Youāre free to start a gnoll thread if youād like. This one happens to be about Saurok however, in which the OP put in a lot of work to talk about. Perhaps if you put in as much work, you would also get some people discussing the possibility.
3 Likes
It has been no secret that Iāve been supporting Saurok as a potential Horde race since the beginning of the post. While Iāve typed a little bit on the subject, I havenāt really gone too in-depth on why they fit the Horde. I think itās about time I go into detail as to why I support Horde Saurok, and itās not just because I prefer the Horde over Alliance personally.
A thing Iād like to note, before I begin, is that all of what I type is under the assumption that we would get a playable tribe/clan of Saurok. Saurok, as we know them currently, need to take some hardcore sensitivity training and there arenāt any signs of whether they would prefer Alliance or Horde. Thus, I have to analyze what I have and make a case for why I believe a particular faction works better for them if they were to become a playable race.
With that said, letās begin! Iāll likely make at least two posts.
Culture
I feel the best place to start is with culture. Generally speaking, Saurok have a tribal, shamanistic culture. One particular tribe, the Skumblade, worship Kros, thought to be one of the many wild gods out there. I suspect that a playable Saurok tribe would worship a wild god of sorts, as that sure as heck beats worshiping the evil Mogu for their creation.
Looking at a Shamanistic point-of-view, I can say that this would fit the Horde better, as the Shaman class, at least originally, was the Horde more-or-less. When looking at the races that can be a Shaman in the Horde, many of them have a similar theme or way of operating. In order words: a form of tribal shamans.
Looking at the Alliance, there isnāt much in the way of that, aside from Wildhammers. Their shamanistic views are more regal and civilized-like. Draenei stike me as a bit too uppity to bond with, KulāTirans are far from a tribal shaman-like race, and Dark Irons and Bronzebeard Dwarvesā¦just donāt quite fit that mold, in my opinion. Wildhammers are the closest, but I donāt see that quite working out too well between them and Saurok.
We also have to consider that Saurok are a newer race compared to other races. In this case, I see them getting more out of being Horde than they would being Alliance. Sure, they would have their own culture, but in other ways, there is plenty to learn about the world, both through a shamanistic point-of-view and also in general. The Horde can always help guide the Saurok in different ways because they share some similar forms of culture. A bond is more likely to form, and having a place in the Horde would be a lot more meaningful. Not to mention that even under Thrall, there were Colosseum fights, and I think Saurok would enjoy that and have more fun than being in the Alliance.
Survivors against a cruel world
So imagine this: youāre a lizard. A regular one of the animal kingdom variety. There you are, happily munching on some bugs, relaxing near a calm pool of water. Life is awesome! Then, all of a sudden, some jerk Mogu snatch you out of your habitat, perform some horrible, painful rituals on you to turn you into something entirely different, and then force you to to be a slave-soldier to take over stuff.
Doesnāt that bite? Of course it does! But the thing is, you also are capable of biting, and so you and your group of lizards fight back and manage to topple the evil Mogu over. It then leads to different tribes of your kind taking over different territories and fighting each other while youāre off to fend for yourself. Life really bitesā¦but you know how to bite harder.
The theme of the Horde, in my opinion, is that of banding together to survive against the world that looks down upon them. Having been former slaves, I feel like this theme would work well with Saurok. This especially since there are a few parallels between them and Orcs, which I mentioned a few posts ago.
Assuming that Saurok evolve as a race some, possibly based on the magic that turned them into Saurok, a situation would likely occur that causes them to be more open to working with others. This isnāt impossible, seeing as some work with other races as pirates in BfA, and in doing so, an opportunity arises for the Horde to perform some diplomacy, possibly over a meat loverās pizza.
Seeing as Saurok are a race that is fairly new, it would be a neat storyline to see some open up and become more than just angry lizards. Making their place in the world and making allies would be an awesome thing to see.
I just donāt see this occurring with the Alliance. Sure, they band together, but it isnāt really as a āsurvival against the worldā thing. Likely, many in the Alliance would just see Saurok as uncivilized brutes, and seeing them hanging around Stormwind or Ironforge just seemsā¦out of place, in my opinion.
Saurok just seem like a natural fit in the Horde, and with them as a reptilian race, it just adds more flavor to the Horde as a whole. Itās cool to see races of different types join up as the Horde grows and evolves, and I feel that Saurok would fit quite well while offering quite a bit to the Horde.
Whew, that is quite a bit of typing so far. Iāll think more on the subject and continue this line of thinking later.
More Saurok research to continue in the future! 
2 Likes
Sauroks are one of the few interesting races in the game I could see myself race changing all my characters to.
4 Likes
So there is a bit of Magniās 8.3 storyline on Wowhead, including some of what goes on in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Iāll be speaking generally, to avoid spoilers, but if youāre curious, you can check out the text here:
Avoiding spoilers, Saurok donāt make an appearance in Magniās questline, as far as I know.
Of course, there will be assaults and, I assume, world quests in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Hopefully, if Saurok do make an appearance of some kind, they arenāt just plopped there for players to have stuff to kill for world quests. After all, the evil Mogu are trying to take advantage of the situation there while Nāzoth is up to no good, and Iām sure the Saurok wouldnāt be amused at their mortal enemy still being around and causing trouble.
Iāll still keep an eye out for any Saurok activity during our return to Pandaria in 8.3 and hope for the best, as low of a chance friendly Saurok are. I would honestly be surprised to see them as part of the next allied race pair, but regardless of what happens, I will always support Saurok as a playable Horde race. 
On another note, one week until Blizzcon starts! We should hopefully be getting new expansion news, so Iāll be curious to see what itāll be.
More Saurok research to continue in the future! 
2 Likes
A good duo release as previously stated would be the Sethrak and Saurok combo. Leaving both sides to have a choice of a cold blooded reptile.
3 Likes
Of all the Lizard races, Saurok are my favorite. Every fantasy game needs a Lizardman. Saurok for the Horde! (after Ogres of course)
2 Likes
This is a pretty neat combination as a sort of ying and yang feature, where Sethrak represent order while Saurok are more chaos oriented. 
Thinking about playable race pairs in general, it seems like most of the pairs revealed since Blood Elves and Draenei donāt have much relation to the other, be it through storyline or otherwise. Itās neat when it does occur, but it may not be a requirement when they pair off races to be playable, so Saurok could likely fit with any other race as their Alliance counterpart, in my opinion.
I very much agree that fantasy games, MMOās in particular, should have a playable lizardman race. This was one of the reasons I made the megathread in the first place, and it would add so much to WoW, in my opinion. They also have a lot of interesting story potential.
Horde Ogres are currently my most wanted race, but Saurok are right behind them. Hopefully, I will see them both playable on the Horde someday!
2 Likes
Sure! Why not both! It is a win-win solution!
1 Like
Friendly reminder that Saurok would make an awesome playable race. Look at how Kelfin were shown to have culture. Deep sea gilgoblins. I donāt think itās too much of a stretch to apply this concept to Saurok too. They work with other races anyway through being pirates. Not exactly the most noble of professions, but it shows that they are capable of getting along with others beyond themselves.
4 Likes
Ours is to smile at your passing. May the hist guide you.
2 Likes
Just what I think!
2 Likes
I think for any race Blizzard would want playable, they will write whatever they need to in order to make it work. Weāve seen this with Dark Iron Dwarves, who had a lot of lore created for them to have a good faction of them to join the Alliance, both before becoming an allied race and when they actually did become one, when they were originally all just evil dwarves that were causing problems and were there just for you to have as antagonists in certain areas and dungeons.
The Brinescale Saurok that joined the Bilge Rat pirates had to have been in some sort of situation that required them to join up as a form of survival, which is a pretty big incentive. If we were to take a theoretical faction of Saurok that would become playable, they would have the evil Mogu chasing them down as well as the Skumblade Tribe, who is likely growing in power and becoming zealots that are overpowering other Saurok against their will, to contend with. Either of these would give a good incentive of survival for Saurok to be more open with working with and even joining the Horde, and Saurok in general fit the Horde thematically.
Speaking of, I was thinking a lot of what the Horde can do for the Saurok, but I did overlook something important that, generally speaking, people mention when discussing new racesā¦what can the Saurok do for the Horde? Itās something I plan to type out in the near future and have had some fun thinking about.
At any rate, all I can do is present ideas and show support for the Saurok as best as I can, and Iām very appreciative of others that post here and also show support.
Hopefully, the Saurok will rise up and have their day, and we will see them as members of the Horde someday!
2 Likes
Thatās why the only one making sauroks and other races as āimpossible to useā is Blizzard itself!
I hope everyone is having a good Halloween. Itās a fun holiday, and itās also exciting that Blizzcon is tomorrow.
Iām not sure what to expect, other than weāll likely see the next expansion announced. We may also get more 8.3 information, including more on what is going on in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. If anything Saurok related comes out of Blizzcon, Iāll be sure to talk about and analyze it, for better or worse.
On another note, I was recalling my Everquest 1 days when I remembered something pretty cool regarding the Iksar. In Everquest 1, Monks had all sorts of melee attacks you could skill-up in. At the time I played, there were only Human and Iksar Monks, and there was a difference regarding this. Humans got a āDragon Punchā skill while Iksar got āTail Rakeā skill. They performed roughly the same, just with a different name and animation. Itās a cool thing Iād like to see in WoW in general with different races of the same class that adds some flavor with race selection and fantasy, in my opinion.
On the subject of a tail rake skill, I thought a pretty neat racial Saurok could get would be a tail sweep skill where the Saurok spins around, stretching out its tail and anything around them falls down stunned for a second or two. Obviously, this is something that would need to be tested and fine-tuned, and to be fair Iām not the best at designing racials with PvP in mind, but itās a neat skill idea. It would obviously need a decent cooldown, as the Saurok doing it might be prone to getting dizzy. 
Saurok strike me as a race that would make use of their entire body in combat. Imagine, if you will, a scenario where an Alliance human managed to knock a sword out of a Saurokās hand. The human would think that they have the upper hand while the Saurok, thinking the sudden bravado would be cute, would quickly remind the human that they have teeth and claws still. This makes them quite the useful ally on the battlefield and they may not need to be fed much if they manage to win some battles. :v
Anyway, that is enough rambling from me. I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween, and I should hopefully be around tomorrow for Blizzcon stuff. Hard to believe it has almost been a year since the last oneā¦my how time flies.
More Saurok research to continue in the future!
2 Likes
If Blizz were smart they would be churning out every allied race they could think of.
Questions for the QnA tomorrow are being taken here:
Iāve already asked a question regarding Ogres, but if anyone wants to ask any Saurok questions, please feel free to. To be honest, I am unsure what type of question to even suggest asking regarding Saurok. x- x
I donāt recommend people ask if theyāll ever be playable. Obviously, that wonāt work. 
If I happen to think of some suggestions, Iāll be sure to mention them.
Also not much info given on 8.3 at Blizzcon. Iāll type up some thoughts later after I have time to digest the announcements.
Iām surprised 8.3 didnāt get talked much about at Blizzcon, but we got ourselves a new expansion. No new races announced, sadly, but we do have more of BfA to continue with.
There is still currently room on the character creation screen for two more allied races, though Iād be very surprised if Saurok happened to be the Worgen-related allied race. There hasnāt been much Saurok-related activity mentioned for our return to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms so far, and Iāll be very surprised if I see any of the tribes helping the Rajani, considering the whole āMogu being their blood sworn enemyā thing. As I stated before, Iāll keep an eye out for any Saurok activity in 8.3 for better or worse, though Iām not really expecting much.
As we start to move away from BfA, I still feel that weāll see more core and allied races in the future. Core races still have their purpose in terms of marketing, and allied races still would be great to see and give a chance for some races to be playable that wouldnāt have a chance otherwise. I really find it hard to not see the allied race system utilized at all in future expansions, though I wouldnāt expect 10+ races to occur in one expansion again like with BfA. Blizzard can always add more slots on the character creation screen or every redesign it altogether to add more races.
As usual, even though it is a long shot, Iāll continue to support Saurok as a playable Horde race. There are still some things to research, concepts to discuss, and even some ideas for me to write out. I honestly have fun doing these type of activities not just for here but also for other megathreads. Hopefully, weāll see Horde Saurok having BBQ parties in Orgrimmar someday.
Once again, more Saurok research to continue in the future!
1 Like
Well it looks like 8.3 is coming out early next year according to this blue post:
Not too surprised. as there are quite a few things to test, flesh out, and such for 8.3 as a whole.
Also, as I said before, even if weāre going back to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, Iām not expecting a lot of Saurok activityā¦well, aside from them being potential world quest fodder there.
Iām also not expecting an 8.3.5 patch, so considering the current theme of an allied race relating somehow to a core race, whatever the Undead and Worgen allied races are may come in the far futureā¦though I would be surprised if Saurok were the Worgen allied race. If this happened, Iād be worried that either they would be put on the Alliance to become Anduinās boot lickers, which I personally hope never happens, or the Undead variant allied race gets put on Allianceā¦which I personally have some issues with in general.
Iām still of the opinion that if there is any chance of Saurok becoming playable, low as it could be, that a brand new tribe of them in a future expansion area is likely our best bet, likely as a core race instead of an allied race but either works. Regardless, Blizzard can always expend the character creation screen to put in more slots as they add in more playable races.
Whatever the case, Iāll be sure to analyze whatever happens in 8.3, for better or worse, and will continue to post ideas hereā¦well, assuming someone replies to this thread as I canāt post more than three times in a row. Otherwise, Iāll have to just edit this post. ā <;
As always, more Saurok research to continue in the future!
1 Like
So devs have a chance to do something that is most valuable to BfA before the end!
1 Like
So I found two articles of interest on WoWHead. To start with, there is an article going over an assault in Vale of the Eternal Blossoms, specifically the Black Empire assault:
Nothing really Saurok related in this one, though according to WoWHead, there are different types of assaults in the area. We know that the evil Mogu are up to no good, and it would be neat to see one of the assaults involve fighting them
As I stated before, if there is any Saurok presence, itāll likely be just as mooks to kill for quests and such, but Iāll keep an eye out for info on the area just to see if there is anything of interest.
The other thing of interest is regarding an interview that was posted on WoWHead:
Specfically this question at the very bottom:
"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 weāre fighting and both sides are looking for reinforcements, but Shadowlands doesnāt really have that feeling at the start. Itās something theyāll look at and see how players react to certain races, but nothing is planned for the launch of Shadowlands."
The main thing to note is the last sentence, involving how players react to certain races. Now, it isnāt a guarantee that said race would become playable, but it does show that Blizzard, to a certain extent, does look at feedback regarding some races, especially during expansions. This is apparent with Vulpera, which was one of my most wanted races, that were extremely popular and managed to get in.
Regardless of what is going on with the current expansion, it is important to show some support of some for a race people want playable in some fashion. MagāHar Orcs and Dark Iron Dwarves were asked for many years before they became allied races in BfA. Even things such as boneless Forsaken, asked occasionally for years, are an upcoming customization option for Forsaken in Shadowlands.
When I created this megathread, I did not view it as a guarantee that Saurok would eventually become playable. I considered it with a ānothing ventured, nothing gainedā mindset. Showing some form of support, with different ideas and discussions, is better than just silently hoping that it will become a thing. Itās a reason I type a lot for the Saurok, Ogre, and Sanālayn megathreads. I legitimately want to make characters of those races and see storylines with them being part of the Horde.
While I donāt expect to see Saurok appear in Shadowlands, if they do make an appearance in future expansions, I definitely will be showing support for them. I do think they would do best in an expansion theme where the evil Mogu, who are still around, are up to no good and causing problems with a new Saurok tribe in an expansion area, but regardless, some creativity would need to be implemented.
As Iāve said before, no matter what, Iāll always support Ogres, Saurok, and Sanālayn for the Horde.
More Saurok research to continue in the future!
3 Likes