Every World of Warcraft expansion has added new incentives to create new characters - if you're a true altoholic like me, you've made at least one new toon per expansion. Burning Crusade introduced the Blood Elves and Draenei races (and thereby effectively introduced a new class to the Alliance and the Horde, thanks to Blood Elf Paladins and Draenei Shamans.) Wrath of the Lich King gave us the Death Knight class (one of the reasons I still adore Wrath as an expansion.) Cataclysm actually created the biggest influx of new character possibilities, opening up not only two new races, but also a wide assortment of new race-class combinations, ranging from combinations like Human Hunters - which were always conspicuously absent for no particular reason - to ones like Tauren Paladins - which were supported by new lore, conceptually a kind of sweeping cultural change through Tauren society.
It was always suspected after Blizzard copyrighted "Mists of Pandaria" that the Pandarens would become a playable race. Despite the fact that Cataclysm had just introduced us to the Worgen and Goblins less than two years ago, it would seem odd to have an expansion all about the Pandaren homeland without allowing us to play as the Panda-people.
Of course, then there's the fact that the Pandaren are the only new race. BC and Cataclysm both, obviously, had to introduce two new races each - one Horde, one Alliance (while I like the Goblins a lot, I think the Alliance lucked out both times.) There are a couple reasons why I think they didn't just come up with a different race to introduce and give Pandaren to one side or the other (on the whole, they seem a bit more Alliance-like, but that's beside the point.) There is, of course, some lore background that suggests the Pandaren are not really the kind of people to divide themselves along such passionate lines, but I also think that whichever side didn't get the headliner race would feel pretty cheated.
Anyway, what surprised me a bit with the announcement was the introduction of the Monk. This will be the first time they ever introduce a new race along with a new class. Of course, the somewhat unfortunate consequence of this is that, with literally just one new race and one new class (and one new character-slot-per-server) you're going to see an immense influx of Pandaren Monks. We're going to see very, very few non-Pandaren Monks and very, very few non-Monk Pandaren. Because I'm a horrible altoholic, I have ten toons on both my Alliance and Horde servers. Admittedly, I wouldn't be too torn up to throw a couple of those guys on the chopping block (my Troll Druid, perpetually level 30, it seems, whose name is Tuzaka, started life as a hunter. I might reroll him as a Monk, though I'd miss the troll druid forms.)
Anyway, my agonizing over how I'm going to set up my Monk toon (and hopefully Brewmasters will have been given several more coats of paint - not loving it quite yet on the Beta, though I know it's still early) is actually not what I was going to write about here. What I'm actually here to talk about is what sort of new races and classes could be introduced in the future of the game.
Four expansions have set quite a precedent, so I will assume that every expansion will bring us something new. Let's start with the smaller category with a bigger impact: Classes.
First off, I should mention that the introduction of the Death Knight balanced the number of Healers, Tanks, and pure dps classes. Monks, conveniently, keep tanks and healers balanced. I actually doubt we'll see new pure dps classes, because I generally think Blizzard wants people to be more flexible. Also, imagine how long the dungeon queues would be for low-level newbies of a pure dps class when everyone is leveling that class (actually even a 2-role hybrid can cause that problem.)
Demon Hunter:
On one hand, this seems like an obvious addition. Demon Hunter NPCs are in-game, and the concept of their class is pretty flavorful and badass. On the other hand, this seems like it would be yet another melee class. Additionally, a lot of Demon Hunter territory is already occupied by Warlocks - most, if not all of Illidan's moves from Warcraft 3 are already Warlock abilities. Also, at least for now it stands to reason that the next new class should be a Mail-wearing one, as Cloth, Plate, and now Leather all support three classes. DHs really seem like they should wear Leather armor (Illidan's blindfold, the Cursed Vision of Sargeras, is a leather piece after all.) Demon Hunters would make sense as Tanks, Melee Dps, or Ranged Dps (though you'd have to make sure the latter didn't just feel like a Demonology Warlock.)
Battlemage:
The Battlemages we've seen in-game are really just Mages, but reaching out to other RPGs, the Battlemage would be a plate-armored soldier who uses Arcane magic to fight and defend. I should tell you - this class would probably become my Main. Like the Demon Hunter, this feels like a Tank, Melee, and Caster class (the Casters would finally provide another spec to use all that intellect plate!) While Arcane Mages have a (somewhat underdeveloped) time-manipulation theme, I imagine Battlemages could a have a space theme - perhaps using some Titan backstory and giving them abilities like Black Hole and Meteor (a hostile-mob favorite.) Honestly, this is one of those ideas I've put far too much thought into - including a resource system that combines Mana with something called "Charge," which is akin to Rage or Runic Power.
Necromancer:
Supposedly this was actually the first thing they considered as a new class when going in to Wrath of the Lich King. While a Necromancer could work, I think overall the niche is split between Affliction Warlocks and Unholy Death Knights. Really, that's essentially the space Necromancer's exist in - a cross between a Warlock and a Death Knight. One could imagine them being able to heal (imagine a shadow-based healing class. That's cool) but overall I don't know if it would really feel all that unique.
Classes are a tricky thing to do. Death Knights were filling a niche that was always empty (a dark plate class) and Monks go hand in hand with the whole Pandaria/China thing. Most of those flavor-niches are pretty much filled, and you can often squeeze certain classes to fill one role or another (Hunters, for instance, can be military snipers or spiritual one-with-nature types, and Shamans can be anything from Mage-like Elementalists to Witch Doctors to Tribal leaders, etc.) And of course, mechanically classes require a huge amount of work to make them feel unique.
Next up: New Races!
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