I have so many questions about this race, first I feel for you my alliance players. Earthen should not have been an allied race. To me it almost felt like they forgot about horde players and this was a last minute change to include them as allied race. Maybe I am wrong if I am, than it is just disappointing of how they make a core alliance race as an allied race(heck a better version of to add to that)
Regarding my questions, why are they even called earthen they are robots. Why do they have genders? Aren’t they robotic things created for scratch and do not reproduce?
I mean they could of for example given ogres or mixed orc and ogres to alliance. With like Rexxar skin to horde, Rexxar share the same animation and skeleton as Kul Tiran humans. This move in my opinion just takes away from faction identity.
They consider gender a mere cosmetic element, according to the Earthen barber in Dornogal. As to why they have genders at all despite not being able to procreate, I’d say it’s simply because the Titans do have genders, and so the Keepers designed the Earthen in the Titans’ image
While i was skeptical of the Earthen to start, they are a very nicely fleshed out race. I am not a huge fan of neutral races in general, but i think it is important to note:
Earthen are NOT Dwarves. It is not giving the Horde a core race of the Alliance. Not to mention Earthen have never been affioiated with factions before.
To your questions; yes they are robotic, thats a big part of their story. They do not reproduce like most races, theyre just created in the forge. And their genders as another has said are cosmetic; they can just chisel whatever form they please.
Gotta agree with OP that the Earthen are absolutely an Alliance-adjacent race though. Earthen were never part of the Alliance before, sure, but Earthen are stone Dwarves. No matter how you put it and what their lore is, stone Dwarves will narratively, thematically and visually cater more to Alliance players than to Horde players, for obvious reasons.
They were a cool people to interact with ingame, nicely fleshed out, but they were still a terrible choice for a new AR. Down with neutral races too. Neutral races suck.
My only concern about the playable earthen is their racial where you have to eat Algari gems to change their Well Fed stat can expensive real quick if you’re the type who likes to follow the Meta and min-max
Dwarves all over the battlegrounds running off with the red AND the blue flags!
But no, seriously, as a Horde and Alliance player, I’m absolutely delighted with Earthen. I like my tall rock dwarves. The rocky part is probably why they’re called Earthen. And robots as an origin is pretty standard for dwarves – and sentient beings in this setting in general.
I like earthen too. I think giving the option of Horde actually adds flavor, much like no Death Knights. It says “hey this is a different kind of dwarf, made of stone with a different philosophy”
The Earthen have never been an alliance race, core or otherwise, not any more than tje B;pd Elves or the NIghtbourne just because they resemble one in some aspects.
More accurately they are sentient golems… they are animated stone, not circuits nor flesh.
Same reason Data did… he was built that way.
Not in the way that Bran was running off Xerox Earthen in the Hall of Stone these are obviously of a higher order of creation.