World Of Warcraft

I don't think I've done anything for the anniversary event so far. I actually got annoyed by it at one point because Ysondre sent me on a quest in Feralas and when I got there her old boss form was standing guard over the space I needed to get to. Not cool, lady! I thought you were the one that wasn't trying to kill everyone anymore!

I... suppose I should level a new character before Shadowlands since I've got a level boost but don't want to boost straight from level one. Maybe I'll make a Zandalari moonkin and level to 60 before using it.

I already got a Draenei Shaman at 120 and a Highmountain Shaman at 113 so I'm not going to jump to a 3rd Shaman very quickly.

I think a Warlock works well enough for Vulpera as it does for most races. While they don't really come off as a race that would gravitate towards dark magic, they also don't come off as a race that would reject it out of hand. They are the ultimate survivalists, and if tapping into dark powers helps them survive, they will do just that.

I am somewhat surprised Vulpera druids aren't a thing but then again I am not quite sure how you'd integrate fox into all the druid forms.

I could see a Vulpera becoming priests of all kinds, if only to survive.

I feel like only rogue and hunter are really thematically appropriate. They don't seem at all mystical so even shaman feels a bit off.

There was a lot of What Could Have Been for Vol'dun in the beta, there was originally quests that showed a Tauren teaching a Vulpera how to commune with the harsh elements of Vol'dun for Shamanism, Vulpera teaming up with Forsaken and learning of magecraft (and blight bombing the Faithless Sethrak - one of the earliest reasons I thought the latter could be playable and drift to alliance but that's neither here nor there) but pretty much none of those story beats made it into the final storyline for some reason. In fact there's almost no horde interaction at all besides the PC.

Edited by NaraNumas on Dec 19th 2019 at 1:04:09 PM

Having played through Vol'dun several times now on both factions I've generally found that there's not really a compelling reason to suggest they would outright side with the Alliance.

The idea I think mostly came from the fact that you make friendly contact with the Devoted Sethrek during the War Campaign, but the fact is the Horde works with them a lot longer and almost certainly have the canonical win in the dungeon where they save their Loa.

In the long term I suppose there could be an emergent faction that grows out of the defeated Faithless, which could in turn join with the Alliance (likely leaving Vol'dun entirely). But that story isn't here just yet.

Yeaaah, i still want them but I’ve written it off at this point it’s not happening, at best horde will probably get mok’nothal and alliance will get lightforged humans

I think there’s still room for one more set of allied races in 8.3.5 but it’s probably not sethrak

Should have been Sethrak instead of Vulpera. They have literally nothing going for them except being cute.

Horde Naga 2020 let's do it.

I still want the Mantids (from Mists) to join the Horde, and because of Allied Races I would imagine this could be done (use either the Forsaken or Tauren Skeletons to make them).

The Mantid made perfectly clear where their allegiance lies.

Plus the idea of allying with other races runs counter to much of their culture. The Klaaxi doing so with us was basically a Godzilla Threshold.

x4 I think you are selling the Vulpera very short.

The Vulpera are the ultimate desert survivalists. Using their cleverness they are capable of not just enduring, but outright thriving in the harsh environment of Vol'dun. Without the Vulpera's aide, the entire Horde storyline in Vol'dun basically ends 2 minutes in with the death of the player and the leader of the unofficial expedition.

They might not be mighty warriors or powerful sorcerers, but they are definitely a group of people the Horde wants on their side.

Their entire recruitment chain is basically "Vulpera finding clever solutions to all the Horde's problems".

Imagine what they might be able to do with Durotar. One of the big issues of the Horde is their capital is in the middle of a wasteland. It's why Garrosh could get support for going after Ashenvale's and Azshara's resources.

Okay, so they're resourceful. I don't see how that elevates them above quilboar. They have no strong ties to the Horde at all and no real story impact worth noting. I mean, their contribution to the plot is just assisting in another more interesting species' civil war.

The Alliance sent out Warlock Death Squads to execute Vulpera for simply helping the Horde. Their inclusion into the Horde likely started from that plot point.

The exact same thing could be said of the Void Elves. The Mechagnomes don't even have that. It sounds like their recruitment quest line is about creating that relationship with the Horde.

Edited by sgamer82 on Dec 22nd 2019 at 11:23:04 AM

I don't think void elves should even be a thing, let alone playable, so that's not exactly the greatest counterargument.

Even so, it makes the point that if Blizzard wants to add a new race, they're going to add a new race.

x4

The Alliance NP Cs were changed away from explicit death squads before the patch even went live.

Not that it changes a lot in practice. The Alliance raiding the Vulpera caravans and the Vulpera's subsequent retaliation means they fought on the Horde's side during the incursion.

That being said, with any race I think there is a layer of subjectivity involved. If you don't respond well to a race, then you are going to find some sort of reason why they don't work because every race has some aspects that will need to be worked around in order to make them playable.

The Naga for example are portrayed as being almost universally evil, have no ties to one faction over the other, and have major technical challenges stemming from being monopeds. And yet they are a much requested race because none of those problems need be dealbreakers if Blizzard is willing to put the time into cracking them.

I will say (or rather, restate) that the mechagnomes are the trend breakers at the moment because of how many pieces of armor they can't show on their models because of the mechanical bits. It makes concessions like Naga being unable to wear pants or Sethrak being unable to wear helmets a complete non-issue, because Blizzard now clearly doesn't mind if slots have to end up being always-hidden.

honestly the fact that Azshara makes it out of the expansion alive and primed to become a Dragon Ascendant might mean playable Naga could be in the future again, without an old god to twist them and keep them loyal, pockets of resistance could show up among the race.

Edited by NaraNumas on Dec 30th 2019 at 11:15:45 AM

There were already isolated defectors, such as... Skar'this? who was a Neptulon worshiper.

I've considered Naga a viable option for a playable race for some time.

I brought them up because if you don't respond well to a particular race, you can ALWAYS find objective-sounding reasons why they don't work. Because every race has issues that will have to be overcome in order to become playable.

Sometimes they are story problems, sometimes they are technical, and Naga are a case where they have both. All these problems are solvable, but they do exist and shouldn't be ignored. And as it stands right now, the Vulpera have far fewer barriers to becoming a playable race then the Naga do.

I rule out very few races entirely, mostly ones that are so absurdly gigantic that there's not really a way for them to interact with a world built for vaguely human-sized beings.

If there's one thing that completely prevents naga from being playable, it's mounts. As nagas are, it's impossible for them to ride on almost any mount.

When you consider that besides the bikes there's one one static animation for riding a mount, even that's not a hard limit because they can just like, side-saddle or coil up or something.

It's not that Horde Vulpera makes no sense at all, it's that the story telling isn't there. They didn't have a particularly close relationship to the Horde throughout Vol'dun.