Sadly since only male taunka are different I’d think Taunka, much like HM Tauren, should have been made purely cosmetic options for OG Tauren (unlocks in similar ways to how one unlocks the ‘dark ranger’ stuff, yeah?) and Yongol should have been the Tauren Allied Race, as it’s clear they can be worked with as you help one of them with a revenge quest, and with the whole, sha business dealt with they likely won’t be as ANGY as they were in MoP it’s self, yanno?
Or maybe it could work like for the zandalari model: the same model for the female taunka with some changes (the female tauren model is used for the female taunka model) and a modified model for the male taunka like the ones we already have.
When they add the Taunka I imagine they’ll make some new faces for the female tauren to differentiate them.
It was always odd that the Taunka males and females were so different.
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Wowhead posted an article on some preview pages of Exploring Azeroth: Northrend that comes from Amazon UK:
A brief mention of the Taunka is in the preview page of the Howling Fjord:
“The native peoples of Northrend, the tuskarr and the taunka, have villages in the region, the tuskarr by their beloved sea and the taunka far inland. I wager the relative peace of the last few years has them ready for some dwarven diplomacy!”
Seeing as the Taunka have been part of the Horde since WotLK, I don’t know how open they’d be to Dwarven diplomacy. Especially from Alliance Dwarves.
I may end up getting this book for my birthday in late March, but I’ll try to keep an eye out for any info on the Taunka to report back here. Wowpedia usually lists a lot of the big info in generation from the Exploring Azeroth books, so I’ll see when they get a page up for the Northrend version. 
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Hope the Taunka become either an AR for the Horde or at the very least we get customization options.
If they go the customization route I hope they add the option to choose different racials, and maybe allow a racial tag switch. (I care less about the tag but the alternative racials options I love.)
Actually, now I remember it Greatbrae had an idea where you get a racial talent tree that has different racial identities as options.
So like for Tauren you’d have Mulgore Tauren, Taunka Tauren and say… Yuangol Tauren.
Each one would have a line that gives you different racial options. Like changing War Stomp into… Frost stomp or something.
I like that concept.
Frostborn could be done similarly to give Dwarves, Ironforge, Wildhammer and Frostborn options in their main tree.
I think AR’s would just have their one tree lines given that they’re also just sub-races for their respective groups mostly.
Anyways…
Taunka for the Horde!
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I think Exploring Azeroth: Northrend is out today. Wowpedia has a section with some info for it now, though they may still be adding information to it at the time of this post. The page is here:
I didn’t see anything specifically mentioned about Taunka on there, though I assume more info will be added to the page in the near future. I did see a couple of Taunka characters listed under the character list section:
Unfortunately, there is no info on the context of their appearance or mention in the book at the time of this post. Maybe it’ll get added in the future when that page gets updated more.
I am apparently getting this book as a gift in the future, possibly for my birthday in March, so it’ll be a bit before I can get my hands on it. I’ll keep an eye out on the Wowpedia page to see if anything else gets added to it that is Taunka related. It seems like there will be a section on them at the very least, so something should be said about them. Even if it is some Alliance Dwarves possibly meeting with them.
Still hoping for the best for Taunka. They deserve better than to be forgotten, given they are official members of the Horde!
13 days until Dragonflight releases! 
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I sadly did not order this book- though I intend to as soon as possible, funds are just sparce right now. I have heard from those who read it that the Taunka really are not in it but for a small mention; they apparently don’t want to talk to any non-horde or non-locals.
But perhaps they forgot to relay some information so that is interesting.
According to others who read it, the Bronzebeard brothers invited the Frostborne to Ironforge in order to get to know the other three clans better- which in my mind instantly goes to them somehow appearing more often/even being playable in some way or form.
Which in turn could mean something similar for Taunka since they are sort of counterparts.
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That the Taunka only really talk to the Horde I think is a good sign.
The Frostborn invited to Ironforge also is a good sign.
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I’m kind of wondering if they have something planned in the future for Earthen.
My guess would be the least effort and just adding some skins/customizations rather than a full on allied race.
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I really hope, like the wildhammer dwarves and dragonmaw orcs, we could have some taunka npcs in DF or later in this expansion. They could get some npcs in the the Azure Span. It were the perfect place for them to be here with this winter climate.
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I feel like with the recent books there is a strong possibility that both the Taunka and the Frostborn will be getting added near to the end of or just after DF as customizations for Tauren and Dwarves.
Just seems like an odd thing for them to mention.
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After seeing how Darkfallen were handled for Blood/Void/Night Elves, I’d be worried if Taunka and any other races in the future become a customization race.
I’d fear that Taunka as a customization race would be relegated to one skin for males and females, likely with some features like eyes and horns locked with it and, with barely any other changes. The voices would likely remain the same, and they’d refer to themselves as Tauren instead of Taunka. Also, they would probably not be able to have Taunka customization for Death Knights, which having Taunka Death Knights would make some sense for the WotLK time period I would think.
I haven’t been too happy with how customization races have been treated, since they tend to feel like the parent race LARPing as opposed to their own identity. If Taunka become a customization race, I really hope more care is given to them and other customization races, both present and future ones. I could go on, but customization races in general is another thesis paper I’m sure I could write.
I suppose if they did become a customization race, I’d change my Tauren Paladin into a Taunka Paladin. I’ll see what happens to them in the future if they ever become playable.
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Has my support. I even have an adorable tauren priest who I rp as a taunka so I’d love to actually play as a legit taunka. That being said, you’re not getting a single cent of my race change money if you don’t actually put work into the models, blizzard. I don’t want just another tauren retexture with a new fur layer texture and remeshed horns.
Actual bison appearance on BOTH body types/genders. Body, head, horns, face, hump, tail. Or don’t bother doing it at all.
I’m thinking they’re gonna do exactly that with some Earthen skins/options later on.
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So Blizzard showed off a roadmap for Dragonflight which is honestly a massive breath of fresh air from the company and I see some things here that suggest to me that further customizations or even Allied Races may actually be more likely than not.
While that doesn’t mention Taunka or Frostborn Dwarves I’d wager they might be in the cards. I also think there is a high chance for Tuskarr becoming a new Allied Race.
Specifically they don’t mention customizations or allied races but as we know from the already datamined information for 10.0.5 the Zandalari at least are getting new hair colors. A minor but very welcome addition to their customizations.
Theres a lot of room in these 6 content patches and while I’d bet we wont see much in customization or allied races with the Two traditional season patches, I think there is a high chance for some really neat things in the patches between those, the .5 and .7 patches. The later ones also don’t go into any real details about what we can expect (probably cause they haven’t worked directly on them yet and don’t want to promise something they can’t deliver right now.) and I’d bet we might see things like Taunka and Frostborn customizations for Tauren and Dwarves along with many other minor updates to other races.
The information in the recent lore book about the Taunka only speaking with the Horde and the Frostborn being invited to Ironforge is just too easy to slip in as customization for those two races and make a lot of people happy. Easily something we could see in a later .5 or .7 patch I think.
I feel a lot of hope for the coming future of WoW… I haven’t really felt this good about the game since Legion and honestly I just… I don’t know. I like this new direction. Hope they keep up with it and even do better at it than they are already.
Good job Blizz.
Taunka for the Horde!
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Thanks for sharing this! 
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https://www.wowhead.com/fr/news/more-npcs-spotted-making-purchases-at-orgrimmars-trading-post-330672
With these new npcs coming with the Trading Post, I hope we will see some Taunka in Orgrimmar. They are a part of the Horde since WotLK and we should have some of them in Orgrimmar as all the other races of the Horde.
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That the Taunka haven’t been added as either a AR or as just customization is wild to me. It wouldn’t be a super hard thing to add and allow a long time Horde race be represented among the player base.
Taunka for the Horde!
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Been awhile, but I’m still waiting for Taunka to get added either as an AR (preferred) or as customizations!
They’ve been part of the Horde since Wrath just like the Frostborn have been a part of the Alliance.
Best to get em both into their factions!
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If High Mountain can be playable then why not these? At least they’re different a d have been around for a very long time.
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