Packed dirt/gravel is noisy from the shifting ground, in grasses you can hear the sound of many things moving through the grass also
Those limitations are EXACTLY lore. Otherwise, why didn’t they allow Human Druids or Shamans from the very start? Why haven’t they been added since?
Because Lore dictates whether characters of these races, of these backgrounds, WOULD be these classes, not whether they COULD be.
The people of Stormwind and the surrounding areas are a simple people, with a fairly simple belief in the Light. Their class choices reflect that. Night Elves, meanwhile, are a people with Amazonian warriors and a deep spiritual connection to nature. Their class choices reflect that.
Otherwise, races become almost purely visual, and classes become purely mechanical.
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I think it comes down to Shadow magic now. But we can ignore sneaky and just look at Outlaw which is just pirates.
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We’re never going to see eye to eye on this. The fact is, people who want expanded or even no limits on race/class combos care just as much about the world of Azeroth as you do.
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This is a tricky topic to even comment on. Some races shouldn’t have certain classes no matter of interaction or not with the other races of their society and faction. On the other hand as the story advances forwards, some class combinations should be removed for those races.
I know there are people who say, X race should have this class because of Y races. Now we have seen NPC’s we interact with being a class, their whole race can’t use. We also see creatures use class mechanics that people create the story that our races should also be. (example the Satyr who have hooves able to stealth not cammo while how own hooved races can’t stealth since day 1 of the game) This one example opens up the idea that a class should be available to the same type of races. If a creature has it why not our PC races.
Now why I think some classes should never be opened to every single race is because how their society is. Players on Horde want more druid combinations on their Blood Elves and Nightbourne despite neither race followed the Wild Gods nor have they ever worshiped the Loa in their entire history. Unless you see those 2 races worshiping either the Wild Gods or Loa or even worship anything nature related going forward, then we could see druids. Until then, such a class combo doesn’t make sense even story wise. Even the Vulpera have no Loa, Wild God or nature worship in their society thus they can’t even develop druids.
If you give Horde 3 more druids for no reason, you will need to do that for the Alliance and they are also in the same boat for that class.
Reason some players want all restrictions removed is so they can race change into a race they love to play a class they only want to play instead of having to play a different race to play that class.
When they introduced Demon Hunters as playable, they outright said that it’s possible the Night Elves and Blood Elves will teach their ways to others in time.
So if they do it like the Allied Race DKs - with a new fast starting area, it would make sense.
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In grass and dirt hooves make less sound than paws and feet do. The clack, clack comes from things like comblestone and cement. Those aren’t sounds commonly heard from hooved animals in nature. Cows are actually very quite/sneaky when they want to be. All of this being irrelevant because stealth in wow is magical in nature.
Not all tauren follow the same morality. There literally was a faction of “evil tauren”. Rogues usually are not the most moral examples of their species. Even orcs have rogues in the drag. Also there are A LOT of tauren pirates and that’s basically combat rogue.
Books… they wrap a lot of that up in books.
This is true.
In game/lore there is:
Human shamans, Dwarf Druids, Night elf Paladin, Night elf Warlock, Gnome Shaman, Draenei Warlock, Draenei Rogue, Worgen Shaman, Worgen Monk, Pandaren Paladin, Void Elf Paladin (odd but it exists), LFD Rogues, LFD Monks, Kul Tiran Paladins, Kul Tiran Warlocks, Orc Priests, Orc Paladins (AU only tho), Orc Druids, Undead Shaman, Undead Paladin, Tauren Rogues (as pirates), Tauren Mages, Tauren Warlocks, Troll Paladins, Blood Elf Druids, Goblin Monks, Nightborn Druids, HMT Rogues, HMT Warlock, Mag’har Warlock, Mag’har Paladin. Zanda Troll Warlock.
Every one listed here there is at least 1 example of that race/class combo. Leaving the following combination with no in game/lore examples (but this does not mean it cannot exist)
All Non Elven Demon Hunters, Undead Druids, Blood elf Shaman, Goblin Druid, Goblin Paladin, Pandaren Warlock, Pandaren Druid, Nightborn Paladin, Nightborn Shaman, HMT Mage, HMT Priest, HMT Paladin, Mag’har Druid, Vulpera Druid, Vulpera Paladin, Void Elf Druid, Void Elf Shaman, LFD Warlock, LFD Druid, LFD Shaman, DID Druids, Mechagnome Paladin, Mechagnome Druid, Mechagnome Shaman, Human Druid, Night Elf shaman, Gnome Paladin, Gnome Druid, Draenei Druid, Worgen Shaman.
Worgen Paladin should also be able to exist. Supposedly Gilneans who were ALREADY paladins were immune to the worgen curse but nothing suggests you can’t become a paladin AFTER being cursed. I guess you could argue it conflicts with their starter zone but the new race neutral starter zone would make this viable choice.
I may not be 100% accurate there is a chance I am misremembering or forgot a few. Many but not all come from rogue factions or as part of the class order halls in legion. But show the race capable of being those classes. Even the ones in which I do not rememebr an npc example doesn’t mean they can’t be those either.
IMHO only Evoker and Demon Hunter should be limited. Though demon hunter getting a couple new races such as Draenei and Orc would be nice.
It’s actually made pretty explicit multiple times that the power derived from faith and worship of elune IS holy light. Anduin and Velen both made this comment. That’s why night elf priests use holy magic. While lore wise it’s coloured a more silver or white rather than yellow or gold light is light it can manifest in different ways.
Priests/Priestesses in night elf cultures ARE warriors for the most part not just soldiers. They should’ve had paladins from the get-go because they literally have plate wearing martial priests which is mechanically identical to paladin. Their priests also often use bows but that’s a whole other issue.
A “Knight of Elune” is hardly lore breaking.
But not only this because people are individuals and not slaves to their culture a night elf can go to stormwind reject elune and worship the holy light. People convert to other religions than the ones they’re born in all the time it’s not extraordinary.
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I’d imagine the same reason as now. Laziness in creating unique assets and class quests for each. (Back when there were class quests and they were also race specific)
This is the Gnome Paladin waiting room right?
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Yes, yes it is.
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Not really, it was stated before that this power was astral magic and in the book Grimoire of Shadowland and Beyond, we learn that the priestess of Elune are using a combination of nature and arcane magic.
Well, i don’t really get why there is this belief either as these “Knight of Elune” exist since Warcraft III.
It’s just that they are not named as “paladin”.
You can take a look at the sunwalkers and zandalari prelates: They are not named as paladin but are paladins of their own faith.
I would have liked to see more diversity with unique class/race quests and assets too but it takes time to do so if they have the will.
So much discussion here, thank you OP for fighting the good fight!!
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I just want more druid options. Always. haha.
Honestly, getting back even to the idea of “Night Elf Paladins”, I think it just undermines who Paladins ARE. Which is more than JUST “Plate-wearer that deals Holy damage”. They’re the “knights in shining armor”, the “Templars” or “Crusaders” of Warcraft.
They aren’t just “spiritual”, there’s a very specific “fantasy” or “theme” that goes along with them as well.
Because otherwise, “The Silver Hand” is COMPLETELY meaningless to the game. If EVERYONE can become Druids, any sort of connection with nature or Cenarius or the Emerald Dream also becomes COMPLETELY irrelevant.
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If anything doesn’t this make night elf paladins more sensible? Like if the logic is they are more than just “plate wearer that deals holy damage” then doesn’t it reasonably follow that they could be shining templars of elune. Devotion, oath, faith are all still completely relevant to paladins of elune.
How? How does the silver hand suddenly become irrelevant? How does the story of the emerald dream or cenarius become irrelevant?
And not every single person is going to create their story the same way, not every culture is going to accomplish “druid” or “Paladin” the same way, which kind of just shows that even without class/race restrictions, racial cultures are still very much alive and as meaningful as they’ve been in the past.
Also, again, the player character isn’t a template picked out from a selection of preset stereotype boxes. Players get to make their own story and those stories aren’t a part of the game so, jimmy the gnome druid who wished for his powers from a magical genie doesn’t suddenly change the lore.
People have always, continue to, and will always create whatever stories they want to however they want to regardless of if the game 100% allows them to. Removing race class restrictions is just a step towards letting people have more fun for themselves, it by and large changes nothing in the actual story until blizzard specifically makes it so.
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I suppose to me, I would rather have a deep, compelling world, than just dancing around what are effectively “personal fanfics”.
And while I totally understand your example there is hyperbole, “jimmy the druid who wished for his powers from a magical genie” DOES, in fact, change the lore. Quite significantly, in fact, because it destroys any indication that a bond with nature is even REMOTELY important to the class.
If someone wants to come up with an idea like that as their “head-canon”? Well obviously, nobody’s going to stop them. But I also think it’s frankly a stupid idea, and sacrifices the game rest of us love, just to dance around some imaginary parameters that each individual player might make.
I mean, let’s look at Warlocks. They aren’t just “evil Mages”. Evil Mages exist, and so do evil Priests. Warlocks use FEL magic; they use DEMONIC powers and summon literal demons to aid them. You can’t just say “well MY character is a good boi, I think they should be able to replace all of their powers and pets with nature-themed things”. Because doing so sacrifices everything that makes them a Warlock in any meaningful sense, even if this supposed “nature warlock” was MECHANICALLY identical.
Because while people can sit and pretend the story doesn’t matter, it obviously DOES. (which is honestly why I think so many of us have been frustrated by these past two expansions, but I digress)
Because again, races and cultures in WoW are largely one-in-the-same. You’re not just “a human”, you’re a Human from Elwynn Forest. You aren’t just “an elf”, you’re a Blood Elf from Sunstrider Isle. Those things are what connect your character to the world.
If you just say “eff it, Blood Elves can be Druids and Shamans and whatever they want”, then you’re literally saying that the entire history of the High Elves/Blood Elves is irrelevant, and that any sort of “communing with the elemental spirits” or “those tens of thousands of years of Druidic knowledge being pass down” are also irrelevant. Because now THOSE things are purely “head-canon”.
“personal fanfics” already exist, and they don’t affect the world. The world is deep and compelling in spite of the player characters, not because of.
No, it does not destroy any indication that bond with nature is important to the class, because it isn’t a part of the game. It’s one player making something silly for themselves. Blizzard can leave the basic justification of “the player character can be any class they want to because they are special if they choose to be” and be done with the “lore infractions”.
A gnome druid can just be a gnome who has a connection to nature, a single player who liked the race and the class and combined them because that’s what they found interesting. There doesn’t need to be in game justification, and honestly I don’t think there even should be.
I mean, this is something people have been asking to have for a long time, which is more glyph options to flavor their spells differently, because customization is one of the most important and beloved things in any RPG game.
PLUS, people already do that. Hell I specifically joined the night fae on my priest when it was considered bad because I wanted to imagine myself as a nature based/twilight priest instead of a void manipulating, voice hearing, crazy.
The overall story of wow isn’t bad because of anything to do with the races or classes, it’s just been a poorly written story.
The main point I have against this is the new starting area, where you’re just insert race here on a boat who is a soldier of the insert faction here. But beyond that, there’s no rule that says you have to be that. Obviously for gameplay purposes they aren’t going to put you into a starting zone designed around your specific character backstory, but the second you get out into the world and away from your starting zone, you can basically be whatever you want.
Again, the player character isn’t a racial poster child. We aren’t slaves to our race’s story, though we are free to participate in them. Adding more player options doesn’t change anything in the lore.
Adding more player options doesn’t change the lore, players are not cannon.
When people do naked gnome races across azeroth, there aren’t actually hundreds of gnomes running in their undies across azeroth. Argus wasn’t defeated by a rag tag group of people in murloc suits, even though these things happen in game.
If there are things you think break cultural norms and don’t make sense for specific races, don’t play them, but I don’t see how somebody else who enjoys it creates a worse experience for you.
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At that point, it sounds like all WoW actually is to you is a “sandbox” for people to just do whatever they want.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with that idea, but that simply isn’t “World of Warcraft”. That’s not the game that we signed up for and have been playing for nearly 18 years. That’s something else entirely.
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