Would you give up the Blood Elf skeleton to gain Alliance High Elfs?

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

Also, BE's are just a small peyote trip (alongside their own T'paartos-esque figure) away from being Lightforged Elves. As I said, anything to do with Thalassians and the Light should remain definitively related to the BE's.

Indeed, even to my chagrin; I miss my BC Blood Elves. Yet IDK, if they got zealot on the light to the point LF BElves had a definitely dangerous edge, I'd be okay with it.

[Zaganite]

The OP is clearly a bit biased since the thread calls Void Elves (Blood Elf Skeleton). Honestly I dont want the LFD and then HE - too much gold and blonde imo.

But no - I like Void Elves and its good that the Alliance are getting a bit darker and I'm looking forward to the dynamic it creates that these former Horde members are now against their people and if they do serious damage to the Horde then the BE might be a tad annoyed maybe. Overall Im happy reliving my emo days through WoW ^_^

[Obelisk Kai]

Indeed, even to my chagrin; I miss my BC Blood Elves. Yet IDK, if they got zealot on the light to the point LF BElves had a definitely dangerous edge, I'd be okay with it.

That Blood Elf storyline, of the reckless magic users driven to desperate measures, ended with the restoration of the Sunwell. Once the Sunwell was restored as a font of holy energy, the Blood Elves resumed being the High Elves again in everything but name and political affiliation. Even the fel taint that some pro High Elfers keep bringing up has surely been diminished to near invisibility by the the entire population feeding on the Sunwell. Some Blood Elves are so devoted to the light that the green eyes that are apparently the hallmark of the race have been replaced by golden ones. Lady Liadrin is supposed to have golden eyes after all, but it's probably because her model hasn't been upgraded since it was introduced that she still sports a green set in game.

It is, ultimately, a good thing that the Blood Elves embody the High Elf fantasty trope common in a lot of fantasy works. The High Elf is a popular race in fantasy, and it good that warcraft players have that option.

But the original storyline, of the reckless magic user feeding on a dangerous energy source, that still has merit. While the Blood Elves never followed that story in the end, the Void Elves are a new take on that old theme. Their storyline echoes that of the Blood Elves, except there is no redemption for them at the end. They are cursed to live with their void mutation forever, and we can see where it takes them.

Let's face it, in the coming conflict with the Old Gods and the Void Lords, the Void Elves and Alleria are going to be front and centre for the Alliance as a story hook. We are going to be seeing quite a bit of the Void Elves in the Alliance storyline going forward.

[Drewbacca]

Holy cow, I’m all for High Elves, but if you’re going to make a post, please make it a readable length. I quit after about five minutes.

[Jokubas]

I think the best way for me to answer this is to explain what I look for in playable races.

For me, it's the whole package. It's the lore, and the theme, and the look, and the history.

I partially jumped on the ogre train because of a personal in-joke that predates World of Warcraft, but I've tried to stay committed to what they are in Warcraft. Even so, if ogres were just some random monster race that occasionally appeared to get killed, I probably would never have gone so far as to campaign for them. I push for ogres because they have history. They were one of the major Horde races in Warcraft II, and rejoined them in Warcraft III. They haven't really been important in awhile (which kinda bothers me ;P), but they still have a solid place in the lore.

When I want ogres, that's what I want. A Warcraft ogre, evoking that history (including their now-canonical empire stuff), and that theme. The Warlords of Draenor models are pretty good too, so I don't need anything new there (aside from a female model, obviously).

I've seen people suggest that Kul Tiran humans or brown orcs are a compromise or fill that niche. Maybe for those people it does, but I didn't want ogres because I just wanted the vague silhouette. I want ogres because ogres already exist.

I feel very similarly about high elves. In fact, one of the only reasons I didn't campaign for high elves like I do for ogres is because the old playable race system just didn't seem right for them. High elves should essentially just be a recolor of blood elves, and I understand that would be a hard sell against any Horde race you'd pair them with, especially with the historic controversy over race choices for the factions. The Allied Race system changes that, though.

I want high elves because they were one of the first Alliance races, and they are still on the Alliance. That's really why I want them. Again, though, that history and theme and look is all important. I'm okay with the story advancing, but the reason I want something is because of the story that already exists. It's like how the best plot twist is one that seems obvious and completely re-contextualizes a story upon a second viewing, not one that straight up makes something up for shock value.

I've seen it said that void elves are a compromise for high elves, or even ethereals. Again, this might be true for some people, but not for me. I didn't want blood elves playable on the Alliance. I simply want the high elves that already exist to be playable, and they happen to be on the Alliance.

Blood elves and high elves are the same race, they just had a schism. That shouldn't be a reason to avoid both, though, that should be a reason to embrace them. That opens a whole new window of political intrigue in the story, and it shouldn't be a problem in the gameplay. Pandaren look identical on both factions (not even a green eye-blue eye difference), and it's not a problem. Earlier, I mistook a nightborne in full armor sitting down as a night elf, and that was not a problem.

There is no need to compromise.

My contributions to the Silver Covenant Allied Race thread are not because I think we need high elves to be wildly distinct, simply that I think they're even cooler if you play up aspects that have faded away in the time since Warcraft II. You throw some different stances and animations on them on top of the customization choices and heritage armor, and they could end up as one of the most distinct existing-race-Allied Races without having to compromise any of their history or appearance.

It's how I feel about the naga as well. I want them some day as well, and I admit that aspects of the naga make them a challenge, but I say we should confront that challenge before we decide whether we need to compromise. Blizzard has been pretty good at confronting challenges, and the older this game gets, the better they are at going all out on something. Demon hunters are practically new races when it comes to the amount of effort put into their appearance and voice lines and customization. Bipedal naga remove a key feature of what makes them, them. Imagine wanting a centaur race, but settling for a satyr. It's not the same thing.

I'd rather not get a race I want at all, then get a messed up version of them. Because in the first case, there's still a chance to get them some day, but in the latter, you lost what you wanted. We've seen this once before, and I personally don't want to see it again. When we got playable draenei, they were not draenei, they were eredar. Draenei were the Lost Ones. To this day, the only kind of draenei that existed until Burning Crusade have never been playable.

It's one reason I'm actually kind of glad void elves are blood elves, and Blizzard didn't decide to just say the entire high elf race got void corrupted. That's a new race when it comes to theme and look and history, and it wouldn't fill that niche for me. I'm okay with races being made distinct, as long as that distinction comes from what's been established and what can already be considered a part of them, since that would be the only reason I wanted them to begin with.

[Utigarde]

While it's not really needed, since there are many other ways for diverse high elves, no, I wouldn't mind at all. Different posture or build would be fine for them, as long as they've got their human skin tones, normal arcane eyes, and elf ears, I'm happy.

[Darktbs]

I kinda fell bad for High elfs fans at this point.

Even more when blizzard shows that that both Void and High elfs as two separated races fighting in the Alliance.

For example:in the isle expedition groups of the Alliance, you have a full group dedicated to Void elfs and on the"Jaina's angels' one of the members is a High elf.

[Deleted]

I kinda fell bad for High elfs fans at this point.

Even more when blizzard shows that that both Void and High elfs as two separated races fighting in the Alliance.

For example:in the isle expedition groups of the Alliance, you have a full group dedicated to Void elfs and on the"Jaina's angels' one of the members is a High elf.

Man... i saw on Nobbels stream the Void elf island group and one of them was a paladin (or had the paladin shoulders in purple). It's a sad joke.

Saw the high Elf on the angels aswell. Those devs love to troll. (i like how that has double meaning atm)

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

That Blood Elf storyline, of the reckless magic users driven to desperate measures, ended with the restoration of the Sunwell. Once the Sunwell was restored as a font of holy energy, the Blood Elves resumed being the High Elves again in everything but name and political affiliation. Even the fel taint that some pro High Elfers keep bringing up has surely been diminished to near invisibility by the the entire population feeding on the Sunwell. Some Blood Elves are so devoted to the light that the green eyes that are apparently the hallmark of the race have been replaced by golden ones. Lady Liadrin is supposed to have golden eyes after all, but it's probably because her model hasn't been upgraded since it was introduced that she still sports a green set in game.

It is, ultimately, a good thing that the Blood Elves embody the High Elf fantasty trope common in a lot of fantasy works. The High Elf is a popular race in fantasy, and it good that warcraft players have that option.

But the original storyline, of the reckless magic user feeding on a dangerous energy source, that still has merit. While the Blood Elves never followed that story in the end, the Void Elves are a new take on that old theme. Their storyline echoes that of the Blood Elves, except there is no redemption for them at the end. They are cursed to live with their void mutation forever, and we can see where it takes them.

Let's face it, in the coming conflict with the Old Gods and the Void Lords, the Void Elves and Alleria are going to be front and centre for the Alliance as a story hook. We are going to be seeing quite a bit of the Void Elves in the Alliance storyline going forward.

Urgh, did you ever even like Blood Elves before they became the "holy two shoes" of the horde? Fake Blood Elf fans everywhere. Blizz has watered what made the Blood Elves cool on the first place so much and people like you just lap it out. One thing is to be happy to see them overcome their adversities -I am- but to see people so happy for their ideological turnaround to before TFT is such a bummer. I am not giving up on the Belves, I can still see how can they be focused on the light and still maintain the edge that allowed them to survive the third war and thrive, but you may as well be asking for alliance high elves for how little respect and appreciation you have for the Blood Elven themes and say the only difference they have to what they once were is their faction.

Also lol at the golden eyes headcanon. Literally one HS artwork and for you it's law, chill.

[Andromedes]

Also lol at the golden eyes headcanon. Literally one HS artwork and for you it's law, chill.

Indeed, if Liadrin is supposed to have golden eyes, then rexxar has blue glowing eyes, khadgar has golden glowing eyes, medivh has purple glowing eyes etc..

[Deleted]

High Elves, Blood Elves and Void Elves are the same thing. They are just names. Kael'thas even mentions it like that in the Sunwell trailer:

" ... Only after the Sunwell's destruction, did we realize how dependant we become upon it's magic ... how much we needed to feed ... In the wake of our devastation I named our people sin'dorei ... Blood Elves ..."

They're essentially a group of high elves which kael referred to as blood elves.

[Grenzstein]

High Elves, Blood Elves and Void Elves are the same thing. They are just names. Kael'thas even mentions it like that in the Sunwell trailer:

" ... Only after the Sunwell's destruction, did we realize how dependant we become upon it's magic ... how much we needed to feed ... In the wake of our devastation I named our people sin'dorei ... Blood Elves ..."

They're essentially a group of high elves which kael referred to as blood elves.

This.
And i'm really glad Blizzard decided to give something unique to alliance instead of using boring High Elves.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

High Elves, Blood Elves and Void Elves are the same thing. They are just names. Kael'thas even mentions it like that in the Sunwell trailer:

" ... Only after the Sunwell's destruction, did we realize how dependant we become upon it's magic ... how much we needed to feed ... In the wake of our devastation I named our people sin'dorei ... Blood Elves ..."

They're essentially a group of high elves which kael referred to as blood elves.

The hottest take of 2018.

Fer facks sake, it's an ideology thing! How people don't get it by now is just mindblowing lol.

[Obelisk Kai]

The hottest take of 2018.

Fer facks sake, it's an ideology thing! How people don't get it by now is just mindblowing lol.

We know it's an ideology thing. The problem is that that isn't anywhere near enough to justify a copy of a core Horde race.

[Deleted]

We know it's an ideology thing. The problem is that that isn't anywhere near enough to justify a copy of a core Horde race.

Eh, horde got a copy of a core alliance race too. It's just sad that we have so many elves tho.

[Obelisk Kai]

Eh, horde got a copy of a core alliance race too. It's just sad that we have so many elves tho.

Void Elves and Nightborne are close, too close for my liking, but not copies. The desire for High Elves is a desire for an actual copy. We know this because the biggest complaint about Void Elves is the skin tones.

[Deleted]

This is the exact opposite of what High Elf players wanted. When the Blood Elves allowed themselves to be infected by fel energies, the High Elves abstained and remained pure. For the High Elves to then go full Void and corrupt themself even MORE than Blood Elves... that is the exact opposite of what they stood for and one of the big reasons why I personally wanted them.

Lightforged High Elves for Alliance and Broken (void) Draenei for Horde? THAT would have worked!

I can still see Broken happening for Horde and I even hope so. Something along the line, the broken of Outland and the ones from Argus wanting to make something of themselves but don't have any desire to side with Velen again because he abandoned them.

[Arrashi]

Only if they are using male pandaren skeleton instead. Fat elves would be great addition to alliance.

[Deleted]

And to think that void elves would make high elf fans shut up...

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

We know it's an ideology thing. The problem is that that isn't anywhere near enough to justify a copy of a core Horde race.

According to you. Ultimately, Blizzard will decide so regardless if there more people that want them than not or vice versa. I guess we'll just keep having high elf discourse until then.