I have a slightly different take on rangers than you do. I see Hunters as WoW’s versions of Rangers. Basically Drizzt.
I go back to AD&D when Rangers were more of a Warrior-Druid combo with some mage thrown in. They had druid spells and minor mage spells. EQ was very similar to this and we know a lot of WoW was based on EQ as well.
Being this way the major Rangers in other lore were Aragorn/Strider who wore mail and so did elves like Drizzt (actually Elven Chain) but I believe those are the reasons why hunters wear Mail.
Shaman actually wore mail in EQ as well. The more I think about it, the armor systems in WoW really are just EQ updated. AD&D had things like splint mail and others that never made it to video games.
Void Elf and Panda DKs are the dumbest thing ever, if they go live.
The fact that theyre redoing the DK area might mean the next class is death themed. A new DK area would be a pretty weak selling point for a new expansion given that most people already have a DK. Now if it was a DK/Lich/Necromancer starting area everyone would have a reason to be excited about it.
I highly, highly doubt this update is the major class/race feature of the next expansion. It’s just a side thing that works with the story.
I’m not entire sure. It’s too fragmented. I’m thinking 8.3.5.
I concur with your sentiment 
My theory is everything in the Leak is only half truth, Bolvar has been stealing dead bodies in the back ground raising Dk’s, Blizzard plants false information and slaps you with their junk so hard you realize the leaks had it all wrong all this time.
I just hope we get some updated Deathcharger models.
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But WoW Hunters aren’t druids or mages. They’re expressly physical damage dealers, with the occasional nature damage from toxins or venom. Ignoring the rule-bending hero NPCs, the most iconic WoW hunter is Hemet, who is CERTAINLY not a Druid/Mage hybrid.
In WoW, there are 3 archetypes that actually ARE magical bow-wielders, though:
- Tyrande and her Priestesses of the Moon
- Sylvanas and her Dark Rangers
- The Troll Shadow Hunters, who get the blessing and boon of a Loa to have magical abilities.
Those three archetypes, imo, would make an extremely tight, focused class. The biggest drawback would be the confusion of “Shadow Hunters” not being actual Hunters. Since “Priest” and “Hunter” aren’t available class names, calling that class “Ranger” with suitable spec names seems by far the most elegant way of bringing those archetypes to the player characters.
Prob why the new starting area will work all these things out
Just curious, have you ever played old school D&D or even the Drizzt era?
THe reason I ask, is their version of druid mage spells are very different than what WoWs would be.
For instance something like a snare. Hunter get wing clip. Same function, uses mana but isn’t technically a spell though it functions exclusively as one.
Druids had Faire fire. Hunters mark is similar enough.
Honestly the original vision where hunter used mana kinda points to a bow wielding fighter with s small amount of magic.
The only thing missing from D&D rangers, EQ rangers and WoW Hunters is a heal / cure poison. Rangers were NOT fighter/mages. They were fighters with a few minor spells - in WoW terms like 3-4 overall.
That’s just how I see it. I know its not exact, but its close enough.
So is the new DK stuff coming in 8.3, 8.3.5 or 9.0? Cause reading all these Death Knight articles is making me want to make one but I want to hold off till the new stuff arrives.
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My guess is the next xpac prepatch (8.4?). I seriously doubt Blizzard would allow the next xpac to be datamined before Blizzcon.
So about a year then before I can make one? Gotcha, thanks Tovi.
Np but remember this is just my guess 
I have no proof of anything.
Naw. Hunters were meant to always use focus (the same resource their pets use) but because they’re derps and couldn’t figure out how to balance it they made the super messy mana system for them. Not because they’re meant to be magical but because mana is the default resource system.
No, I don’t tabletop roleplay. It’s the least-engaging format I have ever experienced for fantasy or roleplaying. Magic, LotR, SCA, actual Mythology? Yes. I put that sh** on everything. Which means I’ve heard a lot of people relate things in other properties to D&D, and it’s frankly, almost always huge amounts of cringe. D&D is one step on the cringe-o-meter below people who think Katanas are the best sword ever made and could cut a knight in full plate in half.
But what these terms mean in D&D is irrelevant. The fact remains that World of Warcraft Hunters are a physical damage pet class and WoW has three compelling magic-wielding archer-priest archetypes that would make a fabulous class which is wholly distinct from the Hunter class. And that, since they are called “Moon Priestesses”, “Dark Rangers”, and “Shadow Hunters”, and of those “Ranger” is the only job title that isn’t already a class in WoW, it would make the most sense to call that class “Ranger”, with “Moon”, “Dark”, and “Shadow” specs.
Wow… you must’ve had a utterly terrible group.
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I’ve tried several times. With some really good DM’s. I just don’t engage with stories in that format. I can’t “picture” things when I’m told to (though I have a vivid imagination on my own) and I get a really weird stage fright kinda feeling.
Mostly, I think it’s that I don’t think about things linearly or in first person. I work systemically from an overhead map perspective. So the way information is conveyed in that setting feels like being blind. I can’t get 99% of the info I want to have to orient myself. It feels like one of those horror games where it’s so dark you can never get your bearings or really see anything clearly. And trying to get all the information out of the DM is like… streaming an HD movie on dialup.
It’s not a problem if I’m just listening to a story being told, because then I don’t have to make any decisions, so I’m perfectly happy in “first person” mode, watching things unfold. But for an rpg, I’m active in the world, so I need to process WAY more information than the DM has or has the time to convey.
I have enjoyed several sessions of “you guys play, I’ll heckle you from the couch and suggest brilliant solutions none of you thought of at key moments.” Especially if I have my laptop with a bunch of Youtube tabs open to various sound effects I can play at amusing moments. I had some friends last year that would often play Psions and let me harass them during their games. One time, one of the characters was a time-travelling librarian who had a super-computer she used à la Quantum Leap, and me and my laptop got to be the computer.
Tabletop is just not my arena to play in.