I’m not really sure what to think at the moment, but I don’t see there suddenly being mass production of light infused undead as a result of this. I find it hard to see Calia as Horde also, given her relationship with the Alliance members. Guess we’ll see what happens.
On another note, Wowhead has the intro questline for Shadowlands up with a bunch of screenshots. I didn’t notice too much of interest, but I’ll link this here in case someone with a more keen eye notices anything:
Calia? Instead of Voss?
I’m disappointed.
I hope IcyVeins did jump the gun here.
Put Velonara or Voss in her place. It’d make Tyrande’s reaction more logical.
Same here.
Valeera is also standing with the Horde leaders, strangely. She’s not aligned to either faction but does work for house Wyrnn, essentially making her an Alliance figure at the moment. Lor’themar is also there, so I’m wondering why she’s there.
I saw another spoiler that might relate but I’m not sure why it’d make her stand with the Horde leaders.
It is good to see Rokhan there though, happy to see him playing a role again, especially considering Vol’jin’s story in the Shadowlands. I wonder if we’ll see Sen’jin as well.
More Lor’themar and Thalyssra, which is fine, but I’d like some other leaders to get some spotlight as they did in BfA. They didn’t get a ton, but I’d like to see some others, especially minor leaders, like Roanauk Icemist for example.
Appreciate the kind words, thank so much!
I’m definitely not opposed to both factions getting them so long as I get them on Hordeside someway 
True and by the gods do I hope your right. I hope it’s not a dark sign for the future. Not only are blood elves apparently getting more and more boring, but if they ruin forsaken too, it’ll be obnoxious. Next we’ll see lightbound orcs on the table as an allied race. 
This obsession of theirs with the light and void is getting old, that is for sure. Especially when there’s things like, I dunno… Ogres, Saurok, Mogu, San’layn, Sethrak, Kelfin, Forest Trolls, Ankoan, Vry’kul, Frost Dwarves/Trolls…
…and the list goes on…
For things that could be given and are seen in lore and already well loved.
Same here. It’s looking a bit shifty for sure, but 100% it should be Voss as the Forsaken leader. I’m so sick of the Horde bending down to the Alliance and getting tossed under the bus in the story, now it seems like we’re lapdogs. Yeah, I hate being depicted as strictly evil, but mary-sue-ifying everyone is the exact opposite of doing good.
Yeah that’s fair, and I’m ok with Lor’themar & Thaly. I used to love that ship idea, before BfA ruined much of the love I had for the characters. (Well, not Thalyssera, I do love her still even if I don’t have a nightborne because the options suck.)
I am too, I quite like them, but I’d like to see some other characters getting bigger roles for a bit, especially minor leaders. Though, it just looks like they’re major atm, for all we know, they’re playing minor roles but look major based off them being shown in the intro.
I’m hoping this new council gives some spotlight to minor characters/leaders. I doubt it will, but I hope so.
Ditto, but I have a nightborne, I love them, just not the models. They got some stuff yesterday, it’s not much but it’s a start, here’s hoping they get fixed. I might make a second if they fix the models and up the character cap, not sure what though.
Sad taunka and arrakoa noises
I’m about to eat, can reply to any responses I get in a bit.
Red = better
we all know it’s true
Is it any surprise I main orc lol
How could I forget Arakkoa?! (Sorry Taunka is not my thing but yes I do understand tons want them too ad they should be added <3)
Arakkoa though? I’d actually play those in a heartbeat (the upright ones, granted)
Unpopular opinion, I loved Spires of Arak. Would love arrakoa, especially so on Horde. AU arrakoa likely would lean Horde and MU arrakoa likey Alliance. However, I’m not going into the nuances and story of them since they deserve their own thread and the post would be gargantuan and off topic.
im great at being off topic
Understandable. But taunka, like ogres, and Mok’nathal are already in the Horde, so they should really be playable. Hozen, I’m not too sure about. I believe they’re just allied to the Horde, I could be wrong though. Most forest trolls are unaligned, but the Revantusk is in a mutual-cooperation pact with the Horde, not directly in it, and considering the state of the story right now and past events, they should fully join. Now’s the perfect time, really.
There’s also the Amani but that’s another one of those long and off topic posts. This post is off topic itself but it’s not very long in my defense
Either way, taunka should be playable in some form, lorewise there’s not much arguing against them. I’d love to do some reading on them soon so I could advocate for them as I do forest trolls because I’d be knowledgeable enough.
Yeah, ditto. Especially if they went Horde.
Well… slides this thread over we could resurrect this. Allied Race Idea: Arakkoa 🐦 - #689 by Grayphus-nemesis
Yeah that’s fair, not to mention there’s many who have been asking for them as playable for who knows how long now. Far longer than this thread has existed, but I support those (of whom are nice to me, unlike certain posters >.>) who want them for sure. Besides, I play a guild that has a variety of races, and those would be pretty cool to see. Hozen I dunno, they’d go good with Ankoan on Alliance.
Technically this is an Allied Race thread (and customization now 'cause I said so) so I mean it’s somewhat not off topic, and I’m also being a bad thread runner by encouraging it buuuuuuut this is interesting discussion anyway and I don’t mind XD
But yes yes, along with San’layn of course either before, at the same time as, or after, that would be glorious. Just give us a big pack of Allied Races. I think I suggested a “Northrend AR pack” here once but that wouldn’t include those ones ;;-;
This one is kinda (?) off topic? Ish? But on topic too? If they do end up going with vampyr-curse customization and further with the other covanants (no idea what they’d do for the others), I wonder if Allied Races would get any of this, and if it’d apply to those added in the future. Probably not? But who knows?
It’s too bad it seems like far too much work for a project like that (vampyr customization unlockable as a reward for all races) because it sounds so neat.
Amazing photo. Really makes it look like even she is crying out in despair at the news.
On the upside, it’s probably ok that she becomes the actual racial leader of the forsaken that are already in the game. Less of a chance for her to be an allied race leader that brings people who look just like her over to her faction.
Could it still happen? Sure, but there’s less of a chance now, and that’s… something.
I suppose that’s one way of looking at it, very true. I just hope that Blizzard is actually listening to people who want the undead theme that’s been around since especially Wrath as opposed to those who want to lightforge everything. If we got LFU somehow along with our vampyr (San’layn or vampyr customization for many) I’d deal with it.
Curious, what are your thoughts on like vampyr customization, right, for many races… and worgen would get that too? Are people generally for or against that? It sounds odd, but then I think of the Gangrel and am like “Well I supposed it could be like that…”
“Lightforging the undead” might be something in the cards in terms of future lore, but I don’t think the devs are going down that route because they honestly believe this is what forsaken players want. We have more than enough evidence that the light has the potential to be an antagonistic force in the cosmos, with both Illidan and the populations of Draenor undergoing forced conversion. If lightforging comes to the forsaken, it’ll likely be a source of renewed conflict within the Horde, not something that is presented to us the players as “good” and what the forsaken “should be.”
I don’t see that as something that would be practical to bring to all races; maybe just the ones we’ve seen as vampires in lore.
Still, I wouldn’t exactly argue against it. There’s really no reason not to have additional customization options as long as it makes sense in the lore. A lot of the concept work done in the top post (really nice work in revamping it, by the way) could safely be added as customization options. We’re already seeing the devs play with things like new hair styles and ear length. Red eyes and facial scarring should be an absolute no-brainer. Customizable san’layn wings would be a massive pipe dream but I would drool (no pun intended) excessively over them.
Would it meet the vampire fantasy in the same way that an actual distinct San’layn allied race could? Probably not. I really love the fact that Allied Races at least make an effort to get as close to the dream as possible, which is why I supported both the San’layn and the Venthyr in that regard. For me, there’d just always be something missing if we didn’t have appropriate voicelines and racials to go with the desired theme. Small touches, I know, but I really appreciated their presence in the allied race system.
Still, if customization options are to be the silver medal, then yeah. Pull that trigger.
I could see it working as some sort of Night Warrior type thing.
Off the bat (ha!) would just feel weird without some kind of build up to it.
No more Light/Void/Chaos Forged races please…
There so one note, I just hate it.
Let races have more than one theme! Don’t turn existing races into one note concepts!
I’m not a huge fan of hozen but I know some are. I’d probably make no more than one if they were playable. At most, 2-3.
Oh man, I can think of a good few packs I’d love to see.
Not include ogres/Mok’nathal like in my quote or not include taunka? I assume the former.
I’d love a Northrend AR pack but one without taunka just isn’t right.
Yeah that would be nice, it’d be better than the narrative that I’m so concerned about. The mentality that: “If you don’t lightforge, you’re marked as evil and there’s no room to argue that.” Now, I know they don’t usually tell such a story, but everything changed when the fire nation (BfA) attacked. So I’m always a bit on edge with what they’re going to do now. I like playing antihero characters, as you all probably have drilled into your heads by now. Hahaha.
I’d be fine if it was a mixture too–like those lightforged that did it for whatever reason but aren’t preachy about it and fight for Azeroth. Maybe to use the power of light for a good cause, yeah, but not fixed on the concept that light is only good and void/undead is only evil. It’s how I play my pallies anyway. I love a heavy mixture of magics and talents and probably sound so sappy right now.
Yeah that’s very fair. I just figured people would throw a fit if they didn’t get a piece of the cake, if that makes sense. And yeah, like night elves have fangs already, it’d not be that difficult to add them to races that you can’t see them on like humans or blood elves.
Yeah true, in the end I support San’layn as an Allied Race above customization in a heartbeat. Also unique dances… it’d be amazing. I just always feel like the dream is squandered because it almost feels like they moved away from Allied Races. But they are indeed listening to the community so who knows.
With worgen and human customization being separated, there could be potential for different skeletons under one ‘race’. Though… if Venthyr, San’layn, and say human vampires were added under one race, they’d each need different voices or something. That’d be pretty complex… though humans I guess could use human voices or something. Idk, interesting thought to consider regardless.
Yeah for sure, still a fun idea for them to hopefully consider.
Yeah I prolly wouldn’t end up rolling a hozen but I won’t knock people for wanting them. Definitely not my thing though!
The former! Taunka would be added in this theoretical ‘pack’ pretty much. Vry’kul, Taunka, San’layn, frost trolls, frost dwarves, aaaand Tuskarr I guess. (I know people want those too so why not? Could be neutral. 
)
So does anyone else think that Void Elf and Nightborne haircuts would be perfect for San’layn or is it just me?
I agree. That hair over one eye that velves have would be amazing on a San’layn.
Personally I don’t like sharing cosmetic options, but I think I can be more flexible for the same faction sharing stuff.
I mean, anyone can style their hair.