Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[HCLM]

...not really are race....

High elves are shown ingame as different looking ( more pale and white like hair) and they have blue eyes because of their mana source. instead of fel or yellow eyes. And different beliefs.

As for why:
It used to be a alliance race ( old alliance). Alliance has a lot of joke races both are reason to want it.

Why people want it more!?! simple it was 1 of 2 wishes we had broken dreanei and high elves. We got neither. While horde got their trolls, upright trolls, upright orcs, more orcs etc etc.

Ion then contradicts the game itself saying blood elves are high elves.
And blizzard makes to point of saying races with not join other faction as playable races.

Then the feeling went away....until people data mine that the horde is getting ( as non playable race). A good portion of night elves.

soo.......

And for me ( and i think other alliance players). Its the fact that we have seen our faction shrink because of small racials, we have been less the focus then the horde last few expansions, since start of BFA we are a joke. Allied races, story , mounts all have been weak for the alliance. Horde gets other great wins in 8.1 alliance still loses.
So we are very salty about all of it.

and then things like hall of fame happen. ( first 100 guilds per faction that kill the raid on Mythic get in the hall of fame ). Horde is done, because of the bad racials alliance has 12 hall of famers. Still 88 spots left to fill :S

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Horde is allready getting night elves, night wardens as non playable race...so nope...horde has gotten enough for 2 expansions.

so you just want blood elves with blue eyes?

[Deleted]

Then horde would need humans with red eyes to compensate

I honestly don't care what Horde will get to "compensate" if it's some kind of requirement, as long as it's lore friendly.

[Kithelle]

Wasn't only talking about the Silver Covenant, but High Elves as a whole. In TBC they are part of the Alliance Expedition, have their own town, with questhubs and also lives in Shattrath. In WotLK they started the Silver Covenant with Veressea Windrunner as leader, and was part of the Alliance Vanguard together with a presence as a race as their own in the Argent Tournament. Dalaran was the main city, so their presence was strong there as well.

In Cata there wasn't much, there was some co-op against the troll as far as I can remember. In MoP they were part of the story, big time. You had the whole incident with Jaina, then you had the whole 5.2 patch with Throne of Thunder were they were the main part of the story with Jaina and Kirin Tor. In Legion they were a part of the Suramar story, and then we have Alleria who brought us the Void Elves.

Sure, humans get lots of the story, but it's not before recently Night Elves got some story development, while the High Elves have been here the whole time within the story. Integrated within the human society, yes, but still more story development than the other Alliance-races, night elves included.

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"Rexxar more story than the whole High Elves in the existence" LUL

Okay, which race then?

This is false, and you know it.

How dare you use evidence and logic! All the can do is drool like rabid dogs and tell you High Elves are Blood Elves...they can't combat that!

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Then horde would need humans with red eyes to compensate

Not like I haven't seen at least 2 or 3 different kinds of ideas for Horde Humans on this forum alone since allied races were announced.

[Shibito]

...not really are race....

High elves are shown ingame as different looking ( more pale and white like hair) and they have blue eyes because of their mana source. instead of fel or yellow eyes. And different beliefs.

As for why:
It used to be a alliance race ( old alliance). Alliance has a lot of joke races both are reason to want it.

Why people want it more!?! simple it was 1 of 2 wishes we had broken dreanei and high elves. We got neither. While horde got their trolls, upright trolls, upright orcs, more orcs etc etc.

Ion then contradicts the game itself saying blood elves are high elves.
And blizzard makes to point of saying races with not join other faction as playable races.

Then the feeling went away....until people data mine that the horde is getting ( as non playable race). A good portion of night elves.

soo.......

And for me ( and i think other alliance players). Its the fact that we have seen our faction shrink because of small racials, we have been less the focus then the horde last few expansions, since start of BFA we are a joke. Allied races, story , mounts all have been weak for the alliance. Horde gets other great wins in 8.1 alliance still loses.
So we are very salty about all of it.

and then things like hall of fame happen. ( first 100 guilds per faction that kill the raid on Mythic get in the hall of fame ). Horde is done, because of the bad racials alliance has 12 hall of famers. Still 88 spots left to fill :S

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Horde is allready getting night elves, night wardens as non playable race...so nope...horde has gotten enough for 2 expansions.

You get our most popular race we get yours

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How dare you use evidence and logic! All the can do is drool like rabid dogs and tell you High Elves are Blood Elves...they can't combat that!

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Not like I haven't seen at least 2 or 3 different kinds of ideas for Horde Humans on this forum alone since allied races were announced.

Would settle for nathanos humans

[Kithelle]

You get our most popular race we get yours

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Would settle for nathanos humans

Well I've heard Nathanos Humans...some kind of vampiric Humans....and there was a third...don't recall it may have had something to do with using the skinny Kul Tiras model as some kind of Horde Humans who grew to hate the Alliance.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

I have argued, and still argue, that the getting the model was the compromise between the anti and pro High Elf positions and that the minor change in aesthetics was the necessary differentiation to justify it.In fact, those upset by the Void Elves not looking exactly like Blood/High Elves should consider that the Void Elves are probably as close to a Blood/High Elf as Blizzard was prepared to go.

I mean, looked at objectively and divorced from the lore, a Void Elf is a thalassian elf with a unique palette set, some unique hairstyles or facial hair and optional hair tentacles that some people still think is glowing hair. It is not much of a degree of difference once you focus on the similarities rather than focusing on the differences. I am still surprised the Alliance got something as close to a Horde race as Void Elves (and that the Horde got something as close to an Alliance race in Nightborne).

Yet a lot of people who do argue for playable High Elves, not all mind you, specifically argued for a normal skin tone on Void Elves as a 'compromise' (again I believe the compromise is the model). I have mentioned this fairly often, but the Unofficial Void Elf threads of just under a year ago argued incessantly for this and only when it was confirmed that that would not be the result, did the agitation for High Elves begin in earnest. Some people still argue for such a 'compromise'. It was even suggested again in this thread. The conclusion I think anyone gathering feedback would draw is that the goal is for normal skin tones and that lore is secondary even if for many, lore is primary.

Could there be a lore justification for this skin tones? Yes, there could. This was proven to me recently by a pro High Elf commentator. But consider, you want to play a Silver Covenant High Elf and would have been happy for them to be Void Elves. Yet those who want a 'normal' skin tone on Void Elves were quite vocal. Is it any wonder that Blizzard saw this feedback? Are you surprised that Ion focused specifically on the skin tone of Blood Elves when denying the request for High Elves? They would have seen the feedback. And a lot of the feedback was not 'they aren't the Silver Covenant'. A lot of the feedback was 'make them look normal', which Blizzard would not grant on the grounds of differentiation.

I sympathize with the desire to play Silver Covenant Elves, but ultimately I believe that ship has sailed. Blizzard would not have created Void Elves had they any intention of adding High Elves to the Alliance, as Void Elves are clearly intended to be the thalassian elf option for the Alliance that does not blur the faction lines.
That the High Elves have a narrative is undeniable, but it is not a strong one and not a critical one. Blizzard has used them in their current capacity for the past decade and a bit, and could happily keep them in that role for the remainder of the game's life.

The only chance to play as a Silver Covenant Elf is either to hope that there is an explicit story moment where Alliance High Elves become Void Elves or to roleplay a Void Elf that was a Silver Covenant Elf, who fell in with Umbric prior to the 'EVENT' or to believe Void Elves can change other Elves and that they joined later (which is implied to be possible but not explicitly spelled out).

But the High Elf lore, namely Silver Covenant is important, and the priority, to some of us, so while I do understand that for some very vocal people the look is the most relevant thing, we are not a hive mind.

So to say that Ion only answered to that when many, many people were very vocal and forthcoming about the SC aspect, is justifying his lack of acknowledgment of the grievances presented and blaming it on the people that wanted only the look. Cause the feedback about the SC was always there, so it's not the fault of the HE people that Ion choose to only respond to the frankly more shallow and easy to rebuke argument. That's on him.

As for giving VE more HE colorings, that would be a compromise, but on the same cheap way, the "oh you can pretend you are SC" and truth be told that would be sufficient for many people because: A) the SC already exists and you can get the tabard b)having the look is at least a step beyond of not having the look and the lore. Basically, it would be like playing your Magh'ar as an outland one *shrug*

Personally, I can do with a helm and be fine. I think it's certainly an insurmountable hurdle for most of us to accept that their HE would have fallen with Umbric's group before the event, so if we are ever going to have HE VE, I hope we get a confirmation that the VE can replicate the process so at least there's that. But while I want to be optimistic, it's hard to believe that if that were to be the case, it would feel like anything but a platitude.

Still, if we got conformation that some if not most SC are getting turned into HE, that would be enough for me, irrelevant if my own characters would take that path, cause I can do with a helm.

[kencloudli]

Slightly off-topic, but one thing I don't get is that Blizzard puts a High Elf mage in the Alliance airship in the Stromgarde Warfront. Couldn't they just put a Void Elf Mage instead?

[FlubberPuddy]

Slightly off-topic, but one thing I don't get is that Blizzard puts a High Elf mage in the Alliance airship in the Stromgarde Warfront. Couldn't they just put a Void Elf Mage instead?

Wanna know what's more funny? Those 7th Legion Mages are tagged as Silver Covenant. So Silver Covenant ain't neutral at all as some very stuck up peeps might like you to believe.

"Most of the high elf mages in the 7th Legion are faction-tagged as part of the Silver Covenant."

https://wow.gamepedia.com/Silver_Covenant under Trivia

So yeah they could, but they didn't. Because Blizzard is all about changing their minds on the whim.

[Strippling]

There's a post on the official forums from a pro-high elfer complaining about how blood elfs shouldn't get heritage armor (with apparently blue eyes) because it's something that the high elfs should get.

So they say in one breath that "why should we care about HE, they won't affect us in anyway", yet in the next breath complain that "resources are being given to the BE which should instead be given to the HE". So I reiterate one of my main concerns... yet again... HE should not be playable as they will detract from BE, VE and apparently even NE. Let me explain:

- Introducing HE as an AR would take away from story focus and development of both VE and BE, both of whom seem to be the direction in which the thalassian elf story is heading. HE of the past are a fragment, the HE story IS the BE story now.
- Many HE supporters have proposed ideas about reclaiming Silvermoon City. So not only do they want to take our model and uniqueness, they also want to take our city. (Yea playable HE totally wouldn't affect us, why should we care right?). There have also been ideas thrown around of many BE defecting and joining the Alliance... so they want to take our lore population too.
- Many HE supporters have been asking for druids. This literally takes away from the uniqueness of NE, whose culture revolves heavily around nature and druidism. On top of this, many HE supporters have thrown around ideas of a "woodland elf" thematic for HE.. yet that is what the NE are. So again, detracting from another race. The NE are already suffering an identity crisis, throw in druid HE or woodland thematic and you'll definitely take away any uniqueness that's left of the NE.
- Many HE supporters want HE dk's. This will detract from the BE. Any HE who were killed and raised by the lich king joined the BE... there are no high elf dk's. That lore belongs to the BE. Again, detracting from the BE.
- Many HE supporters want HE paladins. Again, DETRACTING from BE. Before the HE became BE, they had priests... not paladins. Paladins only became a part of their culture and society once the blood knight order was assembled.. which was purely made up of BE. In lore there a literally only a handful of HE paladins... they are a RARE thing. It's not part of their culture or society. The lore for thalassian elf paladins is founded upon the blood knight order...aka the BE. Please stop trying to detract from BE.
- Adding HE would waste an AR slot that could be used for another race which would add more flavor and variety to the Alliance... rather than a second thalassian elf. ALSO, adding HE would mean that TWO thalassian elf groups are part of the Alliance. BE (aka the main thalassian elf society) are Horde.... giving Alliance twice as many aet

Unfortunately, HE would just take away the uniqueness of BE and NE too much and would take the spotlight away from VE (you know who are currently playable, whether you like them or not).

[Sigxy]

Unfortunately, HE would just take away the uniqueness of BE and NE too much and would take the spotlight away from VE (you know who are currently playable, whether you like them or not).

I actually didn't think about the night elf part. Poor things, they are already having a hard time with the story Blizzard tells and now this. o_o

[Andromedes]

Just reposting Ercarp's gallery of his high elven concepts, because these are just too good. https://imgur.com/a/QqsR8Hj

[Obelisk Kai]

But the High Elf lore, namely Silver Covenant is important, and the priority, to some of us, so while I do understand that for some very vocal people the look is the most relevant thing, we are not a hive mind.

So to say that Ion only answered to that when many, many people were very vocal and forthcoming about the SC aspect, is justifying his lack of acknowledgment of the grievances presented and blaming it on the people that wanted only the look. Cause the feedback about the SC was always there, so it's not the fault of the HE people that Ion choose to only respond to the frankly more shallow and easy to rebuke argument. That's on him.

You cannot isolate the reasons from the request from one another. Whilst some players wanted to play a SC elf, others clearly just wanted the skin tone. They were campaigning for a 'normal' skin tone on a Void Elf and that would have satisfied them. But if they would have been satisfied with a normal skin on a Void Elf, that is still a Void Elf and not an Alliance High Elf. I am sure he was aware that there was a group seeking to play traditional High Elves in the Alliance, but too much of the feedback received on Void Elves was on the skin tone.

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/...0948166?page=1

That was the tenth void elf thread and it links all the previous threads. While Ion may carry some blame for a potential misinterpretation, the feedback sent to Blizzard WAS recorded and it is unfortunate it has left the impression it did.

That impression seems to be the desire for an Alliance High Elf is a desire for a pale skinned blonde elf. The problem is, the impression is only wrong if Blizzard believes it is the sole motivating factor in requests for High Elf, which it clearly is not.

But there is plentiful evidence that it is in fact a large driving force behind the desire for High Elves. That is something you will have to accept, that many of your fellow travellers don't care about the lore and really do just want the pale skinned pretty elf. Some of course seek the pale skins to roleplay the high elf better, but I believe that to be a minority position.

As for giving VE more HE colorings, that would be a compromise, but on the same cheap way, the "oh you can pretend you are SC" and truth be told that would be sufficient for many people because: A) the SC already exists and you can get the tabard b)having the look is at least a step beyond of not having the look and the lore. Basically, it would be like playing your Magh'ar as an outland one *shrug*

I would not regard it as a compromise. Given the model is now shared, aesthetic and lore is all that separates a Void Elf and a Blood Elf. At the moment the divide is just a whisker from being too close, from blurring the faction wall. What you have now in the Void Elves is the compromise. Any further step towards the pro High Elf position would be too far. And in case you think I sound unreasonable, I think they have already gone 95% of the way towards your position by granting the Alliance a thalassian elf variant in the first place. It is important to me that the integrity of both the Horde and the Blood Elves is respected. Void Elves do that but only just. In fact it is such a close thing I consider it a deliberate choice, they went as far as they could without breaching the red lines, even tiptoeing up the line as close as they could.

Personally, I can do with a helm and be fine. I think it's certainly an insurmountable hurdle for most of us to accept that their HE would have fallen with Umbric's group before the event, so if we are ever going to have HE VE, I hope we get a confirmation that the VE can replicate the process so at least there's that. But while I want to be optimistic, it's hard to believe that if that were to be the case, it would feel like anything but a platitude.

Still, if we got conformation that some if not most SC are getting turned into HE, that would be enough for me, irrelevant if my own characters would take that path, cause I can do with a helm.

I too would not mind confirmation that the Void Elves can replicate the process. At the moment it is at best implied. It maybe left unresolved for quiet sometime. If this is a question of roleplaying though, then the best answer would be to imagine your character either fell in with Umbric before the transformation or was transformed after.

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Slightly off-topic, but one thing I don't get is that Blizzard puts a High Elf mage in the Alliance airship in the Stromgarde Warfront. Couldn't they just put a Void Elf Mage instead?

When the warfront first opened up for the Alliance I saw people posting about these shield mages on the airship excitedly. I assumed there was a crew of High Elves on the airship. I had already done the warfront on my Shaman though and I had missed it, and I didn't want to do it again.

So when the warfront opened up again this week I did check for them and found only two. Two nameless High Elves kept out of the fray on board the airship. In other words it was completely consistent with the High Elf situation.

As to why they aren't Void Elves, well, there ARE High Elves in the Alliance. They exist. They are a thing. They are just extremely rare. There is no reason they cannot be used, at least in small numbers, because that is true to the story. Two High Elves on an airship out of the hundreds of Alliance NPCs who participate in the battle? That's reasonable

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I actually didn't think about the night elf part. Poor things, they are already having a hard time with the story Blizzard tells and now this. o_o

He is correct. One of the proposed ways of differentiating Alliance High Elves from Blood Elves is to focus on their outdoorsy nature compared to the Blood Elves due to many of them being former Farstriders.

Firstly, that the Farstriders are still an organization within Quel'thalas. Farstriders are one third of the tripod that make up Quel'thalas government (the other two being Blood Knights and Magisters) and nobody can explain to me why Silver Covenant Rangers would be outdoorsy, and Blood Elf Rangers would not.

Secondly, the attempt is to create a 'Wood Elf' themed race, which as pointed out is a role covered by the Night Elves. The idea for the Night Elves was to mix the Dark Elf and Wood Elf tropes to create a unique race, one which I feel was very successful. The Wood Elf theme is taken.

This is part of the reason Alliance High Elves cannot be meaningfully differentiated from Blood Elves. Every idea put forward either steps on someone else's toes, or begs the questions 'why wouldn't the Blood Elves have that'?

[RangerDaz]

Wanna know what's more funny? Those 7th Legion Mages are tagged as Silver Covenant. So Silver Covenant ain't neutral at all as some very stuck up peeps might like you to believe.

"Most of the high elf mages in the 7th Legion are faction-tagged as part of the Silver Covenant."

https://wow.gamepedia.com/Silver_Covenant under Trivia

So yeah they could, but they didn't. Because Blizzard is all about changing their minds on the whim.

I think there are antagonic forces inside Blizzard, just like in this thread.

There are people like Ion that pray every day that the playerbase forgets about the Alliance High Elves. They clearly don't want them playable.

And there are other developers that place Silver Coventant NPCs everywhere they can, so the playerbase keeps being reminded that they haven't been forgotten, because these developers also want them to be playable, and hope Ion doesn't / won't notice their subtile alliance high elf additions to the game

i guess that is what happened in the script of the Blood Elf heritage chain... hopefully Ion won't notice that as well and won't change it before it comes live

[Andromedes]

Firstly, that the Farstriders are still an organization within Quel'thalas. Farstriders are one third of the tripod that make up Quel'thalas government (the other two being Blood Knights and Magisters) and nobody can explain to me why Silver Covenant Rangers would be outdoorsy, and Blood Elf Rangers would not.

This is part of the reason Alliance High Elves cannot be meaningfully differentiated from Blood Elves. Every idea put forward either steps on someone else's toes, or begs the questions 'why wouldn't the Blood Elves have that'?

Yeah? Maghar orcs have different customisation to regular orcs.. There is no lore indicating why green orc cant have tattoo's or different hairstyles to Mag'har orcs.
Playable high elves could be mix of Silver Covenant, Allerian stronghold, Quel'Danil elves just like maghar orcs are mix of different orc clans.

Secondly, the attempt is to create a 'Wood Elf' themed race, which as pointed out is a role covered by the Night Elves. The idea for the Night Elves was to mix the Dark Elf and Wood Elf tropes to create a unique race, one which I feel was very successful. The Wood Elf theme is taken.

Nightborne and Blood elves are practically the same. Both are city dwelling, magic based elves, who both suffered from addiction to their magic source. High elves and Night elves would share also similarities, but they wouldnt be exactly same. Just like Nightborne and Blood elves.

[Gurluas]

How about brew-infused elf ?

Isn't that just a Blood/High elf monk? XD

Also Night elves are not truly Wood elves. Night elves are more something akin Drow mixed partially with the Wood elf theme.
I think they should focus more on their savagery, which it seems they are with Tyrande's Night warrior stuff.

Naute/Forest/Wood elves wouldn't be about Elune or about night worship or being brutal and whatnot.
They'd be similar to the Children of Cenarius except on two legs and with no deerbutt.

I'd imagine them growing a settlement in between trees, like hollowed out giant acorns or something like that.
And they have leaf/twig hair, and green skins, and deep amber eyes and such.

Essentially go deeper in the wood elf theme, much deeper than Night elves went.

[Obelisk Kai]

I think there are antagonic forces inside Blizzard, just like in this thread.

There are people like Ion that pray every day that the playerbase forgets about the Alliance High Elves. They clearly don't want them playable.

And there are other developers that place Silver Coventant NPCs everywhere they can, so the playerbase keeps being reminded that they haven't been forgotten, because these developers also want them to be playable, and hope Ion doesn't / won't notice their subtile alliance high elf additions to the game

More likely it is consistent with the lore, that the vast majority of the remaining High Elves are Farstriders who may have served with the Alliance in the Second War combined with those High Elf Mages who remained loyal to Dalaran and didn't accompany either Jaina to Theramore or Kael back home.

When Silver Covenant NPCs are present, it is almost always in the context of Dalaran. The famous example of the High Elven force at Suramar was actually a Kirin Tor army after all, as you can see Kirin Tor peacekeepers accompanying the Silver Covenant.

The Silver Covenant is a Dalaran based paramilitary force. It is technically neutral, even if the membership is loyal to the Alliance. So that these 7th Legion Mages (and there are only two of them in the entirety of the warfront) are tagged is Silver Covenant is unsurprising. It emphasises that the few remaining High Elves are really gathered under one roof, but that the SC itself isn't an overtly Alliance organization as the Kirin Tor is now neutral again. Those High Elves who wish to serve the Alliance must do wearing a different hat, that of the 7th Legion.

But Daz, it doesn't mean there is a secret resistance inside Blizzard sneaking in High Elves to spite Ion. As I have explained, there is a rational and consistent lore explanation for those NPCs being tagged as Silver Covenant that does not contradict previous commentary.

[Evilfish]

Why can't you understand that all that could have been done, has been done without, reasonably, upsetting the other faction, cause you know, as few fucks as you might give, it's still a player faction.

The "compromise" you keep bringing up has occurred under the form of the VOID ELVES. That was it. The High Elf ship has sailed once the Velfs have arrived. And people seem to like them or otherwise they wouldn't have reached the numbers they have, being among the highest in the Alliance.

At this point it's forcing the note and while people were ok with trading models for somewhat original new races, having a race CLONED just cause some antsy, vocal people on these forums cried for a really long time, might upset others, not just because they are cloning a really popular race in the Horde, but because it enforces the idea that crying hard yields results and I'd rather not see an example of that ESPECIALLY over something as trivial as the belf model with light skin - and before you give me the BS about "WANTING HELFS A LOT", I honestly couldn't care less, because you have a light skin option in the Horde and you have the model available as Alliance.

[Obelisk Kai]

Yeah? Maghar orcs have different customisation to regular orcs.. There is no lore indicating why green orc cant have tattoo's or different hairstyles to Mag'har orcs.
Playable high elves could be mix of Silver Covenant, Allerian stronghold, Quel'Danil elves just like maghar orcs are mix of different orc clans.

This comment is somewhat nonsensical as it ignores the lore difference between Mag'har and ordinary Orcs, namely that the playable Orcs are corrupted by having drunk the demon's blood, and Mag'har Orcs are uncorrupted Orcs from an alternate timeline.
The lore rationale is that the Clan based structure of Orc society has heavily atrophied on Azeroth, due to being a part of a Horde designed to overcome those boundaries and in the concentration camps.
The Mag'har, who never went through that experience, have a much stronger clan structure which is why anyone who really wants to play a Blackrock Orc would be better served going Mag'har Orc than Green Orc. The tattoos and such are representative of that.

The differences between MH Orc and ordinary Orc are far more profound than those between Alliance High Elf and Blood Elf. And that leaves aside the matter of the faction divide, which is what High Elves were ruled out on. MH Orcs and ordinary Orcs are of course on the same faction.

Nightborne and Blood elves are practically the same. Both are city dwelling, magic based elves, who both suffered from addiction to their magic source. High elves and Night elves would share also similarities, but they wouldnt be exactly same. Just like Nightborne and Blood elves.

There are thematic similarities between the Nightborne and the Blood Elves, but they have very different origins and different approaches. The Nightborne are what the ancient Night Elves could have become had they doubled down on their love of Arcane Magic. The similarities are also why the Nightborne joined the Horde.

But the similarities between the Nightborne and the Blood Elves is not at issue, because they are clearly not the same. Nor is the similarity between Night Elves and High Elves, because there is no similarity. Night Elves ARE the wood elves of Warcraft and attempting to construct an identity for Alliance High Elves that encroaches on that role strains credibility.

We know what High Elves are and we know what their identity is. It is represented by the Blood Elves, the true (and confirmed) High Elves of Warcraft. The Alliance High Elves, who name Veressa a Ranger-General of their Farstrider copycat organization, who still undertake Sunwell pilgrimages, who still title their Mages 'Magister' show no signs of creating a new culture anyway. It's a pro High Elven attempt at differentiation that is doomed to failure. Particularly when the Alliance High Elves do show signs of cultural deviation, it is not in creating something unique but in aping their human hosts. Which is what Elisande told them if I recall.

[FlubberPuddy]

I think there are antagonic forces inside Blizzard, just like in this thread.

There are people like Ion that pray every day that the playerbase forgets about the Alliance High Elves. They clearly don't want them playable.

And there are other developers that place Silver Coventant NPCs everywhere they can, so the playerbase keeps being reminded that they haven't been forgotten, because these developers also want them to be playable, and hope Ion doesn't / won't notice their subtile alliance high elf additions to the game

i guess that is what happened in the script of the Blood Elf heritage chain... hopefully Ion won't notice that as well and won't change it before it comes live

I feel like there's an even simpler reason for why things are the way they are. A forum goer asked: "Do the blizzard employees debate about the High elf/Blood elf race definition, especially when all those repeated threads pop up?"

Ythisens answer: "Ever since we found out Allied Races were a confirmed thing we've talked about the idea of who/what could be an allied race all the time. It's a never ending conversation now because of the possibilities it opens up as playable races. We actually love the large discussions it's popped up among you guys. I mean megathreads that are spanning tens of thousands of posts total across all of the capped threads? That's just cool. No other feature in WoW as an idea has had that much engagement."

Simply put, they enjoy these types of Allied Race discussions popping up, because engagement = more people attached to the game = more money in the end honestly.

The fact that nothing is as hotly debated as Allied Races, and in particular the High Elf/Blood Elf discussion is something Blizzard enjoys seeing precisely because both sides of the camp are able to formulate arguments for their side and shows a crazy amount of engagement around this topic compared to say people talking about Ogres or even Night Elf Worgen or Centaur/Grovekeeper like Allied Races. The only other discussion having next to as much engagement is the San'layn/Darkfallen threads, another ELF type thread.

It's clear to see where the interest lies and I don't doubt with the amount of audience that WoW has that these similar topics happen internally at Blizzard.

I also don't doubt there is a divide internally among Blizzard who wishes for High Elves on Alliance and those who don't. I mean we can see this in the follow up question to the above: "To piggyback on that, what player/forum debates are most mirrored among Blizzard staff?"

Ythisens answer: "Lore, Allied Races, class design, best expansion, best raid. Other than some of the language of course it's very similar as far as broad topics. We discuss them a little differently but I giggle sometimes when I see people debating about something I read on the forums earlier that day."

Basically they debate about pretty much the similar things players debate about.

I also didn't doubt that High Elves wouldn't come out so soon after Void Elves, so answering the question of "the near term" was easy for Ion since no way in hell would they release a 2nd elf race so quickly on the heel of one just released.

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Why can't you understand that all that could have been done, has been done without, reasonably, upsetting the other faction, cause you know, as few fucks as you might give, it's still a player faction.

The "compromise" you keep bringing up has occurred under the form of the VOID ELVES. That was it. The High Elf ship has sailed once the Velfs have arrived. And people seem to like them or otherwise they wouldn't have reached the numbers they have, being among the highest in the Alliance.

At this point it's forcing the note and while people were ok with trading models for somewhat original new races, having a race CLONED just cause some antsy, vocal people on these forums cried for a really long time, might upset others, not just because they are cloning a really popular race in the Horde, but because it enforces the idea that crying hard yields results and I'd rather not see an example of that ESPECIALLY over something as trivial as the belf model with light skin - and before you give me the BS about "WANTING HELFS A LOT", I honestly couldn't care less, because you have a light skin option in the Horde and you have the model available as Alliance.

What about the fact that I don't care about Void Elves and your concerns that you have listed, really?