New Alliance Race | ||
| May 10, 2006 | Stephen Ward | |||
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Well, the World of Warcraft community has been absolutely on fire lately with the rumor that the new Alliance race will be revealed at the E3 2006 convention. I think it’s a brilliant strategy on Blizzard’s part to keep the whole thing a secret. After all, speculation will only get people more excited about the upcoming Burning Crusade expansion. It’s a great marketing tactic, and I feel certain that the release of the expansion itself can’t be very far off after the announcement is made. As for the speculation, I’ve read a number of rumors. There have, of course, been plenty of jokes about Diablo-esque cows, and there have been plenty of perfectly legitimate (if uninformed) guesses about troll offshots, orc offshots, orc/ogre hybrids called Mok’Nathal, Worgen, Draenei, Murlocs (I sincerely hope not), Satyrs, and a race of panda people called Pandaren. There seems to be a concensus that, since the Horde is getting Blood Elves, a “pretty” race, the Alliance will be getting something bestial or monstrous, and most of these suggestions seem to fit the bill. Personally, I’d love to see a race of golems like the warforged of Eberron in Dungeons & Dragons, but nobody has even suggested it so I’m not getting my hopes up. The most likely rumor I’ve heard, which is supposedly leaked information but still not to be regarded as official, is that the Eredar will be the new Alliance race. This rumor gives a new depth to Blizzard’s April Fools joke, which stated that the new Alliance race will be wisps, floating balls of light that can suffer permanent death. Perhaps their assertions that it wasn’t a joke weren’t misleading after all, at least not entirely. The idea here is that, after defeating Archimonde, the wisps assumed the his form and have been in hiding beneath the dead world tree ever since. Honestly, this idea is fine except for one key element. The new Alliance race will, more than likely, be derived from the Outlands like the Blood Elves, making the Draenei or the Mok’Nathal more likely. I can see ways of tying the Eredar idea there, but not the ones that have been proposed. I definitely like the idea of a playable race of demons, as it would compliment the game nicely (after all, there’s already a race of playable undead) and it would certainly bring the whole Burning Crusade concept full-circle. At the moment, of course, the whole thing is still up in the air. Rumors, qualified or not, are all we have to go on until something truly official is announced. Prior to that, it’s a moot debate. I, for one, will be watching E3 with rapt attention, as I’m sure Blizzard wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to steal the show. I’ll be updating this post with new information as I get it, so be sure to check back later. | ||||
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On May 10, 2006, Stephen W. wrote the following comment: Well, apparently only hours after I posted this, the announcement was made at E3. The new playable Alliance race is officially the Draenei. They don’t seem like they’re going to look like the green guys lurking in the Swamp of Sorrows, though. Apparently they’re greyish with tentacles on their foreheads and chins. At any rate, I’ll be sure to post a picture as soon as I get one, and racial traits if any have been revealed. Stay tuned. | ||
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On May 18, 2006, Stephen W. wrote the following comment: Well, I guess with the secret out anyway, Blizzard decided to go ahead and release everything about the Draenei. It didn’t take much looking to figure out their racial traits.
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