The Unofficial Saurok Playable Race Discussion Megathread! 🐊

Bagzak-rexxar · July 23, 2020, 6:19pm

Warhammer’s Lizardmen/Seraphon have a lot of really awesome designs that would work really well for some playable Saurok inspiration. I’ve been on the hunt for some official artwork of them, and here is what I’ve found:

There is a lot of official artwork of these guys out there on the internet. I’ll likely be sharing some gradually for some Saurok inspiration.

It would be pretty cool to see what all Blizzard would come up with if Saurok ever became playable, on the Horde side of course. Lots of potential, in my opinion.

Fezzy-draenor · July 23, 2020, 6:34pm

Given the history blizzard and games workshop share I’m surprised they haven’t drawn from the lizardmen of Warhammer at all.

Always figured we’d run into a lizard race in some expac that were well established and strong. Guess trolls take a lot of the tropes lizardmen have in Warhammer though.

Bagzak-rexxar · July 23, 2020, 7:17pm

From my understanding, there wasn’t really anything Lizardmen related in Warcraft as a whole until the Saurok were made for Mists of Pandaria. It likely wasn’t something really thought up of until Warcraft got to a MMO setting. Granted, Saurok were added as mooks, but then again…the Zandalari were enemies at one point and time, and now…they’re part of the Horde. You never know what will happen in the future. Today’s enemies, once brainless jobbers you kill without thought for potential loot, could become tomorrow’s allies.

Warcraft Trolls in general do have some aspects that Lizardmen in different fantasy media have, but Trolls also have their own unique flavor in terms of culture and personality. Even the Zandalari share some things, like having giant dinosaurs to ride and an Aztec theme to an extent, while still having some unique aspects to them. Despite this, something like Saurok would still be able to have a unique presence and personality to them and would fit fine among the Trolls.

On another note. I remembered an interview with Blizzard I linked in a few other megathreads a long time ago, and I don’t know if I ever linked it here. This was posted on Wowhead on November 5th, 2019:

And the part of interest was the last question:

"Any allied races planned for later in the Shadowlands?

Allied races should feel thematically appropriate. A lot of the races encountered at the end of Legion and BFA fit, as people we discovered become embroiled in the wars we’re fighting and both sides are looking for reinforcements, but Shadowlands doesn’t really have that feeling at the start. It’s something they’ll look at and see how players react to certain races, but nothing is planned for the launch of Shadowlands."

Specifically, the “It’s something they’ll look at and see how players react to certain races” part.

Now, they could be talking about Shadowlands races we encounter, but it is a reason I decided to get off my rear and start showing off my support for Saurok in different ways. I do think how players react to some of the NPC races does have an effect of some sort on races Blizzard chooses to be playable. How much of an effect, I can’t say, but I do think it’s important to show support of some kind.

It’s also why I hope the different race megathreads continue to keep showing support for their wanted races as well. You never know what may be in the cards in the future. Not to mention all that room on the new character creation screen for new races.

In terms of Saurok specifically, I know the chances are fairly low, but I gotta try. I will say that getting playable Horde Saurok will rank very high on my top general game announcements that would excite me. Like, on the levels of getting my most wanted character in Smash Brothers (which has happened a few times ). The type of announcement that would leave me excited and smiling most of the day, if not the whole week.

All we can do is just keep marching and see what the future holds.

Bagzak-rexxar · July 27, 2020, 7:37pm

I’ve been doing some research on Argonians from the Elder Scroll series, intended for Saurok idea inspiration, and found that there was quite a lot to them.

Since I don’t think I could do them justice with just one post on here, I instead found this really neat video that goes into great detail on their lore and many aspects of them. It’s a big long (a little over an hour), but it has a lot of great information and really great Lizardmen artwork shown throughout the video:

I also took a look at their racials in Elder Scrolls Online, which are listed in here:

From what I can tell, they have an increased swim speed racial, a disease resistance (immunity to the “diseased” effect), gain more from drinking potions, and have increased healing given to others.

I’ve also previously linked character creation videos of Argonians from some of the Elder Scroll games, but I’ll go ahead and relink some videos.

ESO Male Creation:

ESO Female Creation:

Skyrim Male Creation:

Skyrim Female Creation:

Argonians are a really interesting race that do have some aspects that would be neat to see in Saurok. They’re obviously a bit different in that they’re more mellow than Saurok are, but they really are an amazing race with a lot of rich lore and amazing artwork. There definitely could be some inspiration for playable Saurok ideas here.

One of these days, I’ll go through some of the Elder Scroll games with an Argonian character in all of them. In all honesty, Argonians are the main reason I got interested in the series to begin with. No surprises here, I am sure.

More Saurok research to continue in the future!

Telar-stormreaver · July 27, 2020, 8:11pm

Showing my support

Saurok and Sethrak go go go!

Bagzak-rexxar · July 28, 2020, 6:37pm

So I noticed an interesting thing about a particular rare Saurok mob. It’s nothing huge, but I wanted to post about it.

Let’s talk about the mob first. The Saurok in question is this guy:

He’s a rare mob that’s a part of a few achievements listed on that Wowpedia website. Judging from his skillset, he might be of the Rogue class. There really is not much else to him.

If you want to say hi to him personally, this video shows off his location. Careful, as he has quite the temper and sadly doesn’t want anything to do with joining the Horde:

So…why the post about him, then? It’s specifically his name. “Sarnak” is actually a name for a race of dragon lizard men in the Everquest series, where they’re a NPC race in Everquest 1 and a playable race in Everquest 2.

Everquest 1 old model:

I tried to find some character creation videos of playable Sarnak in Everquest 2, but all I could find is this one of a male Sarnak which is a bit rough in the frames per second department. Still, it shows off some cool customization options, though this was uploaded in 2008, so I don’t know how the character creation is in the game currently:

The Sarnak in Everquest 1 were created by the Iksar, who broke free of their Shissar (evil snake men) masters and experimented with magic they found. Since this isn’t King’s Quest III, they used the magic for nefarious purposes and combined creatures to make soldiers and mounts. For Sarnak, they combined themselves and dragons to create Sarnak to add to their roster of slave soldiers of different races. Seeing as the the expansion name is “Ruins of Kunark,” I’m sure you can tell how well that went.

For the Everquest 2 Sarnak, basically, the Everquest 1 Sarnak tried to experiment in their own lab by making newer, improved Sarnak. They were unsuccessful, as they came down with a serious case of angry rebellion.

Later on, some Spiroc (bird men) stumbled upon this lab and tried to utilize the same magic to make their own slave soldiers. These new Sarnak, not amused at the job opportunities and lack of health benefits, decided to perform a strike, by which they struck the Spiroc down and took over the island they were created on for themselves.

…sure seems like having been enslaved is a bit of a theme for Lizardmen races. We have four that I can think of that have been slaves and overthrown their masters. (Saurok, Iksar, Sarnak, Argonian)

A cool thing to consider with Sarnak in Everquest 2 is that you have two reptilian races (Iksar, Sarnak) that are completely different. They are unique, have their own designs and culture, and you can tell them apart. They even have a playable amphibian race (Frogloks) in Everquest 1 and 2 which is also one of my favorite races. I can think of a few reptilian races in WoW that would love to fill some spots on that expanded character creation screen that would bring in unique features and culture for playable characters.

Getting back to the mob I mentioned before, I just wanted to type some on his name. I don’t know if that was in reference to Sarnak in Everquest at all, but it’s an interesting coincidence regardless.

More Saurok research to continue in the future!

Bagzak-rexxar · July 31, 2020, 8:29pm

I’ve mentioned before about a mushan mount being a potential racial mount for playable Saurok, and it turns out there are already a few in the game. Wowpedia has a page about them:

Let’s take a look at them, shall we? There are two available, with a third one that was apparently removed.

#1. Son of Galleon

The item it comes from:

This item is suppose to drop from Salyis’ Warband, a world boss that spawns, according to comments, every 15 minutes in the Valley of the Four Winds. See here for more information:

#2. Ashhide Mushan Beast

The item it comes from:

This NPC sells this mount for 500 Bloody coins on the Timeless Isle:

And info on the currency here:

#3. Brawler’s Burly Mushan Beast (Unobtainable at the time of this post)

Wowhead entry on it:

This mount use to be obtained by reaching Rank 6 in the Brawler’s Guild and purchased for 1,000 gold, was but was replaced with another type of mount. It is said to be unobtainable at the time of this post.

Since Mushan are a potential mount for Saurok, it’s good to see that there exists some mounts already. We’ve seen instances of existing mounts being used for allied races with some differences, like the Vulpera’s hyena mount. It wouldn’t be too hard to just take an existing mushan mount, change it a little or add more armor or features, and make them the Saurok mount.

Of course, it depends where playable Saurok would come from, in my opinion. If they come from Pandaria, either an existing tribe or a brand new one, then it makes sense. Otherwise, it would depend on whehter mushan are part of the ecosystem of where playable Saurok would’ve traveled to. If they aren’t native to the area, it’s hard to imagine that Saurok were able to train mushan to swim underwater with them for long periods of time to where ever they would travel to.

In my opinion, mushan work just fine for a Saurok mount. It fits them and even works as a reference for Salyis’ Warband. If not mushan, Saurok should use a reptilian creature of some kind. Now, Zandalari and Darkspear Trolls use dinosaurs and raptors respectively, but I’m sure there could be something reptilian that would fit them just fine. Whether it’s a ferocious beast or something more mellow like a mushan but still dangerous looking, I’m sure something unique could be designed for them.

If anyone has any thoughts on Saurok racial mounts, please feel free to share. I’d be curious to hear what others think, since racial mounts are an important thing to consider for new races.

More Saurok research to continue in the future!

Bagzak-rexxar · August 4, 2020, 8:29pm

Since I’m at three posts in a row again, I wanted to open discussions on something I was inspired by the Sethrak megathread’s recent discussion: A place for Saurok in Orgrimmar.

Now, assuming we get lucky enough to get playable Horde Saurok, it’s possible they could have their own location. However, I did look around Orgrimmar to see if there was a spot that could either function for where starting Saurok players would start or just an area that Horde Saurok could just hang out in general, such as a Saurok district of sorts.

Just for fun, I looked around Orgrimmar, specifically where bodies of water were. The area where the Vulpera, Mag’har Orcs, and Pandaren are is getting a bit crowded, though. There also isn’t really much space where the Darkspear Trolls reside either. However! I did find a potential spot.

The waterfall area where the Tauren reside in the Valley of Wisdom:

The area is a bit small, but with some editing, it could work pretty well. There’s plenty of water to swim in and lots of fish to catch in this area.

Plus a rocks and places to place heat rocks for Saurok to lounge on and relax after a long day of adventuring. You may also notice in the bottom left of this image, something a bit odd. I took a closer look at it:

I…have no idea what this is. It’s a partial skeleton of some race as if it’s some sort of sacrificial alter, though I can’t tell what the bowls are used for. There are no NPC’s around it, either. I’m assuming this isn’t a coffin of some sort, in which case this could just be used for Saurok to butcher meat and fish. If someone knows what this is, please let me know. It’s odd that this is in such a random place, and I don’t know if this was something the nearby Tauren use at all.

On the other side of the water…

We have some more rocks to lounge on, along with…

A couple of trees. This one is above the water, and would make a great place for some Saurok to lounge on. Some RL lizards do climb trees to live there, so it wouldn’t be too out of place to see some Saurok there.

Looking at the dry area past the waterfall, there are a few spots for Saurok to set up shop, though the area is a bit small.

There is this forge thing that doesn’t have any NPC’s around nearby. If it isn’t really being used, the area could always be cleared to put some Saurok NPC’s or even a heatrock area for adventurers to come and just relax on. It could also be a place where Saurok forge some armor and weapons, be it bone related or otherwise.

And this building nearby has been under construction for several expansions. I’m not sure what it was initially used for, but it could serve as a building for Saurok. Whether it’s a Saurok embassy or a shop to sell meat or other trade goods, I’m sure it could be used for something. The only other building in the area is where the enchanting trainer is, and I don’t expect that to change.

Lastly, on the other side…

Is a good spot to have a BBQ! The Tauren reside closeby, and it was discussed earlier that Tauren and Saurok could become friendly rivals of sorts in hunting. They both could cook stuff here and share it with members of the Horde while having nearby benches to eat their meals.

So the area is a bit small, but I think it’s workable. If it became where starting Saurok spawn, there always could be caves created to act as dens and have more merchants, NPC’s, and such too.

As I mentioned, because I’m three posts in a row again and could use a reply to continue posting here, I’d like to hear what others think about this area. Is it too small or workable, in your opinion?

More Saurok research to continue in the future!

Fezzy-draenor · August 4, 2020, 8:45pm

I love that idea.

Especially since the Tauren are hunters and my semi-headcanon suggests that the Saurok would be as well. I think those two races would work well together and I think this area in particular is possibly the best place for them in Orgrimmar.

As always I want to see every race with their own capital in the world but this would be a great place to compromise since Blizz is so against building up their races homes.

Hunt Well!

Nadriell-queldorei · August 4, 2020, 8:48pm

Yes please. I would love this. All hail the lizard race!!!

Grayphus-nemesis · August 4, 2020, 9:30pm

AHAHAHAH!

I would like there to be more ambiance and immersion with the addition of buildings in the styles of each race present in the capitals, in areas dedicated to each nation / race.

I am still unhappy that pandaren have such poor accommodation in SW and Org.
With vulperas, it even makes sense, as they are very rustic and take their homes with them. Caravans are much more practical for them than buildings.

Something even if it was in the same style as the embassy, it would be really cool.

On an area suitable for sauroks, it would have to be really a place with the presence of water.

But something like what I imagine, would need a major overhaul in both capitals so that they reflect a similar size to Suramar and Boralus.

Bagzak-rexxar · August 5, 2020, 6:34pm

I recall the decision against giving every new race their own capital city was because, based on internal statistics, many players didn’t use Silvermoon or Exodar much and tended to stick to one city (Orgrimmar and Stormwind/Ironforge) for the most part. Granted, both of the new cities were a bit out of the way, are still without flying, and missing some features (no fishing/cooking dailies, barbershops, etc) are some reasons why I don’t think they got used much.

Much as I like having multiple capital cities for world building (and is something I miss from Everquest 1), I can at least understand from a business point-of-view why they opted not to do it, since it requires a lot of resources to create them. Not to mention that WoW seems to have devolved overtime to what felt like a world to feeling more like a game.

At best, we could see capital cities of future playable races also double as faction hubs, much like how the Zandalari and Kul Tiran cities are. We could also see small areas, usually places we’ve been to already, repurposed as the expansion race’s hub where they spawn and then travel to Orgrimmar/Stormwind. It depends how future races are designed.

With Saurok specifically, it could go either way. If they ever become playable and are a major focus of an expansion, they could have a tribe with a more advanced civilization that works as the Horde faction hub. Otherwise, they could have a small area as an allied race hub or just spawn in Orgrimmar similar to Vulpera and Mag’har Orcs.

At the very least, the idea I presented was a way of having a small area of Saurok in Orgrimmar to show a change of them having joined the Horde. It just adds to the world building and the general ambiance of Orgrimmar. It’s similar to how we see some of the allied races walking around the different capital cities. It’s a cool change to notice in patches, and seeing some races settle in Orgrimmar for residence, selling wars, and such is a fun world building event to explore. A bit of a celebration of new races joining in a sense.

Besides, what better way to celebrate joining the Horde than with a giant BBQ and pool party?

Malos-firetree · August 5, 2020, 6:47pm

I’m all for this. I’ve been wanting Saurok as a playable race since mop

Feronar-stormrage · August 5, 2020, 10:08pm

How about Saurok or Drakonids for Alliance, and Gilblins for Horde?

Bagzak-rexxar · August 5, 2020, 10:18pm

Saurok are much more of a Horde race to me. I’ve written a few times as to why I feel that they fit the Horde better in the following two posts if you want to read more of my thoughts:

Drakonids I really don’t have much of an opinion on, as I don’t know too much about them. I wouldn’t be too opposed to them on the Alliance assuming it doesn’t affect playable Horde Saurok chances.

And Gilblins are something I very much support as a playable Horde race. I’m hoping they don’t get forgotten and abandoned, seeing as some of the Unshackled are hanging out right outside of Orgrimmar.

Just my personal opinions, of course.

Grayphus-nemesis · August 5, 2020, 11:46pm

I doubt Blizzard will put it to work to create something that would allow the alliance at some point to have something like draconics.
If Blizzard haven’t even considered something possible with sethraks, preferring to poison us with junkgnomes, then imagine with something directly inspired by dragons?

No. It’s best to wait for something like this in the horde.
In alliance, only disappointment and compromise should be expected.
Just gambiarra. I imagine another type of blood elf group of obscure origin deserting from the horde, another human with some exaggerated part of the body and another type of gnome and then we will see the horde catch the draconics.
See everything we’ve had with BfA.

Bagzak-rexxar · August 8, 2020, 7:05pm

With the idea of new races being added to WoW, there is one thing that you can usually count on seeing in some form. Whether it’s a big thing or just a small joke in a certain moment, there is one thing Blizzard is known to add…

References! (Pop culture, etc)

Whether it’s just a for-fun thing or part of an achievement, there are always references to many different things in the game, and Saurok have quite a few possibilities and examples in that regard that I figured I’d share as a for-fun thing.

Obviously, there are way too many different famous or popular lizard/reptilian/dinosaur references for me to do in one post, so if you happen to know any, please feel free to share!

Let’s begin with one of the more famous things people thing of…giant monster lizards!

The most famous of which of course is Godzilla, but there are a few other well known giant lizards.

There is also Lizzie from the Rampage video games. I did a post about her some time ago here with some ideas:

And those of you who grew up on Nickelodeon likely remember this guy:

Reptar from the Rugrats cartoon. One of the more famous moments is the “Reptar on Ice” episode, where we get to see a guy in a dinosaur suit skate and sing. Fun times!

So the most likely thing for such references could be used for regular quests or world quests. Alliance can fight against giant Saurok attacking their bases while the Horde can take control of them and destroy Alliance bases. It’s something that provides a different experience for both sides and could be really fun to design.

Another type of reference could be just one you stumble across, much like the Winnie the Pooh reference in BfA. One such could be related to this:

I feel a bit old seeing this. This was a sitcom series back in the 90’s. At best, I see a small group of Saurok to represent each of the family members wherever some Saurok would reside. Would bring back some nostalgia, for sure.

The last reference I’ll list for this post is one I could imagine there being some fun with designing it. I’m thinking a powerful group of Saurok that the Alliance needs to contend with, likely in a world quest. It could function as a world boss in general also.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present what could inspire the most insidious world boss ever created:

Such horrors that could be unleashed on the world (of Warcraft!)! Why, I imagine you’d need a hefty raid group to take them on! I know I wouldn’t want to tank THAT.

Anyway, as I mentioned before, there are all kinds of references you can incorporate with Saurok. If you happen to know of any, please share them! WoW can be serious at times, but it also can be humorous as evident from the many references in the game. I’m sure there are plenty of possibilities with Saurok.

More Saurok research to continue in the future!

Fallynn-wyrmrest-accord · August 11, 2020, 5:49am

Here’s to hoping for more news on Allied Races! Saurok are really interesting and I feel they should have a chance!

Icup-arugal · August 11, 2020, 6:09am

Aye I’d prefer this then the vampire blood elf same moldel.

Fezzy-draenor · August 11, 2020, 6:18am

Lets hope for both. Everyone can be happy Blizzard just needs to really focus on getting people the races they want to see and play. It behooves them to at least consider what their players are interested in.

It does not behoove us to treat others requests as some assault on us.

Or to follow people from one thread to another.