Henhouse wrote: If these race/class changes are true, then I'm pissed. Seriously, do you realize how lore-killing that is. A tauren Paladin? Paladin's were sacred to Humans and High Elves. You were inducted into the Knights of the Silver Hand and upholders of the Light. How in the world does this makes sense? I really am getting annoyed with these changes, if at all the are real.
Here's a solid explanation.
Original post:
http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=93922.0
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I noticed there was a lot of confusion surrounding the lore of these new additions, but, rest assured, that if properly investigated it can be shown that these additions do indeed make sense!
Yes, these do contain some amount of speculation in to how they will fit into the lore, but I trust you are all smart enough people to tell when I wander into the realm of speculation and guesswork!
* Human Hunter
Humans have long been proficient in the art of hunting and trapping wildlife, and while it was their Elven allies that wielded the bow and arrow in wars past, many humans have been shown to be quite adept at the art, one even managed to achieve the rank of Ranger Lord before being turned the Scourge. He is more commonly known as Nathanos Blightcaller. And in Northrend, much of the Grizzly Hills is occupied by human hunters and trappers.
Early concept art has been unearthed of Human Hunters, perhaps showing they were an originally intended class.
Human Hunter:
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/6910/w ... se005c.jpg
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/9759 ... se066b.jpg
Thanks to Kanaru for putting these images on Imageshack!
Sources:
http://www.wowwiki.com/Ranger
http://www.wowwiki.com/Amberpine_Lodge
* Orc Mage
Orc mages are quite frankly not that far of a stretch, seeing as Thrall condemns warlock magic, perhaps he has begun to offer magic wielders amongst the orcs training in the art of the magi. There really is a fine line between mages and warlocks, the difference usually being the employment of shadow magic instead of the arcane.
EDIT: A new theory has been suggested that Med'an, who's story is so long winded that I will not repeat but provide a link to, will return to the Orcs since he is a half-orc, and bring with him his amazing mage powers passed down from his father, Medivh, to impress the Orcs and perhaps even begin to teach him the arcane arts.
Credit goes to Envojus for the theory!
Sources:
http://www.wowwiki.com/Mage
http://www.wowwiki.com/Med%27an
* Night Elf Mage
Many people struggle with this one, but I will seek to perhaps even give a quite plausible explanation for the return of the Highborne that is seen in this screenshot (
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/ima ... bornes.jpg). While many people believe that all the Highborne left to become High Elves or Blood Elves, that is not a true. There are many remnants of Highborn, most notably that of the Shendralar, who dwell within Dire Maul. I speculate that since Immol'thar and their Prince Tothreldrin have been slain by adventurers, they have found themselves without a source of power or immortality, leaving them vulnerable to the dangers the demons and ogres pose. So, they send an envoy to Tyrande in order to ask for re-admittance into Night Elven culture but with the catch of being able to practice their magics as long as they do not consume sources of power like Moonwells.
Sources: mmo-champion.com
http://www.wowwiki.com/Dire_Maul
http://www.wowwiki.com/Quest:The_Madness_Within
* Dwarf Mage
It is a little known fact to those who were not involved in the beta that Dwarves could in fact be mages until a last minute change was made by Blizzard. If you look in your manual you received with your copy of vanilla WoW, you will see that Dwarves are listed as having mage as a playable class, showing how last minute a change this was. Quite frankly, there's no reason why they could not be mages, in fact there are famous magi amongst the dwarves, such as Thaurissan. And with such close contact to humans and gnomes, both races with magnificent mages, it seems a small miracle they have to have mages themselves.
Sources:
http://www.wowwiki.com/Sorcerer-thane_Thaurissan
World of Warcraft Manual
* Blood Elf Warrior
Every race has meat shields, and blood elves are shown they are no light weights when it comes to melee combat. It is not implausible for there to be warriors who are not Blood Knights.
Sources: Unrequired.
* Dwarf Shaman
They already exist in the form of the Wildhammer Clan. And, while some may argue that this is a lore lol because Alliance players roll Ironforge dwarves, one would notice that while the Wildhammer Clan once had the distinction of being a seperate, neutral, faction, that is no longer true and they are merely designated as Alliance members.
Sources:
http://www.wowwiki.com/Wildhammer_Clan
* Undead Hunter
Once again, there are many humans who proved themselves quite able hunters in life, that could very well carry over into death, as in the case of Nathanos Blightcaller. Perhaps the Blightcaller provides training and acts as the leader for up and coming undead hunters?
Sources: See Human Hunter
* Tauren Paladin
Personally, I believe the Taurens gaining usage of the Light is perhaps the biggest stretch out of all of these. But perhaps the Tauren do not tap into the Light as Humans and Blood Elves do, but rather through their "sun god". There is already evidence of some druids beginning to experiment in the usage of the Light, and with proper training applied, an eight foot tall cow-man clad in armor and the power of the light would be a formidable force indeed.
Sources:
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/ima ... eagues.jpg
* Tauren Priest
Tauren Priests could be those who did not posses the physical strength to become Paladins, yet still heard the calling of the Light. And of course, when there is Light, there will always be those who embrace the shadow.
EDIT: There are sketches in the Collector's Edition Artbook that came with vanilla WoW that do depict Tauren priests. This could be another case like the Dwarf Mage. I will attempt to find copies of this art and post them soon. (8/15 4:54 CST)
Pictures have been found and can be viewed below, credit once again to Kanaru.
Tauren Priest:
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/4788 ... se065b.jpg
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/2986/w ... se007c.jpg
Sources: See Tauren Paladin.
* Gnome Priest
Gnome Priests may seem an odd decision at first, but take a moment to consider the mindset of the gnomes. They are curious beings who wish to understand everything around them, and what surrounds them is the Light. Every other race besides the Gnomes in the Alliance has priests, it is no wonder that they have not sought to study the art of healing through the Light sooner. I could see them perhaps taking a much more methodical approach, rather than the religious approach of the other races.
Sources:
http://www.wowwiki.com/Gnomes
* Troll Druid
Once again, seemingly another "WTF?!" choice, but this one is even simpler to apply and understand. Essentially every troll raid and almost every troll instances involves cases of trolls taking on the forms of animals or the essence of the animal. Usually this is attributed the Loas. It seems likely that the trolls will learn to shapeshift in a controlled manner into a select number of species by invoking the name of these "Loas". Under sources you can find a list of every troll themed instance with a case of troll transformation!
Sources:
http://www.wowwiki.com/Loa
http://www.wowwiki.com/Zul%27Gurub
http://www.wowwiki.com/Zul%27Aman
http://www.wowwiki.com/Gundrak
http://www.wowwiki.com/The_Prophet_Tharon%27ja
I am completely open to any discussion of the above, and I will gladly answer any questions or make any amends to any mistakes during the above compilation.
Oh and another thing. Blizzard continues to deny us Pre-BC servers. However, they are now taking away the content such as the remake of Onyxia's Lair. Just like Naxx. Only a few more left...
