Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[Broflake]

You make your own lore for your character, just as Danuser explained. Thalassian Bob gave some examples of say Allerian Stronghold elves going back to Silvermoon.

Is that actually happening? Not from a game perspective, but from their own character's perspective? Yes.

Let's not take things out of context. Danuser explained that customization options could be used for such groups.
Void elves are not in the same vein because they are a singular group.
Let's not use his statements to begin headcanon, it spits on the lore that many claim to enjoy.

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Seems like a made up limitation tbh. Especially now that there is a spectrum.

It was a thing people made up and just ran with in a silly fashion.
Of course, it is clear many things were made up purely for aesthetics.
Ultimately, none of this matters. It is pixels on a screen.

[melzas]

Good luck with that. In my eyes, this was the best that was going to happen ever since Void Elves were added.

Well, pretending that I'm something is not good enough for me, but the reactions seem to be mostly positive so I guess most people are happy with this "compromise".

[FlubberPuddy]

Agreed. The only thing I'm leery of is the "later date" part. Historically, that later date never comes. Blizzard fully intends to add more customization later in the xpac, I'm sure, but this kind of thing is usually abandoned unless there is an outcry about broken promises.

I was never expecting anything about High Elves to come until 10.0.

It's clear they have greatly overhauled their character customization system, in a way that I think they'll be able to deliver new options at a much faster rate than before. Allied Races were the beginning of that, what is it 10 races in one expac when before it was 2?

Increased customizations are a further iteration of the system, and as we have seen with the news today. Opens up and allows them to add additional clans/tribes/subgroups of particular races into the mix without having to 'take up more slots'.

We may be in an era where character customization improvements come much quicker, especially since it was very 2006-2007 esque level of character customization for well over a decade.

[Daevelian]

Well, that was unexpected. I'm happy for the Helf fans, really am.

Probably gonna stick to my Belf paladin though, those blue eyes + new hairstyle with the tiara and bun is MMMMMMMM.

[Maxilian]

Yeah, I still want high elves. The character randomly covering with void energy will be annoying. However, in the mean time I can at least customize a void elf to look closer to what I want and try to pretend/ignore the rest. This is certainly an improvement, and I'm happy for these changes. We can call this a win.

It's very interesting that only a very short time ago we were told no blue eyes for blood elves. Just a few weeks later, we're being shown new texture maps. lol

Well maybe the other best thing that we could ask for (excluding some extra options, like tattoos, beards, etc...) is for something to hide or change the look of the void form ability (or at least make it less... intrusive...)

Though i would lie if i don't say that i do like that they keep something that shows them as Void elves and not just the political difference with the BE.

[FlubberPuddy]

Let's not take things out of context. Danuser explained that customization options could be used for such groups.
Void elves are not in the same vein because they are a singular group.
Let's not use his statements to begin headcanon, it spits on the lore that many claim to enjoy.

His entire point was don't let anyone claim your character's story (or in your words, headcanon) is wrong. Not even the game.

If you disagree with his point that's your prerogative. His answer is a general statement, not one specific to Wildhammer only.

We can agree to disagree, futile to continue discussing it further.

[Traycor]

This didn't make me that happy to be honest, and I wanted High Elves since classic.

Still no access to paladin class. Still voidy shitty hairstyles. No blonde hair. Edgy voice over. And the worst offender - a racial that occasionally turns you into a purple blob.

If it makes most helfers happy then great, but this isn't what I personally wanted and my high elf needs weren't quenched. Honestly if I want to play the real high elf, base blood elf is still a better option for me.

All that bothers me as well. However, this change wasn't made to give void elves more options, it was clearly made because of high elves. With that in mind, I'm hopeful that more options are on the way (they hinted as much), and I really think they might offer a cosmetic change option to the void form, such as an arcane form variant. A high elf that can blink and is surrounded by arcane power is very much in line with the WoW high elf archetype.

[FlubberPuddy]

I think they made the hint in their post that more options will be coming. This was just a tease of what's to come. If they're willing to let Void Elves get some Blood Elf skin tones then it makes perfect sense to also add some hairstyles and colours. So I would expect something to that degree.

That's how I see it. The biggest hump is over, which is getting access to a range of human skin tone options. They are literally copy/pasting the tones, no moneypaw or corrupt wish or ersatz about em.

Thus, the much smaller asks are now more likely as the big asks (having these two elf options looking the same) has been overcome.

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All that bothers me as well. However, this change wasn't made to give void elves more options, it was clearly made because of high elves. With that in mind, I'm hopeful that more options are on the way (they hinted as much), and I really think they might offer a cosmetic change option to the void form, such as an arcane form variant. A high elf that can blink and is surrounded by arcane power is very much in line with the WoW high elf archetype.

Exactly. This is a big hurdle overcome.

They've stated character customization is never going to stop. People can now continue to further ask for what they wish, given that they've received a very big one!

"Don't give up hope!" Afrasiabi emphasized that for a reason

[Verbatim]

I wonder if this will herald in the death knell to Quel'dorei as a race.

When the Ren'dorei (similar to Alleria) for all intents and purposes appear to be High Elves when not using their Void powers - and with the Sin'dorei regaining their pre-Burning Crusade appearances as well - what demand or relevance would there ever be for the actual High Elf remnants?

[FlubberPuddy]

I wonder if this will herald in the death knell to Quel'dorei as a race.

When the Ren'dorei (similar to Alleria) for all intents and purposes appear to be High Elves when not using their Void powers - and with the Sin'dorei regaining their pre-Burning Crusade appearances as well - what demand or relevance would there ever be for the actual High Elf remnants?

I think what it'll do is have Alliance players ask for more High Elf features, because here we see that Blizzard solved adding an additional sub-group without "using up another race slot".

And Blood Elves have their own High Elves.

So both sides can now begin asking for whatever features they wish, instead of focusing so much on 'trying to keep the other from getting what they want' as it's clear that because such options are very popular on both sides - Blizzard deems it necessary to have them given to both.

[Shinrael]

The funniest thing is the fact that Blizzard used the same model between Void Elves and Blood Elves is what got them to fix some animation and customization for Blood Elves.

They were working on Void Elves and at the same time were able to fix their bow shooting animations and the whole duck/pursed lips things male Blood Elves had going on for a while.

It’s just like how Mag’har being decided led to Orc players finally getting posture options.

It will not surprise me if say Blood Elves get some of the beard options available to Void Elves, as we see Humans getting some of the Kul’Tiran facial hair options.

So that’s the kinda funny thing about it, that working on similar models/features actually benefits both the new option and the old.

Makes the people wanting to deny High Elves look like there’s no good reason other than gaining satisfaction from denying others options that would end up benefitting their own existing options as well.

People are just bitter and short-sighted. Look how they avoid your comment because there's nothing they can say in defense :P

[Goldielocks]

Why am I already seeing complaining that Blood Elves are also getting blue eyes, on this forum no less lmao

[Traycor]

I wonder if this will herald in the death knell to Quel'dorei as a race.

When the Ren'dorei (similar to Alleria) for all intents and purposes appear to be High Elves when not using their Void powers - and with the Sin'dorei regaining their pre-Burning Crusade appearances as well - what demand or relevance would there ever be for the actual High Elf remnants?

While you absolutely could be right, I don't think that will happen. It's obvious that high elves are a super popular request. Any company would be daft to just remove one of the most popular aspects of their IP. Also, this is fantasy, and high elves that run around with humans are a core staple of the fantasy genre. That's why we still have the Silver Covenant and high elves in the game world. Blizzard has kept them around in the background in case they ever want to use them again.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

This sparked an interesting thought. What if they grouped races together, allowing you to pick what set of racials your character has and automatically selecting the matching race name.

For example, a dranei could pick the regular or light forged racials, (which also changes the race name). A Void Elf could pick to have their void form (with the void elf name) or change it to an arcane form (automatically selecting the high elf race name). Same for Tauren, etc...

Honestly I have already thought of that and I would love it tbh; there was a guy on reddit that made an "origins" concept so I envision it as something similar; different origins give you a specific set of customizations, and a unique tooltip tag, and more fun perhaps, different flavored racials, or a mostly shared selection with one unique passive and active.

Could be an interesting way of condensing AR and customization into one system.

[FlubberPuddy]

People are just bitter and short-sighted. Look how they avoid your comment because there's nothing they can say in defense :P

The road to where we are today was indeed filled with many of those people! More options for everyone is the ideal!

Now there is nothing to defend. High Elves are going to be a playable option in Shadowlands and any furthermore customization for Alliance high elves are legitimized now.

Looking forward to what further customizations develop for Alliance elves. Especially with the blue post saying "a few of these new options", so more to look forward to for Void Elves/High Elves!

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Honestly I have already thought of that and I would love it tbh; there was a guy on reddit that made an "origins" concept so I envision it as something similar; different origins give you a specific set of customizations, and a unique tooltip tag, and more fun perhaps, different flavored racials, or a mostly shared selection with one unique passive and active.

Could be an interesting way of condensing AR and customization into one system.

Yes I love this. And it may be possible to do in the future.

[Goldielocks]

High Elves are going to be a playable option in Shadowlands and any furthermore customization for Alliance high elves are legitimized now.

You getting to roleplay as them is not the same thing as being a playable option. The latter actually has lore and in game stuff related to it.

[Highelf]

Honestly just should've given them high elves all along at this point.

[FlubberPuddy]

You getting to roleplay as them is not the same thing as being a playable option. The latter actually has lore and in game stuff related to it.

It's the same as Wildhammer/Sand Trolls. Also they are, in fact, a playable option because y'know - people can play as them.

Sorry that you are having trouble with that.

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Honestly just should've given them high elves all along at this point.

They probably should've. But there was some internal reasonings for not doing so at the time and well you can't get back what you release into the wild!

This has been a relatively quick turn-around though regarding how they deal with other requests usually.

Still get so happy thinking of all the art/screenshots and high elves I will start seeing among Alliance players/fans.

[Highelf]

It's the same as Wildhammer/Sand Trolls. Also they are, in fact, a playable option because y'know - people can play as them.

Sorry that you are having trouble with that.

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They probably should've. But there was some internal reasonings for not doing so at the time and well you can't get back what you release into the wild!

This has been a relatively quick turn-around though regarding how they deal with other requests usually.

Still get so happy thinking of all the art/screenshots and high elves I will start seeing among Alliance players/fans.

The internal reasonings were Ion just didn't want it. Because you know, somewhere down the line they'll have all the customizations including hair and will probably add HE tattoos to both BE and VE too. Don't get me wrong, it nice to see it going in the right direction, just seems like they're trying to fix a mistake.

[Austilias]

As I said to Obelisk Kai not long ago: “If you want to play a High Elf, the Horde and the Alliance is there waiting for you.”

Looks like we get the last laugh