This thread started a discussion but it seems like it spiraled into something completely different, and it was technically about two Allied Races. Anyways, figured, why not try to get an actual discussion going?
So the idea is Saberon being an Allied Race. For those unfamiliar with Saberon, they were a race of savage feline humanoids from Warlords of Draenor, located on Alternate Universe Draenor. They were typically quest fodder, had no female models (that I saw at least), and you could get a few as Garrison Followers. There were four types I believe. Tigers, Lions/Cougars, Snow Leopards, and Panthers.
They were a barely sentient race which dwelt in caves. I donât think they were specifically targeted by the Horde or Alliance, but the Orcs seem to have something of a history of mutual aggression with them, probably made worse by the Iron Horde.
So, would you want Saberon as an Allied Race? If so, what would you want them to be like? Itâs been 30 years or so for AU Draenor since the portal closed, according to the Magâhar quests at least. Perhaps longer if time simply flows faster over there.
What classes would you like to see them have?
What racials would seem appropriate to them?
What would you want to see for Customization options?
Thereâs no basis for Saberon as an allied race for either faction. They barely have any lore and itâs tied to WoD entirely. The only category they fall into would be the equivalent of a worgen reskin, which is essentially what allied races are, reskins of existing races.
But yeah Saberon would be dumb as an allied race, at least as they currently exist. They could pull a void elf again and pull a less savage intelligent tribe out of thin air but that would obviously be stupid and I donâst support it.
Supposedly 30 or more years have passed since we last really saw them. Thatâs a fair bit of time for things to change. Someone mentioned there was a garrison follower who was enlightened because of Apexis Crystals. Doesnât seem all that impossible that, between the, âenlightenment,â and then the Draenei going all, âDeus Vult,â that Saberon whoâd be an Allied Race could be more civilized.
They were pretty popular with Druid players from what I recall. There was a talent, âClaws of Shirvallah,â which allowed a Druidâs feral form to be a Saberon. Saw a lot of players with that talent.
I was shocked when I read that because they were not even on my list of possible ARâs. And which side would they be on? I can see them being on both sides but not because of lore.
They could be on the Alliance because if ARâs keep with the trend then Worgen would need some kind of animalistic counterpart. But I can see them going to the Horde if Alliance got LF Forsaken.
I would play them if they were Horde and probably try them out if they were Alliance but I wouldnât do more then that. Iâm a Horde player and find it weird and boring to play on Alliance side. I miss the Claws of Shirvallah big time because I loved that form so I could go for a Saberon AR in the future.
Datamining. Apparently on the 8.2.5 PTR a line or two was found marking saberon as playable. Anything else beyond that was too encrypted to find out.
Vulpera also had other datamined stuff in previous patches that hinted towards them too. Which is all you need to start a wave of speculation, but of course nothingâs confirmed yet.
There is no source for this, âdata-mining.â Just keep that in mind. Someone said it was data-mined and that itâd get revealed in a few days or weeks. I can almost believe that as I can see Wowhead wanting to stretch out patch content reveals over time, but there are other data-miners than just them, and youâd think weâd have heard of something by now if there was anything hinting to new Allied Races, since those are a big deal with a lot of players.
I think when we come back from Nyâalotha next xpac the Saberon and tree bois that sneak back to Azeroth at the end of the Maghar recruitment scenario will have taken over in our absence maybe after fighting them will we get them as an allied race.
As I stated before, I would really like Saberon to be an allied race. Theres a lot you can do design-wise with different fur patterns, and Iâm sure an interesting backstory can come with them. If they ever get to be playable, Iâd happily remake my Vah Shir character from Everquest 1.
Regarding faction, I might personally lean towards wanting them on the Alliance more. Itâs hard to explain why. Apparently, according to Wowpedia, the Laughing Skull hunted them for their hearts, so Iâm unsure if that would play into anything.
Regarding no lore for them currently, it doesnât mean something canât be written up and a female model canât be created. As I said in my Saurok megathread, we have races like the Gilgoblins, who use to just be all male mooks who collected shiny treasures and hated everyone, that now have a friendly faction of them with a female model and are candidates for allied race status. All it takes is some creative writing, and any NPC can be an interesting addition to the playable race roster.
As people have said, this alleged datamine has not been given a source for Saberon possibly becoming an allied race, so I have to take it with a grain of salt unless we see something concrete. That said, I would be excited to see them playable.
I donât know about that. I mean, when people were thinking about what Allied Race would be paired with Worgen, it was either Saberon, or Nelf-Worgen, and between the two I think Saberon would be the more interesting option. Not only that, but a lot of Alliance players really want to know whatâs going on with Yrel in the AU since the Magâhar Recruitment dropped.
Saberon seem like the logical choice from that perspective. The only other races to really use the Worgen model would be the Saurok, and the Sethrak using a modified female Worgen model. There isnât much visual difference between male and female Sethrak, and besides, they make more sense going Horde.