Highlights

  • Players can personalize their new Earthen character's backstory during the introductory experience in WoW.
  • Choices include former job, hometown, strengths, and future goals, adding unique flavor to role playing.
  • Similar to previous WoW quests, this feature allows for individuality and personalization similar to other popular MMOs.

World of Warcraft players creating a new Earthen actually get to pick parts of their backstory in the process. Though these choices don’t affect anything about the character in the long run, the options provide a unique flavor that many World of Warcraft players will likely love.

The Earthen are the new Allied Race coming in World of Warcraft: The War Within. These Titan-forged folk have a unique culture, new racial abilities, and a different accent than their Dwarven cousins in World of Warcraft.

world-of-warcraft-earthen-allied-race-ringing-deeps-alpha
Related
World of Warcraft Players Uncover How To Unlock Earthen Allied Race

During Alpha testing, World of Warcraft players discover the numerous steps required to unlock the Earthen Allied Race in the War Within expansion.

However, the Earthen have another feature that sets them apart from any other race in World of Warcraft. During the introductory experience for new Earthen characters in World of Warcraft, players have the opportunity to choose aspects of their backstory and personality. While these choices don’t influence the game in any tangible way, they do provide an awesome way for role players to individualize their new heroes. World of Warcraft fan and the original "Red Shirt Guy" Ian Bates even noticed certain classes got unique options when choosing their character’s former job, sharing some examples on Twitter.

WoW: The War Within Earthen Backstory Options

  • The original job the character did when they were last awakened, which includes several class-specific options.
  • Where in Khaz Algar they used to live.
  • If the character wants to be reassigned to a different job.
  • What their greatest strengths and skills are.
  • Where they want to go in Azeroth.
  • Who they want to become.

Technically, this isn’t the first time World of Warcraft has done something like this. Both the Orc and Draenei Heritage quests from World of Warcraft: Dragonflight let players make individualized choices, with the former offering membership in a clan, and the latter letting characters create a memory stone based on their class and history. Likewise, Night Elf fans got the chance to choose a custom offering while unlocking their missing Heritage set in Patch 10.1.7, and everyone got to choose where a former Primalist enemy was buried during a special epilogue quest in Patch 10.2.7.

Nevertheless, fans love the level of individuality World of Warcraft gives players while creating their Earthen. Many likened it to the customizable origin stories in Guild Wars 2, or the personalized dialogue options of Final Fantasy 14, both of which are lauded by their respective players for their role playing potential. Story enthusiasts were delighted by these options, and hope World of Warcraft continues to emphasize the RP in MMORPG by innovating with this system elsewhere in the future.