Why High Elves are no longer needed to, shouldn't, and NEVER will be an allied race

[Deleted]

High Elves being the same as Blood Elves is precisely why they came up with Void Elves. I've lost sight of the point you are trying to make here.

High Elves are as much the same as Blood Elves as either of them are the same as Void Elves. They aren't.

[Gurluas]

The biggest problem with Void Elves is that it doesn't satisfy the reason people wanted High elves.
They wanted the ones who didn't give in to fel and unethical stuff like the Blood elves did.
Instead we get Void elves who were so bad the Blood elves exiled them.

I'd much rather have seen High elves and Blood elves who got trained to become druids and joined the Alliance.
Thas'dorei, Forest elves.

They'd have leafy hair and amber eyes and maybe some could have plant growth on their skin and whatnot.
I'd rather see such a transformation than a void one. But most importantly, they'd be mainly composed of High elves and rogue Blood elves, who found a new path thanks to someone training them, perhaps a Dryad.

With the old High elves pretty much going extinct or rejoining the Blood elves.
That way you'd make everyone happy. You changed High elves enough to be unique, and you kept what made High elves attractive to so many to begin with, their strong will and moral code.

[Obelisk Kai]

High Elves are as much the same as Blood Elves as either of them are the same as Void Elves. They aren't.

That is flat out wrong.

Ion Hazzikostas said Blood Elves are High Elves.

He also said Void Elves are another flavour of High Elves.

So, to summarise.

High Elf = Blood Elf and a Void Elf is a variant of that. A variant is something that differs in some respect from something similar.

And there is no way the political difference between Blood Elves and the Silver Covenant is equivalent to being bathed in and transformed by void magic to the point many have actual tentacles.

[Deleted]

That is flat out wrong.

Ion Hazzikostas said Blood Elves are High Elves.

He also said Void Elves are another flavour of High Elves.

So, to summarise.

High Elf = Blood Elf and a Void Elf is a variant of that. A variant is something that differs in some respect from something similar.

And there is no way the political difference between Blood Elves and the Silver Covenant is equivalent to being bathed in and transformed by void magic to the point many have actual tentacles.

1)
Blood Elves are corrupted by fel energies, High Elves are not.

2)
Saying Void Elves are a flavour of High Elves is pretty meaningless. Void Elves are High Elves that were altered by the void, just like Blood Elves are High Elves that were corrupted by fel energies. So Blood Elves and Void Elves are both different from High Elves. Your point now? High Elves are still a different thing, people will continue to ask for them, as can be seen by the fact that people are not happy with Void Elves and still want High Elves.

[Obelisk Kai]

The biggest problem with Void Elves is that it doesn't satisfy the reason people wanted High elves.
They wanted the ones who didn't give in to fel and unethical stuff like the Blood elves did.
Instead we get Void elves who were so bad the Blood elves exiled them.

Which is why playable High Elves are so damaging to the story. They would be portrayed as perfect elves who never gave in to the harsh reality of their addiction and who stayed steadfastly loyal to their bestest buddies in the Alliance. The Blood Elves would be the traitors and addicts who betrayed everything. The truth being the Alliance High Elves would rather their people succumbed to their addiction and die rather than taking the only option available to them; and then being angry at them for surviving.

I'd much rather have seen High elves and Blood elves who got trained to become druids and joined the Alliance.
Thas'dorei, Forest elves.

You can be a Night Elf druid. Night Elves are the wood elves of this universe. Why do you need more wood elves when you have Night Elves?

They'd have leafy hair and amber eyes and maybe some could have plant growth on their skin and whatnot.

So they'd be even more in tune with nature than the people who have spent the past ten thousand years being attuned to nature.

I'd rather see such a transformation than a void one. But most importantly, they'd be mainly composed of High elves and rogue Blood elves, who found a new path thanks to someone training them, perhaps a Dryad.

Who for some reason wouldn't have shared these secrets with the actual nature worshipping elves that dominated Kalimdor.

With the old High elves pretty much going extinct or rejoining the Blood elves.

Already happened/happening.

That way you'd make everyone happy. You changed High elves enough to be unique, and you kept what made High elves attractive to so many to begin with, their strong will and moral code.

No, it would make you happy. You've ruined Night Elves by proving that all that was required was a High Elf to come along and do what they've been doing, but better.

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1)
Blood Elves are corrupted by fel energies, High Elves are not.

Blood Elves are corrupted by fel energies? Really?

You mean the race now collectively chowing down on a font of Arcane and Holy energy and who have been doing so far longer than they used fel magic to keep themselves sane?

The same font the High Elves of Dalaran are using again?

If there was any corruption it was tiny and they are now on the mother of all detox plans.

2)
Saying Void Elves are a flavour of High Elves is pretty meaningless. Void Elves are High Elves that were altered by the void, just like Blood Elves are High Elves that were corrupted by fel energies. So Blood Elves and Void Elves are both different from High Elves. Your point now? High Elves are still a different thing, people will continue to ask for them, as can be seen by the fact that people are not happy with Void Elves and still want High Elves.

The game director said Blood Elves are High Elves. You are trying to equate the miniscule difference the short term consumption with fel caused in terms of eye colour with the obvious changes caused by being bathed in fel. Do you know what a Blood Elf would really look like if they were as consumed by fel as Void Elves are consumed by Void?



They'd look like that. Blood Elves don't look like that.

[Deleted]

Blood Elves are corrupted by fel energies? Really?

You mean the race now collectively chowing down on a font of Arcane and Holy energy and who have been doing so far longer than they used fel magic to keep themselves sane?

The same font the High Elves of Dalaran are using again?

If there was any corruption it was tiny and they are now on the mother of all detox plans.

Dude, just stop. You're embarrassing yourself.

The game director said Blood Elves are High Elves. You are trying to equate the miniscule difference the short term consumption with fel caused in terms of eye colour with the obvious changes caused by being bathed in fel. Do you know what a Blood Elf would really look like if they were as consumed by fel as Void Elves are consumed by Void?



They'd look like that. Blood Elves don't look like that.

The Game Director is fairly ignorant of lore. And High Elves are a distinct group in the game that are allied very clearly with the Alliance. So just stop, for everyone's sake.

[Obelisk Kai]

Dude, just stop. You're embarrassing yourself.



The Game Director is fairly ignorant of lore. And High Elves are a distinct group in the game that are allied very clearly with the Alliance. So just stop, for everyone's sake.

If you think I am the one embarrassing myself here, as you ignore all evidence that contradicts your own personal fantasy and have reached the point of saying the developers and creators of the game are wrong, then I think you need to look up what that word means.

[Deleted]

If you think I am the one embarrassing myself here, as you ignore all evidence that contradicts your own personal fantasy and have reached the point of saying the developers and creators of the game are wrong, then I think you need to look up what that word means.

None of what you say makes sense. Blood Elves and High Elves are two very distinct groups. Blood Elves are allied with the Horde, High Elves are allied with the Alliance. Give it up.

[TheramoreIsTheBomb]

I don't consider Ion Hazzikostas ignorant when it comes to lore. As game director of the game you have to know your shit and that includes being apart of help checking the story team.

[Obelisk Kai]

I don't consider Ion Hazzikostas ignorant when it comes to lore. As game director of the game you have to know your shit and that includes being apart of help checking the story team.

Watching pro High Elf fans attempt to rationalize away his statement has been one of the more amusing parts of this topic since the Void Elf announcement torpedoed the chances for playable High Elves.

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None of what you say makes sense. Blood Elves and High Elves are two very distinct groups. Blood Elves are allied with the Horde, High Elves are allied with the Alliance. Give it up.

The Game Director disagrees and stated very clearly to those seeking playable High Elves, in a question asking about playable High Elves, that High Elves are playable as Blood Elves as Blood Elves are High Elves.

[Zarc]

I guess OP thinks that we will "NEVER" see Wildhammer Dwarves too. I think part of the point of having Allied Races is that they don't need to be very different at all from some other race(s). Just take the Highmountain Taurens, very slight difference from regular Taurens. They're adding them anyway. Seems very plausible that they would do the same for Wildhammer Dwarves eventually, even though we will already have regular Dwarves and Dark Iron ones at that point. If you believe that is plausible, and I see no reason why you wouldn't, then High Elves are also plausible despite there already being Blood Elves and Void Elves in the game. Even more so if people keep insisting on wanting them, especially considering how little work it would be for them to add them to the mix. I believe most people, like me, who want to be able to play as a High Elf want that because of their rich lore and history, that's what makes it cool for us, not their looks (which is obviously extremely similar to Blood and Void Elves).

So if the aim of this thread was to end the calls for playable High Elves, let me assure you that you - like everyone who came before you - have failed to deliver. The calls will continue. Sorry.

[Faroth]

It wouldn't be the first time they accommodated those who don't want to look how something necessarily should look.

See: The normal skin/customizations they added to all Death Knight races, alongside the undead options. The only unavoidable thing is their blue eyes.

Hard to say they shouldn't look like high elves when Alleria is right there in the game looking like a high elf when she's not all voidy, though.

[Obelisk Kai]

So if the aim of this thread was to end the calls for playable High Elves, let me assure you that you - like everyone who came before you - have failed to deliver. The calls will continue. Sorry.

As long as Blizzard fails to deliver High Elves, as they have for thirteen years (well except that for that one month in January 2007 where they added them into the game) you can call away.

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Hard to say they shouldn't look like high elves when Alleria is right there in the game looking like a high elf when she's not all voidy, though.

She wasn't transformed the same way the rest of them were so I can say that very easily.

[Hawkknight97]

I don't consider Ion Hazzikostas ignorant when it comes to lore. As game director of the game you have to know your shit and that includes being apart of help checking the story team.

Even through half the times the story team doesn't know what to do. Good Examples would be lack of development for Tyrande and other characters, WoD, killing off other characters in the most unsatisfying way like Garrosh, Admiral Tyler, Maraad, Vol'jin, Rhonin, and more, and races still don't make any sense like Void Elves for example. Maybe if Blizzard explained them little bit more maybe they can be the also called high elves that everyone has been asking for years.

[Gurluas]

Which is why playable High Elves are so damaging to the story. They would be portrayed as perfect elves who never gave in to the harsh reality of their addiction and who stayed steadfastly loyal to their bestest buddies in the Alliance. The Blood Elves would be the traitors and addicts who betrayed everything. The truth being the Alliance High Elves would rather their people succumbed to their addiction and die rather than taking the only option available to them; and then being angry at them for surviving.



You can be a Night Elf druid. Night Elves are the wood elves of this universe. Why do you need more wood elves when you have Night Elves?




So they'd be even more in tune with nature than the people who have spent the past ten thousand years being attuned to nature.




Who for some reason wouldn't have shared these secrets with the actual nature worshipping elves that dominated Kalimdor.



Already happened/happening.



No, it would make you happy. You've ruined Night Elves by proving that all that was required was a High Elf to come along and do what they've been doing, but better.

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Blood Elves are corrupted by fel energies? Really?

You mean the race now collectively chowing down on a font of Arcane and Holy energy and who have been doing so far longer than they used fel magic to keep themselves sane?

The same font the High Elves of Dalaran are using again?

If there was any corruption it was tiny and they are now on the mother of all detox plans.



The game director said Blood Elves are High Elves. You are trying to equate the miniscule difference the short term consumption with fel caused in terms of eye colour with the obvious changes caused by being bathed in fel. Do you know what a Blood Elf would really look like if they were as consumed by fel as Void Elves are consumed by Void?



They'd look like that. Blood Elves don't look like that.

Not really, Forest Elves would be changed by nature the same way Void elves were changed by the void. They'd be transformed, part plants.
It could be an accident or something, either way it deals with the main criticism of Void elves. They're worse Blood elves. And no, High elves weren't perfect, many did lose their mind, but they still fought, meditated, suffered and overcame their addiction through such strength.

That is what makes High elves interesting, the fact that instead of giving in to the addiction, they fought it with strong willpower.
Void elves are even worse than Blood elves because Void is worse than Fel and Void elves are changed by the Void.

[TheramoreIsTheBomb]

lol we're not getting another dwarf allied race and dark irons have more distinctive features than wildhammer. their skin is many shades darker, their beards can glow, their eyes can glow. wildhammer only have tattoos with the same skin color as reg dwarves. hmm i wonder what's that similar to? oh right. high elves.
expect an allied race for almost each race in BFA. I bet you money [WOD] Frostwolf or Blackrock Orcs are being formally added for the Horde for Orcs.

[Obelisk Kai]

Not really, Forest Elves would be changed by nature the same way Void elves were changed by the void. They'd be transformed, part plants.
It could be an accident or something, either way it deals with the main criticism of Void elves. They're worse Blood elves. And no, High elves weren't perfect, many did lose their mind, but they still fought, meditated, suffered and overcame their addiction through such strength.

That is what makes High elves interesting, the fact that instead of giving in to the addiction, they fought it with strong willpower.
Void elves are even worse than Blood elves because Void is worse than Fel and Void elves are changed by the Void.

Void elves resume a story arc, elves corrupted by dark magic, that was aborted for the Blood Elves when the Sunwell was restored.

When the Blood Elves no longer needed to feed on fel energy, which they haven't done since the end of sunwell plateau, any potential difference between them and the high elves of dalaran was buried beyond the political.

And the 'I went cold turkey for four years' angle isn't enough of a difference by miles.

[Zarc]

Blood Elves are corrupted by fel energies? Really?

You mean the race now collectively chowing down on a font of Arcane and Holy energy and who have been doing so far longer than they used fel magic to keep themselves sane?

I think it's extremely well-established and widely understood that some genetic alterations caused by a populations heavy exposure to fel magic for a time is permanent, and that those genes passes on to the next generation who may never encounter fel magic ever in their life. As is the case for green-skinned Orcs as well as Blood Elves.

The game director said Blood Elves are High Elves.

No, he said "High Elves are essentially already playable as Blood Elves on the Horde" and that Void Elves is "another flavor of High Elves".

Blood Elves, Void Elves and regular High Elves are all part of the High Elven race in terms of the lore. They all look very similar to each other. Yet we will have Blood Elves and Void Elves as playable races in terms of gameplay. So why not regular High Elves? I am sure a lot of people would want regular Orcs (aka Mag'har Orcs) as a a playable race too, even though you can say the exact same thing for them: "Orcs are essentially already playable as green-skinned Orcs on the Horde".

The Game Director is fairly ignorant of lore. And High Elves are a distinct group in the game that are allied very clearly with the Alliance. So just stop, for everyone's sake.

I wouldn't call him ignorant. I would say that he was right in what he said, but you are also right. And you are saying they are a distinct group in the game available as a playable "race". But what constitutes a "race" for gameplay reasons and what constitutes a race in the lore are two different things.

So when Ion says "Blood Elves are pretty much High Elves" that is true in two senses:
1) Blood Elves look very similar to High Elves
2) Blood Elves are part of the High Elven race, they are simply what green-skinned Orcs are to the otherwise brown Orc race

(Which is exactly what you wrote earlier.)

When they eventually adds brown Orcs to the game I don't think most people will be confused about both green-skinned Orcs and Mag'har Orcs both being part of the Orc race, even though they exist as two distinct playable "races".

[Mirishka]

I've wanted high elves since I saw them in BC, but I'm happy with void elves.

Also OP, Blizz has already said we aren't getting High elves because they're pretty much just blood elves (vice versa, technically, but true). So your whole 'declaration' topic is kinda pointless.

[Zarc]

As long as Blizzard fails to deliver High Elves, as they have for thirteen years (well except that for that one month in January 2007 where they added them into the game) you can call away.

If there ever was a time to call for High Elves it would be in 1-2 years time, when all the initial Allied Races have been implemented along with some we haven't heard about yet. When they're just rolling out all kinds of slight variations. At that point it will be much more likely than at any prior time save before we knew the content of the Burning Crusade that they would actually do it if enough players were asking for it. Doesn't mean it will, of course. But thanks for giving me your approval for calling for it, much appreciated.