The Unofficial Stonemaul Ogre Playable Race Discussion Megathread! (Part 1)

I’m not sure what the popular faction choice would be for Naga either. I do know that I’ve seen players on both sides want Naga to join their faction. However player desire isn’t a strict factor when Blizzard makes a race playable via them joining one faction, as seen with the Nightborne, or when they make new playable races, as seen when they created the Dracthyr over promoting the long requested Drakonid.

I have to be honest, Horde Ogres and Alliance Naga isn’t a set that I would image, but then again I wasn’t expecting Horde Goblins and Alliance Worgen to be a set in Cataclysm. Back then, I never imaged that the Worgen would be playable.

Now according to Exploring Azeroth: Islands and Isles, the Naga within Nazjatar are said to have descended into civil war, with them splintering into ever more factions. So I could easily see the Naga becoming a neutral race, with rival tribes joining the factions.

Though there is always the possibility of getting Ogres and Naga at the same time, with Blizzard just making the a set of three. One Horde race (ex: Ogre), one Alliance race (ex: Furbolg, and one open to both (ex: Naga).

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IDC what alliance get for their next race. I would like to have Orges for the Horde.

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I’m hoping for Furbolg to be paired with Ogres.

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Horde Ogres, Alliance Furbolg would be a great pairing.

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Alliance Furbolg and Horde Ogres would get my vote. It fits very well for multiple reasons, since they are on the same continent and can have story ties to Dire Maul.

I’ll have to think of some combos to post for discussion, but that is still my top vote. :polar_bear: :japanese_ogre:

-Dream big, Ogre fans! :cut_of_meat::japanese_ogre:

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I think ogres and Furbolg as one pair.

Forest trolls and broken
San’layn and Frostborn
Saberon and Arrakoa
Saurok and ethereals
Hozen and Jinyu…

I’m sure I’ve a few more in my lists.

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I saw a leak regarding the roadmap for the next expansion into 2026/2027. It’s a “”“leak”“” so obviously taken with a big grain of salt but iirc it said harronir and naga are the next 2 allied races planned, spaced several months apart which would indicate both sides are getting them.

Let’s just for the sake of argument go with this leak being true and accurate. If that were the case and it’s another allied race that both factions get, 1) it dilutes both the Horde and the Alliance with stuff that make any faction divide an increasingly silly concept, and 2) it means no Ogres until at least 2028, if at all during the World Soul trilogy.

So kinda grim, but again–it’s a leak, and the last big leak that I can remember regarding WoW was a fake set of screenshots for the War Within zones that was just an elaborate hoax.

But Blizzard, please, I’m begging you–Ogres belong with the Horde. There’s too many neutral allied races already. If you have to pair them with something from the Alliance, just give them their damn high elves and everyone will be happy.

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I suspect we’re going to get “leaks” regularly with the next expansions, even past the next two, so it’s best to take a salt lick or two when looking at them. I’ll comment on it for fun, though.

Haranir becoming playable seems pretty likely. If they become playable, it would likely be during TWW or be a lead-in for Midnight, with early access to them as a pre-order incentive for the expansion.

Naga becoming playable in Midnight can make a lot of sense, and I would guess they would be neutral if so. And to be fair, they might take a lot of work to get into playable race status. I’d also be fine with them being neutral since I can’t really determine what faction would make the most sense for them or what the popular consensus is.

Neutral races in general are fine as long as they’re races that make sense to be neutral and aren’t the only type of playable race going forward. Some races make sense as a neutral race, like Ethereals, Sethrak, Tuskarr, and I’ll even say Naga for now. There are races that make sense only on one faction, whether they’re already part of said faction (Ogres, Jinyu, Hozen), worked almost exclusively with a faction and may have been mistreated by the other faction (Furbolg, Kelfin, Ankoan), so a faction just fits that race much better than the other (I’ll use Horde Saurok as an example here since I heavily support that). And of course too many neutral races just dilutes the factions in general, so I do think there should be both neutral and specific faction races going forward.

Now, getting back to Ogres, seeing Naga playable in some fashion would increase the chances of playable Horde Ogres. As mentioned a few posts up from this one, Chris Metzen has allegedly wanted Earthen playable and also has gone on record with many sources of how he wanted Naga and Ogres playable. So seeing Naga playable could very well be a lead-in to playable Ogres.

However, it wouldn’t be a guarantee to be clear. And then the issue is…what to do with Ogres? If Naga were neutral, what would happen with Ogres? Honestly, Ogres are a race that should be Horde only and be paired with something else on the Alliance (Furbolg gets my vote). However, I know Ogres will require a lot of work to get into playable status, moreso with two-head customization, so I don’t know if Blizzard would be tempted to just do neutral Ogres just to save on resources.

And in that case, I’d worry about the Horde Ogre clans getting shoved to the wayside for whatever new clan or clans appear. I still stand firm in my opinion that Ogres should be a Horde only race for many reasons, and that has been discussed many times throughout the megathread. And realistically, it’s hard to see Ogres as a neutral race. Could it work? Sure. But I really find a lot of problems doing that as opposed to making them Horde only and working with what is there already.

And as far as after Naga would become playable, there could still be a chance in The Last Titan for playable Horde Ogres. Moreso if Metzen has some say in any future playable races, and you’d think Ogres would be right at the top of that list if he does.

But The Last Titan is at least another year away, probably a bit more than that. And even if playable Horde Ogres didn’t happen right after playable Naga, there is always a chance after that in some expansion. And knowing us Ogre fans, we’ll still be there to support them.

Anyway, “leaks” can be fun to read, but never take them for face value. We’ve gone through many “leaks” throughout many expansions and very few ever did come true. TWW had a bunch and barely any of them had any truth to it. I suspect Midnight will also.

We’ll keep an eye out for any official announcements for future patches and expansions as they are officially released. :smiley:

-Dream big, Ogre fans! :cut_of_meat::japanese_ogre:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkahB_hecno @7:23

Over on YouTube someone named Xaxxas made their own Midnight Roadmap idea for a speculation video and they did include playable Naga and Haranir. However people are spreading it without making it clear that he created it for his video and could be the 2026/2027 Road Map you saw.

As we get closer to the summer Midnight announcement, I’m expecting plenty of Midnight “leaks.”

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I agree with the broad strokes but I’m someone who doesn’t think every race in the game should be playable, at least insofar as they’d have to fit in with a horde or alliance dynamic. Ogres make sense since they go way back with the Horde, but I’m really not a fan of something like playable Harronir because they seem very much tied to a specific and extremely remote and reclusive part of the world and don’t seem too eager to get out and go find Manriks wife in the Barrens. And then it gets even weirder if you include them as a neutral allied race and there exists the potential for a horde v alliance dynamic again.

Another point I have to disagree somewhat with you on is any added difficult in regards to the second head. I’d think the greater challenge would be fitting some of the chest armors that add things around the neck area so it’s not clipping with the heads but all in all, like…heads don’t really do a whole lot ingame as far as animations go, it’s not like an extra set of limbs or wings or whatever.

Ha, thanks for clearing that up. I had a feeling I was being bamboozled but it’s fun to spitball things sometimes.

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As someone who expects both races to end up playable, they would be the perfect pairing for Midnight.

With the Darkfallen being a customization, I don’t really see the San’layn becoming a playable race on their own. At best I could see more customizations and new gear to help players outright look like a Blood Prince.

Meanwhile I genuinely see the Frostborn going the customization route.

That would be pretty cool, and I could see how one could flow into the other. For example, as far as we know the Saberon were wiped out in our timeline, which could have turned them into a horror story (considering Karash’s exploits) for the remaining Arakkoa. Thus hearing that they had returned and joined the Horde, could inspire a group of Arakkoa to seek out the Alliance.

That would be really unique pairing and would completely surprise me if it comes to pass. I do think it would be fantastic if both were made playable, though, so I’m not against it.

They would be the perfect set if we properly return to Pandaria.

You’re welcome and it is fun to look at the “leaks” and discuss what we like about them.

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is it ironic this guy quit the game? Or…?

I’m mostly indifferent to the Haranir or however it is suppose to be spelt. Granted, there are a number of customization options on the NPC’s that seem similar to what was suggested for San’layn in the San’layn megathread, which causes me to raise an eyebrow. Moreso when there are themes like bats and such to them.

When it comes to new playable races nowadays, in my own personal opinion, I generally prefer to have races that already exist that people have been requesting for a long time.

This isn’t to say no new races should ever be created, as races like Sethrak and Vulpera were pretty new and awesome despite utilizing skeletons from other playable races, but it gets annoying to constantly see races similar to existing ones coming out of nowhere and getting the playable race treatment while others get ignored or get the equivalent to a Mii costume in Smash Bros. (Earthen and Wildhammer Dwarves as an example). Races like Forest Trolls should have more priority over brand new Troll races coming out of nowhere, as an example.

Just how I honestly feel, much as I try not to look at new playable races as opportunity costs for other races becoming playable.

And regarding “leaks,” I’ll just say once again that instead of looking at farfetched “leaks” being spun, you should see Farfetch’d leeks being spun:

-Dream big, Ogre fans! :cut_of_meat::japanese_ogre:

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Wanted to post my current progress on leveling my Ogre Mage in Warcraft Rumble. I recently got them to rare quality. It’s just a matter of getting some talents from the G.R.I.D.

Much as I love the unit, the Ogre Mage is a bit expensive to deploy at 5 gold. Despite that, it’s one of the units I plan to focus on leveling, and he may be one of the first minis I get to Legendary status someday. Still thinking I may take him when I feel ready enough to try and beat up Onyxia, which I’m nowhere near ready for yet.

Makes me wish I could get playable Horde Ogres so I can level my Ogre Warrior character in WoW. Hopefully someday! :smiley:

-Dream big, Ogre fans! :cut_of_meat::japanese_ogre:

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The Haranir are in a weird place for me, because I came to believe that they were going to be playable, before I even wanted to play one.

I fully agree with this, because it can get vexing when brand new races are made playable over long requested races. Case in point the Earthen and while I’m more indifferent to them nowadays, it is still mind boggling that we got Horde Earthen playable before we had playable Ogres, Forest Trolls, and Taunka.

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Are there any dramatis personae for the Ogres that would make for good leaders or at the very least interesting NPCs? They always seem to be presented differently–like Cho’gall was clearly insane and juiced up by eldritch shenanigans so let’s not count him (though iirc there was a book from way back where he had some lines that didn’t present him as a crazed lunatic?), then you have Ogres in-game that seem to talk like knuckle-dragging drooling morons, and then you have the more refined villainous types like the one who got his neck bit by Grom on the tree of woe in the WoD cinematic.

So there’s a spectrum for intelligence with ogres which might be interesting to explore in terms of like, a caste system, but are there any Ogres that have been around in the lore that would be compatible with them as a playable race? I know there’s a few mentioned in the OP but THAT WAS 5 YEARS AGO

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https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Draz%27Zilb

There’s Draz’Zilb.

While Overlord Mok’Morokk wallowed in power, Draz’Zilb directed attacks against Onyxia’s brood and orchestrated Mok’Morokk’s fall from power to help better the Stonemaul.

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Because Demon Hunters are able to double-jump due to them being “Light and agile” …

Ogres don’t exactly scream “Light and Agile” in any sense :joy: Aside from perhaps silly headcanons with foolishly flawed debating points and ludicrous justifications.

Blizzard said they’d open up more classes to more races.

They did NOT say: “All Races = All Classes”

  • Honestly I don’t see druids really working for ogres either, but it could probably be accepted begrudgingly far more than ogre demon hunters.

… Although, most of what the rest you presented in the thread is fair enough. :person_shrugging:

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It’s time to bring Ogres back to the Horde. Its long over due and its been 84 Years ffs :skull:

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In thinking more about Draz’Zilb, I think it actually be pretty cool if he became the Stonemaul Chieftain.

While Mok’Morokk wallowed in his own power and Tharg wrestled with the the demons of sorrow and vengeance, it was Draz’Zilb who remained focused and sought to identify actually who commanded the black dragons that attacked and drove them from their home.

When he discovered that they were the Brood of Onyxia, he was quick to realize that more was at play and immediately sent word to Mok’Morokk for action to be taken. And when the Overlord did nothing, he had Horde champions challenge Mok’Morokk, who subsequently fled into the marsh after his defeat. With this Stonemaul became open to picking a new leader, who would actually help the clan over wallowing in their own power.

He’s also a more forward thinker as he saw that reclaiming Stonemaul Village, would be impossible if the surrounding area remained a breeding ground and thus ordered them with destroying the dragon eggs in the area.

So if we had the Ogre recruitment chain start with us meeting Chieftain Draz’Zilb, in a reclaimed Stonemaul Village, I would be over the moon.

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