The Unofficial Saurok Playable Race Discussion Megathread! šŸŠ

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We are one week until Blizzcon! A schedule was recently announced for the event as well:

In addition, it was announced that there would be no live Q&A, but instead will come in a Wowcast after Blizzcon:

However, a thread will be opened on Nov. 3rd to take questions. Although, Iā€™ve read that theyā€™ll allegedly only take questions on the upcoming update and I assume next expansion, which I think is very likely to occur. Iā€™ve been meaning to have some Saurok questions thought up for future Q&Aā€™s, though I donā€™t know if theyā€™d be applicable for thia Q&Aā€¦not that theyā€™d get answered, Iā€™m sure. Doesnā€™t hurt to be prepared just in case.

As for WoW news and with a potential expansion announcement, Iā€™m trying to keep an open mind as we see what all is announced. The only reasonable hope I have is that we get new playable races that people have been requesting. Granted, I always keep my fingers crossed for my most wanted playable races. :crossed_fingers:

Once Blizzcon happens, Iā€™ll make a post about WoW related news and if there is anything of Saurok interest. However, I feel like it might take a Winter Veil miracle for anything Saurok related to be thereā€¦then another Winter Veil miracle for there to be Horde friendly Saurokā€¦and then a bucket of Winter Veil miracles to have them actually fully playable. Still doesnā€™t stop me from keeping hope of course.

Whatever happens, Iā€™ll be sure to report on it in some fashion. Hoping for the best, but keeping expectations tempered. Whatever does or doesnā€™t happen, playable Horde Saurok support marches onward! :lizard:

ā€”7 days until Blizzcon starts (Nov. 3rd)!ā€”

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

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Halloween is tomorrow, and Iā€™ve been trying to find some lizard related things to celebrate it in a post. I suppose fossil related foods can fit the season, especially if you make it more spooky, but I did find a few things to share.

Here are some recipes and videos:

And of course Iā€™ll be making a post tomorrow to celebrate Halloween once I get a chance. It is one of my favorite holidays, after all! :jack_o_lantern::lizard:

ā€”4 days until Blizzcon starts (Nov. 3rd)!ā€”

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

Happy Halloween everyone! :jack_o_lantern: :lizard:

Got a fun video to share here about reptiles that fit Halloween very well, some of which would make for great Saurok customization options:

Whatever your plans are today, please have a fun, happy, and safe Halloween! :skull: :man_vampire:

ā€”3 days until Blizzcon starts (Nov. 3rd)!ā€”

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

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Well tomorrow is the big day for Blizzcon starting. Excitement is in the air and the amount of ā€œleaksā€ popping up is almost to Smash Bros. levels of ā€œleaks.ā€ Fun times.

As I mentioned before, after stuff gets officially announced, Iā€™ll make a post in both my megathreads going over it. If by some Winter Veil miracle something gets announced that is Saurok/Ogre related, Iā€™ll be going over that as well, but I am of course tempering expectations, so I obviously wonā€™t be counting my chickens before theyā€™re hatched.

The only reasonable expectations I have are that we donā€™t get a Shadowlands calibur of an expansion and that if we get any new playable races, theyā€™re ones that people have been requesting for quite some time as opposed to brand new ones coming out of nowhere. Iā€™m not against new races being created and becoming playable of course, but I feel like adding in ones people have been requesting, not referring to any specific race to be clear, would go a long way in showing Blizzard is listening and getting some good will back. But weā€™ll see what does or doesnā€™t happen tomorrow.

On another note, the Trading Post updated with new stuff for November:

Nothing really of note when it comes to Saurok related stuff, not that I usually expect anything. But you never know! :lizard:

Anyway, going to hope for the best tomorrow and will keep fingers crossed for my usual hopes and dreams with an open mind. :crossed_fingers:

ā€”1 day until Blizzcon starts (Nov. 3rd)!ā€”

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

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Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

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So I just got done watching the announcement andā€¦it sure was a thing. Gotta admit, the Stone Dwarf allied race kinda left a sour taste in my mouth. And no, itā€™s not because it wasnā€™t something I was specifically wanting, but Iā€™ll go into that more later.

If anything, it looks like the Allied Race system is still alive, so that could very well get implemented with future playable races. I may have to note that the next time I make an edit to the megathread. Iā€™ll type more on that thought later.

Anyway, Iā€™m going to look at the ā€œWhats Next: WoWā€ thing and take some time to digest and gather my thoughts before I make a post about all the announcements. Obviously, yes Iā€™ll still continue to march in in support for my most wanted playable races, including Saurok.

3 new expansions announcedā€¦hopefully weā€™ll see more playable races in them. Anyway, Iā€™ll post again after a bit. :lizard:

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

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Saurok have been in the game for a good long while now and them being expanded upon and added as an AR would be lovely, especially now that clearly the doors feel open for anything, and any community no matter how seemingly small.

Iā€™d definitely play a Saurok myself - hoping they get added :slight_smile:

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The Q&A thread has opened and I asked a questions on behalf of a few race request megathreads. Iā€™ll post a link to the post and the question I asked for this megathread below:

ā€œSince weā€™ve seen Saurok evolve, work with other races, and travel the seas to different continents and islands, and that there is a pretty big titan theme in the next few expansions, will potentially we see a friendly tribe of Saurok to ally with in the near future?ā€

Worth a try, even if it will likely not get answered.

Edit: With regards to the Titan part of the question, I was thinking about how in Hearthstone, they have Saurok where is titan-related stuff, such as Unā€™goro Crater. Maybe the Mogu in that universe had the Saurok guard the area before they decided to stick it to the Mogu. Even if it is a difference universe, Saurok in WoW could have something against the Titans since the Mogu have relations to them and was worth a mention.

Iā€™m still thinking some about the recent announcements to make a post on in here. The allied race system being utilized again is one of the big things Iā€™m trying to think some more on, since it seems like weā€™ll be able to get more Allied Races in the future.

Saurok could easily work either as a Core or Allied Race, so Iā€™ll have quite a bit to say on that subject. May have to revamp that section of the megathread post also to reflect it.

Iā€™ll post when Iā€™m able to in the near future! :smiley:

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

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So Blizzcon is over and while there wasnā€™t really much in the way of anything Saurok related, there were a number of things coming from the various announcements that are of Saurok interest, as well as of interest to several other race request megathreads.

Iā€™ll be making a similar post in both my megathreads, edited to make comments of interest to that megathreadā€™s theme of course, and Iā€™ll gradually post thoughts in other race request megathreads as well. This is likely going to be a bit of a post, so letā€™s get some music to jam to as I type a whole bunch of stuff.

Right, with the introduction out of the way, letā€™s talk expansionsā€¦and no, that wasnā€™t a typo.

So the biggest announcement was not just one, but three expansions as part of the ā€œWorld Soul Saga.ā€ Not much details on them aside from the next expansion coming out:

Itā€™s a mostly underground expansion with Stone Dwarvesā€¦more on that in a bit.

This expansion is suppose to be void themed with a focus on elves and uniting elf tribes of some sort.

And finally, this one involves a return to the old world (of Warcraft!) while also returning to Northrend. I assume we beat up some big bad, maybe an evil titan or two.

All three expansions are expected to be released by 2030, and there was a mention that 20 years of WoW has been planned andā€¦good grief, am I really going to be running my megathreads for 20 years? I guess when you really want somethingā€¦maybe weā€™ll get lucky within there. x- x

Since details are fairly sparse on the latter two expansions, I canā€™t really say whether we could see Saurok involved or not since Elves are the focus in the second expansion coming up. There is something of a void link, given that Nā€™zoth-like eye on some of the Saurok equipment, though I would hope they would help us battle the void and not become enemy Void Saurok or something.

As for the third expansion, a lot depends on the return to the old world (of Warcraft!). If there happen to be evil titans to beat up, Saurok could be interested since the evil Mogu clans have some relations to the titans. If Northrend is a focus, however, weā€™ll have to see what exactly the storyline is, though maybe Saurok with fur coats and mittens on could work. Who knows?

Getting back to the next expansion, it doesnā€™t really sound like much going on for Saurok in there since weā€™re going deep underground. Not that I would expect Saurok to be that deep, unless they were digging for shinies or bones to gnaw on I guess. So while Iā€™ll keep my eyes peeled, Iā€™m not expecting Saurok stuff next expansion.

With the expansion announcements looked at, letā€™s look at the next playable race: The Earthernā€¦wooā€¦

A neutral allied race of Stone Dwarves. And yes, that means they can be on the Hordeā€¦yes, reallyā€¦no, Iā€™m not making a joke here. Horde Dwarves are happening next expansion. They also can be every class except Druids, Demon Hunters, and Evokers.

Itā€™s no secret that my impressions of the Earthen have beenā€¦less than fun, shall we say. And it isnā€™t because I didnā€™t get what I particularly wanted. If you want to know my full thoughts, I typed up a frustrated post in my Ogre megathread that Iā€™ll leave behind a clickable thing down below. Just note that it is in my own personal opinion and I was venting some frustrations when typing it.

Thoughts on Earthen by a frustrated Bagzak

Simply put: Iā€™m not particularly thrilled by the Earthen, and there are a number of issues that I have with them.

Let me be perfectly clear: I stated my expectation/hope for if we got new playable races was that any of them would be races people have been requesting. After all, several of them have been requested since the game actually launched, and with BfA, a lot of us have been submitting feedback regularly in support of them. Part of me was kinda expecting playable Neutral Tuskarr if we got any playable races if Iā€™m perfectly honest.

I also want to state that Iā€™m not against new races being created in general. A lot of races were at one point new to Warcraft in general. Vulpera, for example, had their own identity in looks and culture despite using Goblin animations, and NPC races that use skeletons like Sethrak, Saurok, Saberon, and so on would still be their own race if they became playable while utilizing models of other races.

Earthen as a wholeā€¦kinda bother me for several reasons. Iā€™ll try my best to explain how. Iā€™ll preface by saying this is all my own personal opinion and I say a lot of this out of frustration. Again, Iā€™m not salty because I didnā€™t get what I specifically wanted. That said, let me try to grumble grumble in some coherent way to convey how I honestly feel.

The biggest problem is that the Wildhammer Dwarves, who had importance to the Alliance since the RTS Warcraft days and has a statue in front of Stormwind, gets a PowerPoint slide reveal of Bronzebeards LARPing as them. Whereas this race race, that could just work as a Customization Race given how they look pretty much like edited Dark Iron Dwarves (about as lackluster as LF Draenei or HM Tauren), gets to be a full race.

Speaking of, races like Wildhammer Dwarves, Darkfallen, and Manā€™ari get slapped onto parent races as customization races while losing their identity in playable form, but Earthen get to be a completely separate playable race? Something feels really off on this thinking and is really making the already muddied waters even more muddied.

Furthermore, the idea that since BfA, weā€™ll be at 3 expansions since then with the newly announced expansion, and despite feedback of many races we want to see playable, it was somehow discussed and agreed upon to have a neutral race of Dwarves that, at least initially from what weā€™ve seen at the time of this post, donā€™t have a lot of visual differences over regular Dwarves and Dark Iron Dwarves. Again, something seems a bit off with priorities here.

And speaking of neutrality, Iā€™m not particularly fond of the idea of them being neutral, as weā€™ll be seeing Dwarves running around Orgrimmar. Especially since from the sound of it, their group is comprised of a few broken up factions that may come back together againā€¦only to break up more when joining the Horde and Alliance, and likely even more if there was ever a faction war again. At least with Void Elves, despite being a dubious choice for different reasons, fit with the Alliance since High Elves were and some still are part of that faction. Here, it just makes faction identity a lot weirder with the choice of letting them be on the Horde.

A lot of it strikes me as laziness and cost cutting to me. Some variants of existing races can work well to be different from Core Races, like Kelfin and Sanā€™layn can still be much different from Goblins and Blood Elves while feeling unique. Earthen just feelā€¦cheap to me. And despite there being some mentions and such of Earthen in lore, feel really out of left field.

I think if the Earthen were more rock elemental in looks as opposed to looking like edited Dark Iron Dwarves, I would be a lot more receptive to it. But the fact that they look like edited Dark Iron Dwarves, likely will have the same animations and dances, and barely look different than either playable Dwarf race at the time of this post makes them really banal. Much as I hate to see playable races as opportunity costs, I feel like the resources couldā€™ve gone into making something more unique as opposed to something that could have been a Customization Race, moreso when Wildhammer Dwarves continue to get the short end of the stick.

Iā€™m sure I could go on, and may have forgotten a point or two, but regardless of how I personally feelā€¦weā€™re kinda stuck with Earthen. Who knows? Maybe weā€™ll see them edited more and be more unique visually and through their culture. Maybe Iā€™ll be more interested when I actually see and work with them in quests and stuff once the next expansion launches.

However, I do feel like I had to let out how I honestly feel in some way as some sort of feedback. Again, Iā€™m not against new races being made from out of nowhere and becoming playable, but I would hope that they would be unique enough to stand on their own as their own race slot. Kelfin, Sanā€™layn, Broken, Wildhammer Dwarves, and several other races have more of a unique flair to them and have importance to their respective factions. Earthernā€¦really donā€™t have that feeling from the looks of things, and the constant shoving of the Wildhammer aside really doesnā€™t feel great in the grand scheme of things.

Ok, enough of the grumble grumble from me. As I said, Iā€™ll make a post in the near future about the other announcements of the next expansion and some things I think would be worth discussing (allied race system, neutrality, etc).

And no, Iā€™m not giving up on playable Horde Saurok. I knew this would be a marathon instead of a sprint when I first came to the forums, and I fully intent to keep at it with support playable Horde Ogres and Saurok, and a few other races I want to see playable of course.

Hopefully I was able to explain my thoughts on the Earthen without being too RAWR about it. Iā€™m far from a perfect person, but sometimes, you gotta let stuff out before you feel better. At least there will be more chances of playable races in the future.

-ahem- With that out of my system, there are some interesting aspects of the Earthen I wanted to go over:

-Death Knights-

Earthen are the first playable race since Shadowlands that can be Death Knights, and since weā€™ll be meeting them for the first time next expansion, it means that it is still very possible for Death Knights to raise more of their kind. Makes me wonder if theyā€™ll change the Shadowlands starting area to bring it up to speed with what happened with Bolvar and add Earthen and other playable races to the area.

What this means is that we should be able to expect almost any new playable race (assuming we donā€™t get a ā€œDracthyr can only be Evokersā€ type of race again) in the future to be Death Knights! So my dreams of having one of my Saurok characters be an Unholy Death Knight stillā€¦lives? Unlives? Bah, you know what I mean!

Iā€™ll be sure to report on what all is done with Earthen Death Knights whenever they are available to create. Will be very interesting to see what is doneā€¦

-Allied Race System-

Yep. The Allied Race system from BfA wasnā€™t a BfA exclusive feature at all, which Iā€™m honestly happy for as it does open the door for some races to become playable that isnā€™t the nightmare that is having them becoming Customization Races, which I assume will continue to be a thing for worse or worse, if you know my opinions on the treatment of Customization Races.

For Saurok, they could work as either an Allied Race or Core Race still, and since the Allied Race system is being utilized again and likely will be in the future, Iā€™ll have to reflect that in the main post of the megathread. As I said, get a bunch of huge meat loversā€™ pizzas, and Iā€™m sure Saurok will happily get on the Horde side of that character creation screen! :pizza::lizard:

-Neutral Races-

Speculation is that neutral races will be favored going forward, since it would mean less development costs. And with the Horde getting a variant of Dwarves (what a weird thing to type out), itā€™s possible that faction wonā€™t be much of a consideration.

Now, Iā€™m not against neutral races. In fact, several NPC races I think would work best as neutral races for various reasons, Ethereals, Sethrak, and Tuskarr being a few notable ones. However, I would hope that neutral races wouldnā€™t be the focus going forward.

In my own personal opinion, I feel like having a whole bunch of neutral races kinda destroys the whole faction identity thing and dilutes that feeling of Warcraft as a whole. I still view faction identity as a pretty important thing to the game, and having a whole lot of races as neutral races just makes the waters muddy to me. Moreso if you start having new races created that can be things like Alliance Tauren and Horde Gnomes, which I hope races like the Earthen would be used sparingly going forward. And even with unique races, having like 20+ neutral races just dilutes the faction identity even more.

So to be clear: neutral races are perfectly fine as long as it isnā€™t overused with every race and makes sense.

As for Saurok, while I do think they fit much better on the Horde, I could see arguments for them as a neutral race. Mostly this is because of the whole Horde Dwarf thing thatā€™ll happen in the future, and I suppose as a neutral race, Saurok would have more resources and focus on them for their customization options.

Honestly? If I can still make Horde Saurok characters, Iā€™ll take Neutral Saurok over no playable Saurok. I still think theyā€™re a Horde race of course, but Iā€™ll take what I can get if it is the only way to see them playable and also if it is within reason.

Iā€™ll likely edit that section in the main post of the megathread as well in the near future to at least go over the idea some.

And with that, that is about all I can think of from the recent announcements that I wanted to type about. If I think of any more things, Iā€™ll make another post on it.

And as I said many times before, Iā€™m still going to march in support of playable Horde Saurok as best as I can. And honestly? If we can have several flavors of Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Humans, Orcs, and so on as playable races, I see no reason why we canā€™t have several reptilian races as well. :lizard: :snake: :turtle: :dragon:

Iā€™ll keep an eye out for anything of Saurok interest in the next three expansions and beyond as we learn details in the future. Until then, Iā€™ll keep dreaming of seeing Saurok as champions of the Horde someday! :lizard:

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

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So I thought of a couple more things to talk about. Shocking, I know.

First, lets go back to the Allied Race idea.

Since Allied Races are still an option, I wanted to think more on Saurok as an Allied Race, of which have been things discussed before, but worth another look.

Iā€™m going to guess if Saurok did become an allied race, we would see them in a Vulpera situation, meaning that while they would be a unique race, they would likely be utilizing the male and female Worgen skeletons and most animations from them. I donā€™t expect Saurok to howl and such, of course, so some animations would be edited.

And as an Allied Race, we would have to see a racial hub for new Saurok players to start in as opposed to having either a capital city orā€¦well, nothing really such as the case of the Dracthyr. A Saurok racial hub could be either in a new area we go to and meet them, Unā€™goro Crater as weā€™ve discussed before, or maybe even taking over the Throne of Thunder on the Isle of Thunder where they were created, even if itā€™s suppose to be taken over by the Horde and Alliance according to Exploring Azeroth: Pandaria.

Granted, a worry of mine as an Allied Race is that they wouldnā€™t get as much love and care in design and customization options compared to if they were a Core Race. However, Vulpera have some decent customization options and even got some tail mechanics in terms of animations and things like riding on mounts and such, so Saurok as an Allied Race wouldnā€™t be a complete lazy design jobā€¦at least, Iā€™d hope.

And also as an Allied Race, weā€™d have to butter them up to get them interested. Iā€™ve mentioned before the idea that the playable Saurok faction would need outside help, such as being hounded by the evil Mogu clans, and that there would be a benefit for the Horde to have Saurok to join, such as having territory and defense in a place like Unā€™goro Crater.

As I said before, Saurok can work very well as either a Core or Allied Race, but regardless, I would hope that love and care would be utilized in their implementation if they were to become a playable Horde race. And I personally donā€™t mind doing what needs to be done in order to unlock them as an Allied Race. Let me throw a party with lots of meat lovers pizza and I will happily advertise the awesome benefits of joining the Horde! :pizza::lizard:

After looking at Saurok as an Allied Race again, letā€™s sorta talk about Cataclysm Classic.

So, obviously Saurok werenā€™t a thing during Cataclysm Classic. However, Mists of Pandaria Classic was something I saw mentioned as a consideration with the Classic team thinking about how long to continue the expansion progression.

It seems very likely that Mists of Pandaria Classic will be a thing in the future, which means bringing Saurok back into the presentā€¦present pastā€¦futureā€¦thingā€¦you know what I mean. While they wouldnā€™t be the main focus at all, it would still be a pretty good time to have a reminder that Saurok are a thing. Weā€™ll get there when we get there, but it was something to point out.

After talking about Mists of Pandaria Classic as a possibility, letā€™s look at the return of Northrend mention for The Last Titan.

As you may recall, we are going back to Northrend in The Last Titan. We donā€™t know in what capacity, whether itā€™s a brief visit before we go to the new expansion area or if itā€™ll end up being a revamped Northrend as the whole expansion area, but regardless, it is interesting to see a return in general to an expansion area.

Why is this important? Recall that I mentioned that there were rumors at one point, which Iā€™m still unsure of the validity of, that a future expansion could involve a return to Pandaria for something. This was after BfA of course and obviously such a rumor has yet to come true. However, if we do return to Northrend in the future, it is possible we could return to Pandaria for something again, even if it could be brief.

Maybe then would be a good time to see some updated things, including the potential of the Pandaren finally making peace with some of the Saurok tribes like Lorewalker Cho mentioned them trying to do constantly. It would make for an interesting part of any storylines there and also would be a good time to have a Saurok rep to work on for a potential Allied Race.

While the rumors came out of nowhere and have no substance, I felt it was worth mentioning again. Since we know the next three expansions, albeit it a lot of details of at least two of them, it might be a bit before such a return would happen. Still something to keep in mind of course.

And with that, that is all I can think of to talk about for this post. Lots to think about and discuss, as you can see! :lizard:

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

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This lizard is trying to get to the Emerald dream! Of course, aside from lots of vegetation to climb and nest in, its Emerald Dream has Saurok on the Horde side of that character creation screen! Itā€™s just a dream currently, but you can help make it a reality!

With the beginning of each month, I make in-game suggestions for each race I want to see playable along with a mention of their respective megathreads on these forums. While it is far from a guarantee of seeing our dreams come true, I do think every little bit helps, and doing it monthly I feel is reasonable and not that intrusive or annoying.

If youā€™re interested in doing the same for races you want to see playable, I made a little guide on how to do so in-game here:

Blizzard stated that they have 20 years of planning for WoW. Let us hope Saurok are part of those plans somewhere! :lizard:

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

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Got a few things to talk about for this post!

First, the new patch for Dragonflight has come out. Not expecting anything Saurok related, unless there is a loa of particular interest, but as usual, Iā€™ll keep an eye out for anything of interest.

Second, this Friday, November 10th, Blizzard will have a video going over their selected questions from Blizzcon and answer them:

Iā€™d be very surprised if any of my questions would get answered, but if anything, itā€™s at least a bit of exposure to some of the races people have been requesting.

Lastly, I got this neat video in my YouTube recommendations going over the lore of Unā€™goro Crater, and while it has nothing Saurok related, is still an interesting watch:

As mentioned before, there is a relation to Titans there and a Saurok Dinomancer that is possibly from the Skumblade remnants, maybe even other Saurok of a different tribe or so in WoW we donā€™t know about, and with a focus on Titans in one of the upcoming expansions, itā€™s something to keep an eye on.

And of course, Iā€™ll mention again how in Hearthstone, there are Saurok in the area. This video talks very briefly about it and some of the lore of Saurok in general at the 7:12 mark if it doesnā€™t take you there automatically:

It does present some potential for Saurok in Unā€™goro Crater in WoW, and thus a lot of theory crafting and scenario writing by me, and while it is a loose connection between Saurok and the titans, itā€™s still something of interest to keep an eye on.

If we ever get an old world (of Warcraft!) revamp, itā€™ll be interesting to see what happens with Unā€™goro Crater. As I said before, it would make for a great racial hub or home city location for playable Horde Saurok, but itā€™s just one idea of many. :lizard:

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

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Imagine a crater re-work with the Saurok making their own town.

Would be amazing.

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Tomorrow at some point, the Blizzcon Q&A video should go up. As I said before, Iā€™d be really surprised if any of my questions get answered, so Iā€™m keeping expectations very tempered.

In the meantime, a recent interview with Production Director Michael Bybee and Senior Game Designer Sean McCann by MrGM, there was a brief mention of the Allied Race system:

ā€œThere are several developers who love allied races and would love to see the system continue, since itā€™s a cool way to introduce new races. When it feels right to use, they will.ā€

So it definitely sounds like weā€™ll see the Allied Race system continued to be utilized alongside Core Races and theā€¦less than stellar Customization Races.

I personally do like the Allied Race system, though it has a lot of flaws that have reasonable criticism. Something about meeting with a race, working and bonding together, and eventually after doing questlines and rep grinding, you get to go through the unlock scenario and officially see them join the Horde. It felt pretty rewarding, though I completely understand the argument of people who want to play a particular race and have to level a character and do likely lengthy periods of time of grinding stuff in order to play as said race. Iā€™ll be curious to see what the unlock requirements of Earthern will be, such as if itā€™ll require rep in addition to questlines.

As said many times before, Saurok can work just fine as a Core Race or Allied Race. I could see the latter to get them to warm up to you before you get to offer them to join the Horde. There could be quite the storyline potential to work with a tribe of Saurok and see them officially join the Horde afterwards while feeling kinda rewarding. Especially having operated this megathread for going on 5 years next June or more.

I also see them as a Core Race, and between the two, I lean a bit more to them as a Core Race since I feel like they would have more time to be worked on and have more customization options. Otherwise, as an Allied Race, I could see them being rushed and mostly utilizing the male and female Worgen skeletons and models, which can work just fine for Saurok, but I would hope they would still be unique enough like a Vulpera situation.

But hey, when it comes to Saurok, Core or Allied Race, Iā€™ll do whatever is needed to get them on the Horde side of that character creation screen. Even if it could involve endless meat loversā€™ pizzas. :pizza::lizard:

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

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The Blizzcon Q&A video was uploaded yesterday, and as I kinda expected, nothing really answered regarding any NPC races.

Not really surprising, as I really struggled to try and think of a reasonable question that fit the recent announcements to ask as you can probably tell from my Saurok question. But on the bright side, it brought some exposure to the concept of race request megathreads, so maybe thatā€™ll help with feedback in the future, and I really didnā€™t expect much in the Q&A to begin with, so Iā€™m not particularly discouraged and will keep trying when opportunities arise.

One thing I did notice however was this tidbit regarding Northrend and some other areas getting revamped:

"Clearing up any misconceptions - thereā€™s no time travel in Midnight/The Last Titan. We recently healed the timeways in Dawn of the Infinite and have no reason to revisit that anytime soon. When Metzen said returning to the Old World, he meant seeing how familiar lands have changed and telling new stories within them. They want to ensure that future WoW storytelling keeps iconic settings relevant - we told the story of Northrend and the Lich King 15 years ago, keeping it stale and unchanging doesnā€™t really benefit the Warcraft universe.

So yes, we will be returning to the lands of Silvermoon, Quelā€™Thalas, and later Northrend - weā€™ll see how theyā€™ve changed over time, expand, and reimagine them, but thereā€™s no time travel, only moving forward. Those older spaces will also be updated to allow dynamic flying, with a seamless transition from EPL to the Ghostlands, etc."

It sounds like when The Last Titan comes out, Northrend may be the focus, but it would be completely revamped, which is an interesting direction to take.

If you recall, there were some random rumors, of which Iā€™m not sure where they originated from or if they even have any validity, of a potential return to Pandaria. Since it sounds like Northrend is getting reimagined for a revamp, it is possible other expansion areas could see that in the future, including Pandaria.

If that ever happened, that could be a good opportunity to see a friendly Saurok tribe or two that managed to make peace with the Pandarens there, who keep trying according to Lorewalker Cho during MoP. Maybe we could see playable Saurok come out of that as an Allied Race if weā€™re lucky.

Itā€™s also a possibility to see old Vanilla areas revamped, as what it sounds like with Midnight with Silvermoon, Eversong Forest, and Ghostlands (possible Eastern Plaguelands also) getting updated then. Not sure if we would see old Vanilla areas revamped piece-meal or if the whole old world (of Warcraft!) areas would get revamped at one or not. Definitely something of interest when it comes to Unā€™goro Crater at least, which is also of Saurok interest for various reasons discussed before.

Thatā€™s about all I really saw from the Q&A to report here. As mentioned before, regardless of what does or doesnā€™t happen in the future, Iā€™ll still keep marching in support for playable Horde Saurok as best I can! :lizard:

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

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Since the latest patch involves a lot of fire, I wanted to share this art piece on DeviantArt of what I think is a Lizardman Warrior from Pathfinder wielding a double sided flail that seems to have a fire enchantment on them. It was created by elgrimlock and was uploaded to the website on Nov. 3rd, 2010.

ā€œLizardmanā€ by elgrimlock on DeviantArt

One cool thing about this art piece is that it is an example of plate armor on a Lizardman race. Well, not full plate armor, but still a handy example. The pose and weapon choice also helps to imagine how Saurok Warriors cool look also, even if that type of weapon doesnā€™t exist in WoW that I am aware of. Then of course, there is the usual customization idea inspiration that comes with any art piece I link on here.

As usual, Iā€™ll keep an eye out for art pieces to share for playable Horde Saurok idea inspiration! :lizard:

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

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Blizzard announced that for Retail WoW, there are three teams working on the game: The game itself, the next expansion, and the expansion after that one. Article here:

One of the worries people have, myself included, is that expansions might get rushed out to meet the new faster release schedule. Having multiple teams to work on two upcoming expansions at the same time helps some, though it remains to be seen how that will actually be utilized.

When it comes to new playable races, it sounds like there could be a decent amount of time for those to get worked on, for Core and Allied Races. However, Iā€™d be surprised if we got more than a pair of playable races for each expansion going forward. After all, even for something like Allied Races that are simple, it still takes a lot of work to implement and get them in a playable state.

Weā€™ll have to see how The War Within is implemented and likely Midnight after it to see if things are rushed and not given enough time to bake in the oven before being released. Iā€™m hoping there isnā€™t crunch time and that the expansions and its features have enough time to be worked on and to flourish.

On another note, it occurred to me just now that with Earthen as a neutral Allied Race, weā€™ll need to see how the Horde and Alliance embassies are organized with a new banner being placed in themā€¦at least, I assume there will be a new banner placed for Earthen. I plan to investigate it personally and likely taking screenshots when it comes, but I do recall there being plenty of space stuff for other banners. Well, in the Horde embassy at least.

If anything, Iā€™m sure the buildings could be revamped and expanded for more Allied Race banners as needed. Itā€™d be easier to do so with the Alliance embassy, given all the room around it, but Iā€™m sure the Horde embassy could also be expanded or revamped as needed. Granted, that one has quite a bit of room still.

Also, is it just me or is November just zooming past? Iā€™m sure people have holidays on the mind, including this lizard:

ā€¦well, maybe theyā€™re looking forward to US Thanksgiving first before they get the holiday cheer. Ah well, from Halloween to New Years, itā€™s a fun time of the year.

Speaking of, Iā€™ll be taking some festive screenshots as usual, which I look forward to doing for here and other race request megathreads. I think Pilgrimā€™s Bounty starts soon, Nov. 19th if I understand correctly from Wowhead, and you bet Iā€™ll be getting some Saurok action at the food tables there! :lizard:

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

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I rather love that you do this for so many of the AR threads. Its nice to see what could be.

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Screenshot taking has always been a fun thing to do, even with constraints like model selection and buff timers for things like glyph of disguise. It really helps to see how a race might look if they were playable.

Though I am wondering if that bug with the Saurok model I use for my Saurok Ambassador character via glyph of disguise may get fixed. For some reason, his eyes go blank in an idle position, but go back to normal during animations, only to go back to being blank in the idle animation again. It doesnā€™t seem to affect the NPCā€™s themselves and Iā€™m not sure if it affects glyph of disguise with other Saurok models of different types. Iā€™ll have to play with that sometime to see if that bug persists still across other models and such.

In addition to Halloween, the holidays is another favorite time of year for me, and what better way to spread Winter Veil cheer by having some of the NPC races get to have some fun. :smiley:

-Playable Saurok for the Horde please! :meat_on_bone::crocodile:

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