Yeah the idea that they could be any animal is just silly. Lizards, thatās it. Iām thinking monitor lizards, because in real life, they are remarkably intelligent.
I mean, just look at this guy.
These lizards are glorious, my favorites, and I love them.
Me too. It all depends on how Blizzard would do it, how old characters would leave, making room for new ones and how new ones would be introduced, without looking like they arrived by parachute in Warcraft.
Yes. If done well, it would be a good thing, but it only remains to have faith and positive thoughts about a timeskip made by Blizzard to be better than what we have seen in WOD and BfA.
And that it be done in a positive way for all players
We know Sauroks have basically spread world wide now with how there are pirates, and of course there were the ankoan who were off-shoots of the Jinyu who also share an ancestry with murlocs. Donāt be surprised if there are a new kind of Saurok who were taken under the wings of a wild god or a loa that gave them benefits to become a fully functioning race with breeding male and females instead of a completely artificial and homunculi based one.
Iāve been thinking some of a scenario I may write for involving how to introduce friendly Saurok as a sort of pre-patch expansion for whatever expansion they would be part of.
Iām going to write some ideas in a general format to see what people think, then possibly flesh it out later on. This is more meant as a ājust for funā thing along with serving an example of what you could do with them. It isnāt perfect by any means.
So letās say a patch occurs and it hints at a storm brewing off in the far distance. You log into your Horde character and are asked to look into a scouting party that has requested some help in Durotar, asking for you specifically because as the Horde champion, youāre the most trustworthy.
You then fly out to somewhere near the shores to find the scouting party standing around some washed up, unconscious Saurok along with a beautiful looking artifact. The scouting party is puzzled at why there are Saurok here. Some mention just killing them outright while others argue that they should take the Saurok, heal them, and see what is going on with them, this artifact, and also if they have anything to do with this dark storm in the distance. You, as the Horde champion, are entrusted to deliver the artifact to the Horde council and ask them what to do with the Saurok.
With the combination of the sudden storms incoming and the appearance of the Saurok, the Horde Council decides to take the Saurok in and nurse them while keeping them heavily guarded. They want to at least give them a chance to make contact with them before just outright killing them, as they may have some answers to what is going on.
You are then asked to talk to Lorewalker Cho, to both deliver the artifact to ask for any information on it and to ask for assistance with negotiating with the Saurok, since the Pandarens on Pandaria have attempted many times to make peace with them on Pandaria. Cho, eager to help make contact with a new tribe of Saurok, agrees to travel to Orgrimmar to assist with possibly mediation.
Suddenly, you get contacted by Thalyssra magically, begging you to come back to Orgrimmar as itās suddenly being attacked by Mogu!
This would be a scenario you could queue up with others where a giant army of Mogu, who are of a clan not seen before and are much more powerful than other Mogu the Horde have faced, are attacking Orgrimmar. They have all sorts of creatures like stone dragons, giant constructs, and such that theyāre using to attack Orgrimmar while they subjugate citizens as slaves, either in chains or turning them to stone, transporting them somewhere. While this is happening, several Mogu around the outside of Orgrimmar are generating a huge storm which will be utilized to destroy the city. During this scenario, you have to do several tasks such as freeing civilians, fighting off Mogu, killing the Mogu Stormcallers around the city, and protecting structures. It would end with a Mogu commander and a legion of Mogu to kill off in an epic battle. During this battle, the Saurok awoke, escaped, and assisted in killing off the Mogu in the area, as well as helping to kill the Mogu commander in the final battle.
Afterwards, Orgrimmar is in need of repair, several citizens are missing, and more questions are raised. The Saurok that awoke, while dubious at the Horde, want to know where they are and where the artifact with them is. They agree to a meeting, feeling that they may have a shared interest with the Horde while also sharing a now common enemy.
Through the meeting, you discover that this tribe of Saurok lived on a nearby continent, having fled from Pandaria after raiding Mogu vaults to get away from the Mogu and the other warring Saurok tribes. They suspect the artifact they have is what the Mogu were primarily after, though they donāt know what it is used for other than for nothing good. The Mogu found them, invaded their home continent, and began fighting them. The Saurok, knowing that they may not be able to defeat the Mogu, sent off a group with the artifact to get it away from there and to seek out possible help. The Mogu ended up using storm magic on the ocean to try to flush the group out, but some were knocked out and swept in the currents towards Durotar.
Since the Mogu have done major damage, kidnapped many individuals, and the storm cloud in the distance is growing bigger, the Horde agrees to help. This would then open some pre-patch Mogu invasion events, where Mogu would strike at key locations on Kalimdor, while you go off to gather resources to both help repair Orgrimmar and to go face the new Mogu threat.
So what does this accomplish?
First, it creates a fun event that leads into an expansion.
Second, it creates questions that would generate interest in what is going on.
Third, it gives people things to do until the expansion launches, which would also get its own event.
Fourth, it causes hype for new races forthcoming. (Alliance would likely get something similar with whatever race they would get).
Fifth, it gives a reason for the Horde to get involved and for Saurok to seek allies.
Again, itās not a perfect scenario, but as I said, itās just an example of what you could do. Obviously, it needs more fleshing out, and is something I may try to write some more in detail like Iāve done before in other megathreads.
I will say if done right, introducing Saurok becoming playable on the Horde in an event like this would be very memorable. I still remember the Echo Islands event leading into Cataclysm, and events like that leading into expansions are things Iād love to see happen more. Especially when it leads to new playable races.
Anyway, hope people liked what I typed, but let me know what you think, as I can always use opinions to improve my writings!
More Saurok research to continue in the future! 
Time for a multi-part post!
First, as most people likely know, the Shadowlands reveal stream is going to occur on July 8th, 9 AM PDT:
Iād be very surprised if there was anything Saurok related in here at all, but if there is, for better or worse, Iāll be sure to mention it here.
Second, I have thought up of a few idle animations for Saurok players just standing around. Itās something to give them a bit of personality and character:
Just a few ideas to add some personality to Saurok players. 
Third and last, some Saurok inspiration stuff!
I mentioned bone armor awhile ago, and wanted to link a small example with Iksar from Everquest 1. Their leather armor appearance uses a skull as a helmet. You can see it shown here with the Luclin model:
Speaking of Iksar, apparently there is an item in current Everquest called an āIksar Heritage Crate,ā which offers a chance at randomly getting some items and Iksar heritage armor. I found this image on their official forums someone made of possible armor pieces you can get:
Guessing helmets may not be part of the crates, but it still is neat to look at for possible Saurok inspiration.
The last thing to show off is this neat female Argonian image from the Elder Scroll series:
I think this may be an official image from Elder Scrolls Online. I found it from here:
And is based on this character:
I wanted to show if off not just because itās a cool image and the armor looks neat, but itās a female Argonian, so it can show the cool things you can do with designing them. I figured it would make for some good Saurok inspiration.
Also some good news, Iām feeling like Iām about to hit the home stretch of my online class soon, so I should hopefully be completely done within a week or two. Iāll be looking to do some stuff Iāve been wanting to do for this megathread for awhile.
More Saurok research to continue in the future! 
Another multi-part post!
First, Iām hoping to finish my online class by Monday. Assuming I run into no roadblocks, it may very well be possible, and Iāll be able to do some stuff Iāve been meaning to for this megathread!
Second, thanks to a discovery in the Sanālayn megathread, it turns out you can edit threads 1 year after creation! Iām unsure if there is still a time limit or a limit on the number of edits you can do for a thread, but I did add a new image to the āclosing thoughtsā section of the initial post to test editing it:
A Saurok staring longingly at Orgrimmar, hoping to one day be a member. Imagine all the tasty food he could try there!
Third and final, I found an interesting Warcraft III mod, which has a version for Warcraft III Reforged, called āSurvival Chaos.ā It involves a custom map with custom rules and has several races added to itā¦including Saurok.
This video was uploaded Nov 17th, 2019 and was the debut video of Saurok in the mod:
There have been several videos of the mod on youtube, most of which with commentary, and I think there have been updates on the Saurok models themselves as well. Itās really neat to see what people can do with the game, as well as show off what Saurok could potentially look like in the game even if they donāt quite look like WoW Saurok.
Anyway, thatās it for now. Iām at three posts in a row again, so if someone could reply so I can do more posts in the future, I would greatly appreciate it! Iām unsure if the ācanāt post more than three times in a rowā forum feature is still in effect or not.
More Saurok research to continue in the future!
This is literally my Saurokās plan. Lol
I hope if Saurok get added in, we get ruby-red scales. I still need to draw mine. Since Iām getting better at art, I prolly will soon.
Also Saurok are what I think when I hear the word āKoboldā since apparently thatās what kobolds look like in other media.
10/10 loved your post
Sethrak would be better. Saurok are bred to be brainless. I mean I get that our toons arenāt the brightest crayons in the box but itās nice to pretend at least.
Stay with me hereā¦ what if Alliance got Sethrak and Horde got Saurok? 
Saurok and Sethrak would be well paired together.
Yeah. Like that.
The closest scale color to ruby red in-game on a mob that Iāve seen, off the top of my head, is this guy:
From the front:
And from the side:
Both him and Primordius are mobs I should do a post about in the future, since they seem to be some of the first Saurok created.
In terms of Saurok customization, there should be a variety of colors for scales, which Iām sure there could be some amazing color patterns. Customization potential would be amazing for them with so many possibilities.
I think this pairing would work really well and cause a lot of hype.
Each faction getting a reptilian race could be a fun event, even if they donāt have much to do with each other. They are great contrasts in that Sethrak are more calm and orderly while Saurok are more savage and chaotic. Of course, if Sethrak went Horde, both them and Saurok could still be playable and be very unique.
I very much also support Sethrak being playable, regardless of what faction they get would join. The important thing is that the character creation screen needs some reptiles on there, so letās work together to get them there! 
I accept!
I also accept if it comes inverted.
And I am ready to accept both only in the horde, if it is a very big effort to do something worthwhile for the alliance, related to Allied Races.
Also those that claim Saurok have no intelligence and canāt work with other races are completely incorrect. Not only do their tribes vary in beliefs and/or activity, but we see Saurok pirates in Battle for Azeroth. The big takeaway there is that yesātheyāre perfectly capable of organizing and working with others.
They have free will.
All of this together and the complexity of how they came to be make them a perfectly viable idea.
I like being a blood elf, but I would race swap right away if I could be a Lizard
We really need some kind of reptilian, there are so many amazing races like Saurok, Naga and Sethrak to choose from!
Dropping by again since itās been a while to show my support. Iāve wanted me some saurok playable since MoP.
Honestly Saurok Iād play in a heartbeat. I firmly believe weāll never get playable dragons and Saurok remind me of bipedal ones (they look way cooler than drakonid in my personal opinion plus have a more in depth story)
In fact the one I draw will most likely become one of my roleplay characters!
Only one among several points that are conveniently overlooked when they say that sauroks are unable to deal with other peoples, when even in Pandaria we see them using combat tactics, weapons such as cannons and mounts (which already implies the ability to tame other creatures and be able to understand the use of gunpowder) and even speak whenever they want.
Are they savages and looters? Yes. Like the orcs.
And as you and others have pointed out, in Freehold sauroks they work in cooperation with other pirates, who rely on humans, ogres, hozens, quilboars, vulperas and other races.
They use shamanic magic and this requires some self-control over themselves to guide the elements.
Sauroks would be a good addition to any faction.
Sure, sauroks would have a better appeal in the horde, but I wonāt cry if they can be an alliance race.
Just wanted to say again that I appreciate all the support from everyone. Iām happy that reception for this megathread has been generally positive and that there are others who were wanting Saurok playable since they were first introduced. itās an uphill battle still, but Iāll keep going up that hill for playable Horde Saurok!
If Saurok ended up on Alliance, while I would be happy to get playable Saurokā¦I wouldnāt be particularly happy to see them bend the knee to the boy-king as opposed to bending his knee to munch on for a snack.
With something like Sethrak, they could be written to fit either faction very well. They have a more orderly culture and personality where I could see them interacting and fitting in well with Alliance members. I can see them wandering around either Stormwind or Orgrimmar and fitting with the denizens of either faction just fine.
Saurok would likely just be viewed as savage beasts by the Alliance in general, which in a wayā¦they kinda are and is a characteristic that would likely fit better among the Horde. I donāt really see the Alliance members really being open to working with them, even if we found Alliance-friendly Saurok. Not to mention that Saurok would look much better walking around Orgrimmar and Thunder Bluff than hanging out in some place like Ironforge or the Exodar, in my opinion.
Some time ago, Iāve wrote a long post on why I feel like Saurok wouldnāt fit on Alliance. If anyone is particularly interested in reading more of my thoughts, you can see the post here:
Itās also a personal preference, of course. I feel like Saurok would be much happier munching on meat in Orgrimmar or hunting with the Tauren than trying to fit in with ācivilizedā races. Just my opinion, of course.