It’d just be the post; besides I think the Shadowlands art was leaked somewhere and never deleted, I remember that, one of the leaks was actually nearly completely correct.
That said we’ll see, it does make sense to return to Northrend in my opinion. I don’t think we’ll know for sure until after 9.1 is out for a bit though since I don’t believe following patch info ever actually comes out of order.
I do remember the attack on Stormwind “leak” that was interesting to say the least.
I just posited this to the thread because I thought it was interesting and also very likely.
Oh yeah i agree and appreciate it. Plus it could spark conversation too, like in this scenario what it is, new or old. Naxx is back baby! XD could you imagine.
As long as they don’t get it into their heads that removing the previous version for the second time is a good idea.
grumbles about removed content and wanders off
If this leak is legit, it opens up a chance for the San’layn to return as well as the Dark Rangers (maybe even that one questline) because it necessitates a return to Azeroth. That in turn means that we’d be get Scourge updates and face off against the faction’s most powerful thralls. Perhaps a free faction of San’layn wishes to help defend against the Jailer and the Scourge, but only if we promise to give them a new home.
It has for the moment, though it hasn’t completely killed it for me. If I completely lost hope to see new races become playable, I wouldn’t be on the forums.
I knew at some point, the allied race system would die down, likely becoming something gradual where we’d be more likely to see new races here and there as opposed to 10+ in an expansion. However, I felt like there should’ve been one or two more pairs to go with BfA’s ending. A few races like Kelfin and San’layn for the Horde had opportunities that just felt squandered, let alone members of the Alliance/Horde that just seemed to be AWOL from the big war altogether (Such as the three Horde Ogre clans…sigh…).
In my opinion, Death Knights should’ve been added to every race for everyone instead of being propped as an early access pre-order bonus as it felt like a really damp squib. It didn’t seem like something that should’ve been the sole focus to end on for allied races, but more as an “in addition to” feature. Let alone that BfA was rushed towards the ending, so who knows what allied race plans got considered or axed?
For Shadowlands, we feel so detached from what makes Warcraft “Warcraft” that there is an overall meh feeling. I don’t really expect playable races at all unless they become early access pre-order bonuses for the next expansion. For me, the setting is really killing a lot of my interest in general, and I almost completely sat out the expansion as I internally debated whether to bother or not. Something I had not felt since WoD, only on a worse level with this expansion. It had taken a Saurok spirit to get me interested enough to explore the expansion, along with some vain hope of seeing anything San’layn related.
There is also that nagging possibility, although I still view it as a very low chance, of covenant races becoming playable. I’ve grumbled about this a lot as to why I feel strongly against it (no offense to those who would like them playable) to likely write a thesis paper on it. To see beings from the afterlife involved in the life/death cycle playable after a claim of considering all races with two legs for allied race status and with all the support of requested races to become playable, some having been for years, would leave a sour taste in my mouth and really kill a lot of my interest in the game. We’ll see what happens, though.
There is also the backing out of the promise of most customization options for current races. We don’t really know what is going on internally, but it hasn’t really filled me with a lot of confidence. Not to mention that it caused quite the kerfuffle on both the US and EU official forums, on forums of other websites, and even had WoWhead grumbling about it. I don’t know what it means for the quality of future expansions, and we likely won’t know until at the earliest we see what the next expansion is like. Hopefully, they reconsidered and have the resources to put towards that and new playable races still.
That said, I do think we’ll see new races be added in the future. They’re a great marketing tool for hype and they act as a cash cow with race changes and level boosts. Not to mention the revamped character creation screen that has room for several new races that would love to get on there:
I’d like to think this was not just done for cosmetic purposes, but maybe as a way in the future to add new races when needed.
At the moment, I’m not ready to throw in the towel. However, I do think the next expansion is going to be a make-it-or-break-it for a lot of people, regardless of whether we get new playable races or not. I’d hate to see how much lower we could get from Shadowlands, so I’m hoping at the very least for a better setting, though new races that have been requested would also help a lot. For me personally, I’d give it another two expansions…or one more expansion if we somehow get playable covenant races, which would kill a lot of my interest in the game that much.
Worst case scenario, if I don’t like the direction the game is going, I’d likely take a hiatus, which is something I did after hating WoD and not liking Legion at all. Maybe I’d check out other MMO’s. Maybe I’d see what ESO is like, since it has a playable lizardmen race. Honestly, I’d prefer to stick with WoW and see it improve, but I have to be honest with myself if I’m not liking the direction the game is going and know when to move on if I’m not enjoying the game.
In the meantime, call me crazy or a fool, but I want to keep going on with supporting the races I want playable. I know it could be awhile before we even see such a possibility or that whatever I do on here has no effect, but it’s something I feel that I should do while I at least continue to play WoW. You never know if the seeds we plant will bear fruit in the future.
We’ll just see what happens and plan accordingly, I guess. I hope things get better for WoW in general, and that there will be things to look forward to in the future. 
My hope now is the scrap the current race system and do a redo that allows for full subraces.
Racials would be adjusted and equalized. Allowing a one DPS/Defensive/Convince/Fun racial for each race.
Allied Races would be mixed with parent races and some of the racials would change with selections. Along with Voices and class selection.
So you could pick say, Human and get the option for Kul Tiran and gain Shaman but lose Paladin. (Why they can’t be paladins in the first place I have no idea…)
For Orcs you get Mag’har and can’t be warlocks.
Or for Blood Elves you can pick San’layn or Felblood or Dark Ranger or W/E and gain/lose the classes/racials as they make sense. (To get back on topic)
And more things like that.
There’s a thread on this subject in the EU forms, with mockups included.
Love it.
Painting a Bronzebeard does not a Wildhammer make.
The idea of sub-races was a really good one. It also was heavily supported since at least Cataclysm. It would have given the ability to add different cultures to a parent race while offering different class selections and slightly different racials.
The issue is how the allied race system was handled, which muddies the waters quite a bit to the point where I feel that the whole playable race system would need to be entirely revamped and recoded to be what some of the races should’ve been in the first place: sub-races. Adding in Dark Iron Dwarves as a playable race and ignoring Wildhammer Dwarves until Shadowlands, where they just get stapled onto Bronzebeard Dwarves and don’t get much of a presence/identity at all, is frustrating for those like me who like world building and view character identity as really important. Some races part of the Horde, like the Taunka, get ignored while the Highmountain Tauren become playable because they happen to have had a rep to work on in the expansion before the one they became playable in. Mag’har Orcs get put in from a convoluted alternate universe story while Dragonmaw Orcs just sit around doing nothing whereever they are. Much as I love the allied race system, it has a lot of faults.
It’s one of those features that I feel Blizzard puts in for short term gains without thinking about it in the long term, usually abandoning said feature. It’s like how garrisons could’ve been expansion neutral forms of housing that stay relevant as time goes on, only to just be kicked to the curb after one expansion. Time and resources squandered which would’ve added more to the game if designed for the long term, sadly.
The sub-race system is a great idea, don’t get me wrong, but at this point, I’d be surprised if Blizzard did revamp the races and made some as sub-races. Even then, seeing how Wildhammers were treated and how Sand Trolls still have no official explanation of why they’re suddenly part of the Horde makes me feel like a sub-race system wouldn’t get the love and care that it needs.
Now if love and care did go into such a system? I’d be all for it. It would likely address the concerns I have with races being customization/sub races, such as adding in Kelfin as their own identity and having a racial to breathe underwater. I would say that it would really excite and reinvigorate interest in WoW for me. Especially if I can get more character slots for my account.
It has a lot of potential, for sure, but as I said, I don’t know what the chances are for it. I hate being a grump about it because I love the idea. Maybe if the rumors of an old world revamp are true, this could be a possibility as a reboot of the game, but we’ll see what happens in the future.
Pretty much exactly what I was thinking.
Red Shirt Guy made a good point regarding the “leak”.
Oh my, the plot thickens further…
Honestly that does have a lot of merit which does have me thinking. Boars did also get an update too, though I doubt that’s related. But I really really really want a return to Northrend patch, and as people have said here, it would be a PERFECT way to introduce San’layn as playable, be it through customization + lore or allied race.
Blizzard did say that they want to add things based on relevancy. Well, there’s a vampire aesthetic section of this expansion, and then if there’s a return to Northrend, it would be extremely related.
You know, I’m going to say something now, and if this comes up as true later, I’m going to get massive brownie points. But this is my little conspiracy theory that I don’t think has merit but I want to say anyway:
-The reason Prince Valanar wasn’t rezz’d in prepatch is that he was brought back at another time and is currently alive (well undead), and HE is our Blood King that rose Blood Prince Dreven.
Or…
-We will come across the two missing blood princes in a Northrend patch, and they will be the ticket to playable San’layn.
Figured I might as well toss those ideas out there.
I’m trying to avoid falling into wishful thinking (again) but I do think it is the most likely option to come.
Even a single friendly San’layn working with the Forsaken/Blood Elves would be a bonus.
Yeah that’s fair! Best to keep expectations low. Still a great idea to talk about this stuff on the off chance they do step into threads like these for feedback/opinions every so often. Never know! Also yes, I agree there.
And, in my personal opinion, I do favor one of the missing Blood Princes as a potential leader for the Horde-Aligned San’layn (should we ever get them). Or… both of them together, Blood King x Blood King would also be pretty neat to see.
Kael’thas is also a fan favorite but I still don’t know if/how that’d work, though it’s far more plausible now than when the ideas were first brought up.
A return to Northrend would help my interest in the game again. Then again, going back to Azeroth in general would help that quite a lot.
If we did go back to Northrend during Shadowlands, as I mentioned, I’m guessing because there is a connection between there and the Shadowlands, so The Jailor might start getting a foothold there to…I guess start enslaving the living world? Funny how Sylvanas touts setting the world free by joining a bad guy that wants to imprison everyone. Go figure.
At the very least, if it finally leads to Horde friendly San’layn, I’m all for it. I’ll keep my expectations tempered, since these are just rumors, but a part of me will keep some part of hope. I’ll also think more about it and see if I can provide any ideas to discuss.
Come to think of it, Borean Tundra is where there was a Necropolis in the air that had Darkfallen and Prince Valanar, which is where I get the San’layn models for glyph of disguise (Prince Valanar is only available for Horde this way to my understanding). I don’t know what happened to it or the San’layn within it after WotLK.
Maybe we could see this Necropolis be a Horde outpost with some San’layn in control of it still, lead by at least one of the missing Blood Princes perhaps? Would be a cool thing to see them assisting against The Jailor’s invasion.
Gotta admit, thinking about this is getting my interest back, though I will try to temper my expectations. I’ll think more on this and ramble in another post.
Mine was a simple little mind dump of a class concept.
Had thrown in some images and such, silly mostly, as I’m sure it’s something that won’t happen. Just thought it’d be fun to play and drew from a bunch of the already established void elements.
Quick google search and some keywords found it.
The one with all the boats and ghosties? That did look pretty awesome.
I like the idea of just creating a whole new instance/phase.
Agreed.
I wish they’d add in the original classic zones as an option and then have the cata remakes as another. I suppose we have the separate Classic game now…but meh.
Heading back to more unexplored areas of Azeroth would be a cool way to go as well. I do find the cosmic angle intriguing, but more exploration of Azeroth would be cool.
If I remember right, the first Chronicle book made it sound like Kalimdor was the largest continent (guess book 3 contradicts this)…could do with the first option and introduce others. Could even a continent larger than the current ones as it was the intact Kalimdor that was the largest. It’s pretty unlikely as they seem to now prefer doing little small clusters of zones.
A large continent that continued to unlock through an expansion…sort of a “westward expansion” type thing…also be an interesting way to expand lore and such. Maybe find a whole civilization of Saurok that escaped and sailed away from enslavement ages ago.
All of the current southern zones having an equatorial vibe works for there being more to the south, or even the other ways…or both!
Yes, this is what I’d want for them to do.
That would be a logical way to re-add a lot of removed content that has no business having any form of prestige, like garbage old quest rewards or greens that were common before their source was removed.