WoW: Playable Races Pt. 2 (Horde)

Lately, I've been procrastinating a little with the coding, so I figure I'd still stay productive with some writing. I recently got back in WoW, so my interest in its world and game design has sparked up again. I wrote about the Alliance races (half a year ago), so I'll complete the thought by writing about the Horde.

The Horde

1. Orcs are the core race of the Horde. Similar to their Tolkien inspiration, they are large warmongering brutes. Warcraft also portrays the Orcs with cultural values of honor and shamanism. They originated from Draenor, but traveled through the Dark Portal to invade Azeroth under demonic influence. Even before the demonic influence, their people were in a constant state of tribal warfare. 
• Orc's make for ideal Warriors and Shamans. I actually never played an Orc character to max-level. I did play around on as an Orc Hunter through the first few levels. Their racial provided bonus damage with pets, which made them mathematically superior for Beastmaster Hunters. 
  
  
2. Trolls are one of the founding members of the new Horde. They are tall and lanky; even while hunched over they exceed 7ft tall. Unlike their Orc allies, Trolls are native to Azeroth; in fact they were of the first sentient beings to inhabit the world. The trolls dispersed throughout the world and adapted to the different landscapes (Jungle, Forest, Sand, Ice, etc.). Some Trolls discovered magic wells, which evolved them into Elves.  
• There are variety of Troll subraces, but Darkspear Jungle Trolls is the playable race. There has been interest in having Forest Trolls as a playable allied race. They are distinct for being more green and bulky than their Jungle counterparts; however another green and bulky race may be redundant with the Orcs. Regardless, it shouldn't be much effort to add them to please a few players. 
  
  
  
• I always like the Trolls for their big funny nose and tusks. During Cataclysm, I created a Troll Hunter. I always liked playing Hunters for the animal companions. It felt fun and powerful to control another unit, and even select their specialized talents. I enjoyed this more when they introduced the two-pet talent. I also had a Shadow Priest Troll for the voodoo
• One last point was the distinct sexual dimorphism with Trolls. The Males had exaggerated features (big nose, chin, lanky limbs, slouched), however the Females lacked these racial characteristics. It's the consequence of the art team playing it safe with the audience. The Female Trolls in early builds of the game looked more trollish; however it was revised likely due to player feedback. Females in media are held to a standard of beauty to keep them aesthetically pleasing, at the cost of visual diversity. 
  
  
3. Tauren are the biggest, beefiest members of the Horde. They were introduced in Warcraft III. I actually liked playing the Orcs the most in Warcraft III, and the Tauren were my favorite units to create. They are descendants of the Taunka from Northrend, who had migrated to Kalimdor. Despite their intimidating stature, they are a peaceful and diplomatic race. Their culture draws directly Native Americans, with their feather headdresses, totems, and shamanism. 
• I also never played a Tauren to max level. I suppose I was disappointed that players didn't have access to the big totems shown in official art. 
• Based on their lore,  they are perfect Druids and Shamans. Ironically, these are classes that  don't make use of their massive physique. The best class for that would obviously be Warrior, but they're not as common.
  
  
4. Forsaken are the most edgy, immoral race of the Horde. They were the newest members of the Horde during launch, and it took a lot of liberties for their inclusion to make sense. They diversified the Horde with their gaunt, frail figures, which contrasted with the other muscle monsters. The Forsaken were Lordaeron Humans killed by the Scourge and raised as slaves to the Lich King. Through spiritual willpower, they were able to break free from these clutches. 
• If they were slain Humans that regained control of their Undead bodies, it doesn't make sense that they'd make enemies against the Alliance. Warcraft II was all about the Lordaeron Humans fighting Orcs and Trolls. The Alliance was probably disgusted by them and wished for their extermination. This seems unreasonable since their existence as Undead was beyond their control. 
• The only justification for them to completely heel-turn their allegiances is that death and reanimation had corrupted their souls. The necromancy had warped their personalities and minds into their darkest, evil version. 
• With their thin ghoulish frames, Undead are perfect as casters and Rogues. As mentioned in other posts, they are designed to wield dark magic as Shadow Priests and Warlocks. The Undead Rogue has icon imagery as the Classic world PvP ganker. 
  
  
  
  
  
5. Blood Elves are the most popular, conventionally-attractive race of the Horde. As I touched in a previous post, the Blood Elves are subversion of the Tolkien Elves. They allied with the monstrous Orcs and Trolls, and wielded demonic Fel magic. The Blood Elves were refugees after the destruction of Quel'Thalas by the Scourge; the same onslaught that decimated Lordaeron.  The Forsaken leader Sylvanas Windrunner was slain and risen in the slaughter, so it's logical she would vouch to include them into the Horde. Without access to the Sunwell, the Elves turned to demonic Fel sources to satisfy their magic addiction. This transformed their blue, arcane eyes into green demonic eyes.
• The Horde now feels like it's split into two sub-factions: the "old" Horde (Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, Goblin) and the "new" Horde (Undead, Blood Elves, Nightborne). Their is minimal history and culture shard between these sub-factions, and their alliance is purely out of mutual convenience. 
• I had race-changed my Draenei Paladin into a Blood Elf, with whom I had my best arena experiences with. I admit when they were first released, I thought there were very feminine. However, looking at them now I realize how buff (by realistic standards) and intimidating they could be. They had an elegance like a Bond-villain; one that is highly calculated and ruthless. 
• The Elves' struggle with addiction gives another twist to their portrayal. Their magic affinity was once a source of pride and power, but had become an enslaving drug. Overdosing on Arcane magic degenerates them into Wretched, while too much Fel magic turns them into Felblood Elves. 
• The player population of the Horde is over 30% Blood Elves. The human players are just attracted towards the more human-looking races. Their inclusion into the Horde has upset the classic Horde players, since it disrupted the monstrous aesthetic of the Orcs and Trolls. 
• Alliance players have been bitter for losing the Blood Elves for over 10 years (since 2007). There have been countless threads with over millions of views of fans justifying how High Elves (the original Blood Elves) could be added into the Alliance. The closest that Blizzard has done (and ever will do) was add the Void Elves with normal skin tones. Their demand is evident from the population demographics. Even with the added requirements, the Void Elves population surpasses some of the baseline races (Dwarf, Gnome, Worgen).
  
  
6. Goblins are the short, industrious race of the Horde. Since Warcraft II they've been the brains of the Horde with their inventions canons and flying warships. They're the chaotic, engineering counterpart to the Alliance's Gnomes. Their smaller size gave some needed diversity to the Horde. The Goblin's origins weren't quite developed until their introduction in Cataclysm; it was explained they were primitive Azeroth natives that evolved from consuming magic rocks. 
   
   
• Goblins are actually my favorite race in the Horde. I don't know why; they're wicked, ugly, little creatures. Perhaps that is why! They make for destructive immoral characters, but  without taking themselves too seriously. They provided more levity to the Horde as a sillier race, since the other races were played more straight. 
• When I started playing Horde in Cataclysm, I rerolled to a Goblin Shaman. It was a bizarre race-class combination, and it was confusing why they'd introduce it in the first place. Naturally, I also chose Engineering as his profession. This gave the theme of an ingenuitive Goblin using technology to built special goggles and gadgets to harness the power of the Elements.
  
  
• My other character was a Goblin Warlock (Goblocke). The class-race combination fit perfectly since Goblins have no problem with unethical sources of power. And what better than a little Goblin Destruction Warlock launching out huge Chaos Bolt nukes?! I enjoyed farming older raids to complete transmogs of old Warlock sets. 
7. Pandaren are the only neutral race in the game. I didn't cover them in the Alliance post, so I should discuss them here. The idea of a neutral race was interesting, but wasn't ever revisited. Many fans had speculated this could open the floodgates for other neutral player races, like the Ethreals or Arakkoa. Unfortunately, nothing like this has happened yet.

• As for the Pandarens themselves, I feel... neutral about them. I was never too interested in Pandas in general. However, Mists of Pandaria as an expansion was one of my favorites. The Asian-inspired environments, equipment, and themes looked very nice.
• I did create a Pandaren Warrior (Keung) to play casual content with. I never really played Tanks before, so I leveled him as a Protection Warrior through LFG instances. At max level, I changed him to a Fury Warrior. I only used him for doing daily quests on the Timeless Isle. 

Conclusion

That wraps up the Horde! They're an eclectic group now that had expanded beyond the traditional Orcs, Trolls, and Trolls. The Warcraft lore has to be massaged to justify their cohesion despite their constant internal conflicts. I enjoy the interpretation of the Horde as a group of misfits, who had banded together against a world that wants them gone. The Alliance is portrayed as too pristine and self-righteous, so the more morally-gray Horde is far more relatable.