Breakfast Topic: How do you decide which race to roll?
by Jake Evers 
Oct 13th 2011 at 8:00AM
Each time you create a new character, you are faced with a few crucial decisions. Which class? Which race? And perhaps most importantly, which hairstyle? When I started my most recent alt, I debated with myself over the best choice of race for quite some time. Here are some of the factors that crossed my mind:
- Class considerations Before Cataclysm, if you wanted to play a druid on the Alliance, rolling a Night Elf was the only option; likewise, Blood Elves were the only ones who could be paladins on the Horde side. Selecting a class first often makes the race decision easier -- unless, of course, you select the warrior class, in which case you won't get any help.
- Pure aesthetics Who wants to look at cow butt for hours on end? 'Nuff said.
- Affinity Perhaps the backstory of a particular race captivates you, reminding you of your own journey or struggles. Perhaps it's easier to put yourself in the shoes of a character who howls at the full moon or eats the corpses of the dead for a quick pick-me-up.
- Racials If you plan to min-max with your character, you may want to select a race with a bonus to stats that actually matter for the character's class. Likewise, it could be helpful to go with a race that has bonus skill points in the profession you hope to learn. Some advantages are just a matter of convenience (e.g., instant flight form). And let's not forget cool effects like Rocket Jump!
- Resemblance When you still can't decide, I suggest rolling a character of a race that looks more like you do. Got lots of back hair? So do Worgen and Tauren. Long ears? You must be an Elf or Troll.
Which factors did you consider when choosing race? Which of them is most important and why?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
BlazingSky Oct 13th 2011 8:07AM
Most of my characters have been decided from an RP standpoint. My warrior and DK were made because of a story I had, along with my dorf Shaman, though that one was because I wanted keg totems. My priest was made so I could have a healer, and the only reason my druid is a Worgen is because I hate the night elves. So I suppose my choice goes from: Story, Utility, and "Isn't a NE"
docbrown Oct 13th 2011 8:23AM
I'm a hordie with a similar philosophy.
Hmm which race? Which one isn't a belf?
LynMars Oct 13th 2011 9:27AM
Similar here. I generally come up with a character concept/storyarc and see what works best; race usually comes naturally from that. There are races I have no affinity for--or am annoyed by their in game aesthetic. For example, Night Elves have great lore and kicked butt in WC3, but in WoW, the character model with its animations just kills it for me.
I realized at one point I had no interest in either my paladin or my mage, and swapped their races, recustomizing completely and retiring the old characters. The new characters that resulted have been much more interesting to play. I'd originally rolled the Human mage at the very end of Classic out of boredom (I did do much endgame then), and the paladin had been my first shot at a Draenei right out of the BC gate. Now the mage is a Draenei (her JC skill had some bearing on that when I waffled) and has a story tied up to 2 pals of mine, and the paladin--who I was delighted to discover kept her Hand of Argus tabard--became a Human who had grown up on Draenor during the 20 years people were trapped there. Before that, I'd only known I wanted a Human paladin with a somewhat unusual background. it was a rare case of character creation for me, but it worked in that instance.
Despite my love of fantasy, I like Humans best and finding new and interesting stories to tell in the setting. I have a few Worgen now, and I'm fond of Draenei. There are aesthetic reasons I don't play Gnomes (too low to the ground for playstyle, and the model seems squished when picking out gear/RP clothing) or most Horde races. I like pretty much all the races' lore, but most of my story options come from Alliance. Most of my friends are primarily Alliance, and that has a lot to do with it, as I like telling stories with them.
Vdiamantepower Oct 14th 2011 12:16AM
Lolz I only play classes I can roll as a NE.... I guess its just me lol
Tod Oct 13th 2011 11:10AM
wierdly..it's size for me.. i find looting and other world interactions annoying when my character is looming over the object.. to that end love gnomes.. also for the same reason avoid pet classes as the pet after combat always seems to go back to it's default position over the mob i'm trying to click on...
goldeneye Oct 14th 2011 2:53AM
So do my patty members I've noticed ..
Mikkhail Oct 13th 2011 8:10AM
A troll rogue just feels right
MattKrotzer Oct 13th 2011 8:51AM
So does Goblin Rogue.
Vorenos Oct 14th 2011 2:10AM
i agree that goblin rogues just seem awesome, but i cant get over the cartoony invisibility animation...
Quark1020 Oct 14th 2011 2:59AM
Orc Warrior, with ax and shield.
LOK'TAR OGAR!
MusedMoose Oct 13th 2011 8:09AM
Here's something that became a consideration that I never expected to: attack animations. I wanted to try playing a paladin, but the two-handed attack animations for the Alliance races that can be paladins just... Ye gods, have you seen the awkward shuffling humans of both sexes do? Seriously. The draenei aren't much better, though the female one was tolerable. I ended up rolling a male dwarf paladin, as the backhand spin thing was decent.
That aside, I'm a roleplayer at heart, so it's really all about what kind of character I want to step into for a few hours. My DK is a draenei because the idea of playing her as being out for her own redemption appealed to me, and my fire mage is a night elf because I liked the idea of her running off to study arcane magic with the gnomes. ^_^ And any Alliance-side warlock I play will be a gnome, because tiny pink-haired death is hilarious.
Mortenebra Oct 13th 2011 9:15AM
I recently got into the animations, too, especially now that I'm rolling melee classes. I love my blood elves' shield-and-weapon and two-handed weapon animations! On the other hand, I can't stand, for example, the male night elf casting animation. A friend once likened it to being constipated.
Erin Oct 13th 2011 11:37AM
Same here! I never considered animations until recently, because my main character since I started playing (late BC) was a blood elf and the spell casting animations of a warlock were nice enough.
Lately I've started leveling a bunch of alts, one of them being another warlock...and man as much as I ADORE everything about the goblins, I cannot STAND that wiggly fingers thing they do when casting! It drives me crazy!
On the other hand (lawl), I just rolled a forsaken priest and I find the casting animations to be downright addicting to watch. I find myself taking screenshots constantly just because I think it looks so cool. So yeah animations are a big factor for me too!
trefpoid Oct 13th 2011 12:04PM
omg, I totally love the finger thingy on my female Goblins, I think it's just hilarious! the same goes for the tiptoeing in their stealth, I'm in love with my tiny rogue :)
I totally agree on animations though. Male Belves just move incredibly, I rolled a female belf paladin and I could not feel the same power from her Shield of the Righteous or Crusader Strike when I remembered how they look on my GF's male pally. I'm a blood elf mage though, and besides the animation for Blizzard, I LOVE how he casts
Matthew Oct 13th 2011 12:32PM
if you think a male nelf is constipated, i wonder what you might think a female goblin is doing?
hint: apparently she keeps her totems in a place that requires constant cleansing with summer's eve, and thats kind of what she's doing.
jevers Oct 13th 2011 12:55PM
Even if one picked a race with lame attack animations, there is always the option of using vanity items that temporarily transform your character into a different race with other, better animations. Yay scuba gear gnome!
Rey Oct 13th 2011 4:43PM
@MusedMoose
Yes, the shuffling that humans do... it annoys me immensely. My human mage is standing around shuffling like he's bored. Makes me want to b*tch-slap him.
exogenesis. Oct 13th 2011 8:10AM
I like races that look nice. I can't really be doing with stooped backs, wrinkled faces, and huge tusks, etc. Most of my characters are blood elves, or goblins, and always female, because generally, they look nicer. My warrior is a male orc simply because... Well, have you SEEN how awesome they look in plate armour?
Alliance side, I'm usually seen playing a draenei female, because again, they generally look nicer.
Necromann Oct 13th 2011 8:10AM
I was told that I could play a zombie and that zombies eat people, so I rolled a forsaken.
Shinae Oct 13th 2011 9:03AM
Hell yeah! That's why my first toon was Forsaken.