I feel like Dragonflight has a huge potential for allied races, a list of races I would like to see are:
Djardin (a clan that hasn’t encountered the alliance and horde and doesn’t hate dragons)
Maruuk Centaur
Valdrakken Drakonid
Iskaara Tuskarr
Brackenhide Gnolls,
Djardin would be a horde and alliance allied race
Maruuk Centaur would also be both sides
Valdrakken Drakonid will be both sides
Iskaara Tuskarr will be Alliance
Gnolls will be Horde
Djardin description, after the primalists were defeated in the Vault of the Incarnates a new Djardin clan has emerged which has not encountered the Horde and Alliance yet.
Maruuk Centaur and the Khanm Matra pledge themselves to the alliance and horde after they aided in defeating Balakar and the Primalists in Ohn’ahran Plains.
The Drakonid of Valdrakken join the alliance and horde after the aid they were given throughout the Dragon Isles and aiding in the defeat of the Primalists.
Iskaara Tuskarr join the alliance due to the Brackenhide Gnolls joining the horde, their old enemy.
Brackenhide gnolls make peace with the Iskaaran Tuskarr after Decatriach Wratheye disappeared but the peace they made is still tenuous, they join the horde due to the Iskaraans joining the Alliance.
I’d love to see the Maruuk as an allied race. When I got to the Maruuk zone I already started getting “potential allied race” vibes. The NPCs look so varied and customized in appearance.
I’m really hoping for Tuskarr as a neutral race but honestly I’d go to whatever faction they are on with cross factions existing now. After the leaks that said they’d be an allied race unlocked with pre-patch with the otter mount as their racial mount were proven wrong I’m afraid of getting my hopes up again though. That and Ion’s interview with I think Crendor where he said there were no allied races currently in development. Hope they change their mind because I’ve been waiting since I started playing to make a Tuskarr.
Djaradin are big. Like, really big. I don’t see them being playable in any capacity.
We’ve already explored most of the Dragon Isles and met the djaradin, who only live on the Waking Shores. it would be near-impossible to introduce another clan out of the blue and have it not be hackneyed. They don’t hate dragons, they just see them as worthy adversaries; Selistra says as much in an optional dialogue that you can read within the first hour of leveling. And the race’s whole characterization is that they fight dragons, so if you take that away, you leave them with nothing.
Four-legged races will never be playable. Especially in an expansion where in order to go anywhere, you need to ride dragons that were designed with races with two legs in mind.
Why should only the Alliance get tuskarr? Both factions help them because we’re currently at peace and working together the whole way through. The pigeonholing of new races into their respective factions during BfA was what led to an uproar over the allied races we got not being neutral. Tuskarr can easily fit into both factions.
The “X joins the Horde so Y joins the Alliance” argument is the same jingoist malarkey that the rabid sethrak supporters insisted would be the reason for that race joining the Alliance if the Horde ever got vulpera, and it amounted to nothing for them. It doesn’t apply to any existing allied race pairs, either; no allied races joining the Alliance had an impact on which allied races joined the Horde, or vice-versa.
Tuskarr also don’t seem like the kind of race petty enough to join this group that they’ve just met simply because a race that’s attacked them before has joined another group that they’ve just met, and in fact, that’s a pretty flimsy reason for any race to become playable.
Related to the topic at hand, I was expecting people to gravitate toward tarasek becoming playable because they’re another race that uses one of the two worgen rigs after dragonmen, saurok, saberon, and sethrak.
Tauren wouldnt stand for centaur in the horde and considering the orcs helped them in their conflict vs the centaur i dont see that happening. Centaur definitely would be an alliance race.
The Saberon is definitely a strong candidate for a Alliance or neutral race too. Say the Tushui pandaren monastery decides to “soothe the savage beast” and domesticate/ save them to aid in the fight vs evil. Go back to Draenor for a questline like the Maghar orcs.
They would definitely be pushing character creation envelope having Centaur (Alliance) and Naga (Horde) as playable character with the animation challenges of armoring them. I would definitely play a Centaur Warrior or Paladin (tank). Naga melee or caster class with four arms?? Dope 100
Alliance definitely needs some “monstrous” races to round it out. They seemed to have succeeded with the Worgen (werewolf) but still left the option to be “pretty”. Peace
There’s even a dialogue you can get with a random Tauren in the crafting town to the south who’s like “These guys make me a little nervous but I know they’re different.”
While I’d be on board with Tuskarr and Centaur (and I still want the Grovetenders from Ardenweald, thanks!), I’d… rather they focus a bit more on adding further customization and improvements to the current Allied Races, first.
And also giving more classes to Dracthyr. No, Drakonid is not a replacement for Dracthyr; I like Dracthyr, I want to play Dracthyr, but I really do not like being locked to Evoker.
Centaur likely wouldn’t be a good fit, because they would be hard to put on a mount, and not just player mounts, but things that put you onto mounts in cutscenes and events. It just wouldn’t fit well. Same thing for Keepers/Daughters.
Tuskarr are almost certainly a thing. They even have their own shaman totems.
If you want me to give you the two I think are most likely…
Draconids linked to Drakkenwhatever rep, and Tuskarr linked to Tuskarr rep.
I think that’s pretty solidly not going to happen at this point. Recent dev interviews have made it pretty clear that they consider Drac’thyr and Evoker to be a single and inseparable entity.
This. No reason for “they’d look weird on mounts” to hold them back, when you could just make them mounts. They’re half horse, for goodness sake!
They say a lot of things and end up doing the opposite later due to feedback (or whining). I’m not going to stop asking for more classes for Dracthyr. It was a very foolish idea to lock them to one class from the start, and there’s no reason to considering they already have other class animations in the data files.