Very interesting thread. It shows a interest in the history of the game and its players.

Actually, in WoW for XX amount of money you could pay to respec your race. Racial change has been available in WoW for a long time. But, to me the problem is not many, including myself, can't afford shelling out 25 dollars to change race with a free name change every time I wanted to change my race of a character. With that in mind, knowing your options up front is a good thing.