It’s
hard to keep a straight face when someone in game accuses you of racism
for picking on gnomes, I mean come on – their gnomes for god’s
sake!  On a serious note; just like last week’s look at the
various classes of WoW this article contains no hard facts or pesky
evidence, it’s a purely subjective look with only my opinion as my
guide.  The additions of Worgen and Goblin have created a
surplus
of races in the context of a top 10 list, so were giving you free bonus
content here.



12) Draenei
- In a move that would make Arizona politicians cringe, the Alliance
opened its arms to these crash landed aliens in style="font-style: italic;">The Burning
Crusade.  In addition to stealing the jobs of
honest,
hardworking
shaman everywhere, the Draenei gave the Alliance its first taste of
ugly, at least where the males are concerned. If the race were female
only it would be in the top 5 for sure.



11) Night Elves –
One of the coolest races lore wise, the Night Elves have suffered a
serious setback in the last 6 years. Early adopters of the race
overpopulated the landscape with hunters and rogues which, as per last
week’s top ten, are clearly the worst classes in the game. Perhaps even
more significant of an issue are extremely lackluster racial abilities
like wisp form and shadowmeld – both of which are worthless.



10) Blood Elves
– While Blood Elves have strong racials and an interesting back-story,
their transgression cannot be forgiven. What transgression you ask?
They single handedly ruined the Horde faction and damn near halved both
the median age and IQ of this once mighty army.



9) Gnomes
– Luckily for the little people of Azeroth, style="font-style: italic;">Cataclysm elevated
their
race by adding a useful class to the mix. One of the most universally
loathed races in the lands; Gnomes are subject to both ridicule and
punting by even members of their own faction. It isn’t all bad for
these former lawn ornaments; they have some nice racials and never
doubt the inherent power of pig tails.



8) Tauren
- This tribal race from the plains of Mulgore may be the tastiest in
all of WoW. All jokes about beef, steak and cattle aside; the Tauren
have always been a well represented race in game – but that was mostly
due to it being the only selection for Horde druids. The recent
addition of the paladin class has caused a mild resurgence in the
bovine population.



7) Undead
– No longer mindless slaves, the followers of Sylvanas are a force to
be reckoned with.  Earning major points for having the most
intriguing leader among the Horde, the undead also inhabit the most
interesting major city. Sadly their coolest racial ability was nerfed
into the ground long ago (see what I did there?)



6) Trolls
- With the Cataclysmic
addition of druids to the fold, Trolls have
definitely elevated their status among Azerothians. Troll racials are
perfect for most of the melee DPS classes and they have a great look
and lore, now if only we could get them to shower a bit more often.



5) Humans–
To make it into the top 5 you have to have decent racials, good class
selections and interesting lore. Humans meet all three criteria, but
their models are just so ugly that I have to put them at number
5.  If this were vanilla WoW, Humans would be battling Orcs
for
the top spot, but that ironic ship has long since sailed.



style="font-weight: bold;">4) Dwarves
– Cataclysm
enhanced what were once poor racials and helped elevate Dwarves to
their greatest heights yet. Dwarves also
have a great class selection, a kickass home city and tons of great
lore on their side and, most importantly, they have the best dances in
the game.



3) Worgen –
Being one of two new races introduced in the latest
expansion, it would
be easy to think their ranking was simple infatuation with something
new. It’s actually much shallower than that – it’s because they finally
gave the Alliance a race that could be a druid that wasn’t Night Elves.
Oh, and the whole shapeshifting and one percent to crit helped as well. style="font-weight: bold;">






2) Orcs
– The appearance of this once peaceful race, corrupted by
an ancient
evil, was the catalyst that put the war in the style="font-style: italic;">World of Warcraft.
In
addition to being a seminal race, orcs have amazing racials for caster
and melee dps and they make the best enhancement shaman and DPS
warriors in the game.



1) Goblins –
It’s no
coincidence that the best racials and best starting area would belong
to one of the two races that are only available to those that purchase
Cataclysm.
But aside from being a brilliant selling point, the Goblins
are packed with gadgety goodness and more tricks than a Criss Angel
show. Like the Worgen, the early goblin experience and quest lines are
brilliantly done and have to be played to be appreciated. style="font-weight: bold;">



So
how did your preferred race fare this week? Let us know in the forums
and make sure to check back next week for our next countdown. style="font-weight: bold;">