Just throwing this out there, but what is everyone's favorite class / race lorewise?
My first two characters (night elf druid and human warlock) were the two that I kept going back to, but now as I think about jumping back in for a bit I'm reassessing my choices.
In Warcraft III, my favorite factions were the Undead and Night Elves, hands down, so I was really into NE lore during Vanilla. Since I also cared about how my character looked, I went with Alliance because I wanted something that looked good and orc females were just not for me.
I really enjoyed playing the druid class, harassing Horde in the Barrens and then running away in Cheetah form. Just a lot of fun in general. My warlock was a lot of fun as I liked RPing the character (since I'm on a RP/PVP server). I wasn't particularly drawn to human lore or aesthetics but I didn't want to play a gnome so that was all I had.
Played for a bit into BC, never leveled a character to max because I just played at my own pace. I'd play for a while, quit, come back during a new expansion, and then quit again after I'd had my fill. Along the way, something happened. I rolled an undead rogue and just fell in love with her. She had a great story behind her, a compelling faction, a lot of room for individual growth. The same with my Draenei Death Knight and my Worgen Warlock.
I don't know if I've changed as a person, but I guess the things I started looking for in my characters changed. Redemption, in the case of my Death Knight and Rogue, were very powerful themes that gave purpose and pathos to my characters. In general, I think the Forsaken are just well done - at least from what I've seen. No one wants anything to do with them. They're part of the Horde only because they have no place left to go. They can't go back to the lives they had, they can't enjoy the taste of food or drink, all emotional ties they've had with loved ones died with their past selves. Even so, they continue to exist and look for meaning in the world.
I'm probably going to start over so I can experience the Cataclysm content. I never made it to Northrend, but I'm worried that once the Arthas story arc is over, my rogue and death knight will feel pretty out of place. Finishing off Arthas, destroying the man that consigned them to their fate, will probably feel like a good place to retire those characters. Guess I'll go back and continue the Worgen after that.
Anyways, not sure where I'm going with this post. Started as something different and then I kind of went off on a tangent so I'll just get back to the question at hand -
What are your favorite races / classes lorewise? The characters, stories, plots that you care about? For me, coming back to the Undercity and Darnassus always feels like I'm coming home.
Races: Forsaken, Worgen, Night Elves ......... Dwarves, Gnomes, Goblins
Just don't like the whole cutesy angle that they were going for with the smaller races.
Classes: Druid, Death Knight, Warlock, Rogue
I'll always have a soft spot for Druid even though I don't really like the Tree Form, Bear Form, or Moonkin. Early druid content and lore just really stuck with me and the class always represented freedom and flexibility. I can't count how many people I've saved with a spare heal or emergency tank in bear form. I can't count how many times cat / cheetah form has saved my life. Also, a lot of great memories of seeing the world in cheetah form.
I've always liked rogues in RPGs. Just the idea of a man / woman who doesn't necessarily possess extraordinary strength, magic, or intelligence who survives on their wits and instincts. I mean, if you think about it, they have to compete with magic slinging mages, demon summoners, shapeshifters, elementalists, death knights and more with nothing more than their daggers and instincts.
So how about you?