The Definitive END to High Elf Allied Race Discussion - OFFICIAL PROOF FROM BLIZZARD

[Traycor]

Blizzard doesn't introduce new races without a unique appearance.

Maybe someone should do something about that.

[Crookids]

No, that's just gonna lead to people asking for them to be brought back somehow.

See: Zandalari Paladins.

But we are getting Zandalari Paladins.

[protip]

Maybe someone should do something about that.

I appreciate the intention of your thread, but you say you want the look and feel of high elves, without being the look and feel of blood elves. The problem is that they are fundamentally the same. As shown by the images above, the blood elf model shows no signs of fel corruption, so there's nothing in the story to give them a difference of appearance. Worse, any deviation from the look and feel of blood elves is a deviation from the look of high elves, at least for most fans, because the only shared point of reference is the high elf model shown in game. Customization options are never going to be enough, because they are optional by nature. I know you think that you can create something different enough to justify playable high elves, but it's a Catch 22, you can't escape the look and feel of blood elves without also sacrificing what you want.

As I discovered in your thread, compromise isn't even on the table for some people. Your best case scenario is that you come up with a concept that you and a few others find acceptable, but it will never be both something Blizzard is willing to implement and the high elves that your peers want.

[Traycor]

I appreciate the intention of your thread, but you say you want the look and feel of high elves, without being the look and feel of blood elves. The problem is that they are fundamentally the same. As shown by the images above, the blood elf model shows no signs of fel corruption, so there's nothing in the story to give them a difference of appearance. Worse, any deviation from the look and feel of blood elves is a deviation from the look of high elves, at least for most fans, because the only shared point of reference is the high elf model shown in game. Customization options are never going to be enough, because they are optional by nature. I know you think that you can create something different enough to justify playable high elves, but it's a Catch 22, you can't escape the look and feel of blood elves without also sacrificing what you want.

As I discovered in your thread, compromise isn't even on the table for some people. Your best case scenario is that you come up with a concept that you and a few others find acceptable, but it will never be both something Blizzard is willing to implement and the high elves that your peers want.

I understand your opinion. It is a difficult thing to do, but that doesn't make it impossible.

The trend in the comments has been that people who like High Elves are pretty satisfied with the changes/compromise. Most neutral posters liked them as well. The people who don't like the changes are almost entirely those who don't want High Elves in any form, and they weren't the target audience anyway.

If the company (or one of its executives) decides that it's a good business decision, they'll buckle down and make it happen. A room full of experienced professional designers could find a way, and it would probably be a good enough compromise to satisfy the core of fans' desires (even if it didn't meet their actual demands).

People said for years and years that Spider-Man would never join the MCU, not in a million years. It was crazy. And yet... here we are.

[wushootaki]

Wished and cry'ed same thing. You wanted them for a long time.
And there are not orcs on the alliance side: dreanei have several sub species/clans, gnomes, DWARFS.
And yes you might not have wanted or expected the nightfallen. But you did get them. So that makes my point valid that if you can have a race with pretty much the same body type and skin as a other factions race. So should we.

And its not a petty attempt. And i am not saying Orc clans are the same as high elves. Just saying if x can happy so can y.

And you calling people childish etc does not make your point anymore valid. And i did say we would not get them. Because it is a wish...but wishes sadly do not always come true.

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Look wise they are hard to differ. They are pretty much the same.

High elves are not...read the fucking wiki's or the ingame lore. They are 2 political and view wise different factions. That + the fact that they have been corrupted ever so slightly makes them a different subrace as each other.
Just read wowpedia part on high elves <>blood elves.

Its like calling communist the same as capitalists in the 1970's. 2 races might be human. But where very different in there way of thinking.

Political wise is not enough to call for playable high elves. Again, you use nightfallen and nightborne, but they are shown to be considerably different in game. Night Elves are druidic, live in trees, have wardens, etc. Highborne are the opposite of this.

High Elves however, are still mages and hunters. They have lodges...so do the Blood Elf Farstriders. Political viewpoint of "Fel is bad mmmkay" isn't enough to warrant a playable race. Again, they would have the exact same racials...same architecture (Lodges are the same for both!)...same mounts.

[Dannihilate]

What Blizz should have done is had the Void Elves come from a group of High Elves, instead of coming from a group of Blood Elf rejects. Their origin easily could have been Alleria going to the Quel'Lithien Lodge to "save" the High Elves there from their wretched state by introducing them to the void, and then BAM, there you have your new allied-race.

[wushootaki]

What Blizz should have done is had the Void Elves come from a group of High Elves, instead of coming from a group of Blood Elf rejects. Their origin easily could have been Alleria going to the Quel'Lithien Lodge to "save" the High Elves there from their wretched state by introducing them to the void, and then BAM, there you have your new allied-race.

This would have been great. Or to at least incorporate the high elves into the unlock quest.

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Maybe someone should do something about that.

So you want your high elves to be what night elves should have been in WoW (see WC3 Night Elves).

[Asotcha]

The only thing that will ever definitively end the debate is them being made playable.

Otherwise, be prepared to hear about it until the end of WoW.

Ah well, at least its not pathfinder threads I guess. Still annoying as balls.

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I honestly dont understand why anyone would care to be against high elves for the alliance, its such a non-issue

Among other reasons which I'm sure people have outlined over the course of the thread, a major issue is that if, hypothetically, Helves are made an allied race, that will be taking the place of another race that Could have been given instead. Which would have more then likely been something that was more different, interesting, or special then something which already has 2 direct copies and 4 separate varieties of which in game.

This would create an event where a couple people would be real glad to play it, and the overwhelming majority of the alliance playerbase would simply be justifiably upset that they were shortchanged out of a new thing because of that. Especially when some of those people already main horde and can comfortably still enjoy the horde allied races after fucking the alliance out of one of thier options

All because they don't want to use any imagination while RPing and want Bliz to do their pretending for them.

Its not just about getting what they want, its also about fucking over the rest of the alliance in the process, who would rather have pretty much anything else.

[Combatbutler]

Except Blood Elves live right next to it...and places like Stormwind and Dalaran are nowhere near the Sunwell?

The sunwell reaches every corner of Azeroth, even beyond.

[Kithelle]

The sunwell reaches every corner of Azeroth, even beyond.

If that were the case then why hasn't there been any changes in any High Elves? The Light seems to be the dominant power of the Sunwell, it is what revived it.

Chalk it up to more bad writing from Blizzard?

[Combatbutler]

If that were the case then why hasn't there been any changes in any High Elves? The Light seems to be the dominant power of the Sunwell, it is what revived it.

Chalk it up to more bad writing from Blizzard?

More like they can't be bothered to show it ingame, just like high elves never only had blue eyes. Allerias were green Lor'themar had brown eyes etc. The original sunwell didn't change eye color.

The eyes have always been nothing but a game-mechanic.

[Syegfryed]

More like they can't be bothered to show it ingame, just like high elves never only had blue eyes. Allerias were green Lor'themar had brown eyes etc. The original sunwell didn't change eye color.

The eyes have always been nothing but a game-mechanic.

and just like not all blood elves had green eyes, and some high elves who left quelthals too late get green eyes as well, blizzard is just inconsistent

hell, even alleria should have green blood elf eyes after being exposed to fel magic trough a millennia

[Combatbutler]

hell, even alleria should have green blood elf eyes after being exposed to fel magic trough a millennia

Her new eyes make sense, since she is filled with void, which is more corrupting than fel and got the eyes that go with it, Blue.

[Syegfryed]

Her new eyes make sense, since she is filled with void, which is more corrupting than fel and got the eyes that go with it, Blue.

hr eye is more arcane- elf than void elf though

[bloodmoth13]

Among other reasons which I'm sure people have outlined over the course of the thread, a major issue is that if, hypothetically, Helves are made an allied race, that will be taking the place of another race that Could have been given instead. Which would have more then likely been something that was more different, interesting, or special then something which already has 2 direct copies and 4 separate varieties of which in game.

This would create an event where a couple people would be real glad to play it, and the overwhelming majority of the alliance playerbase would simply be justifiably upset that they were shortchanged out of a new thing because of that. Especially when some of those people already main horde and can comfortably still enjoy the horde allied races after fucking the alliance out of one of thier options

All because they don't want to use any imagination while RPing and want Bliz to do their pretending for them.

Its not just about getting what they want, its also about fucking over the rest of the alliance in the process, who would rather have pretty much anything else.

I mean.. . it depends on what your trading. Allied races in general arent amazing, they are just reskins with minor changes. maghar orcs are mostly just reskins, same as dark iron dwarves. same could be said for nightborne and HM tauren etc. I doubt it would be the majority angry that you missed out.

Some potential allied races i can think of that are already allied with each faction are frostborn dwarves, wildhammer dwarves, mechagnomes (not sure if actually allied but would suit alliance), furbolgs, broken draenie and high elves. out of all of them broken draenie would probably be the most ambitious model-wise.
As for horde we have darkfallen (undead high elves), taunka, withered elves (id consider counterpart to broken as 'ugly' race), forest trolls (revantusk are allied, amani would be better) and possibly the other flavours of trolls too.

Would you really be that upset if the alliance traded high elves for darkfallen? or for forest trolls? or taunka? or withered elves? and its not like getting high elves means you wont get one of the other dwarf options in the future, or mechagnomes or broken draenie etc.

The whole point of allied races is that they are just variations of existing races.

And its not just players being lazy not wanting to RP their void elf or whatever as a high elf, players are genuinely interested in the canon lore for the high elves. they have hung around the alliance for a while but havent been playable, they started teaching night elves arcane magic again, they created the silver covenant, they have history dating back to warcraft II. Im horde, im not demanding them for my faction, but i think they would be fine for the alliance and if anything would provide a foil for the blood elves rather than diminishing them (since the blood elves always appeared to be a misplaced alliance race on the wrong faction)

[Obelisk Kai]

I mean.. . it depends on what your trading. Allied races in general arent amazing, they are just reskins with minor changes. maghar orcs are mostly just reskins, same as dark iron dwarves. same could be said for nightborne and HM tauren etc. I doubt it would be the majority angry that you missed out.

Some potential allied races i can think of that are already allied with each faction are frostborn dwarves, wildhammer dwarves, mechagnomes (not sure if actually allied but would suit alliance), furbolgs, broken draenie and high elves. out of all of them broken draenie would probably be the most ambitious model-wise.
As for horde we have darkfallen (undead high elves), taunka, withered elves (id consider counterpart to broken as 'ugly' race), forest trolls (revantusk are allied, amani would be better) and possibly the other flavours of trolls too.

Would you really be that upset if the alliance traded high elves for darkfallen? or for forest trolls? or taunka? or withered elves? and its not like getting high elves means you wont get one of the other dwarf options in the future, or mechagnomes or broken draenie etc.

The whole point of allied races is that they are just variations of existing races.

And its not just players being lazy not wanting to RP their void elf or whatever as a high elf, players are genuinely interested in the canon lore for the high elves. they have hung around the alliance for a while but havent been playable, they started teaching night elves arcane magic again, they created the silver covenant, they have history dating back to warcraft II. Im horde, im not demanding them for my faction, but i think they would be fine for the alliance and if anything would provide a foil for the blood elves rather than diminishing them (since the blood elves always appeared to be a misplaced alliance race on the wrong faction)

Void Elves, a race based on the void and elven, are the foils for the Blood Elves, a race now tied to the light and elven.

And when did the High Elves in the Alliance start teaching Night Elves arcane magic again? The Night Elf mages are those Highborne from Dire Maul who returned to the fold in Cataclysm and they are distrusted by wider Night Elven society. High Elves didn't need to teach them anything.

As for the Silver Covenant with a history dating back to Warcraft 2, that is not just the Silver Covenant. It is wider High Elf society, the vast majority of which is now Blood Elven. You can only trace a unique SC history back to the moment of the split, and that history has been neither remarkable or noteworthy. They are not numerous enough in lore nor are they in any way different from the Blood Elves save for a political opinion. That is nowhere near enough to justify them as an allied race.

Anyone who wants to play a High Elf can do so as a Blood Elf on the Horde. If they can't stomach the Horde, they can play an Alliance Void Elf. If they want to play a High Elf on the Alliance (and Blood Elves ARE High Elves) tough.

[Deleted]

Among other reasons which I'm sure people have outlined over the course of the thread, a major issue is that if, hypothetically, Helves are made an allied race, that will be taking the place of another race that Could have been given instead. Which would have more then likely been something that was more different, interesting, or special then something which already has 2 direct copies and 4 separate varieties of which in game.

This would create an event where a couple people would be real glad to play it, and the overwhelming majority of the alliance playerbase would simply be justifiably upset that they were shortchanged out of a new thing because of that. Especially when some of those people already main horde and can comfortably still enjoy the horde allied races after fucking the alliance out of one of thier options

All because they don't want to use any imagination while RPing and want Bliz to do their pretending for them.

Its not just about getting what they want, its also about fucking over the rest of the alliance in the process, who would rather have pretty much anything else.

With Blizzard's track record of Alliance Allied races, I don't believe that's a serious concern. Alliance now has Void Elves, Lighforged Draenei and Fat Humans coming next. With the way it is going, if Blizzard decides to implement High Elves they would just take a place of Skinny Humans or something weird like that. Which would be most welcome.

[Ithekro]

But Void Elves are, in canon, Blood Elves made void by a failed ritual. Blood Elves that were part of the Horde and recently kicked out of Silvermoon for dabbling into the Void.

The Alliance's High Elves were still in Outland, Stormwind, Loch Modan, and Dalaran (along with probably a few other places I'm not remembering).

[bloodmoth13]

Void Elves, a race based on the void and elven, are the foils for the Blood Elves, a race now tied to the light and elven.

I meant a foil that would make them suit the horde better. Void elves are terrible to be frank. Blood elves were high elves addicted to magic and whom used fel sorcery, void elves are like that, just edgier.... high elves would have been a more civilized foil and would have drawn a starker contrast between the horde and alliance elves.

And when did the High Elves in the Alliance start teaching Night Elves arcane magic again? The Night Elf mages are those Highborne from Dire Maul who returned to the fold in Cataclysm and they are distrusted by wider Night Elven society. High Elves didn't need to teach them anything.

Oh, i thought it was the high elves teaching the night elves. im horde so i probably misread highborne as high elves instead of night elf highborne. not a big deal though

As for the Silver Covenant with a history dating back to Warcraft 2, that is not just the Silver Covenant. It is wider High Elf society, the vast majority of which is now Blood Elven. You can only trace a unique SC history back to the moment of the split, and that history has been neither remarkable or noteworthy. They are not numerous enough in lore nor are they in any way different from the Blood Elves save for a political opinion. That is nowhere near enough to justify them as an allied race.

Anyone who wants to play a High Elf can do so as a Blood Elf on the Horde. If they can't stomach the Horde, they can play an Alliance Void Elf. If they want to play a High Elf on the Alliance (and Blood Elves ARE High Elves) tough.

Alliance elves were a mainstay since warcraft 2, it was actually kind of a shock that the blood elves joined the horde in BC since they were kind of an iconic alliance race, i think they were mostly added as a 'pretty' race for horde players to play as. It might not be a big deal for players who only started playing in wow, but for the old folk who have played since warcraft II its kind of a major disappointment. it would be like alliance forest trolls (who were actually the war2 counterpart to high elves)

void elves are kind of their own thing, i think it was a missed opportunity and the lore behind them seems sketchy so i can understand a lot of players not finding them appealing, and they dont fulfill the same fantasy as the high elves do.

So neither horde elves nor 'new' elves really scratch that itch old players have. I honestly dont care either way since im horde and i wont play one, but from my point of view i would actually like to face off against high elves and i think they would make an interesting enemy for me. They seem like a natural enemy to the horde

[Obelisk Kai]

Alliance elves were a mainstay since warcraft 2, it was actually kind of a shock that the blood elves joined the horde in BC since they were kind of an iconic alliance race, i think they were mostly added as a 'pretty' race for horde players to play as. It might not be a big deal for players who only started playing in wow, but for the old folk who have played since warcraft II its kind of a major disappointment. it would be like alliance forest trolls (who were actually the war2 counterpart to high elves)

void elves are kind of their own thing, i think it was a missed opportunity and the lore behind them seems sketchy so i can understand a lot of players not finding them appealing, and they dont fulfill the same fantasy as the high elves do.

So neither horde elves nor 'new' elves really scratch that itch old players have. I honestly dont care either way since im horde and i wont play one, but from my point of view i would actually like to face off against high elves and i think they would make an interesting enemy for me. They seem like a natural enemy to the horde

Look, setting aside the emotions of this circular and never-ending debate, I do get the desire of those few fans whom I believe genuinely care about the High Elves due to their position in the lore and not because of their looks (given the number of posters who want normal skin tones on void elves as a solution, a race they are apparently annoyed about for 'coming out of nowhere', I feel I am well within my rights to say that).

But Warcraft 2 was twenty years ago. Chronicle volume 3 pretty much details how the Alliance of Lordaeron in that game collapsed. They lost so many members. And who was the first to leave? It was Quel'thalas. The High Elves just waited for the first opportunity to bail on the Alliance and they took it.

They, in turn, became the Blood Elves and joined the Horde. But them joining the Horde wasn't just to give the Horde a pretty race. Saying Blood Elves joined the horde just to do that is way of discrediting the decision of having them join the Horde. But the other reason they joined the Horde is that, at that point, they had very publicly severed their relationship with the Alliance. The Blood Elf campaign in the Frozen Throne details this. Lorewise, if Blood Elves were ever going to be playable in a two faction game like WoW, the Horde was the only option.

Players have to get over Warcraft 2. It was a moment in time and the story has moved on literally decades since. Trying to contort the story so that everything matches Warcraft 2 again for the sake of it is a bad goal and probably damaging to the story.

The High Elves left the Alliance. They became the Blood Elves and joined the Horde, at first out of mutual need but later it seems a genuine loyalty has developed between the Blood Elves and the Horde.
Far from being a natural enemy of the Horde, the Blood (nee High) Elves of Quel'thalas are an integral part of our faction, as much as the Forsaken are (and a Forsaken is currently Warchief) or the Tauren or the Trolls . That is the story of the High Elves in Warcraft, and people need to be mature enough to accept rather than try and turn back the clock using the remnant of a remnant that is the Silver Covenant.