I donāt find saurok appealing at all.
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OP, you get my support for promoting an allied race thatās not another Elf. However, Iām still hoping for Sethrak to become playable by 8.3.
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Iām curious if the Saurok mobs have any mounts in-game on Pandaria. Seems like they would be the kind of race that would ride a beast of some sort into battle. Iāll have to add this to my āresearch to doā pile.
I think anything is possible in this game. In 8.2, for example, we have Gilblins who were originally all male and aggressive to both factions. Now, they have a female model and are part of a group that is helping the Horde and are a likely allied race candidate, in my opinion. I think the key for a lot of these kinds of races is what Blizzard had mentioned previously, in that they add playable races when it makes sense in the storyline. It seems like they can work with any race if they decide to make them playable.
Variety is a reason Iād love to see them, and lizard men are a staple fantasy race, in my opinion. ^^
Nothing wrong with this at all. Not all races are appealing to everyone. Ogres are my most wanted race, and I know that not everyone wants to be such a monstrous race. Everyone has races they like, and it makes things more interesting in seeing what people come up in terms of character designing and story writing, in my opinion. ^^
Sethrak are very much a possible allied race, and Iād be happy to see them playable. It would be interesting to see what Blizzard does with them, and as I mentioned before, nothing is stopping both Sethrak and Saurok from being playable at the same time. ^^
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+1 vote for Saurok
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You have my full support for playable Saurok. These folk are the closest weād get to playable dragons. Iād actually roll one of these in a heartbeat. Iām also a fan of Sethrak but donāt see why we couldnāt get both ^^
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We have already seen several of them acting as pirates in Freehold!
The Sauroks, in FreeHold, have shown themselves to be able to act with other races in a rational and organized way!
If there were more daring of the devs during MOP, they could already be available as a playable race, today!
At Thunder Isle, Iāve seen several running wild, just like worgen!
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That is a very good point, though these are individual Saurok as opposed to whole tribes of them. Despite that, it does show that they are capable putting their savage personality to the side and working with others.
I wonder how many of them decided to sail off Pandaria and for what reasons. I keep thinking that there may be some tribes that, for one reason or another, left to form their own tribe and civilization somewhere. Maybe as their race gets older, they start to have different views of life. Itās shown when some worship Kros, saying they came from him instead of the Mogu. If there are separate tribes that moved off Pandaria, it is possible they could have different cultures and act a bit more civilized towards other races.
If Saurok could be Warlocks, Iād likely go with that to recreate an Iksar Necromancer character I had in Everquest 1. ^^
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Probably some smaller ones of these running around.
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Also I LOVE Saurok, they were one of my favourite things from MoP. I really liked their origins, iāll try to dig up a post I made about them awhile back.
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Found it!
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I wanted to bring up some text from a quest called āDagger in the Dark.ā Itās from Mists of Pandaria where we see the attempted assassination of Volājin and also learn that Garrosh wanted to create his own Saurok army.
Dagger in the Dark details and script
Of course, nothing came from this. I havenāt really done a lot with Pandaria, so Iām assuming that Garrosh didnāt get too far with his Saurok army plans. Even if he did, the army wouldāve been slaughtered.
What I wanted to focus on was something Volājin said during the scenario:
Volājin says: āDese āMogu,ā dey workinā wicked dark magic here.
Volājin says: Da Saurok, 'dey not born - ādey was created. Flesh shaped anā bent.
Volājin says: Dis be the blackest of magics, mon!
Rakāgor Bloodrazor says: Yes! The power to shape flesh, to build warriors. This is what the Warchief wants!
Bloodrazor walks towards Volājin.
Volājin says: Garrosh playing god? Making monsters? Dis aināt what da Horde is about!
The shorter part of this post is where Volājin says that the Horde isnāt about making monsters to fight for the Horde, which is true. To me, the Horde is about races banding for survival against those who would call them monsters and hunt them down. This is more directed at making Saurok, as opposed to Saurok that already have been created, assuming some have evolved to be more than just mindless savages.
The other part is where Volājin mentions that dark magic was used to create the Saurok. Now, to be fair, in this instance, the Saurok were created by the Mogu using black magic, and even though they rebelled, they werenāt negotiable and just RAWRād at everything.
Letās assume that events happen in a future expansion that a tribe of Saurok did work with the Horde and were above being mindless mooks. Would the Horde as a whole look down on these Saurok because they were created with dark magic?
My opinion is that in such a situation, the Horde would, at best, be dubious to begin with. Working with Saurok would imply that a situation comes that there is an advantage to both races working together, and that the Saurok would actually prove themselves to be good allies to have. Many of them also denounce their creation from the Mogu, worshiping Kros who does exist in the game, so they may not view them selves as creation of dark magic.
I donāt have a source for this, but I believe that Saurok are capable of breeding among themselves, not requiring black magic. Could an argument be made that those Saurok were born of black magic? The Saurok generally did come from lizards that were transformed by the Mogu to begin with, so there is some form of organic life within them.
Even if dark magic is an issue, I feel like there are so many contradictions that Phoenix Wright would have a field day. Warlocks and Shadow Priests are allowed in the Horde and walk around freely, with some even coming from Volājinās Darkspears. Death Knights are also allowed, and it could be argued that dark magic lead to their creation. Orcs were at one time filled with demon blood and have overcome their past to become something different. Seems like there are a lot of aspects of the Horde that could be viewed as dark magic of sorts.
Arguments can be made on several points, and many are debatable, but if Saurok would just be frowned upon because of their creation, I feel like the Horde would be hypocritical. Again, this is assuming that they assisted or were assisted by a tribe of Saurok that would have some form of diplomacy and empathy to deal with other races.
For Saurok to work as a Horde race, as I keep mentioning, there would need to be some form of open-mindess on both the Horde and Saurokās part. If Thrall were to become warchief again, and assuming the Saurok that help the Horde prove themselves, I could see Thrall being sympathetic enough to offer them a place in the Horde, while helping to guide the race and help train their shamans and other classes while they help in the war against the Alliance.
That said, the way Saurok were created should not be a hindrance when considering them as a playable race. Theyāre capable of having their own culture, and if done right, would fit right in with the Horde. Should events occur that bring such a tribe of Saurok in the future, an interesting storyline can come out of this.
Of course, all of this is just conjecture, as the Saurok we know at the time of this post are still just RAWR and mooks to kill for quests. Still, an open-minded thinking allows for different ideas to possibly implement in the future, and who knows what will happen then?
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Forsaken set the bar on the ground for this, the scalies are fine.
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That is another good point. It isnāt like the Horde is so virtuous, they could speed run Ultima 4 with no problem (same with the Alliance). So their origin of being made by dark magic shouldnāt be a problem, even if Volājin revives and rejoins the Horde.
I do like the idea of Saurok that traveled off Pandaria coming across some Kajaācola out in the ocean somewhere, and gaining a bit more intelligence. It could be a way to explain why a particular tribe might have different views, have formed an actual civilization somewhere, or act differently from regular Saurok. Itās either that or, as a newish race to Azeroth, itās just a natural evolution that occurs with their offspring and they decided to get away from the hostilities of Pandaria to live elsewhere.
Seems like there are different directions to go if Saurok were to ever be considered as a playable race.
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So as it turns out, there are Saurok that have some form of philosophy! Itās a little primitive, but they are capable of it!
On Pandaria, theres a questline or method that allows you to turn into a Saurok, which I believe makes any Saurok mobs and NPCās friendly to you, and with the Skumblade Tribe, you can talk to some of them. A few notable quotes listed on WowPedia:
Akolik:
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We are born from the flesh of Kros. We were fashioned from his meat, his bones. He is our creator.
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Kroshik is the blood of Kros. He watches over us. He is our connection to Kros. He has the strength of Kros, yet he walks on our world.
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When the time comes, Kroshik will die, and we will take his strength. Then, the cycle will start again.
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Kros, our creator, will not save the weak. The souls of the weak will exist in eternal fear, always fleeing from the teeth and claws of Kros and his followers.
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If you are strong, Kros will allow you to hunt. Your eternity will be spent chasing the weak, eating their flesh, and becoming ever stronger.Be strong, saurok.
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Strength always to the Skumblade. Strength always to you, saurok.
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The mogu lie to our people. They tell us that we are their creation, that they twisted our flesh into its current form. They claim we owe our existence to them.
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I DEFY the mogu! They have no power over us! They do not know what we see, how we live, what we feel! They cannot see into our souls!
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Only Kros, our great creator, knows what is in our soul. Kros knows, and Kros understands. Kros gave you your strength, saurok. No mogu owns you.
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Kroshik has a body of meat and bone, but he carries with him the spirit of Kros.
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One day, Kroshikās hunt will end. But Krosās hunt goes on forever.
These quotes let us see a bit more into their worship of Kros, and Kroshik is said to be related to Kros in some fashion. Some, however, disagree with this:
Tomma:
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The saur-priests will tell you that our strength comes from Kroshik. Donāt listen to their religious talk.
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Our strength comes from our claws, from our teeth, from our weapons. It comes from the filth that the filth-mongers gather and cultivate. It comes from us.
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I donāt care whether we descended from some devilsaur in the sky or we were created by the mogu. All I care about is protecting this land from our enemies.
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Saurok who worship Kroshik only do so because they are scared. They pretend we are all just little walking devilsaurs, proving our āstrengthā to gain the favor of an invisible, all-powerful devilsaur that lives in the sky. That is what they truly believe.
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We are not devilsaurs. We are saurok. And when we die, there will be no eternal hunt, no promised paradise, no punishment for the weak, and no Kros. We will be eaten, and our remains thrown into the filth-pool. And that is all. I have seen it.
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You know what I think? <Tomma glances quickly behind him.> The saur-priests are as filled with filth as the village itself.
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Their Kroshik-worship makes them weak. They preach strength, but do they hunt? Do they kill? Do they roll in the decaying remains of their fallen brothers? No. They hide in their caves and talk. If they were truly strong, they would be out here fighting with us.
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We were created by the mogu. There is no reason not to believe it. Anybody who denies it is ignorant, or living in fantasy.
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I refuse to pretend I am a devilsaur. I know what I am. I know where my strength comes from.
Seems like some Saurok recognize they were created from the Mogu while others decide that they descended from Kros.
Itās interesting to see such a divide in what most people just view as primitive. If this tribe is capable of free thought, then surely there would be other tribes somewhere that have their own views and culture somewhere.
Of course, the Skumblade Tribe wouldnāt be the tribe that would ever be playable, unless some serious reorganization and anger management classes occur (Horde are friends, not food etc etc), but it is neat to see some form of philosophy from the Saurok in general.
Iām likely going to sound like a broken record in this thread, in that for Saurok to be playable, it would require a tribe that left Pandaria and made their own civilization elsewhere with a different and possibly little more advanced culture from other Saurok, and that they would need to be in a situation where they would be open to helping or being helped by the Horde in some fashion that would lead to them joining.
Still, it is an uphill battle for them regardless. Iāll be doing some research and posting it, along with my thoughts, as I find out more stuff. Hopefully as the thread continues, we can brainstorm more and more ideas to discuss. ^^
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What do you think about Saberon? Theyāre very cute for me.
Anyway, you have my support, If Ogre, Vulpera, Sethrak, Queldorei, Wildhammer, Sanlayn, Saberon/Saurok are playable I will be very happy xD
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Saberon are a neat race. I know a lot of people ask for them, and I wouldnāt mind seeing them, myself.
Currently, the races I particularly want, that would make me very happy, are Ogres, Vulpera, Sanālayn, and Saurok for the Horde. I havenāt really thought about what races I particularly want on the Alliance, but I am generally open minded in that regard. Iāll have to give that some thought to give a more precise answer.
Ogres are my most wanted race. You can likely tell from the stuff I type up for the Ogre Megathread. ^^
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Kros, some say Krosm.
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Yess moar swimmies
Ooh thereās also a dragonman race that uses the worgen skeleton
(havenāt kept up my trust level ;-; )
https ://wow.zamimg.com/uploads/screenshots/normal/411858-kyrak.jpg
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Neat
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I wanted to type some regarding female Saurok and design. Iāll link the female Saurok picture from the first post again for reference:
Female Saurok from Hearthstone
You may notice that this Saurok has something that is rather unfitting for a reptilian race. Specifically, the Saurok appears to have breasts. This is something not really found in reptiles in general, and should Saurok ever become playable, I feel that there are different ways to go about designing female Saurok.
Just a side note, I am not posting this to insult or make fun of anyone that worked on that image, but rather to show different ideas of how a female Saurok could be designed should they ever become playable. Many designs in Hearthstone of races that get added to WoW, such as Tortollans, are very much different in the two games.
So how does one design such a race that you can tell between males and females? In terms of lizard men, there are a number of ways. Size, scale color pattern, and horn designs are great ways to differentiate males and females.
Currently in-game, there are no female models I am aware of, but some Saurok models have different designs. A Saurok with frills is shown here:
It would seem that Saurok are capable of having unique features, which should be kept in mind if they were to become playable. Different horn types and aspects of different species of reptiles, some exclusive to males and females, are great ways to design playable Saurok models.
So what about other games that have playable lizard man races? What did they do in their designs? Here are a few examples:
Here we have the original models for male and female Iksar from Everquest 1.
And here we have the Iksar from Everquest 2.
As we can see, they both are very distinct and, from a glance, people can tell which is male and which is female.
This is a video of a female Argonian creation, with commentary, from Skyrim. There are different features in their character creation, though I really donāt see hair belonging on a reptilian race.
And here we have a female Argonian being created from Elder Scrolls Online.
Ultimately, female Saurok should be designed to reflect them being a savage reptile race. I would prefer to avoid trying to make them look sexy and just putting breasts on them. There are plenty of ways to go about making them look unique, and with all the different species of reptiles out there in real life, Iām sure some neat ideas could come up for Saurok should they ever become playable.
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