Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

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Syleye
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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Syleye »

Just curious but is there a reason other than they look humanish that so many here think Vyrkul will be Alliance? or is really just wishful thinking?

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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Valnaaros »

The Stormheim Vrykul have a belief in the Light and have Priests and Paladins. Since usage and belief in the Light is much more common in the Alliance, they would fit well in that regard.

Sylvanas attempted to enslave Eyir in order to create more Val'kyr. I'm sure the Vrykul wouldn't want to join the faction whose leader attempted to enslave the being that delivers their greatest to the afterlife.

The Vrykul are a Titanforged race. Much of the Alliance is composed of races that descend from Titanforged beings, whereas the Horde doesn't (excluding the Forsaken).
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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Silivren »

Syleye wrote:Just curious but is there a reason other than they look humanish that so many here think Vyrkul will be Alliance? or is really just wishful thinking?
I'm kinda in the same boat, as is seen in Northrend the Vrykul tend to HATE humans and think of them as lesser beings than themselves.

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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by GormanGhaste »

Pretty sure they think all the player races are lesser beings than themselves :) Wouldn't they at least prefer their descendants?

I just don't think they'll make vrykul PCs though.
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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Valnaaros »

The Northrend Vrykul were greatly decimated after the events of Wrath. Those that remained either returned to their normal way of life or joined other groups like the Twilight's Hammer. The Northrend Vrykul have shown a pride similar to the Mogu and view other races as lesser beings. Part of this is due to King Ymiron,

The Stormheim Vrykul migrated away from Northrend in order to find their true gods, which were the Titans and Titan Keepers. They are more open to outsiders, especially after Sigryn became God-Queen - turning the Vrykul in Stormheim away from a dark path. Prior to Allied Races being announced, it was theorized that Sigryn would lead the Stormheim Vrykul to either the Horde or Alliance, but most likely the latter due to the reasons I posted prior.
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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Silivren »

GormanGhaste wrote:Pretty sure they think all the player races are lesser beings than themselves :) Wouldn't they at least prefer their descendants?

I just don't think they'll make vrykul PCs though.
They kinda did but in the specific quest I'm referring to it shows two Vrykul that had a baby that could pass for a normal human and they disposed of it rather than let King Ymiron do it himself because he hated normal humans as they were tiny and weak. They despised the smaller humans.

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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Valnaaros »

At that time, Humans didn't really exist quite yet. Quoting from Wowpedia:

"Under King Ymiron's reign, 15,000 years ago, the curse caused vrykul children to be born in a disfigured state, which was considered "weak and ugly" by vrykul standards. These infants were dubbed "aberrations" and "runts", and vrykul society was deeply divided on how to deal with them. Some vrykul were disgusted by these "aberrations" and beseeched their ruler, Ymiron, to have them all killed, citing a need to keep the vrykul race pure; others pleaded with him to show them mercy, protesting that despite their weakness, these infants were still their children. Ymiron meditated on the issue for some time before reaching a dangerous conclusion: that because the Titans had not come to aid them in their hour of need, and because the vrykul knew of no other beings with power on the same level as their gods, the curse must have been created by the Titans. Although this was not the case, the vrykul believed it, and at Ymiron's bidding they forsook their gods and Titan worship was outlawed. Ymiron then took the side of those calling for the death of their malformed infants, and decreed that all parents with so-afflicted children must kill their young or be taken to Gjalerbron for execution.

However, not all vrykul could bear to kill their own flesh and blood. Despite their king's harsh decree, they sheltered their children and took them away to a land far away from Northrend, the modern Tirisfal Glades. They had heard stories of the vrykul clan that had followed Tyr and had settled in that area, and decided it was a safe haven for their children. There they nursed and raised their children in secret, and taught them the stories and values of ancient vrykul society. Finally, with heavy hearts, they left them in the care of the vrykul that inhabited Tirisfal, before returning to Northrend. These outcast vrykul "runts" would later form their own cultures and kingdoms, and became known as humans.

It is unclear what happened to all of those parents who did not kill their children, but many if not most of them would come to no good end; a vicious vrykul warrior, Skadi, relentlessly hunted them down and killed any of them he came across. For this he was judged to have committed a true act of depravity, and was thereafter known as Skadi the Ruthless.

Most of the vrykul that had settled in Tirisfal Glades enventually died off or succumbed to the curse of flesh. The members of Tyr's Guard decided to induct some of the new humans into their ranks, to ensure the future of the group. They taught these new members the history of Tyr and the truth about the tomb."
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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Rozzana »

My only issue with Vykrul as a race for any faction is that their main attraction to a faction would be their combat ability and skill. But this it would lead to a splintering, since the only difference between the factions are their tactics and technique. Even then, Vykrul are very much a charge-in-head-first-screaming sort..they could find more in common with corrupted Orcs than humans ...

So if Vykrul were given to the alliance, it'd have to be a much more..subdued chill faction...
But Blizz may never touch them, because they might just enjoy having Vykrul as one of the few neutral parties we can interact with, since they only care about actions, not factions.
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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Valnaaros »

Worgen aren't exactly a chill group. Some of them prefer subtle methods or fighting from a distance, but you also have groups like Ivar Bloodfang's Worgen that are berserkers and they are apart of the Alliance. Vrykul have various groups, too. You have the kind that you mentioned, but there are also Paladins, Priests (both offensive and defensive/healer types), Marksmen, Runecasters (similar to a Mage), and Shaman. If you include the Northrend Vrykul and the Felskorn, then you can include Death Knights and Warlocks.
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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Syleye »

Thank you for the answers. I enjoy having them as a neutral faction and they have aspects of both sides. It appears to me that their idea of honor is more in line with the Horde then the Alliance but the issues Sylvanas caused could be very problematic.

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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Rozzana »

Syleye wrote:Thank you for the answers. I enjoy having them as a neutral faction and they have aspects of both sides. It appears to me that their idea of honor is more in line with the Horde then the Alliance but the issues Sylvanas caused could be very problematic.
Yeah, thematically I can't see them anything but neutral, but the Sylvanas scenario can open up to something more.

But Val's point reminded me of something. The Worgen are a great example of the differences between the Alliance and Horde. In the Alliance you control and sedate the beast, while in the Horde you are the beast. I think it's differences like this, that causes Blizzard's design teams to struggle with making allied races for the Alliance. Where the Horde allows free reign creatively, the Alliance has set limit on what fits inside of it. There is only so much you can do, before something no longer "fits" in the Alliance mold.

And I do like the Alliance AR's, but they're lackluster in comparison to the Horde ones. They should spice things up and take a few risks, because they really went for it with the Zandalari. I want to see that same level of love for the Alliance....I feel..bad for them :? Dark Irons and VE are good (although VE lore is shaky), but LF are barely noticeable and I dearly hope that the new race is not a Kul Tiran Body slider :lol:
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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Valnaaros »

The Kul Tirans should be added as a customization for humans, unless there is something really special about them that will make them stand out as an allied race. Reading through various threads on different sites, the Alliance playerbase seems disappointed with the Allied Races given to them in comparison to the Horde. Kul Tirans wouldn't really help change this.
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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Quiv »

If Hightmountain, Lightforged, Dark Iron, and Maghar aren't becoming customizations of their current race, I strongly doubt KT humans will. KT humans are much more unique from humans than Highmountain is from regular Tauren, at least in terms of looks.

Zandalari Druids pose an interesting dilemma for Blizz. On one hand, they have an opportunity to create a strong and unique thematic set of druid forms. I'm glad they took this opportunity and just didn't throw feathers on a cat/bear druid model. However now we are really tipping the scales in Allied Race "coolness/uniqueness" parity. And while I don't think full parity is a good idea (or even achievable), I think a reasonable parity is a worthwhile goal. This is pushing it in my opinion.

There really is only one solution though: KulTiran Druids

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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Valnaaros »

Some Kul Tiran npcs in the Alpha have been shown to be Druids, even capable of shapeshifting, so if Kul Tirans become an allied race, then they'll probably have Druids as an option.
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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Krysteena »

Quiv wrote: There really is only one solution though: KulTiran Druids

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I don't know what I was expecting when I clicked on this thread, but it certainly wasn't that, oh my god :lol:
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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Xota »

Worgen druid forms could get more options, for example, you could choose for your feral form to be a wolf, and you could choose for your "moonkin" form could be some raven-like creature (like based on the outcast Arakkoa animations).
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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Thwip »

I know someone pointed it out earlier that Earthen likely wouldn't join either side. Although, Magni being The Speaker now and also being a Bronzebeard could easily lead up to him lending aid to Brann and the Alliance. (Especially since it's looking like Sylvanas is just turning into Garrosh 2.0. As a Horde player, this makes me goddamn furious we're right back in the boat we just got out of.) If they were to even amuse that idea, it could open up more options then JUST Dark Irons.

I feel they -need- more then just Dark Iron skins. We need a whole slew of clans like Orcs are getting. Either via Vrykul or by Dwarves. The Wildhammer clan's skins are something that are highly requested from what I've been seeing lately. I see more comments saying they wished for Wildhammer vs Dark Irons. I'm saying put them ALL in a group. Give Alliance Dark Irons, Wildhammers, Earthen (Iron). That'd bring in tons of skins and lots of customization.

Even as a Horde player and a part time Alliance. I wanna see cool shit added for that side. Lightforged are ok (And I love them to death.), but I feel their lack of classes and even less lack of customizational differences compared to regular Draenai hinder their coolness factor. As many have already stated as well, Void Elves felt super contrived just to give Alliance the blood elf model and not in the fashion they wanted it in. While I want to agree with Taliesin from the Weekly Reset that not everything has to be balanced between both factions, at the same time I do feel they need something that's just downright kickass for the Alliance as well.

It's still early Alpha, but whatever druid is going to be given to the Alliance....they're gonna need to step up the game with it. They've now set a precedence with these new druid forms for allied races. If Night Elf Worgen are going to be introduced at some point, then they need to have some OOMF. I also feel sad that Highmountain, well, kinda got shafted on that side.

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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by Rawr »

Everyone seems to think everything should be even Stevens and fair right down the middle for some reason...

Really if the Alliance don't get a new druid forms for the next 2-3 expacs, I'd consider it fair for the old Druid (Troll) issues back when Cata first hit (up until recently).
Troll cat form, bear form, and epic flight form were all rushed to the point of broken legs, wrong colors on many areas, wrong rigging, and hair made out of cement. Not mentioning the painted on belt (worgen got actual 3D assets) Troll druid forms were just badly done and rushed recolored Nelf forms with tusks and Mohawks added. Flat 2D hair, unlike the Worgen's lush mane and just flat overall, it was bad mmmmmk.
Image ew

If everything is forced to be even then people need to be prepared for made up races, changed lore, and things in general that don't make sense.

I for one am not hoping or wanting everything split down the middle, I like things to make sense, lore or otherwise and wanting things even Stevens is how we get races with no back story pulled from thin air shoved into our factions.

Sorry for rant just had to get that off my chest :| and no I'm not really asking for alliance not to get new druids in case that wasn't clear :roll: :mrgreen:

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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by SlickrockGhost »

Well, let's see.. we will have 4 elven races, 2 dwarven, 2 tauren, 2 troll, 2 space goat, pandas, gnomes, undead humans, live humans, feral humans, and 2 orc. What would make the most sense to get next?
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Re: Battle for Azeroth Allied Races Thread

Unread post by SlickrockGhost »

Thwip wrote:I feel they -need- more then just Dark Iron skins. .
Wowhead originally had a lot more skins available to them, but those went away. I suspect they got told to remove them. There were some really interesting "stone" looks for them.

The lightforged are just meh.. not nearly enough customization.

I know everyone here hates the VE because they are "forced" but they have far more customization than the lightforged, and can really be made to look a lot different than the standard "vamp" look that goes with the heritage set. If I was going to race change right now, I'd go with VE (but not touching that heritage set with a 10-foot pole).
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