To those who play Worgen, what aspect do you play them for?

The Gilnean lore?
The Worgen lore?
Interweaving both?
Just to be a big bipedal wolf?
I’m interested as to what the draw is for those who play them- They’re a race I’ve always struggled to immerse myself in.

When I created mine, I took the inspiration of the development of the Jennifer Walters character. At first Jennifer Walters struggles to maintain her human life but. eventually she learns to enjoy being. She-Hulk.

When told by S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors that she had permanently lost her ability to resume human form after being exposed to high radiation; Her reaction was.

"So what’s the bad news?

Unlike her cousin Banner though, she was able to continue her chosen profession from time to time, she maintains her bar standing and has actually been able to perform court functions.

So in the end, she balanced her aspects.

My worgen very rarely resumes her Human form these days. but she’s still one hundred percent Gilnean. She acknowledges the Night Elves for what they’ve done for her people, but she’s not that particularly interested in the deep worgen lore itself. She’s more of a live for today and tomorrow person.

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I play worgen just because I love them, but my worgen is definitely one of those “All Hail Goldrinn!” worgen. I just love all of the shapeshifting, I get to roleplay both my worgen form and my human form.

A common draw to Worgen comes from the appeal of Werewolves in general fiction; a bestial monster that lurks within and struggles against the man. I myself was drawn to Worgen in part because of this general idea once upon a time; and it is this idea, the relationship between man and his inner beast as well as the beast itself, that most often fuels my enthusiasm for the race.

Both the general history of the Worgen Curse and its affect on Gilneas and its people are a significant motivation for me; but my interest is mostly centered on the curse itself and how people regard and deal with it.

The curse provides a unique situation that I don’t think is touched on quite as often in-game as it probably could be. As with most portrayals of therianthropy it asserts upon one a new form of being, one that brings many new traits; some beneficial and others detrimental. The benefits only come from conquering or circumventing the detriments, the likes of which are often quite difficult to deal with. This kind of situation is barely touched upon in game but in some ways is a core aspect of Worgen lore.

So to summarize, I suppose the biggest appeal to me with Worgen is the kind of situation they live in by the nature of their existence; as well as how an individual would deal with such. Gilneas is an extraneous element to me, as such a detail is ultimately irrelevant to the core.

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When I first created this character, I did so because werewolves were cool but also with the intention of finding out more about the lore to roleplay her. Now, I love balancing the Victorian feel of the Gilnean side with the feral wolf-like side. I roleplay the continual struggle of grappling with her conflicting human interests and canine instincts, being torn between both worlds and never knowing exactly where she belongs, often finding her way in a happy medium.

Like anything in roleplay, do not force yourself if you are struggling or pressure yourself to continue if you do not find it fun. Sometimes certain races just do not mesh with people and that is okay; worgen definitely are not for everyone. I still struggle with remembering worgen lore myself.

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Werewolves in top hats.

Joking aside, some of it is what Yonara and Jacquell mentioned. There is a sense of how to balance the somewhat posh Gilnean sensibilities with, you know, the inclination and ability to just rip things apart with your bare hands. It’s the whole Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde thing.

Also, one of the things that I like (though I fully acknowledge how difficult it can be to RP properly) is how outrageously dangerous worgen actually are. A lot of people like to roleplay them as large dogs (which, to be fair, even the writers sometimes do). While that’s all well and good, I think that people sometimes forget what they are.

Werewolves with guns. Werewolf wizards. Etc.

If you watch the cinematics with worgen, that puts things into perspective. Seeing them scale vertical walls, bursting through windows and doors and all of that…they’re actually scary. And that’s saying something when you consider this is a world with dragons and demons.

You know the Broken Shore initial cinematic? You know how Genn is fighting dreadlords? By jumping on them. And he’s winning. Duskwood, Silverpine…entire zones have their storylines shaped by the fact that worgen are around.

Which, right, you can’t have for gameplay reasons. But canonically, they’re heavy hitters. Which they have to balance with not losing control. And still being Gilnean. Which is fun, for me.

Gilnean werewolves with top hats.

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I’ve always had a bit of a fascination with Werewolves in various forms of media.

I actually went to the point of having an on-going in-game plot with my human rogue before Cataclysm launched of him actually having been bitten, and struggling to keep hold of his humanity through dangerous methods that prolonged his suffering but held off the final transformation.

At this point though… he’s simply Jon. Worgen is just an intrinsic part of who he is. There’s honestly a lot of the more “worgen-y” habits and terms that he tends to avoid, but he’s not immune to it all.

He doesn’t live with a family or belong to an active guild at the moment, but while he doesn’t think of them with the term, but he’s definitely very protective of his old “packmates”, and is still in contact with many of them.

EDIT: Also, I definitely play up the “dangerous” aspect of the Worgen that Vanaelia up there talked about. Before getting bitten, Jon was basically just another rogue, just a face in the crowd. These days, his primary reputation, despite being a rogue, is being a monster of a frontline fighter. Jon becoming a Worgen was a strong case of “From Nobody to Nightmare”.

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Ferocity

Space Wolves all the way

Tbh I like mine because an alcoholic Irish pirate is made more interesting by being a worgen.

I use mogged bladed fist weapons so it looks like he’s slashing away with his own claws. And in general a werewolf with a gun is just neat.

When I created her, I wanted to play a human, but I also wanted to play a druid.

Now though… well, she still wants to be human. Wholly human. But she can’t. I roleplay the worgen aspect of her as a form of dysphoria.

Wandren is… a mess of contradictions, and that’s the whole point. She’s a Gilnean, but not really (She became a refugee when she was 13, wound up in the Stormwind orphanage). She’s worgen, but not really (she doesn’t want to be). She’s a loner, but not really (she wants company, but fears rejection).

I guess that playing worgen started out as a gameplay convenience, but now the contradictions playing one represents makes it so much more interesting.

I would post on one of my worgen but the forums are not giving me the option.

I play worgen because of this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCUr4_bWK80

There’s a lot I love about the worgen backstory. These are the bits I’ve put into my worgen:

  1. Fallout of the Beast: It’s a curse that turned them into animals. A lot like how death knights were forced to do horrible things by the Lich King, the worgen likely did horrible things while feral. So, they can have that guilt to them.
  2. Gilnean History is Awesome: The fall of their kingdom, the loss of everything is just a great, unifying backstory. A lot of motivators there, a lot of potential for hurt and loss to drive characters. And, it gives all of them a great enemy: The Horde, specifically the Forsaken.
  3. The Angry Cockney: It’s a stereotype, but it’s fun to play with. I really enjoy doing the Gilnean accent, and definitely go overboard. Then, just crank the “bitterness” to maximum. At one point, she told someone, “I ain’t feel no love, aye? M’Gilnean, I only feel acrimony.”

She’s one of my more tragic characters. A lot of bad things happened to her, but rather than take the “I’m going to rise from the ashes” route, she took the, “If the world is intent on sucking, then I’m just gonna make it suck worse!” route. So, she had a lot of bad things happen to her, then her reaction was to make a bunch of bad decisions to try to… spite the universe in return.

I do this on this character! For years, people have had to put up with her unintelligible, slurred, uneducated Cockney accent, slang, and contractions. I love it though and have a lot of fun typing it. :slight_smile:

Jac did this, too. xD

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