World
of Warcraft offers
ten playable races:
Dwarves, Gnomes,
Humans, Night Elves,
Draenei, Orcs,
Tauren, Trolls,
Undead and Blood
Elves. Each of these
races has unique
racial traits and
certain playable
classes available to
them. These racial
traits and class
options help them to
accomplish their
goals in the world.
The game's races are
further divided into
two warring
factions: the
Alliance and the
Horde. Characters
can only talk,
group, and create
guilds with players
from their own
faction. Certain
zones and cities in
the world are also
friendly to one
faction while
hostile to the
other. Additionally,
certain quests can
only be completed by
members of one
faction and not the
other.
What new races will
be introduced in the
expansion?
The expansion will
introduce two new
races to World of
Warcraft: the
Draenei race for the
Alliance and the
Blood Elf race for
the Horde.
What are the Blood
Elves?
No longer trusted by
the Alliance, these
former High Elves
have joined the
Horde to hunt down
the demons that
destroyed their
homeland of
Quel'Thalas.
What are the
Draenei?
Descended from the
Eredar, the same
ancient race as
Archimonde, leader
of the Burning
Legion's recently
thwarted invasion of
Azeroth, the Draenei
resisted the demonic
forces that
corrupted their
brethren and fled
their ancient
homeworld, devoting
themselves to ending
the Legion's
apocalyptic crusade.
Why did you decide
to add the Draenei
as the new Alliance
race?
The Draenei visited
many worlds in their
travels and explored
much of the known
cosmos on their
quest to find safe
harbor. During this
exodus they
befriended the
enigmatic Naaru -- a
race of beings with
a deep affinity for
the Holy Light of
Creation that
empowers the
paladins of Azeroth.
The Naaru blessed
the Draenei with
this power in an
effort to help them
in their struggle.
This makes them a
natural ally of the
Alliance races who
embrace this holy
power.
In addition, the
Draenei hold no
affinity for certain
Horde races. They
outright hate the
Orcs, who nearly
drove the Draenei to
extinction in
Outland. And more
recently, the Blood
Elves stole
technology from the
Draenei and also
sabotaged their
dimensional ship,
which crash landed
on Azeroth.
Where did the
Draenei come from?
The Draenei's flight
from the Legion
eventually led them
to a remote,
peaceful world,
which they named
Draenor. In time,
the Draenei met and
befriended the
native Orc clans
that lived on this
tranquil planet. For
many years they
lived peacefully
with their
shamanistic
neighbors, until
Kil'jaeden
discovered their
hiding place and
corrupted the Orcs,
pitting them against
the Draenei. The
Orcs nearly
eradicated the
entire Draenei race
during the ensuing
war. Recently, the
surviving Draenei
fled Outland, and a
small group of these
refugees landed on
Azeroth..
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