That being said, the old faces also look pretty dead and lifeless. Hollow behind the eyes. Tiny, making you think there isn’t much intelligence there - just obedience. Which makes sense for a zealously-dedicated soldier race. The new faces have a bit of life behind them. Friendlier, if not more savage. But I certainly don’t think that their irredeemable for those who preferred the old faces.
The transition is arguably similar to Nightbourne, in which the transition wasn’t able to import that eerie quality that the NPCs had.
And Gnolls, I’m not sold. They’re just too soft and clean. Their models did need an update, but something about those old models - perhaps the horrid quality of the models themselves - just made them feel dirty and unhinged. Demented, even. Now? They just feel zany. Silly. In a childlike way.
Playable Drakonids with a wide array of classes, Dracthyr remained locked to Evoker only; or
Dracthyr are opened to a wide array of classes, Drakonids do not become playable
Obviously, I would take the first option. The second would mess with my immersion and leave us with fewer options. Yet, I do see a lot of people championing the idea in other threads.
Ideally I’d want a combination of both where Dracthyr get to be open to all classes (as well as get a tank spec and more visage race forms) while Drakonids became playable under their own race with their own lore and classes assigned.
Between your two I’d be leaning more heavily towards the first option but I could easily be swayed to the other I think for practicality reasons.
Drakonids could make a great Evoker allied race for the Drakthyr. A nice catch-all race Blizz could provide for people who still want a draconic race but Drakthyr/Evokers just don’t hit the mark for them.
Lore Idea: The playable Drakonids are actually another prototype of the Drakthyr designed by Neltharion, succeeding in granting mortals physical power and a small degree of draconic might from all flights (justifying customization options from all dragonflights) but not to the extent of the Drakthyr. Unfortunately, due to Neltharion’s rigorous standards they just didn’t make the cut, so he sealed them away as a form of mercy and due to thinking they could be a useful backup if the Drakthyr did not work out.
Needless to say, their story would probably involve being rediscovered by the Drakthyr and bringing in their long lost comrades into the fold, and proving their creator was wrong to dismiss them so quickly.
Alternatively, we could learn that Drakonids are perfected Dracthyr. A process that was actually shared with the other dragonflights. Neltharion wanted the perfect soldiers, but perhaps Dracthyr were too specialized, headstrong or otherwise imperfect in some way. It would add a bit of dramatic potency to the Dracthyr narrative to learn that they weren’t actually hidden - they were discarded.
This is why we’ve seen Drakonids in usage widely by all dragonflights in the role that Neltharion ostensibly had for the Dracthyr, while we haven’t even heard of the Dracthyr until now.
I’m fine with a really tight fantasy for Dracthyr Evoker - the race exists to let us do dragon things, and the class is just a formality to accommodate the structure of the game. It would be very strange if you picked up a sword and found yourself unable to breathe fire or fly - and even weirder if you were able to do so in really limited, ineffective ways.
That being said, I do find it weird that they do not have access to a tanking role. I think they should give a ranged tank a shot, like SW:TOR’s Trooper/Bounty Hunter. This might seem weird to people, but as long as you realize that you don’t need to be at max range while tanking, it makes more sense. Furthermore, they don’t need to be Orc-proportioned to make a tank spec work.
But in short, I just feel that Dracthyr are the successful implementation of a very specific fantasy. It doesn’t scratch every draconic itch, though, but we shouldn’t compromise and contort Dracthyr to sort of fit those other fantasies. Those fantasies should be independently created.
Hence, Drakonid.
It’s got the bulk.
It’s got the boobs.
It’s got the classes.
It’s still a dragon.
Perfect solution, in my view. At least, as far as feasible goes. The perfect solution is just playable Dragons, wholesale.
Drakonids are really the only feasible way to condense the sheer physical presence of dragons into a playable form. Of course they should also be fridges.
While this is indeed the more feasible option, the ideal option would be to do both. Let Dracthyr use other classes (Or all if Blizzards desire to make all races able to be all classes is genuine ((And give Evoker a tank spec imo))) and still give Drakonids for those who want to play the darkonids.
Honestly if blizzard weren’t cowards bring on the Dragonspawn as well. >.> The tauric ones.
Honestly, they should have been utterly uncompromising and just made Dragons playable. Not a compromise with Drakonids, or Dracthyr. Full on Dragons. Alas, WoW just isn’t built for that.
This topic is still taking up its share of my idle thoughts. If we make it out of Dragonflight without playable Drakonids, it will be very black mark on what is otherwise shaping up to be a fantastic expansion.
The thing is… we were never going to get the “fully baked” ideal of straight up playable dragons. That’s a bridge too far. So they had to carve out that which made them the most unique, which is the draconic spellcasting and unique physical abilities. To leave out the raw strength and sheer presence of dragons was the sacrifice that was made to get dragons playable, albeit in a muted form.
But Drakonids? They would fill in everything that was cut, and tie in the legacy of the history of the Drakonids as a whole.
While I’m fine with the Dracthyr model as is, it would have been awesome to have their body size customization go to 11 instead of just 4. 11 being quite literally a Drakonid. The wings too should have been optional, have them or don’t at the expense of the racial soar ability and switch out the flying spells and abilities with something else. It all would be up to the player.
Dracthyr are already the first and only race to have this many customization options. Nothing wrong with adding more imo.
Honestly, I’m fine with Dracthyr as they are. They have their own unique identity. There’s no reason to dilute that when Drakonids are right there as an option, giving us all the bulk, boobs, and tanks we could ask for from draconic humanoids.
To all those “Envokers need tank!” threads… this suggestion right here is likely to be the only viable solution. Blizzard overtly stated that Evokers, even if they get another spec, are envisioned as a ranged DPS and healing class. That’s the foundational philosophy. That’s not going to change, no matter how many times it is posted about. If High Elves still don’t exist as a playable option, what chance do you think you have?
That being said… Drakonids. In full plate. Tanking your raid. With a few draconic racials. There’s your draconic tank fantasy, realized in full.
Unless you just want to be a full-sized dragon outright. In which case, you will never be satisfied.
I dunno, looking at the new Dracthyr talents on Wowhead they have quite a couple for reducing damage and strengthening armor. They’re all Black Dragonflight talents too, very earthy. They seem like Tanking abilities to me at least.
But you’re not wrong, they don’t even really use physical damage [Which I am a little bit upset about, I wanted to be lethal with them claws] and are primarily magic based. Magic and Tanking don’t exactly go too well together.
