So you’ve decided you want to roll with the Alliance, have you? Before committing to that decision, there are a number of important things to consider. Chief among them is what race you want to play, but there are other factors as well. Here are a few quick points about the Alliance:

• Contrary to popular opinion, the Alliance are not “the good guys”.  I’ll spare you the details (they’re readily available if you search online) but the Alliance’s history is rife with racism, genocide, greed, arrogance, and unfettered ambition.  Though the Horde is not exactly a paragon of virtue either, most of their evil acts are the result of manipulation by higher powers…  Except for the undead.  They’re just straight up evil.
• Despite enjoying a healthy population advantage at release, the Alliance has become the less popular faction, with population balances shifting in favor of the Horde since the release of the Burning Crusade.
• Though I refuse to comment on whether or not I share the common opinion that the developers favor the Horde, it is clear through several in-game story arcs that the Horde NPCs are more fully fleshed out than those of the Alliance.  I won’t ruin any plot points for you, but suffice it to say that after leveling both Alliance and Horde characters to 80, I feel a lot more connected with the Horde NPCs than I do the Alliance.

If you’re still committed to playing as an Alliance character, you’re going to want to consider what race you want to play.  I’ve got some info that should help you decide on your race if you haven’t already.

What Alliance Race Should I Play?

Obviously, your choice of races will be limited by the class you want to play.  Let me just get one important thing out of the way here:  If the look of your character is important to you, play what will make you happy.  You’re going to have to stare at that character for 80 levels (85 when Cataclysm comes out!) so if you don’t like the look of them, you’re going to have a long time to regret it.  Now, here’s my personal input on each race:

Human - I like to consider Humans the “easy” choice.  Their racial abilities are good for PVE (Diplomacy, Sword and Mace Expertise) and good for PVP (Every Man For Himself, Perception), they look decent in plate, leather, or cloth, and their animations range from tolerable (males) to cool (females).  I don’t know if I would call them the best choice for any given class, but if you’re not sure what race you want to play or whether you want to focus on PVE or PVP, Humans are the safe choice.  Personal experience?  I have a level 72 (may be higher by the time you read this) Human female rogue.  I’m a big fan of the Human female stealth animation.

Dwarf - The greedy alcoholics of WoW, Dwarves make a great choice for tank classes due to their Stoneform ability (which also doubles as a handy anti-rogue tool in PVP).  Their Gun Specialization makes them a solid choice for hunters as well, especially if you plan to focus on PVE.  Though Cold resistance and Treasure Finding are rarely game-breaking, there will be times that you’ll be happy to have them.  In my oh so humble opinion, Dwarves make the best Protection Paladins, which is why I happened to roll one as my very first character back at release.  Sadly, that character was lost when my first account was hacked by thieving gold farmers by way of keylogger.  On a related note, kids, if you don’t have a Blizzard authenticator, they’re worth a lot more than they cost… Particularly the (free!) iPhone app.  So yeah, tangents aside, Prot Pally = Dwarf.

Gnome - Yay, midgets!  Gnomes are like fun-sized (or SD, if you’re a fan of anime lingo) versions of the different classes.  Don’t be fooled though, these pint-sized folk are a force to be reckoned with.  Somehow, they manage to pack even more brainpower into their tiny little heads than any other race in WoW (completely defying evolutionary biology as we know it!) and get 5% to Intellect and a bonus to Engineering as well.  Escape Artist is a potent PVP talent, and occasionally comes in handy in PVE as well.  Gnomes make a great choice for a PVP Warrior or Rogue due to Escape Artist, and thanks to the Int boost they make excellent casters as well.

Night Elf - From release until the Burning Crusade expansion dropped, there were few words that inspired greater loathing than the phrase “Night Elf Rogue”.  Now that some time has passed and “says the Night Elf Rogue” is no longer a surefire way of instantly refuting any point said rogue could ever hope to make, I can give my honest opinion of the Night Elf race without setting future players up for crucifixion.  It’s like this…  Night Elves are the “cool” race of the Alliance.  From the awesome (but annoying) flip to their flashy attack animations, it’s not really a surprise that they achieved instant popularity.  Their similarity to the Drow of R.A. Salvatore’s “Dark Elf” series certainly helped, as well, as the legions of Night Elf Rogues, Hunters, and Warriors with variations of Drizzt, Jarlaxle, and Zaknafein will gladly tell you.

From a min/maxer standpoint, their racials really aren’t that great.  2% miss chance helps out tanks, as does their bonus to nature resistance.  Shadowmeld is moderately useful in PVE and PVP, particularly if you like to go AFK a lot, and Wisp Form (AKA Improved Death) is actually kind of insulting, but I guess it’s helpful if you’re terrible or have really unfortunate luck with groupmates.  Night Elves currently make the best Druids, although once Cataclysm comes out, that will be debatable.

Draenei - Everyone loves the blueberry space goats!  They’ve got excellent racials for pretty much any class, and if you don’t mind having a tail and going barefoot for the whole game they look pretty cool too.  For Paladins, Priests, and Shamans, Gift of the Naaru is an extra mana-free heal over time spell to help with keeping the tank topped off while they heal the DPS, or a quick refill when you know the warlock who pulled aggro came close enough to death to not do it again.  For Hunters, Mages, and Warriors, it’s great to top up your health while your leveling or PVPing and it’s not practical to stop and eat or bandage.  Heroic Presence increases your chance to hit with all spells and attacks by 1%, and it works for your party members too!  Gemcutting and Shadow resistance aren’t exactly top notch, but Jewelcrafting is an awesome profession to have and the boost doesn’t hurt, and you never know when resisting Fear or Shadowbolt might save your big blue booty.  Draenei make the best Shamans Alliance side due to process of elimination, and even after Cataclysm they will most likely remain the Shaman of choice unless you’re enticed by the idea of playing a fat alcoholic hippie.  Overall, Draenei is a well-rounded choice for any class.

Worgen - So you want to be a werewolf.  Worgen have some excellent racials that tend to lean more towards the melee side of things, so it’s great that they are able to be Warriors, Rogues, Death Knights, Druids, and to a lesser extent, Hunters.  Darkflight gives them a racial version of sprint, allowing an extra tool for closing to melee against enemies that snare and run or for PVP, and grants casters an additional way to escape melee if they’re not snared.  Viciousness is a straight 1% crit bonus that applies to melee, casting, ranged damage, and healing, which is great for any class.  Flayer will come in handy if you plan on making your worgen a skinner, as it makes skinning substantially quicker.  Finally, Aberration is our token resistance talent, but it is definitely one of the most useful, providing a bonus in resistance to both Nature and Shadow effects.  This comes in especially handy in PVP, as Priests and Warlocks rely on Shadow for crowd control, and Druids rely on nature for the same reason, so a lucky resist could make the difference between winning or losing an arena match.  I suppose I should mention that Worgen are also easily the most badass looking race Alliance side, and are on par with Humans for versatility and racial advantages in both PVE and PVP.