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

[Deleted]

i already said my point, your point? That guy posted some interview from 2005 as a proof, that blizz was always decided, that they wont make high elves as a playable race, so i posted ions interview, where he said that art team is excited about talks of subraces - brown orcs, high elves... And i said, that their thoughts are inconsistent,. what else do you need to explain?

I also said mine already, but you tried to dismiss it with a snippy retort. Even if the devs have been aware that some players would like High Elves as a playable race for Alliance, they decided to introduce Voi Elves instead, PROBABLY because they don't think HE are distinct enough from Blood Elves. With playable VE I see playable HE even more unlikely than ever before.

[Obelisk Kai]

and in interview from 2015 Ion talks about brown orcs and high elves as possible subraces.. So i mean you wanted to say, that blizz is inconsistent with their thoughts.

Is causality a foreign concept here or what?

He mentioned High Elves in 2015 when talking about a subrace system.

He tells us that High Elves can't be playable in 2017 after introducing that subrace system when he would have had to vet candidates. He specifically states the reason High Elves aren't playable...because they already are.

Seriously this is actually immensely simple to grasp.

He tossed out High Elves as an example before thinking about it, discounted them when he did think it all through and created a variant as a substitute.

[Fyersing]

He tossed out High Elves as an example before thinking about it, discounted them when he did think it all through and created a variant as a substitute.

I've speculated for years, along with other people who are somewhat reasonable, that if Blizzard elected to implement playable High Elves they would almost certainly create a situation within the narrative that would allow for these "High Elves" to be physiologically distinct from the existing Blood Elves -- this is literally Void Elves.

Personally, I don't really agree with virtually any of the people complaining about getting Void Elves in lieu of High Elves. The VE's are already more culturally distinct than all other elves (or, hell, all other races in general) than the HE's could've been; as well, they're thematically one-of-a-kind in the entirety of the game (perhaps ignoring Ethereals, since there seems to be some overlap).

What I do find to be a legitimate gripe is with the last part of your quoted statement, "discounted them when he did think it all through and created a variant as a substitute", emphasis mine.

As you say, they understood that those who had been asking (repeatedly, for over a decade) for playable High Elves were interested in two things:

• They wanted the model to remain true, or as true as possible, to the understood physical reality of the racial group (i.e. they wanted the Thalassian model, or something similar).
• They wanted the narrative to follow the group(s) that we, the players, have been saddled with since TBC (i.e. Auric Sunchaser, Vereesa Widnrunner, Silver Covenant, etc.)

They delivered on the former, to the extent they were comfortable with, which is entirely acceptable.
They absolutely dropped the ball on the latter -- and what's unfortunate, is the fix is pretty simple: integrate the Silver Covenant into the Void Elves, by force if necessary.

[Obelisk Kai]

I've speculated for years, along with other people who are somewhat reasonable, that if Blizzard elected to implement playable High Elves they would almost certainly create a situation within the narrative that would allow for these "High Elves" to be physiologically distinct from the existing Blood Elves -- this is literally Void Elves.

Personally, I don't really agree with virtually any of the people complaining about getting Void Elves in lieu of High Elves. The VE's are already more culturally distinct than all other elves (or, hell, all other races in general) than the HE's could've been; as well, they're thematically one-of-a-kind in the entirety of the game (perhaps ignoring Ethereals, since there seems to be some overlap).

What I do find to be a legitimate gripe is with the last part of your quoted statement, "discounted them when he did think it all through and created a variant as a substitute", emphasis mine.

As you say, they understood that those who had been asking (repeatedly, for over a decade) for playable High Elves were interested in two things:

• They wanted the model to remain true, or as true as possible, to the understood physical reality of the racial group (i.e. they wanted the Thalassian model, or something similar).
• They wanted the narrative to follow the group(s) that we, the players, have been saddled with since TBC (i.e. Auric Sunchaser, Vereesa Widnrunner, Silver Covenant, etc.)

They delivered on the former, to the extent they were comfortable with, which is entirely acceptable.
They absolutely dropped the ball on the latter -- and what's unfortunate, is the fix is pretty simple: integrate the Silver Covenant into the Void Elves, by force if necessary.

You know that what was asked for wasn't possible.

The story of the High Elves isn't the one where they were driven from Silvermoon, sought refuge in Dalaran and aided the Alliance as best as they could with their paltry numbers.

The story of the High Elves is that they renamed themselves the Blood Elves, were driven out of the Alliance, betrayed by their Prince and joined the Horde.

The tiny group of rebels in Dalaran cannot and must not be seen as the heirs of the High Elf legacy because they aren't. Again, that is the Blood Elves. It's one of the reasons I am so against them playable as the majority of pro High Elf fans want, as the 'blonde and blue eyed Paladin playing' Horde blood elf clone. It will be instantly assumed that these are the real High Elves and that the Blood Elves really are imposters who have hijacked the High Elf storyline, despite an absolutely overwhelming majority of thalassian elves becoming Blood Elves.

The Silver Covenant Elves are faction furniture, same with the Ogres with the Horde, a nod back to the past, a bit of fan service, nothing more and nothing less. If people were truly 'High Elf' fans they would follow the narrative that Blizzard actually wrote for the race rather than trying to scare together the semblance of a storyline for a tiny, absolutely tiny, group who lurk around Dalaran in an attempt to recreate a stereotypical fantasy race alliance that was staid even twenty five years ago in Warcraft 2's relatively shallow lore.

That's how it is for me. The line from the Elven units in the Alliance in Warcraft 2 runs straight from them to the Blood Elf forces in the modern Horde today. It does not run to a small bunch of exiles in Dalaran.


But as you admit, they HAVE to be aware of the demand. Of course they were aware of the demand. There is no way they could not have been aware of the demand.

And when the perfect moment came to introduce them, they created a variant nobody had ever heard of before. For those hoping for playable High Elves on the Alliance, you appear able to admit that this is damning.

Why create Void Elves if High Elves are ever going to be a thing? But so many of those who want playable High Elves are not only incapable of understanding the remorseless logic here; that having gone to the bother of creating a variant of a thalassian elf model for the Alliance, that Blizzard is exceptionally unlikely to ever add High Elves (which as we can all now agree, is a Blood Elf clone in the eyes of the pro High Elf group. That is what is clearly desired given the backlash to Void Elves from this group)...they've seemingly convinced themselves that High Elves are now inevitable despite every sign to the contrary. Including the game director saying it isn't happening!

The Silver Covenant should be removed from the game as they are now though. Void Elves remove the vestigial role, as a foil for the Blood Elves, that they had left.

If they become Void Elves, fine. If they die on the Darkshore with Veressa (personal favorite option. I am only Human and been arguing this for years. I would take a measure of satisfaction in seeing them wiped out at this point just to REALLY crush the hope. Hope can be a terrible thing...it can lead to people waiting over thirteen years for something that isn't going to happen for example when it would be better if they faced the truth and moved on), fine. If they are simply ignored like countless other minor groups are in the WoW universe once their time is done, fine.

But it should be done in the clear knowledge that they are not and never have been the High Elves of the old Warcraft 2 days. Or at least, that they had any sort of equal claim to that history over and above the Blood Elves.

[Syegfryed]

and in interview from 2015 Ion talks about brown orcs and high elves as possible subraces.. So i mean you wanted to say, that blizz is inconsistent with their thoughts.

>they talk about they as possible subraces
>they discuss about then as possible subraces
>they see they can't make HE a subrace
>they decide to give something instead, close enough, to appease the fans
>the fans stills whinnie
>He explain the reasons
>BabyRage

[Deleted]

Now, you may find some succour

Oh goodness.

saying I can't back up what I am saying.

They are saying you are misrepsenting the argument, which is why y'know, you picked on my non-post rather than addressing theres. Because you couldn't.

Do you want to again say your counter point has not been refuted

Oooh, alright, big man. Aren't you tough?

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

Umm...first off, you high elf fanatics are the ones whining and stomping your feet you aren't getting your precious race lol. So get the facts right OK?

I literally said that some high elf fans are not going to stop asking for them unless blizzard has a solid resolution. Like I literally pointed that out and my point is how antis are continuously whining against that, only adding fuel to the fire. The whole point of this thread continued existence is that neither side is going to shut up. And I wold assume that antis, who believe themselves so rational and practical about the issue, would see the futility of trying to talk out high elf fans.

Second, you are welcome to keep shouting and posting till you're blue in the face, but Blizzard is not going to waste time denying every single pathetic demand for clarification on the forums. You can certainly delude yourself thinking you have some kind of massive movement behind you that will force Blizzard to do your bidding.

Am I tho? Am I asking for high elves? Or are you missing the point of what I am saying?

Again, so we are clear. I am not asking for high elves, I don't think we are ever going to get high elves now. I'm pointing out Why other people won't ever stop asking for high elves unless blizzard is 100% clear. I'm telling you this is how literally has been for almost 13 years, not what I think or believe. It's 2018 and we are still having high elf threads, and nothing of what Blizzard has said has served to quell any demand, specially since all the roadbloacks they had previously pointed out have been done with. I believe asking for high elves is futile, yet people will keep doing so unless Blizzard categorically denies any possibility, whether you or I like it or not.

The void elves are as close to playable high elves as you will ever get. So you'll just have to deal with it.

And I am okay with it, I'm already getting my mogs and race changes ready. Yet this is not about me, this is all about all those other people that still hold out hope, and that Blizzard has never been able to categorically refute. Don't hate me for pointing out something that is so clear to see, you literally accomplish nothing by assuming me as some sort of proxy for the high elf movement, this thread itself does nothing to suppress any high elven fanatism, only helps to give more air time to people on their quixotic quest for high elves.

And that's why I point out how utterly meaningless your "input" to this whole issue is.

- - - Updated - - -

>they talk about they as possible subraces
>they discuss about then as possible subraces
>they see they can't make HE a subrace
>they decide to give something instead, close enough, to appease the fans
>the fans stills whinnie
>He explain the reasons
>BabyRage

You know that using bullet points doesn't make a faulty argument any better, right?

In what way do void elves are a compromise to the demand for high elves? They don't have the look, nor do continue the storyline; void elves are literally side-switching blood elves. You might see the demand for high elves as vapid as you want, yet if you don't even attempt to understand what other people are asking, how valuable is your input really?

Void Elves might serve to appease people that wanted to play a blood elf on the alliance, but do almost nothing for people that wanted playable high elves.

[Syegfryed]

You know that using bullet points doesn't make a faulty argument any better, right?

what? its to be more easy to understand, even with that, if you still can't, im sorry for you

In what way do void elves are a compromise to the demand for high elves?

they are the same shit with another color, of course it would not be enough because people want the white and blond elf

They don't have the look,

yeah, no white, no blonde,

or do continue the storyline;

The HE didn't had any storyline tough, just some headcanon people had and some token appearence from silver covenant just to antagonize the Blood elves.

void elves are literally side-switching blood elves.

Any HE is a side-switch Blood elf, be real, The silver covenant elves are just Blood elves who get crazy about sucking mana from mana wyms, they run to the kirin tor and return to the HE name.

Void Elves might serve to appease people that wanted to play a blood elf on the alliance, but do almost nothing for people that wanted playable high elves.

yeah but all this fall underground when people someday finally realize HE= BE

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

what? its to be mroe easy to understand, even with that, if still can't, im sorry for you

is it tho? is it?

they are the same shit with another color, of course it would not be enough because people want the white and blond elf

yeah, no white, no blonde,

Or dark brown, or red, or warm skin tones. So, we agree, void elves do nothing on account of people that wanted that aesthetic on the alliance.

The HE didn't had any storyline tough, just some headcanon people had with silver covenant

What headcanon with the Silver Covenant? Is playing the game and seeing them being, you know, there, is a headcanon now? You can literally go right now to suramar and see the SC standing outside the city, going about stuff, being part of a storyline. Did you miss any of that, or all the previous instances of the Silver Covenant being a presence in game?

Any HE is a side-switch Blood elf, be real, The silver covenant elves are just Blood elves who get crazy about sucking mana for mana wyms, they run to the kirin tor and return to the HE name.

Now, this is a headcanon, lol.

yeah but all this fall underground when people someday finally realize HE=BE

Now, explain why does the simplistic HE=BE has anything to do with people wanting alliance high elves.

[Hugnomo]

I hope Vereesa is the one dead besides Sylvanas in the burning Teldrassil picture and that her silver covenant are wiped out defending it. Problem solved. Fingers crossed.

[Syegfryed]

is it tho? is it?

4Head

Or dark brown, or red, or warm skin tones. So, we agree, void elves do nothing on account of people that wanted that aesthetic on the alliance.

yeah, we can agree the alliance want a copy of the horde race, its pretty obvious at this point.

What headcanon with the Silver Covenant? Is playing the game and seeing them being, you know, there, is a headcanon now? You can literally go right now to suramar and see the SC standing outside the city, going about stuff, being part of a storyline. Did you miss any of that, or all the previous instances of the Silver Covenant being a presence in game?

doing what? what they did? they are just there because it was elf party, they didn't nothing important, they there and not there would make no differance, overshadow by blood and night elves.

The other times were just to be Blood elves antagonists, they exist just to develop blood elf lore.

Now, this is a headcanon, lol.

not if you look the chronology of the events, kael name everyone blood elves, im pretty sure veressa and the rest were part of this, the mana wyrm thing who make the split on the elf society only happened years later when Rommanth came back from Outland

Now, explain why does the simplistic HE=BE has anything to do with people wanting alliance high elves.

If people want high elf playable, and they get Blood elf, and blood elf ARE high elf, the alliance in the end did get their high elf, not equal from the horde elf.

- - - Updated - - -

I hope Vereesa is the one dead besides Sylvanas in the burning Teldrassil picture and that her silver covenant are wiped out defending it. Problem solved. Fingers crossed.

if you look close to the elf besides sylvanas, you can see is a blood/high elf, just the style of clothes who rly remember Alleria and sylvanas outfit when they were rangers, so yeah, the chances are high.

[Fyersing]

You know that what was asked for wasn't possible.

Oh, absolutely.

The pro-HE crowd yearned to continue upon the stories already seeded (i.e. Vereesa, Auric, Silver Covenant, etc.) AND to have models which were virtually identical to the BE's. Blizzard wasn't ever going to allow the latter to happen, for gameplay purposes, but not indulging the former means you've failed to actually appease any of the concerned parties apart from people who're explicitly divested from the narrative (i.e. people who don't care about the story, at all).

The story of the High Elves isn't the one where they were driven from Silvermoon, sought refuge in Dalaran and aided the Alliance as best as they could with their paltry numbers.

The story of the High Elves is that they renamed themselves the Blood Elves, were driven out of the Alliance, betrayed by their Prince and joined the Horde.

What you're talking about is a legacy, which isn't the same thing as a story.

We will agree that the Blood Elves are, legally and culturally, the legitimate successors to the High Elves as they existed prior to the Third War. The majority of the core fantasies (specifically as they relate to their societal focus on magic prowess) are firmly attached to the Blood Elves. This doesn't really affect the High Elves, at all, from a narrative standpoint though. The fact that modern High Elves believe, in their hubris, that it is their political cluster which deserves to carry on the legacy of their forefathers doesn't really matter at all to us (because we see the story from a third perspective, and know that no matter what they believe it isn't true).

If anything, that's an intriguing bit of writing.

The tiny group of rebels in Dalaran cannot and must not be seen as the heirs of the High Elf legacy because they aren't. Again, that is the Blood Elves.

We don't disagree. The fact that the High Elves believe this, doesn't make it so -- but it does make for some interesting conflicts. The fact that a group, in-universe, believes something that is objectively (or subjectively) untrue shouldn't be the metric by which something gets abandoned.

It's one of the reasons I am so against them playable as the majority of pro High Elf fans want, as the 'blonde and blue eyed Paladin playing' Horde blood elf clone. It will be instantly assumed that these are the real High Elves and that the Blood Elves really are imposters who have hijacked the High Elf storyline, despite an absolutely overwhelming majority of thalassian elves becoming Blood Elves.

Agreed.

The Silver Covenant Elves are faction furniture, same with the Ogres with the Horde, a nod back to the past, a bit of fan service, nothing more and nothing less. If people were truly 'High Elf' fans they would follow the narrative that Blizzard actually wrote for the race rather than trying to scare together the semblance of a storyline for a tiny, absolutely tiny, group who lurk around Dalaran in an attempt to recreate a stereotypical fantasy race alliance that was staid even twenty five years ago in Warcraft 2's relatively shallow lore.

I find your position to be almost entirely agreeable, but it's this specific area of discussion that sees your stance slowly slide towards disingenuity. It seems like you're suggesting that it's the fans who are essentially formulating their own narrative as a sort of collective head-canon, which is quite a ways off from the truth.

It wasn't fans who dangled carrots like Auric Sunchaser and Allerian Stronghold, it was Blizzard.
It wasn't fans who implemented the Silver Covenant, it was Blizzard.
It wasn't fans who scribed Alleria Winderunner's persona, it was Blizzard.

That they would become attached to the idea of these High Elves becoming playable, HE's who've been presented as staunch allies for a decade (longer if we're using an in-universe timeframe), shouldn't come as a surprise and it certainly shouldn't treated as something inherently negative. It was Blizzard that got us to this point and instead of fixing it, narratively, they seem to simply be pretending like the HE's direct input towards the universal goals of the Alliance didn't happen. It's cheap and, honestly, it's unnecessary.

That's how it is for me. The line from the Elven units in the Alliance in Warcraft 2 runs straight from them to the Blood Elf forces in the modern Horde today. It does not run to a small bunch of exiles in Dalaran.

I agree. However, this being the case doesn't change the fact that these exiles exist, in-universe, and have for decades. That's my only point.

You want BE's to be the truest successors to the High Elves, pre-Third War? We agree.

You want it understood that BE's fulfill all the expected fantasies of a High Elf? We agree.

You want that "small bunch of exiles in Dalaran", who've been large enough to either functionally lead or participate heavily enough in major conflicts for 5 expansions, to just not exist anymore? We don't agree.

But as you admit, they HAVE to be aware of the demand. Of course they were aware of the demand. There is no way they could not have been aware of the demand.

And when the perfect moment came to introduce them, they created a variant nobody had ever heard of before. For those hoping for playable High Elves on the Alliance, you appear able to admit that this is damning.

It's damning for people who actually thought they'd get a copy-paste of Blood Elves, but on Alliance. I always expected they'd be changed, physically, though I admit I was surprised by the catalyst (Void) as much as anybody else.

Why create Void Elves if High Elves are ever going to be a thing? But so many of those who want playable High Elves are not only incapable of understanding the remorseless logic here; that having gone to the bother of creating a variant of a thalassian elf model for the Alliance, that Blizzard is exceptionally unlikely to ever add High Elves (which as we can all now agree, is a Blood Elf clone in the eyes of the pro High Elf group. That is what is clearly desired given the backlash to Void Elves from this group)...they've seemingly convinced themselves that High Elves are now inevitable despite every sign to the contrary. Including the game director saying it isn't happening!

I won't speak for anybody else, especially since their position isn't one I agree with, but what's important for me is that Blizzard not simply abandon a decade plus of seeding these characters/groups into the Alliance throughout all of this. All of my qualms could be addressed by Blizzard simply iterating that in addition to the "crack squad" of Blood Elves, all (or nearly all) of the existing High Elves either find themselves folded into the structure of the Void Elves. This allows those who were genuine fans of the High Elves presented from TBC to Legion to visualize the history of their character and/or race as being separate and distinct from the "true High Elves", who became Blood Elves, all without even entertaining the notion of putting a copy-paste of BE's on the Alliance.

It costs Blizzard nothing. It wins over some of the Alliance-players who are currently disappointed that HE's were given the finger by Ion Cannon, it means nothing to the Horde because the folks who're adamantly fans of BE's already consider HE's to be an insignificant contingent of self-aggrandizers, and most importantly it keeps another story from falling prey to being abruptly abandoned by the Blue Devils that we all love.

The Silver Covenant should be removed from the game as they are now though. Void Elves remove the vestigial role, as a foil for the Blood Elves, that they had left.

If they become Void Elves, fine. If they die on the Darkshore with Veressa (personal favorite option. I am only Human and been arguing this for years. I would take a measure of satisfaction in seeing them wiped out at this point just to REALLY crush the hope. Hope can be a terrible thing...it can lead to people waiting over thirteen years for something that isn't going to happen for example when it would be better if they faced the truth and moved on), fine. If they are simply ignored like countless other minor groups are in the WoW universe once their time is done, fine.

But it should be done in the clear knowledge that they are not and never have been the High Elves of the old Warcraft 2 days. Or at least, that they had any sort of equal claim to that history over and above the Blood Elves.

We agree, we just have a different preference for where they end up. :P

To the last bit, though, I really wish they'd play that bit up more in-game. The BE's, post-TBC, are nearly identical to the High Elves as they existed prior to the Third War -- really, they may even be more disposed towards civility and discipline now that the Light has become such a focal point within their society. The modern High Elves experiencing a fall from grace is, narratively, interesting and would probably be just as satisfying as seeing them gutted for people who hate them.

[Obelisk Kai]

Oh, absolutely.

The pro-HE crowd yearned to continue upon the stories already seeded (i.e. Vereesa, Auric, Silver Covenant, etc.) AND to have models which were virtually identical to the BE's. Blizzard wasn't ever going to allow the latter to happen, for gameplay purposes, but not indulging the former means you've failed to actually appease any of the concerned parties apart from people who're explicitly divested from the narrative (i.e. people who don't care about the story, at all).



What you're talking about is a legacy, which isn't the same thing as a story.

We will agree that the Blood Elves are, legally and culturally, the legitimate successors to the High Elves as they existed prior to the Third War. The majority of the core fantasies (specifically as they relate to their societal focus on magic prowess) are firmly attached to the Blood Elves. This doesn't really affect the High Elves, at all, from a narrative standpoint though. The fact that modern High Elves believe, in their hubris, that it is their political cluster which deserves to carry on the legacy of their forefathers doesn't really matter at all to us (because we see the story from a third perspective, and know that no matter what they believe it isn't true).

If anything, that's an intriguing bit of writing.



We don't disagree. The fact that the High Elves believe this, doesn't make it so -- but it does make for some interesting conflicts. The fact that a group, in-universe, believes something that is objectively (or subjectively) untrue shouldn't be the metric by which something gets abandoned.



Agreed.



I find your position to be almost entirely agreeable, but it's this specific area of discussion that sees your stance slowly slide towards disingenuity. It seems like you're suggesting that it's the fans who are essentially formulating their own narrative as a sort of collective head-canon, which is quite a ways off from the truth.

It wasn't fans who dangled carrots like Auric Sunchaser and Allerian Stronghold, it was Blizzard.
It wasn't fans who implemented the Silver Covenant, it was Blizzard.
It wasn't fans who scribed Alleria Winderunner's persona, it was Blizzard.

That they would become attached to the idea of these High Elves becoming playable, HE's who've been presented as staunch allies for a decade (longer if we're using an in-universe timeframe), shouldn't come as a surprise and it certainly shouldn't treated as something inherently negative. It was Blizzard that got us to this point and instead of fixing it, narratively, they seem to simply be pretending like the HE's direct input towards the universal goals of the Alliance didn't happen. It's cheap and, honestly, it's unnecessary.



I agree. However, this being the case doesn't change the fact that these exiles exist, in-universe, and have for decades. That's my only point.

You want BE's to be the truest successors to the High Elves, pre-Third War? We agree.

You want it understood that BE's fulfill all the expected fantasies of a High Elf? We agree.

You want that "small bunch of exiles in Dalaran", who've been large enough to either functionally lead or participate heavily enough in major conflicts for 5 expansions, to just not exist anymore? We don't agree.



It's damning for people who actually thought they'd get a copy-paste of Blood Elves, but on Alliance. I always expected they'd be changed, physically, though I admit I was surprised by the catalyst (Void) as much as anybody else.



I won't speak for anybody else, especially since their position isn't one I agree with, but what's important for me is that Blizzard not simply abandon a decade plus of seeding these characters/groups into the Alliance throughout all of this. All of my qualms could be addressed by Blizzard simply iterating that in addition to the "crack squad" of Blood Elves, all (or nearly all) of the existing High Elves either find themselves folded into the structure of the Void Elves. This allows those who were genuine fans of the High Elves presented from TBC to Legion to visualize the history of their character and/or race as being separate and distinct from the "true High Elves", who became Blood Elves, all without even entertaining the notion of putting a copy-paste of BE's on the Alliance.

It costs Blizzard nothing. It wins over some of the Alliance-players who are currently disappointed that HE's were given the finger by Ion Cannon, it means nothing to the Horde because the folks who're adamantly fans of BE's already consider HE's to be an insignificant contingent of self-aggrandizers, and most importantly it keeps another story from falling prey to being abruptly abandoned by the Blue Devils that we all love.



We agree, we just have a different preference for where they end up. :P

To the last bit, though, I really wish they'd play that bit up more in-game. The BE's, post-TBC, are nearly identical to the High Elves as they existed prior to the Third War -- really, they may even be more disposed towards civility and discipline now that the Light has become such a focal point within their society. The modern High Elves experiencing a fall from grace is, narratively, interesting and would probably be just as satisfying as seeing them gutted for people who hate them.

Fair enough, not much really to argue about between us it seems. I'd be content with any fate that removes the High Elves of Dalaran though, even if that is just sheer neglect in future.

[Reith]

The addition of High Elves would also cause an imbalance with Elves since Alliance would have -3- playable elf races which obviously would cause many Horde players whom play Belf to flock to Alliance and increase the Elven population further.

I don't really want High Elves, but Horde outnumber the Alliance anyway because of superior racials, so.. moot point. If anything, this would be a reason to do this, to attempt to balance the numbers. It'd be a bad solution, sure.

[Kallisto]

I don't really want High Elves, but Horde outnumber the Alliance anyway because of superior racials, so.. moot point. If anything, this would be a reason to do this, to attempt to balance the numbers. It'd be a bad solution, sure.

There is not going to be a way to balance the numbers outside of 1 patch super OP the alliance racials then nerf them to be in line. Even then all it will do is likely make the Alliance the most represented faction in warcraft. Best thing to do is for PvE fuck the factions and let people play alongside each other regardless of if they are blood elf, night elf, void elf, human, orc, nightborne, etc etc. That way it also answers the high elf question too.

[Deleted]

There is not going to be a way to balance the numbers outside of 1 patch super OP the alliance racials then nerf them to be in line. Even then all it will do is likely make the Alliance the most represented faction in warcraft. Best thing to do is for PvE fuck the factions and let people play alongside each other regardless of if they are blood elf, night elf, void elf, human, orc, nightborne, etc etc. That way it also answers the high elf question too.

This will NEVER happen. Not only this expansion is built around the conflict between Horde and Alliance, the whole game was, from the start. It's like suggesting to remove cocoa from dark chocolate.
Also, the supposed Alliance outnumbering Horde on most realms is a myth. If you check Realmpop on both US and EU factions seem to be averaging around 48% for Horde and 51% for Alliance, which isn't exactly a staggering difference.

[Arbs]

It's simple: they didn't forget about the existence of High Elves. Hell, Vereesa and Alleria are both High Elves. They went out of their way to not give playable High Elves, and decided Void Elves would be just unique and different enough to make playable.

You already have people complaining about Void Elves being too similar to Blood Elves. Imagine if we had High Elves, literally Blood Elves with blue eyes, instead.

Bingo, good sir!.