As you have no doubt surmised from the title of this thread, I would really like to see the new horde paladin race be Forsaken rather than tauren. There are multiple reasons behind this, which I'll touch on here.

Greetings. I come before you today with a plea. I realize that even in this very early stage of development, a change such as this would be considered rather large. However, I feel it is immensely important and would like to have a few moments of your time to at least consider this proposal.

As you have no doubt surmised from the title of this thread, I would really like to see the new horde paladin race be Forsaken rather than tauren. There are multiple reasons behind this, which I'll touch on here.

First off, there's been a whole lot of drama about some of the new class-race combos lore-wise. Tauren paladins and night elf mages, among others, come to mind. For the most part, this has been dismissed by the "desperate times call for desperate measures" excuse.

That absolutely does not work in the case of a tauren paladin. History has taught us that the wake of a catastrophe only strengthens the convictions of a community, particularly in the case of religion. Tauren suddenly turning their back on shamanism and to the Light is confusing and preposterous. The tension between the race, split in its beliefs, would vastly weaken tauren as a whole and create an awkward, false sense of unease both in game and when looking at the lore from and outsider's point of view. It is a classic case of Blizzard deciding what they want and making up the lore for it afterward.

Why the Forsaken was not the obvious choice for a horde paladin to begin with is beyond me. Not only is the lore for it already built in, it makes way for some pretty epic story telling and quest lines. Humans, once followers of the light, fallen in battle and risen from the dead to do the bidding of the scourge now wander free... seeking redemption in the light. Undead paladins would be fantastic and, unlike tauren, would create a natural tension between horde and ally paladins rather than an awkward false one. Alliance humans unsure of what to make of these Forsaken reborn of scourge magic seeking the holy Light once more. There's some great stuff in here.

Not only is there some great lore, but there's also a chance to help take paladins a step in the right direction. Let's not kid ourselves, paladins have been a running joke since World of Warcraft came out. It's unfortunate, seeing as we ARE the lore class in this game. Most all of WoW's story revolves around paladins. While I'm fine with the jokes about nerfs and OPness, bubble hearths and the lot, devoting an entire race to be a joke is a bit insulting. Making up some lore to give the horde a "big" paladin to match the daenei is probably not far off from why Blizzard chose the tauren over the Forsaken, and I'm not really a big fan of that. I realize there are those of you who are looking forward to exactly that, and to those of you I pose the question: after the initial novelty of your "holy cow" wears off, what will be left?

As I mentioned above, the lore they made up makes zero sense, so I'm kind of at a loss for what other reasons they had. Including "holy cow" in the official announcement kind of validated this claim to me. I mean, don't get me wrong - I'm all for WoW humor. That's what makes this game great - Blizz is fantastic about mixing the right amount of seriousness and humor. But this is taking it a step too far.

Blizzard, please consider changing tauren paladins to Forsaken paladins in the next expansion. It wouldn't be the first time you've made a change after announcing something. *coughplainsrunningisstillinthemaunualcough*

Thank you very much for your time.

Invisusira
Smolderthorn, US

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