High mountain tauren are definitely playable they just aren’t actually played lol. Taunka would likely be the same way.
Idk about anyone else but unless it was just a passion project I wouldn’t like designing and implementing a race so that the .5% of the population that wants them can have them.
A lot of the ARs fell flat and I think they learned from them what people are actually interested in playing on a large scale.
Put better racials on a non-dwarf/non-gnome race and I’ll play em. I’d probably play Highmountain if they had the racials Kultiran had, I just don’t like how Kultiran look.
To be fair, a lot of the allied races aren’t played that much. The Void Elves are the exception and are played more than most base races combined.
I’m just saying that “if X is playable, why can’t Y be?” Isn’t the right way to build expectations and could work for arguing almost any concept.
Given all of the time and resources in the world, then yes, Taunka should be playable, but so should literally everything anyone can dream up.
To switch to a new race, it has to do one of the following:
Look better.
Have better racials.
Otherwise it is hard to justify changing.
The problem is between Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, and Blood Elf, it is extremely difficult to make a race that looks better or has extremely better racials. Void Elf succeeded because it was a pretty elf race and Dark Iron sees some play because of racials and they look better than dwarf, but most other Allied races are a downgrade in some way. Vulpera were something entirely new and furry bait so that’s why they succeeded.
Well, implantation is a key reason too. Like it would be way easier to add them or high elves over Naga. That’s why I expect that we’ll never get Naga ever but stuff like this has a chance as they already have lore reasons to join and they already have a playable model that could be modified to fit them in.
Honestly they should just make Alting better and give everyone 1 free race change after unlocking all allied races from either Legion or BFA or whatever future allied race.
Should be noted their culture is slightly different to the Mulgore and Highmountain Tauren too.
Partially because of where they lived they had to more often partake of Dark Shamanism to ensure their survival and their general outlook always seemed more dark and survival based to our current generally calm tauren groups.
Could be very neat what stories they could tell if playable.
You won’t be forced to play them so don’t worry about it.
ARs brought a large uptick in sales and in returning players so it was worth it from that standpoint.
Also keep in mind lower player numbers is also heavily effected by the ARs needing to be unlocked from no longer current content.
They’d be played considerably more if they were just available.
While this isn’t true for everyone, it’s a big enough group of people that focus on this that I think it’s partially valid.
ARs need racials that are actually helpful whether they’re straight up combat oriented or more utility oriented. Hell even if they’re gimmicks more than anything they have to be worth it.
I mean if they just add them as customization that widely sidesteps that issue.
That said I’d prefer the AR treatment.
They need to remove the “have to change” part. ARs should be playable for everyone after the expansion they released in is no longer current.
I like this idea… Very Tabula Rasa like.
K? Didn’t say I’d be forced.
Would need a citation on this one.
I agree that the ARs from BfA should be unlocked immediately by now but I don’t believe WoW has brought in so many new players since then that we’d see an explosion of HMT and Mechagnomes for example. They just aren’t races that very many people pursued even when they were current.
I mean I played when BfA was current and still don’t have several of the ARs unlocked but wouldn’t play them even if they were free now.
Locking them behind a grind would almost certainly land them in the same boat of almost unplayed races.
I also played during bfa and plenty of folk to this day are still just not playing them because they’d have to do older content to get em.
It’s just the truth of the matter.
Though to your last bit here where you haven’t yet unlocked all the ARs.
I did so myself when it was current along with many others. Some didn’t some did. Your experience isn’t the same as everyone else’s so I don’t see how your subjective experience matters?
Well yeah. I don’t advocate for a grind. They should just be unlocked via story beats and then after the expansion ends they should just be available to everyone.
There is one model for taunka, and then only males. With highmountain the only difference between them and regular tauren is the antlers.
They could create a new model for the taunka female model and replace the old one like they did it for the centaurs.
We have 2 or 3 artworks with what we could get as model for a female taunka.
https://imgur.com/5WPbKYd
https://imgur.com/t0W501t
I always dislike when someone forgets that no matter what a race taken from npcs to players by definition will get updated.
Issues like no female model will be moot every time.
I appreciate the conversation continuing to flow regarding Taunka!
As others have stated, Taunka, while similar to their brethren, have some distinct cultural aspects that set up apart- such as their relationship with the elements.
And as always, a female model would (hopefully) be made in general if Taunka came back into the story. We see that with many races being updated recently, even Wrath races- such as Tuskarr.
I dont think this fits what allied races are. The entire point is to do their recruitment questline. I can see easily doing away with the reo restrictions and such(And i do think the rep restriction is gone). Maybe edit the questline requirements, but they shouldnt be automatically unlocked imo. At least have them do the intro quest.
(moving the pictures out for people to see)
Yeah but that is artwork. The models are out of date and were underdeveloped even when they were current. I’m not saying they SHOULD NOT, I’m answering why they DID NOT and probably wont, when they did for Highmountain. They are unlikely to do this much work for a race that hasn’t been in content for over a decade and lacks the cross use of modern playable model elements like Highmountain do. They would have to make whole new models and skins, and that is effectively a guaranteed non starter.
I agree or having a mammoth would do for their tank form, rhino works too.
Personally I think blizzard got lazy and just added turen 2.0 with moose heads and called it an allied race. Personally they should have brought the taunka in as they are bison people little different than tauren.
A perfect time to re model them would actually be in DF chilling with the tuskarr in the azure span it seems that zone in my opinion was taking the best things in northrend and shoving it into one giant zone and why not have a tribe of taunka there
Big disagree on the travel form. People completely forget that Shoveltusks exist, I think, despite featuring on one of the more iconic Shaman sets from WOTLK.
Okay, so. Taunka RPer chiming in here.
I feel like there’s a lot of emphasis on Taunka being added just because they’re aesthetically different and people were a little bit let down with Highmountain simply being Tauren with antlers, but consider:
Taunka have a much more distinct culture to themselves. One more defined by strife and perseverance; They are perhaps the most strong-willed of their kin, proving the ability to wield dominion over the very elements of the harsh and unforgiving land they dwell in. Taunka are stubborn bastards, in other words, refusing to let even nature itself snuff them out. To me, this is their defining quality.
They are more distinct in my view than the Highmountain, and certainly COULD warrant the “AR treatment” with distinct racials, druid forms, etc. Taunka given druidism would toe the line perilously close to the nightmare with this approach and their forms could enjoy a darker flavoring that’s been absent outside of the artifact PvP and Drust forms. Likewise their shamans’ summoned elementals could appear as the more twisted, bound ones seen throughout Cata. Blizzard dodged the question of if Taunka shamans are Dark Shamans by saying “they’re Taunka shamans”, a total non-answer that imo doesn’t close the door on the possibility. A rose by any other name, as they say.
Even with that aside, consider their recent (within the story of WoW) history. They’re a people who in recent years have suffered back to back catastrophes with the Scourge, the Twilight Cults/Dragons, and then a second Scourge outbreak. It is not hard to imagine that they would be pushed to pursue magics and methods that would have been seen as taboo in the past and which their cousins still think are not justified.
That being said, having to go through a lengthy reputation based unlock would probably land them in the bin as an even more under-played niche of the already under-played Tauren races, so simply adding a slew of Taunka appearance options to the catalogs might be more accessible. Having character creation overhauled to a degree and re-thinking Racial abilities, perhaps giving all of these similar races the ability to pick between in a fashion similar to the Zandalari Loa racial, would also help. While it doesn’t make as much sense for a Belf to be able to use a Velf racial, there’s no reason to imagine a Tauren couldn’t use Bull Rush or a Highmountain could use War Stomp. Racial abilities might be a whole subject to put aside for another time, with that in mind.
Personally I’d like something in the middle. A less arduous rep - Say that you only have to get to Honored or MAYBE Revered with a close ally or trading partner like the Tuskarr who then give you a quest that sets you on the path to getting acquainted with the Taunka, and gets you up to speed on their current situation over the course of perhaps ten or twelve quests culminating in an unlock. Something that takes an evening, maybe two, but overall you could do the whole thing within the span of a couple of Resets without strain.
Didn’t read any of the replies but do we really need another race with a Tauren’s body and something weird on their head?
My guy I’m never going to care about this point when we have five kinds of playable elf and the lore ties them all together with trolls, naga, and a wide variety of other creatures.