The basic idea is being able to play as a NPC that can be normally found in the world.
While leveling, it crossed my mind how interesting it would be if the hostile mobs we face could be a player, at least ocassionally, how much more alive the world could feel. I thought also about how the player is kind of locked within a perception box - their class, race and faction vs the other faction, against the world, but there is more to Azeroth. It'd be interesting to experience it from the perspective of other inhabitants, that strife to survive, have their allies and enemies, their unique goals and place in the world.
Imagine the players creating together Centaurs and organizing a raid on a Tauren village, there could be in-game events that are entirely organized by the players and don't require scripting, sort of a dynamic blend of pve and world pvp, blurrying the line that separates the world and the player. Or one could assume various roles and bring to life NPCs, experience their unique perspective, develop a personal narrative, roleplay as them. From the point of view of alliance/horde players, it would seem as if a mob got a human level AI update. Players could weave together complex stories and situations as various mobs interacting with each other and the two main factions.
This would open up immense roleplaying possibilities and enhance immersion for all parties.
Implementation idea:
Emphasis on the fact that this character would not require the development a regular new race would, like adapting gear to the model, voice acting, racials, animations, new zones, quests etc. It'd only be the mob with what it can already do as an NPC.
It could be done in multiple ways:
A) Possessor — Following the pictures description, once the player enters the world with the chosen mob of a chosen zone, you will be given a character, in an inaccesible location, that will cast a modified mind control on a mob you've chosen, this mind control will last until death of the mob, if it dies, the mind control ends, and will resume once the mob has respawned naturally. The question here is how to make mind control not change to whom the original mob is allied, like the regular mind control does.
B) Impostor — Following the pictures description, the mob you've selected dies, and you appear in it's place as a copy of that mob, the respawn of the original mob is paused while you are logged in with your mob character.
Both A and B are coming from an assumption that it would be possible to select a mob from the database of existing mobs in the world, as well as turn the character creation options into a tool to choose the mob as described in the picture, if yes, then this process would allow the posession of any mob in the game, it could exclude certain mobs that are too powerful (like the sons of arugal) and unique quest mobs. Or reverse, it could include only a database of the rares.
However, if this wouldn't be possible, it would have to be done manually, which means there would be a limited amount of mobs the player could become, one type each zone or a handful of individual mobs representing various hostile races, with a specific level and a zone where they can be normally found. I think their level should be static, but perhaps they could start as the lowest level mob of that zone and be allowed to level up as the highest level one, for example from 30 to 34. To reduce development weight I think the mob should only be able to do what it can as an NPC though, which means only the ability it can already do, no inventory, no equipment, no xp etc. but if the focus is narrowed down to a handful of mob options, perhaps there could be some room for progression and gameplay possibilities outside of plain roleplaying and being able to attack what the original mob was hostile with or help what it was friendly with. In all cases, the following option has a benefit in that the mob wouldn't impede quest completion as the original mobs remain:
C) Trueborn — The chosen mob would not be a specific one in the game, but merely a mob type that exists in the chosen zone. Once the character is made, it is unique, and first time would spawn x yards from another mob of it's type in the selected zone. Upon future log in, the position would remain where it was during the last log out.
D) A Hand-crafted Individual — This would be a special and limited option, on request like the guild houses, perhaps something that could be purchased, to have a player controlled character in the world that is normally an NPC. It'd not exist as a "mob race" during the character creation in this case.
E) Operator — Playing as a mob made possible via in game commands
Various limitations could be imposed so this isn't abused by min/maxers or trolls, for example regarding the player leaving the original zone of the mob (death, teleport back, debuff).
I'd like to also invite fellow players to feel free to share ideas regarding how it could be implemented so it is the least development-heavy, and what rules should apply, what kind of mobs should be playable, should the mob-player drop loot etc, or improvements to the ideas I've presented. Perhaps a player controlling a mob could attack only players that are flagged for pvp.
It could as well not focus on hostile mobs in the world, and involve instead other NPCs in the cities/towns or in the world, for example an Ogre living in the Barrens allied with the Horde, or even open a door to a hybrid pve-pvp dungeon setting where a player could assume the role of an elite mob, or quests given by players to other players. But I'm going off-road here.
Would this be desirable, and would this be feasable? For myself I can say yes to the first question, I believe this would fit in with the roleplay and immersion focus of the server, and I think it could be a yes to the second one as well (but perhaps in a way I didn't envision here).
