I want a new "complete" new race, but I would really love playable Naga as well

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I’m probably never going to get over how much Dracthyr missed the mark (especially since I actually love the gameplay of the Evoker), as the total lack of transmog support really hampers the fun of playing the game.

Generally, I would consider any transmog limitations to be a complete deal-breaker for pretty much any new race to be added to the game.

The sole exception to that would be Naga.

Now, in saying that, they obviously would need to be able to wear armor on the upper-body. Their prominent features (fins?) on their head would also prevent most helms from being moggable, although I would probably suggest adding a selection of “Special” helms to be used (ie. holiday items like the Winter’s Veil hats, or the promotional helms, maybe a smattering of “classic” Tier set helms).

I don’t think anyone would really balk at limitations there, because their physiology literally prevents them from wearing most helmets, or any pants or boots.

One thing I would probably consider is for their tail, maybe having a “bangle” that you can transmog your bracers to. My rationale is that Bracers are uniquely designed to look that way, and there are a ton of textures to match virtually every Tier set in the game, giving them a ton of transmogging potential, not just their torso. Maybe you could have different “styles” of bangle at the Barbershop, so even though it’s ultimately just a simple texture being stretched over it, you could still play around to find a design that compliments your overall transmog.

While I wouldn’t consider it strictly necessary, I could also see maybe having a Lore development that perhaps Azshara (or someone else…?) grant them the ability to give themselves legs again? I don’t think it’s the craziest idea in the world; similar to Trolls, I could totally imagine them having clawed feet that don’t display boots, but still being able to cover their lower legs.

Again, just an idea. I’ve always liked the idea of more “exotic”, less “human” races (Draenei and Tauren are basically the only ones), and Naga have a long established, and fairly well liked presence in the game and the Lore already.

Like I said, I love me some transmog, but that’s probably the one and only race I would be happy to give up a little flexibility in order to see added.

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good luck with belts and boots is all i can say. I bet the tip of the tail get stepped on a lot too.

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As far as a backstory/history goes for any race to be playable and for a faction: Ogres!! Playing as a Thunk would (Oxhorn reference, in case you missed that) be a blast, and would have a great tie-in story to Orcs and would obviously join Horde.

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I really doubt they will ever make any race that isn’t basically human size/shape.
One head, two Arms, two legs. Wings and/or tails optional.
Nor anything bigger than a Tauren or smaller than a Gnome.

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The only way I see Naga becoming playable is if they add in Night Elf and Nightborne Visage forms for them :dracthyr_hehe_animated:

Mechagnomes and Dracthyr have shown they’ll just restrict mog if it makes more sense than reworking 20+ years of armour to work on new skeletons and limb types.

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If you do about 1/2 of the quests in he Vash j zone, you reach a quest where you can play a naga Battle Maiden.

I am just making you aware of it , if you weren’t , i am not submitting this as a solution.

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It probably wouldn’t be that hard for Blizzard to macgyver together a legged naga subspecies. They were magicked into naga to begin with, you can magic some legs on them.

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I think shoulders, chest, gloves, and belt would be simple enough. They could also have tabards, just only display the front “flap” (assuming it doesn’t conflict with the belt).

Beyond that, like I said, I would maybe just make an effort for “special” helms to display, namely the Holiday stuff. It would probably also make sense for them to have their cash-shop helms display, but I’m pretty indifferent on those.

The “visage” option could totally work, too. Wouldn’t be my personal preference – Worgen are really the only race I feel like shapeshifting really makes sense for – but I wouldn’t actively oppose it, either. Having a bipedal form (which thinking on it, I think there are some instances of the larger ones having legs in Legion?) would be my preference, with a toggle between the two, or just stick to their serpentine forms.

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So you can actually play with naga in the wowhead model viewer right now and try different armors on them, and a lot of them work fine. In particular, pants that you try to mog on the model turn into a tailwrap thing.

The biggest issue with Naga is mounts, and I’m not sure how they’d deal with that.

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Sadly, Naga biology just doesn’t fit with the mount model, and the work to make that work would be… honestly the #1 thing that makes this a non-starter.

There are other reasons, which are… barriers, but hardly impenetrable, especially now in a post-Void Elf, post-playable Eredar world. I do think an aquatic race would still cause riots all these years later even with Vashir being so far in the rearview mirror, but… I don’t think that’s why this wouldn’t/couldn’t work. Even if they bunted on the transmog issue, the “how can we make this snake person sit nicely in all the various mount options we have” is what kills this.

I’d love the option, but I just don’t trust Blizzard to do it justice. They’ve been getting progressively lazier with races, and the Naga would take more work than I see them being willing to invest. At best they’d slap together some 0 effort “sea elf” and call it a day.

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Hmm, that’s a good point; for some reason I’d completely overlooked the issue of mounts.

Giving them a “ground mount” would be easy enough (activate your “mount mode” and your character slithers super close to the ground), but for flying mounts, that’s a tough call.

I suppose it lends more credence to the idea of letting them have some sort of alternate form (either bipedal, or just ‘visage’ into Night Elf or Nightborne).

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Considering the ubiquity of mounts as rewards, I don’t see them ever making a race that just can’t use them (hence why the dracthyr got visages for transmog).

Maybe, though I feel like that would be a copout.

I do think they could make some kind of animation that has them coiled up in a saddle. It would look kind of inevitably janky but we all look fairly awkward and stiff on mounts if you look closely enough.

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i have long advocated for a totally different type of expansion:

Azeroth strikes back

the denizens of azeroth, sick and tired of being crushed between alliance and horde join forces to retake their lands.

you get to play as:

-murlocs
-naga
-ogres
-furbolgs

mrgrgmmgrgmmgrggmlgrrrrlrrr!!!

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Not gonna lie; that would actually be a sick theme to explore if they ever do something like “Plunderstorm” again.

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