Disclaimer: It should go without saying, but, the purpose of this is not to criticise everything blizzard does like some sort of judgey person, nor is it an angry rant or whine, it’s just my honest feelings and feedback that comes out of liking this product and the love and time I’ve invested in it. It does not qualify me to judge anybody’s work, and I appreciate the hard work the devs do, - it’s just sharing my observations, feedback on mistakes or lack of clarity here and there. I would hope anyone responding here approaches it with the same attitude when giving their opinions, feedback or criticism and stay respectful to both the blizzard development team and its CM representatives as well as your fellow players, who are also fans like you.
New Alpha build showed all the new race descriptions . They’re mostly good, like it’s short too, but some I do feel need a 2nd pass as could better reflect and might seem a little misleading. Gotta be careful not to erode key identities.
e.g. I play a NElf druid, NElf priest, NElf Mage, and NElf demon hunter - and the NElf description only fits my druid.
Now most are fine, but some do feel rather bland and could do more for the exotic race they are describing. However it’s just minor changes, I feel would be better in some case.
Anyway, here are the new ones below in the first pass. What are your thoughts?
-
Alliance - You are a soldier of the noble Alliance, a coalition of kingdoms dedicated to upholding the ideals of valor and justice across Azeroth.
-
Humans - Hailing from the human kingdom of Stormwind, you follow in the footsteps of brave knights, clever sorcerers, and legendary heroes.
-
Night Elves - As one of the ancient and elusive night elves, you have ventured forth from the sacred forests to aid your allies and defend the wilds.
-
Gnomes - Though you may be small in stature, gnomes bring unrivaled ingenuity and fierce determination to stand tall beside your allies.
-
Draenei - The draenei fled a distant world overcome by demonic corruption. But Azeroth is now your people’s home, and you have sworn to defend it.
-
Worgen - Though the worgen curse infected your home kingdom of Gilneas, you have learned to master your feral rage.
-
Horde - You are a soldier of the mighty Horde, a disparate band of races united in their pursuit of freedom, honor, and glory.
-
Orcs - Though the orcs came to this world seeking conquest, you now stand alongside your allies as fierce defenders of Azeroth.
-
Forsaken - The undead Forsaken may be shunned by the living, but your people are determined to rise above the ruins of the past to forge a new future.
-
Tauren - As one of the wise and noble tauren, you have pledged your physical might and spiritual resolve to honor the legacy of your ancestors.
-
Trolls - Renouncing the savagery of other troll tribes, you and your fellow Darkspear protect Azeroth with cunning ferocity.
-
Blood Elves - Though your people have endured tragedy and betrayal, the blood elves have reclaimed your kingdom’s birthright and seek a bold new destiny.
-
Goblins - As members of the Bilgewater Cartel, you and your fellow goblins have sided with the Horde for the promise of adventure… and profit!
My thoughts: - I’ve treid to find as much to pick at to provide constructive criticism and good feedback. They are my thoughts and opinions on them. Please bear that in mind.
Alliance: Description feels too human, might as well be human kingdoms, and it matches the erosion of racial identity in the alliance that has been very heavily human focused and orientated, which I really don’t like about it.
Horde: Are all the horde races fighting for honour and glory? As a Blood elf, forsaken, Goblin, Tauren am I fighting for glory and honour? I can’t relate entirely, sorry. Are you actually even a soldier?
Troll: How does calling all playable trolls Darkspears if you are now giving customisation for Sand trolls, forest trolls, Ice trolls etc? it doesn’t make sense to play that under this description. It is also ignoring some of the most unique things about the trolls. Where is the Loa or voodoo? Is it only savagery you are renouncing?
Night Elf - seems to be given the druid description: As a Priestess of Elune or a Highborne, or a Demon Hunter - simply can’t relate, why is my purpose now switching from my goddess or the people, or arcane or hunting demons to defending the wilds? That’s a druid’s purpose. Furthermore, neither Highborne nor Demon hunters emerged from the forests
Night elves use to have several focuses and were created to be new type of elf, fusion of the best of the Dark elf and the Forest elf - but this feels like further pushing them exclusively into forest elf trope -which is very bland and frankly doesn’t capture the originality and fullness of the race: I thought they were children of the stars, not children of the trees.
The Stars, the Legion, 10k years of isolation - are things ALL the night elves share in common. It feels the writer is eroding the defining dual identity of the Night elf and homogenising into your typical fantasy forest elf.
Finally:
-
Why is every race a such a saint? what about those looking to play the bad boy race? or prefer something more evil?
-
Key defining events that characterise most races is also gone
-
A few of the descriptions just feel bland and too general, they don’t bring out the flavour of what’s unique or exceptional about the Warcraft race.
I hope they review. Add a degree of mystery to - words like Loa, Legion etc would have ears perk up (figuratively), make them curious about every race.
Possible Suggestions:
-
Troll: "you are a band of likeminded Trolls, united under the cause of the Darkspear, using your powerful connection to the Loa to defend
-
Night Elf: Your enigmatic people have emerged from a 10k vigil against the Burning Legion, dedicated to defending Azeroth against it’s most dire threats
-
Horde: Once a conquering force for war, the horde, defined by.