Skoll Shorties

I mean obviously the timeline at this point would be very different. What I did was to go with the original plan Blizzard had back in 2000 (night elves in Horde and high/blood elves in Alliance, and no Forsaken), and extrapolate from there.

I am still convinced that this plan was better. With NEs in the Horde, it would have a pretty race in it that would also fit in within the broader Horde aesthetic, and NEs themselves would never lose their original savagery and strength, because that's what the Horde is about.

That's basically what the Nightborne slightly became for the Horde. Obviously, the Nightborne aren't as savage as the Night Elves are in comparison but I ultimately think it's a good thing to mix things up with the Horde. With races like the Goblins, Blood Elves, Forsaken, etc.

NB are actually a very bad example. They are refined, aristocratic and do not really have a strong connection to nature: no traits that would have made NEs a perfect Horde race. In fact I think the only Horde trait the NB have is being based on a traditionally evil race (drow)

...I who are you and where have you been to think that the Horde are all about "Evil Races"? What?

Not "evil races", but "based on traditionally evil races". That's actually one of the more defining features of the Horde for me: it basically takes classic fantasy monsters and humanises them.

What if orcs were only warmongers because they were lied to and used? What if trolls were only savages because their original civilisation was destroyed? What if minotaurs were peaceful indigenous people? What if zombies remembered their past lives?

The bad thing about modern Horde lore is that, so, so often, it forgets this "what if". Now orcs are just warmongers and zombies are just zombies. And this is a bit depressing. I just hope that new lore will give the Forsaken justice. They deserve so better.