Speculation... New Races?

So, I wrote about this some time ago, right when MMO-Champion first talked about it. Boubouille, a member of the MMO-Champion team, did some crazy data-mining and found some interesting halloween masks of Goblins and what looked like Worgen. Based on his findings, he determined that these would be the new races in the next expansion, which people are now calling Cataclysm, a name Blizzard patented recently. Most of the WoW sites are now more or less saying this is true and stating it as almost-fact.

Also, as I mentioned before, all those who are following this train of thought agree at this point that the Goblins will be aligned with the Horde and the Worgen will be aligned with the Alliance. It makes sense. Goblins have always leaned a little towards the Horde side of things, giving them more support with Zeppelins and shredders for tearing down Ashenvale forest and things. Well, I say give, but I guess what I mean is that they have a long-standing business relationship with the Horde, and those Zeppelin Goblins sure don't like the Alliance. Ever get on a Horde zeppelin as an Alliance..? Yeah. Those little green bastards are mean.

I imagine, if I were one of the writers for Blizzard, that the playable Goblins would be from a different merchant group than the current goblins. The Steamwheedle Cartel and the Venture Co. are already in game, one neutral and one hostile. So these playable Goblins would just be another Trading Prince's faction that chooses to join the Horde, perhaps as mercenaries. I would also guess that the classes available to the Goblins would be similar to the ones open to the Gnomes... things like rogue, warrior, warlock... but no healing class. Something tells me they're specifically meant to be the Horde equivalent of the "tiny" race.

I'm actually more excited about the Worgen. My guess is that Blizzard will finally open up the Greymane wall and reveal a totally Worgified Gilneas. While I realize that Arugal was in the vicinity of the wall for a long time, I don't think these Worgen will be of his making. Perhaps the Night Elf who first received the Scythe of Elune entered Gilneas and used it there... maybe they went there on their own... who knows. Regardless, it will be interesting how the writers tie them into the overarching storyline of the World... of Warcraft.

I'd guess they'd have similar classes to humans, though perhaps not a healing class... except maybe shaman. Warrior, rogue, mage... those sound good for Worgen. I doubt they'll be warlocks, as they despise the "Emerald Flame," essentially the Burning Legion. They are well attuned to magics as well. The Worgen from the other dimension are known to be very vicious and territorial, though, so it's still unclear how they tie to the Alliance, aside from Gilneas. Like I said, I'm interested in how Blizz will work them into the story in a believable way.

Regardless, I'll roll at least one of each. Who doesn't want a goblin? "I'VE GOT WHAT YOU NEED!" The worgen are just oozing "cool factor"... maybe I should make place-holder toons to get the names I want. While I'm not totally sure what I'd name a goblin, if I rolled a Worgen on ED, I'd probably name it something like... Aconitum or Vulparia. Or maybe Usiaslau. The first two names come from the plant known colloquially as "monkshood" or "wolfsbane" and the third was the name of a Belarusian prince who lived during the 11th century that was thought to turn into a wolf. Obviously the first and third are male names, while I'd make Vulparia a female. Goblin names tend to be like: Rizzo, Vark, or Guido. They're meant to be funny, seriously. :D

God, I can't wait for Cataclysm. The only drawback? All the new Worgen that will be called:

Xxjacobxblackxx, jacobblack, jaccob, and Lupin. Maybe throw in a Cujo and Lucian for good measure.

*sigh*