High Elves: Is it really what the player base wants?

[Combatbutler]

And again, no concrete numbers that remain canon have been stated for what exactly the pre-war population was.

Given the size of Quel'thalas and considering how much the high elves still can pull of I wouldn't be surprised if there are several thousand left, but that is still very few, compared to others.

[Elegiac]

Given the size of Quel'thalas and considering how much the high elves still can pull of I wouldn't be surprised if there are several thousand left, but that is still very few, compared to others.

Which, as you so astutely pointed out, means absolutely nothing as to their viability as a playable race.

[l33t]

I wouldn't mind unlocking factions.

By the way, the idea of renegade races is much less stupid than crossfaction Pandaren, unable to speak with each other and forcing a silent civil war on whole panda race. Even better, with pure idiot Garrosh ruling, it is a good time to change priorities before it is not too late.

[Deleted]

I was not making a point but I can see how that would be. I really just wanted female warlocks to be called witches haha

i guess in some languages the similarity of warlock and witch are inherit ... in other's they're not ...
e.g. german and english ... german is rather limited when it comes down to magical terms and expressions ... english has alot more to offer in that department...

still in German warlock is "Hexenmeister" whereas witch is "Hexe" ... most people i know abbreviate "Hexenmeister" with "Hexer" which is basically the same as hexe ... so in german it would be a perfect and inherit possibility to call female warlocks "Hexe"...

in english: a warlock, by definition (and i take the DnD definition :P) is a humanoid being that is capable of casting a limited array of spells without special training. so the warlock has a natural affinity to casting certain spells he learned by accident or without intention.
Why i took this description ? well, i find it quite fitting since i interpret the demonic magic warlocks in wow use as something that is given to them by demonic powers instead of learned and trained spells. they stumbled accross that power and were inspired by it ever since ... mages on the other hand have to study for their spells.

the witch on the other hand is a child eating, broom riding female humanoid that mainly uses curses and rituals instead of "proper" magic ... so that wouldn't fit at all ^^

but back to topic :P this has nothing to do with High Elves ...

[ChaosWolf]

And again, no concrete numbers that remain canon have been stated for what exactly the pre-war population was.

Doesn't matter. 1% is 1%. Unless high elves originally numbered in the billions or so, it's damn unlikely they could remain a viable race unto themselves when 99% of them no longer exist.

You're just throwing out the "RPG books are non-canon" blanket without realizing they only said that as a generalized statement since they didn't have the time, in the context of that Blizzcon Q&A session, to detail out exactly what was and was not canon.

Stuff like Booty Bay having a red-light district would obviously be non-canon, as nothing in the RTS or MMO has reflected that info. Primarly, the "this is non-canonical stuff" line is in reference to various locations and events in the books, not the more concrete matters.

Stuff like age/height/weight charts and lifespan measuring would be canon, as those have been reflected in the games' lore (plus, math is math, you can't de-canon things like "Gnomes average slightly over three feet tall", since real numbers are involved). Plus, the RPG books refer to stuff that obviously IS canon, so not everything in them can be dismissed entirely - or are you claiming that all the various races cannot speak since the RPG book refers to all of them knowing various languages?

http://www.wowpedia.org/Warcraft_RPG...source_of_lore

[Deleted]

3 should have been an alliance race in tbc made no sense at all making them horde.

No ... pandaren where supposed to be the new Alliance race in BC, but they have been scrapped and replaced with the Draenai. The Blood Elves where always intended to be part of the horde.

6 return of highelfs makes sense with a burning legion expansion and the return of alleria windrunner and turalyon.

i guess that most "High Elves" nowadays would be half elves. since humans and high elves are interbreedable and have done so for many years.
thou it seems that most half elves get more genetic information from their elven parent since about all half elves that have been seen in WoW, been described in books and so on have the looks of elves as well as their age and so on ...

i wouldn't have a problem with high elves becoming half elves in the process of integrating them to the alliance.

[Granyala]

3 should have been an alliance race in tbc made no sense at all making them horde.

If you played War III TFT, you would know that Sin'dorei for alliance would have been super awkward, since Garithos basically kicked them out of the blue fanclub.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

No ... pandaren where supposed to be the new Alliance race in BC, but they have been scrapped and replaced with the Draenai. The Blood Elves where always intended to be part of the horde.



i guess that most "High Elves" nowadays would be half elves. since humans and high elves are interbreedable and have done so for many years.
thou it seems that most half elves get more genetic information from their elven parent since about all half elves that have been seen in WoW, been described in books and so on have the looks of elves as well as their age and so on ...

i wouldn't have a problem with high elves becoming half elves in the process of integrating them to the alliance.

So literally ANYTHING except letting a "small" band of High Elves become their own faction.... (similar to the Darkspear Trolls)

[Deleted]

also i had an idea for the high elf starting zone ...

as a half elf it would make perfect sense to simply start in Elwynn Forest besides the humans.

but you can take it further ...
the high elves start in quel'thalas, in the BE starting zone, but the zone is considered prior to the events of the Purge of Dalaran.
after the blood elf starting zone the player will be ported to in instanced or phased version of dalaran, experiencing the tutorage of the elven mages. this is possible because the Kirin'tor once where neutral, Sunreavers and Alliance High Elves working together ... there the player expierences what other magical sources could be tapped (instead of demonic ones) and finally finds his loyalties with the Silver Covenant... this is the moment his eyes would turn blue again ... then a phased version of the purge of dalaran will take place where the player flees through a portal to stormwind ... at that point the character would be about lvl 10-15 and ready to head off into the wilds.

the only weakness with this "starting zone" version would be the fact, that a number of the blood elves after Kael'thas betrayel have turned away from the demonic sources and their eyes have stayed green ... that's very similar to the orcs skin remaining green although their demonic connections have been severed.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

If you played War III TFT, you would know that Sin'dorei for alliance would have been super awkward, since Garithos basically kicked them out of the blue fanclub.

I don't think having one commander being a douche to their prince means much, especially since so many High Elves are still working in the Alliance....

[Deleted]

So literally ANYTHING except letting a "small" band of High Elves become their own faction.... (similar to the Darkspear Trolls)

the darkspear trolls where a comparably small tribe when Thrall first encountered them ... and now their society flourishes ...

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

the darkspear trolls where a comparably small tribe when Thrall first encountered them ... and now their society flourishes ...

So literally the only thing that matter is how big they were when encountered? Do you see how ridiculous that sounds?

[ChaosWolf]

So literally the only thing that matter is how big they were when encountered? Do you see how ridiculous that sounds?

Except the trolls, while a small tribe at first, managed to grow because they had a group culture and a leader and a racial society.

High elves are so few and so scattered they have none of those things.

[Deleted]

well, if the darkspear can be a playable race, or the bilgewater goblins so can the High Elves ...
but i guess i missunderstood something you wrote ^^

---------- Post added 2013-01-10 at 12:55 AM ----------

High elves are so few and so scattered they have none of those things.

why scattered ? Silver Covenant comes to mind

[Granyala]

I don't think having one commander being a douche to their prince means much, especially since so many High Elves are still working in the Alliance....

I think it mattered for the elves that followed Kal'thas. It obviosuly didn't matter for the elves in and around Stormwind, because Garithos didn't have a chance to spread his racism very far, thanks to Sylvanas.

Still, don't confuse the Sin'dorei with the Quel'dorei. There was no way in hell that a Sin'dorei was going back to the Alliance.

[ChaosWolf]

well, if the darkspear can be a playable race, or the bilgewater goblins so can the High Elves ...
but i guess i missunderstood something you wrote ^^

Darkspear trolls - small group, but have a culture and leader and identity.
Bligewater goblins - same as above.

High elves - have none of the above.

[Talen]

Know what a high elf is? Nearly extinct. Even gnomes have a bigger populance than then, and over 75% of that race were wiped out. Also, they're blue-eyed belfs. You want that? Make a belf DK and shut up.

Ever heard of the Silver Covenant? There's your High Elves. ALL of them. That's how few of them still exist.

Well, those. PLUS those scattered around the world. Plus those in Quel Danas. And the Allerian Stronghold. And other places in Outland. Plus the population in Stormwind. Plus survivors from Theramore.

Compared with Darkspear - a small tribe outcast from their society. Or the Tauren...a race on the edge of extinction. Or the Forsaken....a small fragment of the Scourge. Or the Goblins....who apparently couldn't overload one ship.
EJL

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

Darkspear trolls - small group, but have a culture and leader and identity.
Bligewater goblins - same as above.

High elves - have none of the above.

Such a ridiculous statement....

---------- Post added 2013-01-09 at 07:05 PM ----------

I think it mattered for the elves that followed Kal'thas. It obviosuly didn't matter for the elves in and around Stormwind, because Garithos didn't have a chance to spread his racism very far, thanks to Sylvanas.

Still, don't confuse the Sin'dorei with the Quel'dorei. There was no way in hell that a Sin'dorei was going back to the Alliance.

I am sure you are the main lore writer for elves and all.... But ... speaking at the time of the Third War, no, not all elves would see one guy being a douche as the feelings of all humans, that is reverse racism.

[Deleted]

Darkspear trolls - small group, but have a culture and leader and identity.
Bligewater goblins - same as above.

High elves - have none of the above.

so just because they were stripped of their culture and identity they have no chance of survival or reestablishment?
and by the way ... they have a leader ... King Varian Wrynn stands for all the high elves that remained in the south during the 3rd war... also Jaina Proudmoore and Rhonin (former) as leaders of the Kirin Tor... especially through Rhonin Kirin Tor High Elves where able to keep their elven pride, rhonins wife is one of them.

i believe in the honor and loyality of the high elves then can reemerge to glory!

also as i already stated earlier in this post: i see the high elves much more connected to humans due to them living close to each other as well as their interbreedability.
it's like living next door .. also - i've already stated - that most of todays high elves might be half elves per se...

---------- Post added 2013-01-10 at 01:08 AM ----------

I am sure you are the main lore writer for elves and all.... But ... speaking at the time of the Third War, no, not all elves would see one guy being a douche as the feelings of all humans, that is reverse racism.

well ... Kael'thas returned to Silvermoon during the 3rd war with bad news ... the alliance rejected him and his troops ...
if my leader would tell me that, i'd be pretty pissed ...

still, all the elves that weren't around silvermoon at that time should see the situation differently.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

so just because they were stripped of their culture and identity they have no chance of survival or reestablishment?
and by the way ... they have a leader ... King Varian Wrynn stands for all the high elves that remained in the south during the 3rd war... also Jaina Proudmoore and Rhonin (former) as leaders of the Kirin Tor... especially through Rhonin Kirin Tor High Elves where able to keep their elven pride, rhonins wife is one of them.

i believe in the honor and loyality of the high elves then can reemerge to glory!

also as i already stated earlier in this post: i see the high elves much more connected to humans due to them living close to each other as well as their interbreedability.
it's like living next door .. also - i've already stated - that most of todays high elves might be half elves per se...

---------- Post added 2013-01-10 at 01:08 AM ----------



well ... Kael'thas returned to Silvermoon during the 3rd war with bad news ... the alliance rejected him and his troops ...
if my leader would tell me that, i'd be pretty pissed ...

still, all the elves that weren't around silvermoon at that time should see the situation differently.

That would again, make Kael a douche, and all those elves are douches/racists.