[Forest Trolls] - A Community Discussion

Wyrmrest Accord
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Hello everyone,

I have always perceived the Amani/Forest Trolls as being a popularly requested race for WoW, and with us returning to their ancestral lands in Midnight, it feels like the perfect opportunity to finally add them. So, I wanted to engage the community in a discussion about forest trolls in the next Expansion, and here are the questions I’d like people to answer:

  1. Do you think Blizzard will still add forest trolls as a playable race even though they weren’t announced at Gamescom?
  2. Do you agree that this is a popularly requested race, and if it is, is it one you want? Why or why not?
  3. Do you believe Amani/Forest Trolls will be unique to a specific faction or neutral? Why or why not?

Now, of course, you don’t have to answer these questions to post here. I welcome any feedback from the community. These questions are merely here to help stimulate people’s thinking and provide some structure for those who feel like they might need it.

Edit: As a side note, for anyone wondering why I chose to put this on the Wyrmrest Accord forum instead of the General Discussion forum, it’s simply because Wyrmrest is an RP server, and RPers are some of the most knowledgeable and passionate people in all of WoW, and it’s their opinions that I want to hear the most. It’s also the server I play on, so… I’m a little biased.

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:muscle: SWOLE TROLL GANG :muscle:

Honestly, if the question ever comes up that a race should be playable, my answers going to be yes like 9.5 times out of 10. Even if it’d be seen as something that could benefit from just being a cosmetic, I actually like allied races a lot.

As cool as it would be having a troll race join the Alliance, I dunno. I think there’d be a liiiiiiiiiittle bit of tonal dissonance when paired with the Blue Boys, and given the Amani’s connections with the Zandalari, it’d feel like they’d have to jump through some hoops to make it work.

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  1. I always thought we had playable Forest Trolls because there’s a green skin option for the playable Troll race today. We also have the Hinterlands forest trolls as a friendly faction that used to actually have their own rep you could get but Blizz removed way back when.
  2. Nah, idk about popularity tbh, I think it’s probably a niche ask among the existing troll players. I’m also anti new playable races only because I’m a cranky mean old fart but I think existing races need more attention before we add more. I do one thousand percent agree adding additional forest troll customizations to existing playable troll races though.
  3. They should be a Horde faction imo. Sure, the zone guys in Midnight will be neutral for the sake of gameplay reasons that anyone regardless of red/blue team can gain rep with but I think at the end, they would join the Horde/Zandalari as opposed to remaining neutral. I mean neutral is fine too.
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I think its pretty likely they’ll add either an allied race or a cosmetic option for them. I do think they realize that proper forest trolls have been a request for decades now and now is probably going to be the best time to do it. They’ve certainly remained among the top 3 most requested Horde races to be added along side ogres and taunka.

Im going to take an old man yells at clouds moment and ramble about how half baked the last few faction neutral options have been exemplifying lazy follow through and development.

When pandaren were introduced they at least offered a philosophical divide and active reason why one group would join the Horde and the other Alliance. The issue is they’ve never expanded on that divide in the 13 years since it was introduced.

The dracthyr had even less divide but at least were given reason to show up at the gates of Org and Stormwind. “You go with them, you with them, go get help yesterday.” Then they kinda stuck around. Not the worst intro, but again (and I can cut a little slack here since it was only last expac) no follow up at all.

Earthen? Tourists. Thats all they are. They were given little reason to become faction partisans and thematically they’re in stark contrast to the Horde while dwarf fans were asking for earthen since they were introduced. Even their introduction and unlock, they don’t actually engage with the factions themselves in any meaningful sense. They’re neat additions, but they should have been Alliance additions finding connection with their fleshy cousins.

With harronir coming up I don’t have a lot of faith they’ll get any amount of reason or real story either why they’re joining either faction. TWW would have been a perfect shot to do earthen Alliance, harronir Horde. Again, I’m unsure how much they’ll engage with the actual factions on a partisan level. What is going to make a harronir scream “For the Horde” as they look to hack down the boys in blue?

So suffice it to say, forest trolls should be a Horde only option. The Horde has had the Revantusk, forest trolls, as members since Classic. Horde members have been requesting forest trolls for nearly as long. Not a single Alliance member (outside of the non-playable troll variety) have been asking for them. While game play should nearly be faction agnostic lore, story, and player options should remain distinct and exclusive to the factions.

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