I loved the resounding silence at Earthen Allied race

Bytalth-sargeras · November 11, 2023, 4:17pm

Tossing this in here instead:

I like Earthen. I think they’ll make a fine addition to the roster. But their reception is demonstrative of something very key: the playerbase (generally) doesn’t want new races to be made playable. We want existing races that they’ve already had the opportunity to become attached to made playable.

There’s a reason that Void Elves were so panned upon their release: the hope and expectation was for High Elves. Not something new, no matter how closely it hews to High Elves (especially after a few patches to placate these masses).

The same applies to the reception of Dracthyr. Those who were hoping for playable dragons expected either Drakonids or straight up Dragons - not the compromise that we received. I think the race is fantastic, but its perception in the community will forever by tainted by a comparison to what they are not.

Earthen fall into the same trap. While they technically originate earlier, they were never a race that received any amount of narrative focus enough for the playerbase to connect with them. They were automatons, after all. And the new iteration is quite different from that original concept to the point that they could have been called Stone Dwarves and people wouldn’t have thought them any more connected to Earthen than any other Dwarf.

For all intents and purposes, they are completely new. And it is hard to get excited for something that you have no connection to when you’re all too aware that they’re taking up development resources that could have been allocated to something that you already love.

But to be completely clear: I am excited for them, as I am for any other (non-Elf) playable race. I’ve got a couple names reserved and can’t wait to add them to the alt army. I’m sure that many here can say the same. But I completely understand the reaction.

Even if you like Earthen, you can’t help but to feel a little gutted that they weren’t something that you’re already invested in.