Yes they are.
Not every class should be avaiable to every race.
To be honest I rather have blood elf and Orc druids.
Gods I will always question why they gave us Lightforged Draenei instead of giving us Broken.
Sadly goes and reads Unbroken for the 100th time
10 Likes
Plus theyâre just cool.
I couldnât find a lot of lore on them so for my Belf Warlock I wrote as a Blood Mage I had them function a bit like a combination of coal fuel, satanic PokĂŠballs and enchanted canon balls.
His whole shtick was after the Sunwell fiasco he just felt relying on a static and, demonstrably, fragile font of power for his peopleâs lifeblood was stupid. Theyâd seen firsthand in the worst way possible how vulnerable it left them.
So he insisted on continuing to use the green renewable energy that are demon souls to get his fix.
Had him essentially be a Fire Mage but heâd use the demon souls captured in Verdant Spheres as everything from a way to put some stank on a spell to an amphetamine he would huff to just a power cell he could use for most magitech.
Officially he was posted in Stonard but this was an excuse to poke around Karazhan and pour through itâs secrets at his leisure.
Hence why Iâll miss my little bug eyed butt alien. His job was to just get let loose to find items of power, particularly in the library.
That was his only minion he didnât treat like a prisoner. Because it wasnât a demon. Story was he found it chewing on his stuff in the Netherstorm when he was still a KaelâThas loyalist and just took a shine to this bizarre creature.
draenei druid when?
and to be honest, a draenei warlock would probably corrupt the poor demons with heir goodness
Eh, I actually disagree with all of these specific examples.
- For hex, there really is nothing in the lore that says turning people into Frogs was something only known by Trolls. Weâve even seen it used extensively by one harpy NPC, who turns a bunch of Highmountain Tauren into Frogs.
https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Ragi_the_Hexxer
Also, Hagatha from Hearthstone uses it extensively, so while Hearthstone is not canon, at least they didnât think to associate it specifically with trolls.
- For Ghost Wolf, both Alliance and Horde Shamans learn how to turn into a Ghost Wolf from an actual Ghost Wolf NPC in Exileâs Reach.
https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/A_Shaman%27s_Duty_(Alliance)
And weâve seen actual Spirit Wolves summoned by Non-Orcs since Vanilla.
https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Grimtotem_Spirit_Wolf
Even the Broken know how to summon them.
https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Ashtongue_Feral_Spirit
And the Earthen Ring guide, is also a Spirit Wolf, whose totem is given to you by a non-orc.
https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Earthen_Ring_Guide
- For Elemental Ascendants, which race would that even be specific too? It couldâve easily been learned by the Earthen Ring after Cata, similar to how the lore for Claws of Shrivaah was that âRenegade Druidâ taught it.
None of this stuff changes the fact that gameplay does not always reflect lore, of course, but still, we never had explicit confirmation that I know of that these things were race-specific.
And I do realize that Blizzardâs creative process is a mess, and I did say you couldnât dig for minor details and use them to make a point, but still, no dev statement was ever made. And some of these examples date far back in the gameâs history.
1 Like
Thatâs just WoW borrowing from Caribbean worldbuilding onto Harpies as a âBad Raceâ.
Nobody but Orc Shamans worshipped wolves. Youâre again using gameplay materiality to direct cultural worldbuilding, which is incoherent, itâs putting the egg before the chicken.
A Shadowmoon Shaman can be represented by a Shaman (any spec), Shadow Priest, or Affliction Warlock.
That does not mean the Shadowmoon Shaman as a narrative reality canonically does what all of the above do in combination.
6 Likes
See though why not just have different shaman forms. There is the raptor option but that again only really works for Darkspear.
Itâs just lame. Because say the Kul Tiran shamans I thought were supposed to be basically Battle Tidesages. So why not give them a sea flavored Ghost Wolf equivalent? Maybe a water elemental or, ya know octopuses are terrifyingly fast on land as well. That could work.
Seriously theres a lot of race class pairings I donât bother with because it just feels so lame. Like I desperately want to get into a Zandalari Paladin. Because between having an Empire and a Divine Empress with a Golden Throne they could basically be vaguely Incan themed;
âMY BLOOD FOR THE EMPRESS!â
But about the time I was kicking around the Paladin Class Hall my enthusiasm just died. Because it really feels like the DM let me use a preexisting character from a different setting that just feels so out of place with the vibe of this campaign.
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Cuz Blizzard developers do not consider customization priority. My statement stands.
This goes back to my earlier point I wrote extensively on in a twitter thread:
âHow does a Kul Tiran Warlock exist in-universeâ
You have two options:
- âNo all warlocks MUST be fel users who summon demons, there MUST be a fel-using demon-summoning group of Kul Tirans within Kul Tiran society for warlocks to existâ
- âEach race/nation has âdark magicsâ that are included within the general warlock umbrella and not all races/nations have the same exact manifestation of the Gameplay Warlock within their Lore Warlock reality; as such a Kul Tiran Warlock ought to be primariy a Tidesage breaking the No Void rules, an Ex-Thornspeaker Druid breaking the No Thros rules, a Drustvar Witch, a Tirisgarde Mage-Pirate using explosive magics ignoring Kirin Tor rules, or, perhaps, a Kul Tiran who learned fel magics abroadâ
Some of you seem to CLING to the former. By all means self-limit yourselves narratively to your heartâs content.
I prefer the latter. More creative. More flexible. More useful. More nuanced.
Do whatever yâall want, but it seems Blizzard, at least with regards with these Warlock NPCs and warlock world building, are agreeing with me wholesale in this instance.
3 Likes
This reminds me of how Druids in Classic learn Bear from from the Great Bear Spirit in Moonglade.
Thereâs also a Great Cat Spirit hanging out, too.
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In what sense?
Iâd argue DF in particular has been front loaded with oodles of customization options. Moreso than any other expansion in WoWâs history.
Which I think is a great thing.
But thus far it only extends to the PC themselves and transmogs. Which is cool. I like that.
But the fundamental way we interact with this world is through our spells and abilities. So much so you could make everyone just a blank white hit box and youâd still be able to tell what class they were from their abilities alone.
The only argument against this Iâve seen is the suggestion itâd be confusing. And to that I say;
So?
WoW is already extremely confusing. To the point of being essentially impenetrable to newcomers unless theyâve a veteran friend willing to very patiently walk them through this.
3 Likes
And thing is - I legitimately donât care one way or the other.
I think the class / race restrictions were arbitrary at best from the start and at this point are just actively hampering player enjoyment. Because yeah fundamentally it seems anti-player to not let people play their favorite class on their favorite race.
The lore argument just doesnât hold water for me. Because after BFA and SL itâs very clear to me their approach to it is âWhatever, who cares?â.
Which, for the record, I donât think is a bad thing on the whole. Because this isnât some prestigious chapter in the fantasy genre like Tolkien or Martinâs works that attempt to argue for the artistic validity of the genre.
Itâs been a rip-off commercial product from the word go thatâs had more effort into sneaking in movie references than itâs actual lore.
And thatâs fine. Thatâs why I love it. Itâs big and loud and stupid and letâs you have everything from a kung fu zombie grandma to a pint sized demonic cyborg. I love that about this setting.
But Iâm perplexed at the resistance to letting players who care about the lore represent that through their PCâs abilities.
Like seriously would it be THAT HARD to just let melee Worgen characters use their Goldrinn given claws? Or let Forsaken Priests have a more pallid, holy ghost esque hue to their Light magic? Ditto for the Nelves as their thing is moonlight which decidedly isnât yellow.
Suffice to say I think itâs wildly unreasonable to call people idiots for being confused about the raceâs relationship to their classes when Blizz stubbornly refuses to do more than at most add in a new NPC.
And hey again Iâm in favor of this. Itâs a step in the right direction. But it is just a step.
Iâm really hoping they stop trying to court the hardcore gamer E-Sports crowd. Which is the only possible reason why I imagine theyâre resistant to this. Because yeah in professional tier, prize-money-on-the-line gaming stuff like different colored spells could throw you in a split second. And in high end arena seconds count tor hours.
But so? This isnât a fighting game or arena shooter. Itâs a MMORPG. Thereâs no wrong way to really play it as long as youâre enjoying yourself.
Like at most just disable glyphs in rated PvP or Mythic Dungeons. Bam. There ya go. Now kindly let me have a phoenix substitute for an infernal.
7 Likes
Curious if shaman, pally or druid is next in line. Paladin or shaman would take the least amount of work I think?
Paladins would probably take the longest since they need to make new paladin mounts for the other races
Forsaken seem the easiest. Thereâs a bunch of recolored Bonesteed models already you actively canât use because theyâre specific to the 4 Horsemen.
And after they followed up the Vicious Black Bonesteed in BFA, representing the Battle of Darkshore, they went with a vicious white bonesteed to represent⌠Nazjatar and Mechagone?
So. I just donât feel itâs that effort or resource heavy of a task.
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I could see druid taking long enough that the class doesnât even simultaneously open to every remaining race at once, but instead having it come out piecemeal as the assets are finished.
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I mean. Just throwing it out there that zombie cats, bears and deer - as well as skeketal birds - already exist.
Moonkin could be hard though. If only WoW had recently created a bunch of unique assets relating to Undeath.
Seriously just make it those goo skeleton things that frequented Maldraxxus. And tree form ought to be those little mushroom guys.
And best of all it wouldnât step on preexisting lore. Because these RAS Mycolomancers would operate purely off the POWAH of;
Notice that there isnât a Night Elf trainer listed. Also lacking are Gnome, Goblin, and any form of Troll in that list
Two mounts per race as opposed to 3 forms which are a lot more complicated. Druids are the most work.
Trust me, I would LOVE for it to be the second option. But blizzard enforced the first one with how class halls handled class fantasy and have not done anything since to counteract that or show any of these varieties of each class as a real thing. There needs to be some visible presence of these other flavors. Throwaway trainer npcs that in a few cases donât even match what players do have access to(both draenei trainers, one being broken and the other not existing) are not adequate. Players need to have access to the things that establish what they actually are. Itâs something Sunwalkers are years overdue for as well.
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Dwarves had Paladins since Vanilla, yet they didnât get their own mount until BfA. I personally wouldnât mind if they let everyone use generic Night Elf and Taure forms at the beginning, and then replaced them with unique ones later. Highmountain Tauren originally shared the Tauren Moonkin Form, until Blizz put antlers on it. Also, in vanilla through Cata, travel form was the cheetah for Night Elves and Tauren.
2 Likes