New Alliance race : void High elves ? (some spoilers)

[Arrashi]

Look, I don't really care about High Elves or Void Elves, but what annoys me is when someone expresses a complete lack of imagination or thought simply because they dislike an idea. Take a second to consider the idea that Void Elves won't be shadowform elves any more than Lightforged are globules of light energy, and not just Draenei with unique features, golden eyes, and metallic "tattoos".

Alleria is our only point of reference for the time being, but it's not like any of her gear is a match for the Void Elf gear either. If they're a race, it's unlikely they'll all be fully trained Void Rangers like her. Gul'dan, the first Orcish Warlock, created a race of fel-enhanced Orcs without training them all as Warlocks. So let's ignore the idea that they'll all be just like Alleria is now. It's possible that Alleria's own High Elf form is going to become Void-tainted as time goes on, and that the effects haven't all set in quite yet.

Void Elves could turn out to be pale with black eyes in the end, rather than covered in purple. I'm not going to hate the idea until I see how they're doing it.

If you want to get really imaginative, give them a parallel to the Lightforged's metal tattoos in the form of black veiny marks as a customization option visible on their body.

This might be offputting to people who want pure High Elves, but fuck them. They're never taking back Quel'thelas, so we may as well distance them from all that entire. Become something new, not just a remnant of the old.

"We changed colors here and there so its completely diffrent !"

People hate void elves because entire concept is weak idea for race. And adding another elven race BUT WITH TWIST is last thing warcraft stagnating lore needs.

[KrakHed]

"We changed colors here and there so its completely diffrent !"

People hate void elves because entire concept is weak idea for race. And adding another elven race BUT WITH TWIST is last thing warcraft stagnating lore needs.

It's changing a race that should be dead into another race. I'm fine with any method used to kill off the High Elves. Ideally, we would also get a number of Tauren and Trolls with a few twists. Not that there are even all that many kinds of Elves that are still recognizably Elves. You've got Highblood Elves, since they're both the same fucking thing, and Night Elves and Nightborne. That's four kinds of Elves at most if you want to stretch it. You've got just as many types of Trolls and Tauren, if not more. The difference is more in what kind of focus they get.

[Arrashi]

It's changing a race that should be dead into another race. I'm fine with any method used to kill off the High Elves. Ideally, we would also get a number of Tauren and Trolls with a few twists. Not that there are even all that many kinds of Elves that are still recognizably Elves. You've got Highblood Elves, since they're both the same fucking thing, and Night Elves and Nightborne. That's four kinds of Elves at most if you want to stretch it. You've got just as many types of Trolls and Tauren, if not more. The difference is more in what kind of focus they get.

The diffrence is that trolls and tauren aren't vomit inducing. And if blizzard was to add "edgier" elves to playable rooster, i doubt most people could hold the puke.

And if you want something new, don't dig up something that should be long forgotten and try to repaint it.

[KrakHed]

The diffrence is that trolls and tauren aren't vomit inducing. And if blizzard was to add "edgier" elves to playable rooster, i doubt most people could hold the puke.

And if you want something new, don't dig up something that should be long forgotten and try to repaint it.

And yet some people like Elves for some reason. I personally don't, but I'm still going to wait and see how the idea pans out. Without freaking out because I'm sick of Elves.

[Zulkhan]

Look, I don't really care about High Elves or Void Elves, but what annoys me is when someone expresses a complete lack of imagination or thought simply because they dislike an idea. Take a second to consider the idea that Void Elves won't be shadowform elves any more than Lightforged are globules of light energy, and not just Draenei with unique features, golden eyes, and metallic "tattoos".

I get you may appreciate a race with a very strong Void theme but to me, be it elves or something else, looks rather weak. Of course, maybe "Void Elf" is a mere placeholder and there's something we couldn't expect behind that but until now (included the weaponry shown so far) everything screamed "usual Void shit" without any particular twist or stretch of imagination. And forgive me if I'm not willing to fantasize a lot about a concept that looks rather unappealing so far. That and, well, my merciful attempt to imagine options that wouldn't utterly shit over our beloved High Elf fanatics. If you're willing to discuss an option that would utterly shit a whole load of crap over the whole High Elf dream, be my honored guest.

Void Elves could turn out to be pale with black eyes in the end, rather than covered in purple. I'm not going to hate the idea until I see how they're doing it.

I don't hate it, I simply doubt it will go anywhere. If it's supposed to do that, we have zero hints on such regard and the few we currently have imply the opposite. But hey, if it's something truly interesting and truly original, something that doesn't merely scream "yay more perfect and beautiful elf butts with Void taints here and there" you'll get me on your boat.

This might be offputting to people who want pure High Elves, but fuck them. They're never taking back Quel'thelas, so we may as well distance them from all that entire. Become something new, not just a remnant of the old.

That looks somewhat complicated as High Elves aren't united, nor share common goals or leadership. It seems pretty hard to justify the transformation of every single "Thalassian who doesn't call himself Blood Elf" into some deeply mutated Void monstrosity.

And yet he's right about you.

He's right about shit. I never argued, not a single time in my life, that High Elves won't happen. I always and I stress the word always argued over the reasons for why it is unlikely to happen or why it would be a terrible idea. That's all. Surely I never sold my opinions as facts nor I deemed people stupid simply because I personally consider the High Elf hype heavily reliant on either nostalgia or the naked desire to play an Alliance-aligned Blood Elf. This is horseshit self-fabricated from that triggered clown of @The Iron Fist who doesn't apparently like to have people around that disagree with him, openly stating to ignore people for frivolous reasons just to strengthen the walls of his echo chamber.

[NuLogic]

Find any High Elf thread and you're guaranteed to see friendlyimmolation, zulkhan, and mehrunes here telling you why high elves won't happen, their opinions are facts, and how you're stupid. I really don't care if High Elves are playable other than I'd love to rub their nose in it. They have so much invested in other people not having something they don't want them (read as; need them) to have that it would just be hysterically funny.

Yeah I haven't been on mmo-c in a while and they're still doing the usual. Reminds me of the sylvanas/undead fanboys and jaina haters.

[Zulkhan]

Yeah I haven't been on mmo-c in a while and they're still doing the usual. Reminds me of the sylvanas/undead fanboys and jaina haters.

"I don't bother to argue so I'll deem all who do and disagree with me evil and dictatorial".

I also imagine you refer to this old gem, where even there the great and mighty Iron Fist shown his superior enlightenment.

[Zulkhan]

I used to hate on high elves when I was more active here D: death to the blue eyed monstrosities D:

And for that you're sorely missed sniper princess!

Btw, regarding the trash talking about opinions sold as facts, rivisiting that old thread made me find this gem:

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...1#post36893974

High Elves will be added as playable at some point if only because of how popular they are amongst the fan base.

Hypocrisy's levels are breaking the charts here.

[KrakHed]

I get you may appreciate a race with a very strong Void theme but to me, be it elves or something else, looks rather weak. Of course, maybe "Void Elf" is a mere placeholder and there's something we couldn't expect behind that but until now (included the weaponry shown so far) everything screamed "usual Void shit" without any particular twist or stretch of imagination. And forgive me if I'm not willing to fantasize a lot about a concept that looks rather unappealing so far. That and, well, my merciful attempt to imagine options that wouldn't utterly shit over our beloved High Elf fanatics. If you're willing to discuss an option that would utterly shit a whole load of crap over the whole High Elf dream, be my honored guest.

Quite frankly, I see the High Elves as being a dead culture, already composed of outliers to the original people of Quel'thelas while pretending to be the pure remnants of it. Rejecting the title of "Blood Elf" which was intended to honor their fallen. Implementing High Elves as they are would just be handing the Alliance the dregs of Thelassian culture, literally just being Alliance Blood Elves except worse.

So, let them go Void themselves, so they'll never be able to draw upon the new Holy Sunwell ever again, and they can stay the fuck out of Silvermoon and go be their own thing without leeching anything more off the Blood Elves. The High Elf dream deserves to die already, and I tolerate no vision of the Void Elves that satisfies that request without a twist.

That's one reason why that one Plaguelands quest where the High Elves all turned themselves into Wretched was great. Because fuck them. They never really had much ground to stand on for being morally superior, and it was nice to see them fall to full blown hypocrisy. High Elves finally casting off their connection to Thalassian culture and moving on as a new thing, perhaps with the assistance of a few shady benefactors, is just what we need to finally be rid of them forever.

[KrakHed]

We have a new race for supreme arcanist elves anyway, better than any blue eyed alliance belf could ever been due to a fount of new lore to tap into. Nightborne should be the death knell of the 'High Elf', complete with their freedom from the Nightwell and millennia of arcane advancement.

Here's the thing. Alliance High Elves would never have been the supreme arcanists. They're already mostly composed of the Elves that spent less time in Silvermoon, and had closer ties to the Alliance than their own people. Most "High Elf" bases are Ranger Lodges. Most of the "supreme arcanists" would likely have remained with the bulk of their people.

[Zulkhan]

<3 I have been slacking here, but that's because other things have me so very busy D:

Life is destinied to fuck us over. In fact, it's basically the recent High Elf threads that drew my attention, before that my presence was evanescent at best.

I think the joke is they were already added, in the Burning Crusade

And one of those jokes rather close to reality.

How funny would it be if the first thing Void Alleria does is kill off the last few 'High Elves' just to crush the hopes and dreams of people who can't roll a blood elf for reasons.

I would mildly enjoy a borderline psychotic Alleria leading the army of 5 High Elves, all of them deformed/disfigured/twisted by Void magic beyond recognition and deprived of their free will. Kinda beating Sylvanas herself on the whole Bitch Queen thingy.

Quite frankly, I see the High Elves as being a dead culture, already composed of outliers to the original people of Quel'thelas while pretending to be the pure remnants of it. Rejecting the title of "Blood Elf" which was intended to honor their fallen. Implementing High Elves as they are would just be handing the Alliance the dregs of Thelassian culture, literally just being Alliance Blood Elves except worse.

So, let them go Void themselves, so they'll never be able to draw upon the new Holy Sunwell ever again, and they can stay the fuck out of Silvermoon and go be their own thing without leeching anything more off the Blood Elves. The High Elf dream deserves to die already, and I tolerate no vision of the Void Elves that satisfies that request without a twist.

That's one reason why that one Plaguelands quest where the High Elves all turned themselves into Wretched was great. Because fuck them. They never really had much ground to stand on for being morally superior, and it was nice to see them fall to full blown hypocrisy. High Elves finally casting off their connection to Thalassian culture and moving on as a new thing, perhaps with the assistance of a few shady benefactors, is just what we need to finally be rid of them forever.

That's a valuable perspective and a good enough summing up of my thoughts on the matter. Adding High Elves as they are would always feel half-assed indeed, no matter how many little twists you add without taking them onto a truly different direction. Getting rid of that half-assed nature completely while turning them into something entirely new would surely feel like hitting two birds with one stone.

[KrakHed]

That's a valuable perspective and a good enough summing up of my thoughts on the matter. Adding High Elves as they are would always feel half-assed indeed, no matter how many little twists you add without taking them onto a truly different direction. Getting rid of that half-assed nature completely while turning them into something entirely new would surely feel like hitting two birds with one stone.

Right. Currently, my main concern with "Void Elves" is the time scale. Is there enough time to give them a distinct identity and aesthetic which isn't just "Blood Elves who never realized red is the new blue"? It'd be interesting to see how they could manage that. While the Void Elf gear does have a noticeably Elvish look to it, it's not really all that Thelassian anymore. And it's not blue. Work would have to be done to build and sell the new identity.

[deviantcultist]

To me, Void Elves are an attempt to finally introduce Dark Elves in WoW through Alleria's Void experiments that may potentially affect the High Elf people following her.

- - - Updated - - -

Right. Currently, my main concern with "Void Elves" is the time scale. Is there enough time to give them a distinct identity and aesthetic which isn't just "Blood Elves who never realized red is the new blue"? It'd be interesting to see how they could manage that. While the Void Elf gear does have a noticeably Elvish look to it, it's not really all that Thelassian anymore. And it's not blue. Work would have to be done to build and sell the new identity.

This is a fair point. No matter how much High Elves get exposed to Void, it takes a lot of time for culture to adjust accordingly. However, what I am thinking is that those Void Elves might have been through the thousand year war that Alleria took part in, therefore being shaped through there rather than right now.
We will have to see.

[KrakHed]

To me, Void Elves are an attempt to finally introduce Dark Elves in WoW through Alleria's Void experiments that may potentially affect the High Elf people following her.

- - - Updated - - -

This is a fair point. No matter how much High Elves get exposed to Void, it takes a lot of time for culture to adjust accordingly. However, what I am thinking is that those Void Elves might have been through the thousand year war that Alleria took part in, therefore being shaped through there rather than right now.
We will have to see.

I always thought the Nightborne were the Dark Elves. With Void Elves, I guess I'll just have to see how they do the Voidy bits. Will some inspiration be taken from fullblown Void corruptions like the Pale Orcs? Who knows? But a creepy pale look would be nice.

[Krunk]

Those new elf models wear robes... are you sure those are player models? They seem more like npcs

[Zulkhan]

Right. Currently, my main concern with "Void Elves" is the time scale. Is there enough time to give them a distinct identity and aesthetic which isn't just "Blood Elves who never realized red is the new blue"? It'd be interesting to see how they could manage that. While the Void Elf gear does have a noticeably Elvish look to it, it's not really all that Thelassian anymore. And it's not blue. Work would have to be done to build and sell the new identity.

That's true. You can't build yourself a new identity and culture over night.

Hell, the whole "thousands years passed in the Twisting Nether" looks like a wasted chance now. Blizzard should have never introduced the Allerian High Elves in TBC and just let them be sucked in the Nether along Alleria, then handle the Void thing in a matter that would have changed them over time, just like Nightborne were changed by the Nightwell. Between the source of that change being a "twisting" force like the Void and that fuckton of time spent there (both to breed and slowly yet gradually shift on both a cultural and physical standpoint) you had literally everything needed to present along Alleria a completely new race full of fresh and unique things.

[KrakHed]

That's true. You can't build yourself a new identity and culture over night.

Ah, but you can borrow one very liberally. Like with the Iron Horde having heavy Goblin influence. Or the original Fel Horde's Legion influence. Both were relatively quick to become industrialized and heavily distant from their roots. But that kind of requires external forces to inspire those changes or be borrowed from.

Which means there might be some chance for Ethereal influence, or other such things.

[Fyersing]

Ah, but you can borrow one very liberally. Like with the Iron Horde having heavy Goblin influence. Or the original Fel Horde's Legion influence. Both were relatively quick to become industrialized and heavily distant from their roots. But that kind of requires external forces to inspire those changes or be borrowed from.

Makes you wonder, what/who would they borrow from in this circumstance?

[KrakHed]

Makes you wonder, what/who would they borrow from in this circumstance?

Well, I get this vague impression that Locus-Walker and the Shadowguard were actually old buddies at one point, who had their disagreements as to methodology yet still retain more or less similar goals. The creation of Void Broken to find those capable of wielding it seems like a deliberate choice on the Shadowguard's part. So if Locus-Walker found something interesting when handing Alleria weird shit for her to eat, he might think he's found himself the ideal race he needs for his purposes.

That's the best guess I have.

[Zulkhan]

Ah, but you can borrow one very liberally. Like with the Iron Horde having heavy Goblin influence. Or the original Fel Horde's Legion influence. Both were relatively quick to become industrialized and heavily distant from their roots. But that kind of requires external forces to inspire those changes or be borrowed from.

Which means there might be some chance for Ethereal influence, or other such things.

Ethereal influence is a possibility and the stronger one I think. I still believe exploiting the ridicolously convenient time fuckery in the Nether was the best option to really come up with something huge but, well, what's done is done I'm afraid.