WoW: Which "unpopular" race do you like best?

Some races in WoW are very popular with players. Humans, for example. Or night elves. Some enjoy more mediocre popularity, such as undead. And then there are female gnomes. Or female tauren. Or female dwarves. You hardly ever see them in WoW. But why is that, really? And do players rightly disdain some of these race-gender combinations?

When looks are above all else

Sure, we all want to play a character that just looks cool and powerful. I'm all about the goggles myself, and I mog each of my characters with the appropriate nose wheel on their face. When there was no transmogrification, I always wanted to have shoulder pieces for my character as soon as possible, just to make him look fancier. I didn't care if they didn't really fit my class.

When it came to choosing a race, I was guided by external characteristics for a long time. For example, I could never imagine playing a female Tauren. No, sorry, that just wasn't possible. But there are a number of races that I think are really cool and that I think are unfairly ranked low or far down in the rankings of most popular races:

• Mechagnomes: Some call them the ugly, diaper-wearing siblings of regular gnomes. But I've always been fascinated by gadgetry, which is why almost all of my characters are engineers and why I've been wanting a Tinkerer class for WoW (buy now €14.99 ) forever.
• Pandaren: When the WoW developers announced the Pandaren people as a playable race, the WoW community's reaction was split - and remains so to this day. Many are of the opinion that the Pandaren do not fit into WoW. But why not? Tauren are nothing more than humanized animals that look kind of cool. Why shouldn't that work with pandas? I, for one, am still proud of my pandaren priest with his chubby belly.
• Kul Tirans: to some they are the epitome of ugliness, to me they are a welcome change from the boring sleek design of "normal" humans. The Kul Tirans represent diversity and the fact that heroes don't always have to conform to a visual ideal - just like male Pandaren.
• Goblins: I still remember how excited I was when Blizzard announced Goblins as a new playable race with Cataclysm. I'd wanted to play a Goblin since Vanilla, which for me was just the right counterpoint to the Gnomes, which were far too well-behaved for me. Little green poison dwarves that you can train to be rogues and then do some real immersive RP with - a dream.

Yes, choosing a race in WoW is and always will be a matter of looks. Some races are visually appealing to a wider range of players and are therefore represented more often. But wouldn't that be a reason to swim against the tide? We all want individual characters. So why not go for a less represented race and stand out from the mass of pretty humans and elves? I for one will not go for a human or blood elf for my next new character. Maybe I'll warm up to the female Tauren at some point ...

What do you think about that? Do you play characters who belong to a rather unpopular race? And what role does the appearance of your race play in your character creation? Do you only decide on the basis of appearance or also on the basis of the background story and the characteristics of the race? We want to know your opinion: Write it down in the comments below!

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