Dranei - The new Alliance Race

[Sabra]

My 2 cents. It's either just the angle of the page or possbily Draenei and Horde both appear in bold.

Even though ... My suspicion is that this is a hoax. as Blood Elves have been announced. Why wouldn't a new race for the Alliance have been announced too?

Anyway, fun to speculate.

[savaughn]

Why wouldn't a new race for the Alliance have been announced too?
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General speculation is that they don't have finished models that they are ready to announce with, but it could just be suspense. This is Blizz's response to this rumor, btw.

Since our official announcement at BlizzCon concerning the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion pack, we've seen a great deal of speculation regarding what race players believe might be available to the Alliance faction. This topic has revealed itself to be both highly debatable and exciting, and we're definitely pleased to see so much interest surrounding this particular future addition to the game.

With that being said, we wanted to take this time to remind everyone that we have not provided any information or made any announcements concerning the new Alliance race to any Web sites, magazines, or other media sources. While we don't want to discourage you from continuing your discussions on this matter, we ask that you keep that bit of information in mind. When we're ready to announce the new race, we'll eagerly share as much information as we can with everyone on our community site.

Roughly translated: the gaming mag is just guessing. That said, the blood elves announcement was broken in a virtually identical way. Blizz denied it then, too.

That said, Blizz HAS said that it expects players to be really shocked and surprised about the new alliance. If they pick Worgen or Ogres, that would make sense. If they picked Dranei ... well, lets face it. That's the obvious choice since blood elves were first speculated. Not a person would be surprised if they picked Dranei, I should think, which in this case trends against the choice.

[Artega]

Having been away for two months...

Where did werewolves and ogres as race ideas come from? I understand that the werewolves were the result of Arugal playing god, but what reason would they have to ally themselves with ANYONE? If werewolves became a playable race, Shadowfang Keep would need to be completely removed, or heavily edited. If ogres became a playable (Alliance) race, the Horde Dustwallow town (the name escapes me) would need to be populated with Orcs and the like instead of Ogres, and game-world Ogres would also need to be messed around with. Perhaps a small faction of either race would join up with the Allies, but then why wouldn't High Elves also be an allowable option, given that there are few of them as well (and the primary reason for them being unplayable seems to be that there are very few left)?

The Ogres left the Horde between the second and third wars because they felt that Thrall's new vision of leadership wasn't a bloodthirsty-enough method. The Alliance more than likely would not be bloodthirsty in any battle, ever, even if it were Humans and Orcs going at it like usual.

Werewolves make no sense in that Arugal seemed to be something of a magical heretic to the Kirin Tor, and given that the werewolves are Arugal's creations (and thus bound to his will?), you would assume Arugal would have to be allied with the Allies in order for this to happen.

Draenei don't make a LOT of sense if you ask me, but I'd say a vendetta against the Orcs (and Horde in general) for wrecking their homeworld makes a great deal more sense than anything anyone else could come up with for ogres and werewolves.

[Raelynn]

Having been away for two months...

Where did werewolves and ogres as race ideas come from?  I understand that the werewolves were the result of Arugal playing god, but what reason would they have to ally themselves with ANYONE?  If werewolves became a playable race, Shadowfang Keep would need to be completely removed, or heavily edited.  If ogres became a playable (Alliance) race, the Horde Dustwallow town (the name escapes me) would need to be populated with Orcs and the like instead of Ogres, and game-world Ogres would also need to be messed around with.  Perhaps a small faction of either race would join up with the Allies, but then why wouldn't High Elves also be an allowable option, given that there are few of them as well (and the primary reason for them being unplayable seems to be that there are very few left)?
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The werewolves in Silverpine are magically created, but the ones in Duskwood are actually extra-dimensional if I remember correctly. There's a quest line that spans Duskwood and Ashenvale that explains where the worgen came from, which involved the scythe of Elune. This wiki page walks about it: Wowwiki

As for the ogre, there are many different factions of ogres, so it may not be the same ones that factioned with the horde, but I agree that Ogres don't seem as likely.

And in all truth, no instance really needs to be changed if a group is introduced in a faction. Just because trolls are in the Horde doesn't mean there can't be a troll instance (and in fact there are a few).

[Sir_Die_alot]

That said, Blizz HAS said that it expects players to be really shocked and surprised about the new alliance[right][snapback]98341[/snapback][/right]

I would be pretty shocked and surprised Blizzard would choose to do something this dumb. We want worgen! Storylines can be edited! :D

[Drasca]

And Shaman? Draenei SHAMAN for the Alliance? :)
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Do you want to see undead paladin? All right, those are supposed to be death knights, but half those powers got cast into the warlock role.

Maybe there should be a groundskeeper willy class!

[Lissa]

Do you want to see undead paladin? All right, those are supposed to be death knights, but half those powers got cast into the warlock role.

Maybe there should be a groundskeeper willy class!
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Actually, I never understood why there WEREN'T any Undead Paladins. I'm sure there were a few that succumbed to the plague, so it would have made sense.

[Quark]

Actually, I never understood why there WEREN'T any Undead Paladins.  I'm sure there were a few that succumbed to the plague, so it would have made sense.
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Crappy reasoning:

When you are raised as Forsaken, you are level 1. It stands to reason that not everyone was worthless before they became Forsaken, so they lost all the skills they had in their previous life. For whatever excuse Blizzard wants, the Forsaken have been unable to relearn the skills necessary to become a Paladin.

[MongoJerry]

Here's a link to Zarathustra's post where he copies the proposed explanation for the Worgen Alliance race. You'll see that it makes a great deal of sense both geographically and storyline-wise. It's certainly an intriguing idea, even if it proves completely false.

http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/index...topic=6974

[oldmandennis]

Yeah, that explantion was a little too close to the explanation for the undead for me. Though that story line could definatly use a help, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

[Artega]

Paladins get their powers from The Light™. The Undead Priest trainer in Deathknell explicitly tells you that The Light™ has abandoned you (and goes all emo-style about how the Forsaken are all alone and can't trust anyone, etc.) No Light™ means no Paladins.

[Urza-DSF]

Paladins get their powers from The Light™.  The Undead Priest trainer in Deathknell explicitly tells you that The Light™ has abandoned you (and goes all emo-style about how the Forsaken are all alone and can't trust anyone, etc.)  No Light™ means no Paladins.
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Ok, but if thats the case then why can there be Holy-spec Undead Priests? If this is going to be their explination for things, then they should stick with their story 100%

Then again I'm completly against the forced PvP "rules" like being unable to communicate with opposing faction members as well as the faction-specific classes in the first place, so I'm sure you can see where I'm coming from.

[Artega]

Good point. Plot consistency has rapidly gone from good to abysmal since WoW has come out (with a few exceptions.)

[fractaled]

Then again I'm completly against the forced PvP "rules" like being unable to communicate with opposing faction members as well as the faction-specific classes in the first place, so I'm sure you can see where I'm coming from.
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Yeah, I'm against the above, as well as class armor restrictions (I'd allow priests to wear plate, but just have -20% mana per piece), and a slew of other things. Unfortunately Blizzard went with a gamey game instead of a world.

[oldmandennis]

Hmm... did you guys quit WC3 random team games if they put NE and Undead on the same side? If you played undead, did you force yourself to choose between banshees and necros?

[Urza-DSF]

Hmm... did you guys quit WC3 random team games if they put NE and Undead on the same side?  If you played undead, did you force yourself to choose between banshees and necros?
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Never played WC3, or any Warcraft game for that matter other than WoW. To tell the truth I pretty much play PnP RPGs like DnD, CP2020, BESM, SR, VtM, MnM, and whatnot.

[Artega]

Hmm... did you guys quit WC3 random team games if they put NE and Undead on the same side?  If you played undead, did you force yourself to choose between banshees and necros?
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I never had any problems with NE-UD. PotM with supported fiends was pretty sick, but then, so was anything Orcs and Humans could put together (Gruntapults supported by Guns'n'Girls? Absurd.) I usually laughed at Necrowagon players; a few Raiders and Spirit Walkers could single-handedly negate that entire strategy.

I suppose NE-UD could get bad if you let them build, but with Orc-HU, we just rushed and rushed, taking advantage of the obscene power of Grunts in the early-game (usually pump out a few then jump tiers to pick up Berserker Strength, Demolishers, and Raiders.) Once my HU buddy was strong enough to hold his own (with minor support from my army and heroes), I'd typically make a pack of Raiders and Batriders and go raze town halls while their armies were fighting (and typically killing) ours. People called it sneaky and underhanded. I called it fun and effective.

[savaughn]

As for the ogre, there are many different factions of ogres, so it may not be the same ones that factioned with the horde, but I agree that Ogres don't seem as likely.
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Time to put on your lore hats.

First, remember that the Ogres are made up of a large number of tribes, much like the trolls. Next, remember that there are three races that came from Draenor: Orcs, Draenei, and Ogres. Third, lets recall the history of the Laughing Skull Clan.

Mogor the Ogre Lord, leader of the Laughing Skull Clan, ordered them to stay in Draenor during the crossing. When the human armies invaded Draenor, Morgor sided with them, using the army's strength to maintain his control of the Blade' Edge mountains. Morgor is responsible for bringing the humans the Book of Medivh and survived the wrath of Ner'zhul. Morgor and his Laughing Skull Clan remained behind and was believed destroyed with the entire planet of Draenor.

But Outland survived. The fate of the Laughing Skull Clan is unknown, but it is one Ogre clan who's history lives with the alliance.

OK, so that's the lore. How does this mesh up to what we know about the new alliance race?

Chris Metzen on the Burning Crusade stated:
"The Alliance heroes of Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal, who sealed themselves on Draenor as Nerzul’s dimensional portals tore the planet apart — and whose statues can be seen in the Valley of Heroes in Stormwind — will play a major part in the Burning Crusade. They’re still alive, and they’re kicking ass. They’re BAD. ASS. There’s a reason their statues are in Stormwind."

Also: "Your first reaction will be "WHAT!?!?" but then you'll say, "I guess that makes sense."

So, the alliance who remained in Outland are still alive and fighting. A clan of ogres that was allying themselves with those alliance heroes stayed behind as well. If the Laughing Skull Clan is still alive, they are likely still allied with those same alliance heroes. The Burning Crusade will crack the door open to Outland and, if they are still alive, let those self same Alliance favored ogres back into Azeroth.

From a lore perspective, it works just fine.