Specifically I am going to ask in terms of class/race combos,
do you value the lore, and coherency of your character in it, over your ability to make characters of your choosing?
Would you support a change to the game to make it so that any race could become any class?
If so, what would you play and to what extent do you think gameplay should triumph over lore?
If not, what is your favorite lore moment and to what extent would you be willing to sacrifice lore for gameplay?
This is a Family Circus route you’re taking to talk about all race/class combos.
Gameplay vs. lore comes into play for stuff like… giving us the resurrection spell. In lore it’s extremely rare for someone to be rez’d (fully back to life, not undead) but for us we can cast it over and over.
I don’t see the need to (for example) retcon the Draenei’s backstory to give them Warlocks.
but what I’m asking is not retconing the story, but rather I’m asking how you would feel if they just said screw the story, any race can be any class even if it doesn’t make sence, you’re just one of the rare never-seen-in-lore warlock draenei that definitely exist but we don’t need to explain how.
Nah, every race getting every class would be a smidge goony
But they totally could add more classes to some races and still be explainable lorewise
I do not remember the last time I read a quest in WoW, now in EQ you use to have to read and figure out the keywords until the quest was posted on a website. So I have been in the habit of not reading quest in rpg’s for a long time. Maybe when something finally dethrones this game I will enjoy the story again. I prefer balance gameplay over story any day.
But you are. The playable eredar (both of them) are a group of beings that refused to use fel magic and were exiled for it. And the eredar that didn’t refuse joined the Legion. So to spawn into the game as a Draenei Warlock stepping off the crashed ship makes no sense.
Now, I’m not saying I wouldn’t absolutely love an eredar Warlock but I would rather Blizzard add them in as part of an allied race and not where they make zero sense.
As I’ve said, what if they say screw the lore, don’t explain how this is happening, don’t make a retcon just don’t explain it and leave it there as a character customization tool.
As you said yourself, resurrection in lore is extremely rare, but just because our characters can do it a lot doesn’t mean that they’ve retconed that it actually is common, they just didn’t explain why our characters can do something so rare, not a retcon, just ignoring the lore for gameplay reasons
I think race/class combinations could stand to be more restricted actually.
Lightforged DKs were a mistake. I’m not a huge fan of Mag’har priests either given their oppression at the hands of the Light Crusade.
(With that said though - why the hell can’t we be Worgen Monks yet.)
For me it’s always story and restrictions but Blizz have changed things a lot.
I heard there was huge resistance when Blizz made Shammy and Paly for both faction
and we have Void Elf priest, Undead priest, Lightforged Draenei Death Knight, etc, etc.
Story fans try to find lore ground about it but it’s hard and stressful. well that’s something Blizz should’ve provided when the class/race was introduced anyway
And I think eventually wow will be like all race all class all armors…
but I don’t think I will be playing this game then. Cos lots of things would be ruined already before they do something like that. lol.
This is a RPG, so story is always far more important than gameplay.
swtor made a mistake , story over gameplay which made it dull
Good story makes me slightly less salty about less than fun gameplay.
so when we adding the blood elf minigame where they have to consume mana every day or else the character will wither away over time, whether you’re playing or not.
There is obviously always going to be some times gameplay literally HAS to be valued more than lore.
And as I said that race/class combo would be a retcon because of the established backstory that race has.
These two are not retcons. Orc Priests npcs have been in the game since 2004 and LFD are just a raised body like regular Draenei.
Obviously you have a loose grasp of the lore, so story will not mean much for you.
I never said they were retcons, nor did I oppose Orc Priests.
As for LFD - Lightforging changes your biology pretty fundamentally, making you functionally immortal among other things. I don’t think animating them as undead as though they are normal draenei makes a ton of sense. Just my opinion.
You ignored the whole second part about how I showed that just giving our characters something isn’t necessarily changing the lore in any way. But sure, stay delusional.
“MEEEEEEEEH I’M FRUSTRATED SO I’M GONNA GET PERSONAL” 
I’ve explained more than once how them just existing breaks lore.
Keep in mind that the Exile’s Reach intro removes the need to explain things like “X stepped off the crashed ship.” You can have Draenei of other classes that weren’t part of the initial Exodar escape because of that.
I’m not saying I care about Draenei Warlocks one way or the other, but if they wanted to introduce playable “Eredar” who came to Azeroth, that’s one way to do it.
Gameplay > Lore.
Give everybody Paladin and Druid.