we should have any more race/class restrictions outside of classes like Evoker, until that SOMEHOW gets opened up to all of the races with some techno-sorcery. Blizz died on the hill of “there are no Pandaren DKs, except that one!” until suddenly there were. Goblins couldn’t have Monk because “How would they have learned, Kezan was destroyed!” until, suddenly, there are. The excuses are tired, if any race can be a priest, any race should be able to be a paladin. Why are Kul Tiran humans used in place of the normal model for ‘variety’, but normal model humans can’t also be shaman or druids?
And, on top of that, give Worgen the ability to shapeshift into human or Worgen form in combat like non-Evoker Dracthyr. Come on, this is just rude at this point.
Druid’s the other one I forgot about, but honestly just make all the animal forms Barber options at this point. Unless you’re using default animal forms, it doesn’t even matter - NElf druids and Kul Tiran druids using the owlcat form both look the EXACT SAME to a Horde player, and same goes for a Zandalari and a Tauren.
You notice that they gave flight forms open appearance options? So yea, bring on the BElf druids. And while you’re at it, LET ME PLAY A DRACTHYR MONK.
I would personally like to see unique blood elf druid forms designed, but I’m happy to just get generic druid forms for now and wait for the unique racial ones to be added later when they have the time/resources.
I was thinking some of the limitations make no sense. Kultirians who are humans can be druids, but their smaller counterparts cannot. Night elf paladins still do not exist after giving us an example in game of one.
Yet we have gnome warriors that cannot reach their foes…
Lore matters when it matters, but in this case, why can’t we have Night Elf Paladins? We HAVE a Night Elf Paladin, Delas Moonfang. Paladins are, strictly speaking, just priests who trained in martial arms and armor for wartime, that’s what the Silver Hand was, so if Priests are open to everyone…
To use a different example, it kind of breaks lore that Dracthyr have Priest and Warlock options. And yet, they do.
If Blizzard is going to break the lore themselves, then just let players be whatever they like.
Demon Hunter and Dracthyr Monk are more complicated because of character models lack the animation in the models to perform a large number of the actions. You can see for yourself by using polymorph toys to other races then play around with all their abilities. Demon Hunter vengeful retreat for example most races stand still and float backwards like a statue. Dracthyr Monk lacks animations for Roll, Rising Sun Kick, Flying Serpent Kick, and Whirling Dragon Punch.
Seems like a pretty simple fix between major patch cycles, then, doesn’t it? And I don’t mean that in the ‘oh just PRESS THE BUTTON and make a bunch of animations appear lmao’ way, just in the ‘the problem is pretty cut and dry’. They need animations, so Blizz brings on a team to make the animations under contract. Simple, quick, effective.
The limiting factors are explicitly cosmetic, or incredibly minor. Does it make lore sense for there to be Death Knight Dracthyr, nnno, not really. But then half of Shadowlands didn’t make much lore sense, either, so who even knows what’s happening with Death Knights anymore. So that leaves programming and cosmetic issues.
How about instead of dropping the lore restriction, they just write some lore for them? I mean most of them. Demon hunters and evokers don’t make sense for other races.
I’m sure you could write something for Demon Hunters being involved with the other races. Maybe using the perpetual power of the demon soul to combat the upcoming Void threat, or to keep the traditions of the Illidari alive and well now that they seemingly have no ‘true’ threat to fight.
A big problem with ‘lore’ is that it only matters when Blizzard wants it to matter. What is happening with Death Knights now that there’s no Helm of Domination? Is Bolvar still the Lich King? Can he still create new DKs? What about the Illidari? I don’t think we’ve seen anything from them since Legion’s conclusion, what are they up to, what are they even doing?
Why haven’t the Lightforged used their LITERAL SPACESHIP to help during any of these conflicts? You know what would have been REALLY cool? Seeing the Xenedar show up to help out Dalaran. What’s going on with Alternate Draenor? Clearly there’s still some kind of connection, the Mag’har Orcs come from AU Draenor. What is going on with the whole Yrel “Purge the Unclean” thing?
Hey, you remember those living Nerubians in Northrend? And this is like, the Expansion of the Spider People? Blizzard forgot about them, too, because there’s an NPC that says he’s the last of his kind BUT WE KNOW FOR A FACT HE ISN’T.
Point being, I’d rather just get them now and let Blizzard handwave the lore at some point in the next decade, rather than waiting a decade just to play race/class options we should have had years ago.
There’s a person I followed on twitter and now bluesky who goes by Duneblessed who has long been advocating for vulpera pallies. And has some sick artwork about it. Absolutely makes me want to play one! As an alt.
