Of course it’s not just a minor difference. Doesn’t change what they are.
Where we disagree however is in what these three races are. Earthen like the original Mechagnomes are completely artificial creations. Mechagnomes are clearly robots and Earthen were literally created from clay kind of like a certain Amazon that comes to mind.
Possible three scenarios. 
- Frostborn represents the Earthen Deathknights
- Ebonblade continue to collect bodies from the factions.
- Bolvar is helping in War Within.
I could see a fourth being like the goblins and worgen. For goblins, the DKs are from Steamwheedle and the Worgen are from Arugal’s pack.
The Earthen DKs could just be from the Northrend populace.
What’s funny about Worgen DK’s is that because their starting experience is the Wrath era one, that means that canonically there was a Worgen DK doing stuff in Northrend during Wrath (the quest here you kill your “best friend” implies that lore wise, only one of each core race DK, minus pandaren exist). Which makes Grizzly Hills Alliance even more funny because you cannot use the “going back to a previous expansion causes time problems” excuse to pass it off with other worgen classes. Since canonically, non Worgen DK’s were during Cata.
So the NPC’s bad mouthing Worgen and asking if you were bitten to a worgen DK is awkward as all hell. That also means that the Alliance had Worgen in their ranks since Wrath, but only DK’s until Cata.
If Earthen DK’s do use the shadowlands era one (Pandaren and allied races), then there was Earthen DK’s during Shadowlands and Dragonflight.
I get you but the Frostborn are already using the Earthen model and likely getting that racial change similar to some Worgen and Zandalari. 
edit: If there will be a racial change for the skin. 
Yeah it is a bit odd timeline wise. Maybe they could add unique dialogue for a Earthen thst somehow makes it post ShL?
I would prefer they let Frostborne be their own thing.
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The skin on the left speaks to me
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I think those new bipedal nerubians shouldve been the neutral race and Earthen shouldve just been alliance or even just a dwarf customization
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There are many Horde races and much more peak fantasy then humans and their various sidekicks.
It’s a monstrosity and it shouldn’t happen. Garrosh would be rolling in his second grave of he were to see the Vulpera.
God I miss you Warchief.
Said no one. The crickets we heard at Blizzcon when Earthen were announced speaks to just how little anyone will be deriving joy from them.
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They did more than that. If I remember correctly, they are the primary ones attacking Taragarde Sound in the Horde invasion event. Complete with an Iron Star breeching the gates of Boralus. Similar to how the Void Elves are the ones attacking Vol’dun.
The point is how unimportant that is. The Earthen have no more in common the Dwarves than the Night Elves have with their distant kin, the trolls.
Unlike the Void Elves who were literally former members of the Blood Elf society and would still have relatives with them.
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Worth mentioning again, to my amusement, that you could have a very prolific elf group of siblings where…
One is a nightborne who stayed home through all the drama.
One is a night elf who joined the rebels.
One is a naga who stuck with the Queen.
And thanks to Lorash Sunbeam retconning short elf ages, one could be a blood elf.
Another could be a void elf who’d stuck by their sibling for ten thousand years until actually that FORBIDDEN MAGIC looked pretty cool.
And, like, I’m leaving conceivable elf variants off this list. If nothing else, because the family tree is complicated enough.
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Okay? Again, not talking about that and it still doesn’t change what they are
Everyone intelligent enough already knows the Earthen in TWW have their own culture and way of life and have zero connection to their current breathren. That doesn’t need to be said, but it also does not change what they are.
Horde players: We want playable ogres
Blizzard: Best we can do is rocky dwarf.
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For the amount of work of adding in an allied race, I honestly wish Nerubians went to Horde and skin-tag dwarves went to Alliance, just to keep some kind of consistency with the overall aesthetic. And I’d want those Nerubians to be arachnid Tomb Kings but that’s besides the point.
But seeing skin-tag dwarves be a neutral allied race and the Nerubians not playable at all is almost as much of a missed opportunity as not having a ship garrison in BfA. I’ll spend the whole expansion or as much as I’ll play of it thinking what could have been and hoping they get it right next expansion.
Ah, well. Dragonflight, for it’s many narrative issues, delivered on it’s potential–it’s an expansion about Dragons, you get to ride a dragon and fight dragons.
iirc there’s like 3 variations of nightborne. The pretty ones, the crackhead ones, and the spider ones (though honestly I think only the latter is different enough to count as a sub-sub-species).
I think we will see that there sre more Allied Races in later patches. Theyre not gonna announce that this early.