What I think so far...

[Beowulf]

So anyway this is what I think is happening so far. Noticed I said "I" so I have no clue if im even remotely close to being right. So any way after the TFT Kil'jeaden wasn’t to happy with Illidan so he is pretty much ripping him a new ass hole as we speak, like he did with Ner'zhul. The Blood Elves, Naga and Dreanri(spelling) tried to free him didnt work Blood Elves got banished back to our world. Now knowing the Alliance wouldn’t help Illidan because of Malfurion. They asked the Horde instead. Which makes alot of sense thinking about it and im sure the Orcs want some pay back.

Now I tried to see if the Dreanri(spelling) or the Naga would ask the alliance for help also. But Naga aren’t really liked, and the Dreanri don’t really have an outpost, plus im sure they would let payback blind them, and try to get back at the Orcs. Although I could be wrong. Plus the alliance, don’t really have reason going to outland anyway. They don’t care for Illidan, so it would have to be someone else they went there to save. Maybe the remaining night elves that went with Miaev or even better the alliance Heros.....

So then I was thinking you know they been putting alot of Crap in for the Emerald Dream as of late. Maybe that’s where the alliance focus is going to be geared to, the dream instead of Outland. So maybe the Alliances new race will have something to do with the dream. That even reinforces the Panda aspect even more because im sure they might have druids too. Although I could be wrong, maybe something else, something new. Will see soon, I hope any way just wanted to share my thoughts. :)

[Mecheon]

That's assuming that the Blood Elves are even part of the Horde, which is still open for interpritation

But Maiv's dead. I think she's a Spirit of Vengence right now, interested in hunting down Illidan and slaughtering him, but yeah, that's just my opinion. But she's definantly dead

And the only races that have druids are Tauren, Night Elves, Satyr and Furbolg. How Satyr have them I still don't know, but they have them apparantly

And I don't actually think the Horde would WANT to help Illidan. They may see him as someone trying to corrupt them again or the like

[Ravenclaw2099]

Maive is dead? I don't recall hearing of her death. She was defeated in Outlan, but beyond that I am not sure of her fate.

And I too doubt the Horde would aid Illidan. They have enough matters to deal with ocncerning the Kul Tiras marines and the Shadow Council, among other things.

[Ablamar]

Where can I find that the Furbolgs and Satyrs can be druids? Aren't you supposed to be taught by a keeper of the grove in order to become a druid?

I don't think that it would make sense that if the BE are in the Horde, that they would ask the Horde to help Illidan. Especially since the rumors go that Illidan is a raidboss. Nevermind, we already know he is a raidboss because Blizzard stated that before release of the game (this was said by Rob Pardo during beta). So if the BE are still a part of the Illidan faction as well, they wouldn't want to kill Illidan.

When Outland is indeed a part of the expansion, then the Alliance does want to go there because of the Alliance heroes. But also because of Malfurion fearing that Illidan is losing it. And we know that Outland has a direct access to the Twisting Nether after it became all floating rocks. It is in fact floating inside the Twisting Nether. Both sides would want to fight off the threat of the Burning Legion, aka the Burning Crusade.

[Planet_Buster]

Maiev is dead? Since when? I'm positive she didn't die in TFT, and I don't recall her being addressed since then.

[Kenzuki]

Maiev is dead? Since when? I'm positive she didn't die in TFT, and I don't recall her being addressed since then.

Her bio in Shadows and Light said that Illidan got the best of her on Outland, and she died all alone, with no one to know her sorrow. Or something like that.

[Burgdorn]

Well as far as I'm concerned I believe the Blood Elves are going to use their kinship with Sylvanas to gain acceptance with the horde. Also Thrall really tries to see the best in people, aka Sylvanas, so you can't say he wouldn't turn down the extra help. As for the Dreanian (however you spell it) I think that they could fit in easily with the alliance, they hate the orcs so that should come in handy.

Illidan is nuts and I don't believe anyone will deny that and I could have sworn I remember reading that Maive was very much alive, I need to look for where but she is alive if I remember correctly.

[Ablamar]

Well as far as I'm concerned I believe the Blood Elves are going to use their kinship with Sylvanas to gain acceptance with the horde. Also Thrall really tries to see the best in people, aka Sylvanas, so you can't say he wouldn't turn down the extra help. As for the Dreanian (however you spell it) I think that they could fit in easily with the alliance, they hate the orcs so that should come in handy.

Illidan is nuts and I don't believe anyone will deny that and I could have sworn I remember reading that Maive was very much alive, I need to look for where but she is alive if I remember correctly.

Yep, they hate the Orcs. But what about them and the Blood Elves, aren't they supposed to be allies at the moment? Why would they be on two different factions all of the sudden. Two factions that do kill eachother in and outside the battlegrounds. If they still work for Illidan, why would Illidan let them kill eachother? That wouldn't be a very smart thing to do.

And if they aren't with Illidan anymore, how did they go from being allied to wanting to kill eachother?

Maiev was only alive in TFT. The last we have heard about Maiev was in Shadow and Light, where it indeed states that she is in fact dead. And Shadows and Light was the last book to come out in the Warcraft RPG series, till they release the book about Kalimdor (forgot the name).

Shadows and Light, page 51: "Finally, when Maiev was all but blinded by frustration and vengeance, the Betrayer got the better of her. Maiev died alone on the red sand, unmourned, unsung, with none to remember her fall, her soul empty of all but rage."

[Planet_Buster]

Posted by Kenzuki:
Her bio in Shadows and Light said that Illidan got the best of her on Outland, and she died all alone, with no one to know her sorrow. Or something like that.Aww, thats so lame. I liked Maiev as a character too. We should have at least gotten to play a blood elf mission to kill her or something :P

[Burgdorn]

"her soul empty of all but rage" Oh that could speak of some sort of comeback... ok wishful thinking.

As for the BE and Dreanors, I think that they held and alliance mainly put together by Illidan. If Illidan has somehow gone nuts what would keep them from having a powerstruggle to fill the void, and then seperate into seperate groups. BE are happy with their demonic magic, and we know all to well that Sylvanas approves of taking advantage of the demons, so there are a lot of links there.

I can agree though that Dreanors kinda sit there in space but my main guess is that there is a power struggle with the BE who want to join the undead, leaving the Dreanors feeling a little left out (effectively ending the alliance between the two) so I guess they would see there only possible ally being with the alliance.

I know just trying to think with what I got for info, and how I would like it to work out.

[Inquisitor]

Hmm. Blizz seems pretty comitted to maintaing the two faction system, and I have a hard time faulting them. If a third faction were introduced, not only would that be a massive undertaking but it would present balance problems. Moreover, if they introduced an enirely new alliance of races, that would likely cause a situation where two groups team up against another- in which case we are back to square one with two groups opposing each other. Anyway, to get back to the subject of the BE...

Personally, I think it is very possible to justify their joining the Horde. Take the Forsaken as an example of an unlikely ally. They falsely claimed that they wanted to be purified from corruption, and they were granted entrance to the Horde on that basis. Strategically it was also a strong move in the short term. The BE's teaming up with the Horde might be of a similar case: they might claim to want liberation from demonic corruption, and their powers would be very helpful. An added bonus is that the positioning of their territory gives the Horde more strength to beat back the Scourge. So, I think Blizz can certainly construct a sound basis for including them in the Horde.

A tougher question is: why did they decide to leave Illidan? It is possible that they abandoned him, or that many did. Really, we don't know yet, so I am not going to speculate too much. But methinks Kael'thas might've had a hard time following a crazy leader.

Aside from that, I was quite shocked when I was reading that Italian magazine article. Not so much because the BE were being added, but because their looks were included as a reason. The article left me with the impression that the BE were joining the Horde for mainly cosmetic reasons so that the Horde would have a "pretty" race, instead of ugly ones. I would've hoped that Blizz would view that as a fringe benefit, and I hope that they do, because it is really a shallow reason to change the geopolitical landscape of Azeroth.

But we still are left to wonder what the Alliance's new race will be. The Naga are certainly out of the question. If Illidan't alliance collapsed in the wake of his mental breakdown, then the Draeni are a possibility for the following reasons: if Outland is going to be the big focus then there would likely be expeditionary forces sent by the Alliance and Horde in order to make sure the other faction didn't gain any advantages, and since the Draeni hate the Orcs, their natural inclination would be to help the Alliance. On the other hand, a lot of people have said that the Panderan will be the next race, and that very well might be, but they would need a strong reason to join the Alliance. After all, they have been neutral for some time, and it usually takes a lot to rouse a people out of that state (plus I have heard that they hate Night Elves). Still, not enough information is present at this time to draw any conclusions. However, I suspect that there is a third way for Blizz to go in regards to the new Alliance race, though I can't put my finger on it.

[Ablamar]

I don't think there is any reason to believe that the Pandaren still hate the Night Elves. They only hated them because of their abuse of arcane magics 13,000 years ago. And the NE have completely abandoned all of that. And they have completely turned their empire into using naturebased magic.

The RPG books in fact mostly hint that the Pandaren like the Dwarves the most of all races they interact with. And I would think since the Pandaren hated the NE for their use of arcane magics, that they would absolutely loathe the Blood Elves. This would be enough to tip the scale towards the Alliance for them.

The last book that describes the Pandaren says that most Pandaren lean towards the Alliance and only some towards the Horde. The Blood Elves will not make them admire the Horde. Heck, when those pictures of the Blood Elves are true, they would be able to see the taint of foul demon magic. The Blood Elves have a green glow around their eyes.

And something that I keep on saying about the Draeni. The Blood Elves and Draeni really need to have had some big fight to all of the sudden want to kill eachother. And they can't have been sent out by Illidan either, because he is a raidboss in the Black Citadel. That means the Blood Elves that we can play, will help us kill him when we are questing in that dungeon. But from the sound of the article Blizzard has only added the BE because they are "pretty". I hope that at least that part will be disproven on Friday at Blizzcon. But I can't deny that I think it was indeed the "pretty race" reasoning.

[Inquisitor]

I see. I was unaware that that was the Pandaren's reason for hating the NE. In that case, they might very well be the new Alliance race. Also, it is possible that the BE went through a split, with some of the more hardcore sticking with Illidan in Outland and the rest going back to Quel'Thalas.

[Kenzuki]

I don't think there is any reason to believe that the Pandaren still hate the Night Elves. They only hated them because of their abuse of arcane magics 13,000 years ago. And the NE have completely abandoned all of that. And they have completely turned their empire into using naturebased magic.

The RPG books in fact mostly hint that the Pandaren like the Dwarves the most of all races they interact with. And I would think since the Pandaren hated the NE for their use of arcane magics, that they would absolutely loathe the Blood Elves. This would be enough to tip the scale towards the Alliance for them.

The last book that describes the Pandaren says that most Pandaren lean towards the Alliance and only some towards the Horde. The Blood Elves will not make them admire the Horde. Heck, when those pictures of the Blood Elves are true, they would be able to see the taint of foul demon magic. The Blood Elves have a green glow around their eyes.

And something that I keep on saying about the Draeni. The Blood Elves and Draeni really need to have had some big fight to all of the sudden want to kill eachother. And they can't have been sent out by Illidan either, because he is a raidboss in the Black Citadel. That means the Blood Elves that we can play, will help us kill him when we are questing in that dungeon. But from the sound of the article Blizzard has only added the BE because they are "pretty". I hope that at least that part will be disproven on Friday at Blizzcon. But I can't deny that I think it was indeed the "pretty race" reasoning.

I know if I was a blood elf, I'de want to kill Illidan. (In character here)

1. His naga got me kicked out of the Alliance. Kael'Thas got duped into following Vashj and now the friggin' Alliance wants me dead, my OWN PEOPLE WANT ME DEAD, including my former Fiance, who is now pissed I don't call her now.

2. Now only have I lost my Homeland to the orcs, and then the Undead, I'm now EXILED off of the FREAKEN PLANET. I live on a dusty piece of crap that blew up thanks to the, dun dun dun orcs whom I'm now "helping".

3. So we defeat the demons, take over the Black Citadel, many of my people die, and Illidan is laughing his arse off and say my people have zeal. Then my "fearless leader" sees a dust storm and a huge ass red demon coemso ut and right away my master starts begging for his life, completely ignoring me. Needless to say, I'm starting to have doubts. Maybe I should have joined Goldensword when I had the chance....

4. Ok, here I am, a proud blood elven Captain, and I'm freezing my arse off in the frozen wastes of Northrend, fighting the Scourge who wtfpwnd my homeland already once before. We fight them, and despite us having the advantage of getting there first, our fearless leader blinks in the face of death and loses! He loses and what is worse we have to drag his sorry Kaldorei arse back to Outland! Yeah Finnal's group is starting to look good now.

5. Our master has gone insane, he thinks he defeated Arthas for Elune's sakes, wait did I jsut say Elune? Blast him and his babbling. Basically the troops are worried, and I haven't got laid by a decent girl in three freaken years!!!

6. Now I discover, our proud people are going to lower ourselves to the point of joining the Horde! The orcs, trolls, and undead of all things!!! This is all Illidan's fault, him and the naga! They caused our exile, they caused us to lose our place in the Alliance. I swear, they shall know the wrath of the blood elves!

7. You know what my brothers, we feed on demonic energy and spellcasters right? Guess what Lord Illidan is full of.........*Grins evily* Oh yes, thanks to Lord Illidan we have learned how to feed our addiction, and ironically, thanks to Lord Illidan tonight....we shall feast....

[Planet_Buster]

Ugh, I just hope it's anything but the pandaren for the alliance. Anything else and I will be at least somewhat happy.

[Kenzuki]

Ugh, I just hope it's anything but the pandaren for the alliance. Anything else and I will be at least somewhat happy.

I'm making a Pandaren Wardancer and hitting the Bars, hard! Then I'll go wtfpwn some orcs and go "Kek" alot.

[Ravenclaw2099]

hm, if it came to Chen and his Pandaren joining the Alliance (sill hoping this does not happen), what would he and Rexxar say to another if they met on the battlefield?

[Demkar]

Well a group of Draeni do have an outpost in the Swamp of Sorrows, neutral to both factions when approached.

[Kenzuki]

hm, if it came to Chen and his Pandaren joining the Alliance (sill hoping this does not happen), what would he and Rexxar say to another if they met on the battlefield?


Crouching Mok'Nathol, Hidden Pandaren.

"I bring pandemonium!"

[Planet_Buster]

Posted by Demkar:
Well a group of Draeni do have an outpost in the Swamp of Sorrows, neutral to both factions when approached.If by "neutral" you mean "hostile to the horde", then yes. :p

[Cantus]

Whoa, never realized the Draenai in the Harborage were hostile to the Horde.

[Ravenclaw2099]

Crouching Mok'Nathol, Hidden Pandaren.

"I bring pandemonium!"

LOL, And I assume this battle cry would force them to merge into a Mok'Nathal/Pandaren halfbreed creature that would tear everyone to shreds. :P

Seriously, it would be kinda awkward:

Chen "So...you still with the Horde huh?"
Rexxar: "Yeah...and what up with you and the Alliance? We fought that Kul Tiras army together!"
Chen: "...errr, I was drunk?...again?"
Rexxar: "You're freaking drunk right now! And that's a fern you're punching, not some troll!"
Chen: "Damnit, their hair and these leaves all look the same!"

And I have yet to see the Draenei..I shall head to the Swamps of Sorrows when I get the chance.

[Cantus]

LOL, And I assume this battle cry would force them to merge into a Mok'Nathal/Pandaren halfbreed creature that would tear everyone to shreds. :P

Seriously, it would be kinda awkward:

Chen "So...you still with the Horde huh?"
Rexxar: "Yeah...and what up with you and the Alliance? We fought that Kul Tiras army together!"
Chen: "...errr, I was drunk?...again?"
Rexxar: "You're freaking drunk right now! And that's a fern you're punching, not some troll!"
Chen: "Damnit, their hair and these leaves all look the same!"

And I have yet to see the Draenei..I shall head to the Swamps of Sorrows when I get the chance.

If you have a Horde character, check and see if the Harborage (northern border of SoS, 1/4 into the length give or take) is hostile to them. I know the Alliance can do a few neutral quests, but I don't have a 30+ horde character in my arsenal yet.

[Ablamar]

If you have a Horde character, check and see if the Harborage (northern border of SoS, 1/4 into the length give or take) is hostile to them. I know the Alliance can do a few neutral quests, but I don't have a 30+ horde character in my arsenal yet.

The Harborage is neutral to the Horde. I have done one quest for a Draenei on my Tauren.

[Cantus]

Alright, that makes more sense. I knew the Lost Ones were hostile to an extreme, but I since I watched several Horde scouts (from the nearby town) walking around them unscathed I wasn't sure about the sane Draenai being on their side.