The Unofficial Saurok Playable Race Discussion Megathread! 🐊

[Bagzak-rexxar]

Came across another really cool Lizardman artwork. This time, it is artwork of a Lizardfolk Shaman War Priest. This is on DeviantArt created by the user Zalatos, uploaded on June 14th, 2020.

“Lizardfolk Shaman war priest” by Zalatos on DeviantArt

This I wanted to share as it shows off a Lizardman race in what appears to be plate armor. The tail is outside the armor and the claws on the feet seem to be covered in armor also. It looks really great seeing the Lizardfolk completely in armor. I imagine a helm would look great on them, too.

Some discussion was had before regarding Saurok and what parts would be covered in armor or not. The tail I could see just being unarmored, aside from any tail equipment I’ve talked about before, and I could see the feet both being treated similar to Vulpera, where the feet tend to be bare with some equipment covering at least most of the feet if I recall correctly.

For me personally, I prefer covered for the most part. For some classes, like a Death Knight, it would look a bit better to me to be fully covered in armor. It could work otherwise, of course, it’s just my own personal preference. Just having playable Horde Saurok to begin with is the most important part, of course!

I’ll continue to keep an eye out for any other pieces of art for Saurok idea inspiration!

[Fallynn-wyrmrest-accord (Fallynn)]

Beautiful art piece, I think that’s very well done! Agreed, fully covered with armor would be fine, and the tail left unarmored.

[Vaelian-silver-hand (Vaelian)]

Basically what they already do with Draenei. Works there.

[Bagzak-rexxar]

I’ve mentioned before that if Blizzard utilized the Worgen models for playable male and female Saurok, it’s possible that they would just get armor for legs or possibly some armor around the feet that leaves the claws exposed.

It’s at least understandable why Saurok might not have fully covered armor for the feet. Likely, it’d be uncomfortable with the claws being in the boots. Besides, if a Saurok were to pounce on an enemy, being able to claw with hands and feet would be incredibly useful.

I suspect spikes on the back would be hidden with armor, and most head customizations possibly being hidden as well. Maybe some horns would be able to stick out of helms and look just fine, though spikes would likely be hidden. I think other MMO’s did this, like with Everquest 2 and the Iksar and Sarnak.

There is a lot to consider, but I’d ultimately be fine with almost anything. Just being able to have playable Horde Saurok in general would make me very happy!

[Warsnarl-thrall]

Your transmog reminds me of that NE that pretends to be a murloc, lol. I support this.

I also just noticed that Bagzak is similarly transmogged. How long has that been going on? I almost never look at other players transmog in forums unless I happen into a rate the T-mog thread, which is rare, or I notice something about their avatar pic that I want to check out.

I’m not a lizard man fan but I support players and any and all playable races in any game. The more varied of playable races a game has the more unique the population feels to me. I have yet to run across a game that has so many playable races that I don’t know what to play. I hope there is a game like that in the future cause it would be epic.

And right now I am about to come as close to playing a Saurok as I can at this point in time, seeing as Blizz hasn’t graced us with any playable races in a while. I’m talking about Argonian in ESO. I happen to also have made an elf that I will turn into a vampire elf so closest thing to a San’layn I am getting at the moment also. At least ESO has my orcs.

Playable Saurok

To each their own.

[Fezzy-draenor (Fezzy)]

@Warsnarl-thrall

Your transmog reminds me of that NE that pretends to be a murloc, lol. I support this.

I am a bear. Rawr!

I kid… though this characters brother stayed in bear form too long and thought he was a bear for awhile…

(back in vanilla I’d remain in bear form on that character and just wander Ashenvale pretending I was a bear)

[Bagzak-rexxar]

Well, today is June 2nd, which marks the two year anniversary of this megathread (Not the 19th like I originally thought it was). Huzzah!

Someone thought this was a good idea so I did it

Roughly two years ago today, a dream was made by an amibitious Darkspear Troll. Seeing the allied race feature in BfA, gaining inspiration from the other megathreads, and then the courage to go through with supporting one of my dream races: playable Horde Saurok. I’m glad that I went through it, and it seems like we’re still going strong.

Lizardmen are a fantasy race I’ve always had a lot of passion for. I remember discovering Everquest 1 back in the day, seeing the Iksar on that Ruins of Kunark box and being very interested. It was one of the big reasons I got into Everquest and MMORPG’s in general, having made an Iksar Shadow Knight as my first character. Their lore and designs were awesome, and they brought some really great character creation options in a game that seemed heavily into having different human and elf races.

As I’ve harped on before, WoW has lacked in playable reptilian races. It has several good candidates, but a lizardman race in particular is something that I really feel would be refreshing to see. Not just that, but Saurok have so much potential to be something more than just a mook jobber race who get put into the game just for us players to beat up without a second thought as they go RAWR at us. To see a playable lizardman race in WoW would be huge news, and I would say that they would be received very well and for Saurok, seeing their lore expanded would be amazing.

It does seem like Saurok have been given a bit more love in the game as well. We saw Saurok pirates and a couple of them hanging out in an underwater bar in BfA. There is also that Saurok spirit in Maldraxxus that is part of a brief NPC scene, which none of the other NPC race spirits have such a thing. I can’t say I had anything to do with that, and I don’t see it as a hint of things to come, but part of me hopes that there are people in Blizzard that like Saurok as well.

Granted, I have always taken the stance that anything I do on here or elsewhere could have little to no effect on what races we see playable in the future. We could never see Saurok as a playable race for that matter. New playable races also take a lot of planning in terms of design and marketing, so who knows what the future holds?

Still, playable Horde Saurok, along with playable Horde Ogres of course, are a big enough dream of mine to at least try to drum up some interest. I’m not kidding when I say that I would rank those dream announcements on the same tier as a Smash Bros. character reveal for me. Being able to potentially recreate my past Iksar characters as a Saurok Warlock and Death Knight, with possibly a Shadow Priest as well, would make my day. Something that would put a smile on my face for days.

So how long will I keep at it? Well, the easy answer I can give is that I’ll keep going at least as long as I play WoW. I currently have no reason to believe that there won’t be new races in the future. Especially with the new character creation screen having much more room for new races now, which I hope is a part of that plan. As long as Blizzard doesn’t specifically say no to Saurok or to new races in general, I’ll keep marching for support as best as I can.

Playable Horde Saurok are something I once considered to be a pipe dream. I always thought they were a longshot when I first saw them in MoP. However, the more I looked into them, the more I saw the potential they would have. Not just because I want them playable, of course. Thus why I went with making this megathread. Nothing ventured, nothing gained as I saw it.

Of course, I would be a bit dead in the water if I didn’t have others to join in this megathread. I want to thank everyone for also showing their support for playable Horde Saurok. I’m grateful to see others also share in the dream and passion as well. I can not begin to say how thankful I am to have others offer their show of support and how much it means to me. I’ve even seen people mentioning wanting Saurok specifically in other threads on here, which is always a delight to see. I can’t say I influenced any of that, but who knows?

I could go on, but I’m sure I’d end up rambling for several more paragraphs. I will of course be continuing working on this megathread in the future with different types of posts and maybe some in-game events if I can find the free time to plan such and host such a thing (Sauroktober perhaps?). I hope to see others post here as well.

So as WoW goes on with more expansions, I’ll continue marching my support for playable Saurok. During that time…

I’ll continue to dream of seeing Saurok players running around Orgrimmar as members of the Horde. Hopefully, that dream will become a reality someday.

Two years strong and still going!

[Warsnarl-thrall]

@Fezzy-draenor

@Warsnarl-thrall

Your transmog reminds me of that NE that pretends to be a murloc, lol. I support this.

I am a bear. Rawr!

I kid… though this characters brother stayed in bear form too long and thought he was a bear for awhile…

(back in vanilla I’d remain in bear form on that character and just wander Ashenvale pretending I was a bear)

I don’t RP my toons but I think stuff like that is rather awesome. Nice!

[Bagzak-rexxar]

@Warsnarl-thrall

I also just noticed that Bagzak is similarly transmogged. How long has that been going on?

I’ve had this armor set for quite a long time, come to think of it. I managed to get all three color variants of it too. I’ve been told I look awesome in it, both on the forums and in-game. Really happy to have it, though nothing beats being an actual Saurok.

Speaking of, I’d be curious to see how Saurok look wearing this armor. I imagine it would look just fine, or possibly a bit silly. Then again, there are weirder armor sets out there, so it wouldn’t be the worst thing people could make.

@Warsnarl-thrall

The more varied of playable races a game has the more unique the population feels to me. I have yet to run across a game that has so many playable races that I don’t know what to play. I hope there is a game like that in the future cause it would be epic.

The more variety in playable races, the better IMO.

WoW has a lot of potential to have a good variety of playable races also that can appeal to different people. Saurok and Sethrak for reptilian races (both offering unique features), Ogres for fans of big dumb brutes, San’layn for vampires, Saberon for feline races, Kelfin and Jinyu/Ankoan for aquatic races, Arakkoa for avian races, and much more.

Lots of potential for new playable races I would love to see happen someday!

@Fezzy-draenor

I am a bear. Rawr!

Would you say that several new races would be considered a “bear necessity?” Especially if they can be Druids?

[Fezzy-draenor (Fezzy)]

@Bagzak-rexxar

Would you say that several new races would be considered a “bear necessity?” Especially if they can be Druids?

Absolutely!

Especially if they’re Furbolg…

Saurok would be a great choice for druid though in my opinion.

[Igorgos-blackrock]

Aren’t you the guy that’s also advocating for ogres?

[Bagzak-rexxar]

Yes I am. Ogres and Saurok are my dream playable races and the main ones I’d go to such lengths for to show off support for making them playable.

Not a guarantee that what I do would have any effect on their chances, of course, but I have to try.

[Warsnarl-thrall]

@Bagzak-rexxar

Speaking of, I’d be curious to see how Saurok look wearing this armor. I imagine it would look just fine, or possibly a bit silly. Then again, there are weirder armor sets out there, so it wouldn’t be the worst thing people could make.

Couldn’t be any better/worse then Vulpera wearing the dark shaman armor from Siege of Orgrimmar. A fox wearing a wolf helm, lol. It’s a great set for anyone that doesn’t have it btw. I just don’t use it. I still wish Vulpera got to be druids.

EDIT: I had Trials of Valor down instead of Siege of Orgrimmar so I changed it to the correct location for the Kor’kron Dark Shaman set.

[Lokalli-stormreaver]

Personally I only realized i could use the mog to pretend my toon’s a saurok a few months ago. As to how long the OP of the forum’s had the mog, all I know is it’s been for at least a few months(about how long ago I found the thread.)
In my case, if we get some bird/reptile playable races, especially saurok, I’ll be satisfied. We have plenty of humanoid/warm blooded animal playable races. Which is why while saberon would be neat, they’d be more of the same, so I haven’t voiced a lot of support for them. Saurok/sethrak/arrokoa are desperately needed variety.
Jinyu wouldn’t hurt either when it comes to going outside the humanoid/mammalian box.
My dream is that one day I can race change this hunter into a actual saurok and not have to make do with a mog, but clearly that day is still far off.

[Bagzak-rexxar]

@Lokalli-stormreaver

As to how long the OP of the forum’s had the mog, all I know is it’s been for at least a few months(about how long ago I found the thread.)

Looking at my old posts in this megathread, it looks like I got this armor set completed around July of last year. I shortly got the other two sets, though getting one piece for the red variant was really annoying as I had to rely on a world boss drop. Not sure why it didn’t drop in the raid like the other pieces did.

@Lokalli-stormreaver

We have plenty of humanoid/warm blooded animal playable races. Which is why while saberon would be neat, they’d be more of the same, so I haven’t voiced a lot of support for them. Saurok/sethrak/arrokoa are desperately needed variety.

I agree with Saurok, Sethrak, and Arakkoa being much needed variety and would make for great playable races. I personally would like to see all of them playable.

I also try to stress that both Saurok and Sethrak are quite different and would offer different experiences, which would let them work well as playable races together even if they would be on the same faction. I think of it like Night Elves and Blood Elves. Yes, they’re elves, but they’re completely different in looks, culture, and personalities. If we can have multiple flavors of elves, humans, dwarves, and so on, it’s reasonable to see both a lizard and a snake race. I do personally gravitate towards Saurok more mostly because lizardmen are my favorite fantasy race, but I also support Sethrak as I know a lot of others want them playable also.

As for Saberon, they are a race I personally would like to see. I do think they would add more to the game in terms of variety, being a feline race. I do think that reptilian races would be bigger in terms of news and impact of customization, but I do think Saberon and other races would add quite a bit to the game as well. Jinyu/Ankoan would also be really awesome and I’d love to see both as an Alliance race.

@Lokalli-stormreaver

In my case, if we get some bird/reptile playable races, especially saurok, I’ll be satisfied.

For me personally, seeing Ogres, Saurok, and San’layn as playable Horde races would make me very satisfied. A few other races I consider icing on the cake, which would be Saberon and Kelfin. Those are races I currently have characters in reserve for if they ever become playable, but almost anything else I would consider toppings on the cake that would enhance it.

…of course, I hope for more character slots per account. Especially if we do see a bunch more races and even new classes become playable in the future.

@Lokalli-stormreaver

My dream is that one day I can race change this hunter into a actual saurok and not have to make do with a mog, but clearly that day is still far off.

For Saurok, my dream is to be able to recreate a few lizardmen characters, who came from Iksar characters I had from Everquest, in WoW. I don’t really know what to expect from expansions in the future, but I still hope we’re in the timeline where we’ll eventually see playable Horde Saurok someday!

[Bagzak-rexxar]

I came across a neat video that acts as a tutorial on how to draw Argonians from the Elder Scroll series:

How to Draw Argonians {The Elder Scrolls}

I figure this is of interest as you could utilize some techniques in this to draw other types of Lizardmen races, including Saurok. Thought I would link this video for anyone interested.

[Fallynn-wyrmrest-accord (Fallynn)]

Lizard bump, want to see these folks playable!

[Lokalli-stormreaver]

I found the perfect place to park my lizard for the night.
the Royal Meat Rack in the Great Seal. Largest hunk of meat ever in the middle of the room.
Have a screenshot, but don’t think I can post it with how few forum posts I’ve made.

[Bagzak-rexxar]

I checked it out and sure enough, there is a pile of big meat slices there. Here is what I came up with:

A Saurok wanders into the Great Seal’s cooking room and discovers a table with the biggest slices of meat he has ever seen!

Jackpot! The Saurok pays for the meat and fully intends to have a grand supper! This is going to be one happy Saurok that is going to sleep well tonight!

Makes me want to keep an eye out for other places with giant slabs of meat or so to take more screenshots. This would be an easy way to get some Saurok to join the Horde!

[Lokalli-stormreaver]

being a carnivore irl, that’s my dream room too.
Set my hunter’s hearthstone at the Seal just for that.