In case you missed the big news the other day, it appears that Worgen and Goblins will be the new playable races in the next expansion for WoW. This was all derived from some data-mined textures for new Hallow’s End masks. As per usual, the WoW community has been abuzz with speculation and theorizing.
Everyone’s chiming in with their opinions. In case you couldn’t tell from my post about Worgen from a few months ago, I’m pretty excited about the opportunity to play both races. I’ll likely create new characters to do just that, if this information does turn out to be accurate. Of course, not everyone is as accepting as I am.
Two bloggers in particular have either simply written-off the information as “a spurious easter egg” or are making arguments why the races won’t work.
I’d like to present my thoughts regarding why the inclusion of these races do make sense and why the data-mined information is likely sound. I’ll start off talking about the validity of the assumption that Hallow’s End masks = new playable characters and I’ll probably get to the other part in a follow-up post.
Hallow’s End Masks = New Playable Races
I’m sure these ideas have been expressed elsewhere, but I’m going to collect them here for their easy dissemination (and for my own benefit).
1. All Hallow’s End masks up to this point have represented playable races.
This is an undisputed fact that serves as a solid precedent. If you assert that these are merely Easter eggs, you’re the one stepping out on a limb. Has Blizzard ever leaked “spurious” information to throw players off track regarding upcoming content? I can’t think of a case.
2. The masks feature a female Worgen.
Female Worgen aren’t found anywhere else in the game, to the best of my knowledge. The inclusion of these masks would be their first appearance. Why would the artists go to the trouble of creating female Worgen masks unless they were planning on using that texture elsewhere? If they were simply adding various NPC skins as new mask textures, it seems unlikely that they’d design a whole new gender/race combination for such an insignificant part of the game.
3. The masks feature retouched textures.
Similar to Blood Elves in The Burning Crusade, Goblins and male Worgen are likely to get a texture and model upgrade if they’re used as player races. These three masks clearly showcase redrawn art. Again, why would the artists go to that trouble if these textures weren’t going to be used elsewhere?
There are likely other arguments to support this information as valid, but those are the main three that I’ve seen around the net. Be sure to comment if you have any other good reasons why we should expect to see Goblins and Worgen based on these mask textures.
I’ll update again soon with some more arguments regarding why these races are a good fit for the Horde and Alliance. Of course, you can always read my old post about the Worgen for some of my ideas in the meantime. 
