Hi y’all - had a quick question I’m hoping to get some answers to (or at least additional resources to conduct my own reading!).
Since the introduction of Cataclysm I was obsessed with the idea of role-playing a Gilnean Harvest Witch/Warlock. The idea of playing a character that is connected to the land around them, yet not possessing all the shiny bells and whistles other ‘full fledged’ druids have, is very appealing. I’m aware that it was not until the Kaldorei arrived that the Gilnean were able to dig deeper into Druidism; and I am wondering what the general attitude towards an individual would be who sought to continue with their more traditional ‘Harvest’ ways. (I guess I’m also going to be playing as a Gilnean that did not get infected by the Worgen curse if I go this route…again, wondering about the attitudes towards a concept such as this?)
I guess my main question is whether I’ll experience any potential backlash to RPing a character like this? I never like to rock the boat, so I do want to make sure that I am being lore friendly. I’ve done some reading into this topic, but the information out there is limited.
Would appreciate any of your experiences as a Harvest Witch in RP, your attitude towards a character such as this, or any words you’d generally offer up to a returning roleplayer!
Really appreciate any of you who take the time to help me out 
Absolutely not! It’s a concept that’s pretty well established in the lore at this point, especially once the Drust and their magic came into play in both Battle for Azeroth and Shadowlands.
Another note: I’m a returning roleplayer myself, and I’ve found that the lore and story of WoW has shifted towards a more “yes, and” approach. Like, Draenei can be warlocks with red skin now, meaning they can be played as Eredar. The elf races on both sides have undead customization and can be Dark Rangers. Both Demon Hunters and a dragonkin race are playable.
I point all of those out because they used to be at the top of the taboo roleplaying list. Now they’re just canon options for players. No one is going to bat an eye at a witch walking down the street when there’s an Illidari having an argument with a Man’ari on the corner. 
A few people have and will have a fit because they can’t attack them when they want.
I actually played a Harvest Witch character for a decent amount of time. During my time playing him I didn’t experience much backlash, but that was mostly because I played with the concept rather safely. If you hardly interacted with him you would only really know him as the human druid.
I think most players that care enough about the setting to have a target on the back of those who play ‘witch’ characters know that Gilnean Harvest Witches are very different and are not the evil aligned witches as seen in BFA.
A few notes I would pass on from my travels is that…
Some players are really touchy surrounding the topic of taking inspiration from pagan traditions. It wasn’t something I took part in, but some players on the server are very sensitive towards that part of our real lives, either as zealous defenders of it being sacred or those who take offense to it and who play their characters as Catholics… and not actual adherents to the IC holy light faith (that would not give a crap at all about the Harvest Witches). So while what blizzard gives us lore wise is very vague and pagan coded, filling in the gaps can be touch and go. Though if you are the type who will do their own RP and don’t care who might hate and are okay with being selective with your partners you can evolve the concept however you want.
Harvest Witch Druids are implied to be very amateur in their understanding of nature magics. I played mine as one who escaped Gilneas like the rest of his Worgen peers, but decided to stay in Teldrassil all the way up to its burning. So he very much was classically trained as a druid and had a reverence of nature very similar to them. I think this would be a very natural progression for any Harvest Witch if you actually wanted to do something similar. Though that might take away from your desired aesthetic if you would view that as playing, essentially, a human night elf with a cockney twist. (As one RP partner called me. Ha!)
It seems like you want your character to be more like the classically understood harvest witches without formal training. I think you wouldn’t rock the boat as long as you kept to that scale then. Knowing some basic nature magic, having a green thumb and a knowledge of the natural world to cure ails, resonate well with animals, and wear some cool autumn colors. Luckily you are in a space where there isn’t a lot of expectation, because unlike other aspects of World of Warcraft, there isn’t some essential or deep understanding of harvest-witches you need to understand to play one lore accurately, since their lore can fit in a footnote. While there is always a risk of someone giving you kick back on your concept, that is just due to the age old curse of never being able to please everyone.
Definitely ask yourself some questions when making the character regarding how they feel about night elf druids, losing their home, and how the cultural rise of the Light almost drove old the old ways out. Do they seek to outwardly spread the tradition of the old ways to preserve it or rely upon them as a personal comfort? That might help with your concept building!
Had a character like this back in the day. Only issue I ever ran into was someone insisting my character was a worgen and then using an item that forced the transformation and then taking it IC to be a complete jerk about it. Haven’t had anything like that on any of my character since, so it was a total anomaly. I don’t think you’re going to have any issues.
I’m probably the outlier but I myself am an eclectic Pagan so I’ve more or less based aspects of Druidism off of some eclectic paganism. I’ve gotten more backlash I think saying that and explaining my thought process when it comes to my characters than actually roleplaying a Harvest Witch lol. It’s ironic because if you think about it, the different religions that are under the umbrella of Paganism are a minority. With many being ostracized depending on how deep into the Southern US you are… but I digress.
If you want to look at Pagan-type sources to draw inspiration from then I recommend looking at Scott Cunningham’s books on Solitary Wicca, Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler, Triumph of the Moon by Dr. Ronald Hutton, and A Witches Bible by Janet and Stewart Farrar. Stay away from Silver Ravenwolf and DJ Conway. It can be done well if there’s research behind the concept and if it’s done in a respectful way.
That’s awful and absolutely baffling. Some people just don’t realize how dependent Wow RP is on mutual consent, and how we have some mechanical traits that can’t be replicated. That would be like someone asking me to cast Frostbolt on my warrior alt. Annoying.