In the new expansion World of Warcraft Dragonflight players gain access to new race and class combinations. The tauren rogues have particularly fascinated fans, as they were a long-running joke in the community.
What happened? Observant players spotted a new NPC in Thunder Bluff on the PTR and subsequently posted their discovery on reddit.com. There, the post quickly received over 4,200 upvotes.
The community is amused by the role of the newly found NPC. His name is “Boarton Shadetotem” and he is a rogue trainer. This is not unusual in Azeroth, some players might say. But! Because “Boarton Shadetotem” is a rogue trainer and a tauren!
Brian Holinka, Lead Combat Designer at World of Warcraft, had already announced new race and class combinations in spring. Now all races of Azeroth can choose the classes mage, priest, and rogue. The new NPC will thus be implemented as part of these adjustments. WoW makes an ancient joke true: Brings playable tauren rogues.
Why is this combination so unusual? Since the release of World of Warcraft, tauren have been known more as shamans, druids, or warriors. Due to their size, they seemed rather unsuitable for the role of rogues.
When WoW was still in its infancy, the developers had to embellish the game world. This also included the decision that certain races could only choose a limited number of classes. Tauren seemed unsuitable for the rogue role due to their lore, which revolved around living in harmony with nature or about honor and respect.
In the current raid “Vault of the Incarnations,” among others, a tauren shaman plays one of the villains. Check out the video if you want to know how the story continues at the end of the raid.
Developers loosen restrictions on race and class combinations
Were there other limitations? Similar to the tauren, the developers treated other races similarly in the past. For a long time, night elves could not become mages because they had renounced the arcane after the War of the Ancients.
Gnomes could not become priests, as they preferred dealing with their machines and gadgets rather than spiritual matters. Blood elves could not provide warriors, the reasoning was that all blood elf warriors had fallen in battle against Arthas and the scourge.
With the Cataclysm expansion, many restrictions were lifted at that time. In addition to the examples mentioned above, the tauren paladins also became playable since Cataclysm.
In more recent expansions, Blizzard has dealt similarly liberally with classes and races. For example, with the addon Battle for Azeroth, druids were introduced as a class for the allied races of the humans of Kul’Tiras and the Zandalari trolls. Druids were initially limited to night elves and tauren, but with the Cataclysm, worgen and trolls were added. By the way, this is what the moonkin form of the Kul’Tirans looks like.
More freedoms for players
Why did the developers change their stance on races and classes? The reason is actually quite simple. They want to meet the wishes of the players. Restrictions like these can strengthen a game’s narrative because they reinforce the ideas behind certain races and create unique identities, but at the same time, they also prevent players from expressing themselves freely. Therefore, after 18 years the silliest WoW class is now a reality: the tauren rogue.
How does the community react? The community has mostly reacted positively to changes in classes and races. Although there were initially a few critical voices, hardly anyone bothers anymore that tauren can, for example, play paladins or that blood elves can also be warriors.
The tauren rogues have also been received positively. Under the post on Reddit, there are numerous funny comments that remind of old jokes and punchlines from the last years of World of Warcraft.
For example, tauren rogues were said to have been in the game from the beginning. They were so good with their stealth that it simply took a bit longer for normal mortals to discover them.
Chris Clarkie, an NPC in Ashran, will be staring dumbfounded. He vehemently denied the existence of tauren rogues until the end. He insisted that hooves were not suitable for sneaking!
Blizzard is trying to do many things better with Dragonflight. The developers are also not afraid to give ancient quests and NPCs an update: After 18 years, the orc Mankrik is looking for a new wife.
