Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[Strippling]

Speaking of population numbers, honestly the void elf numbers might skyrocket once pre-patch hits, since they will receive the long-awaited fair-skin customization options AND they will no longer be gated behind a reputation from Legion. They might even surpass night elves and humans as the most played Alliance race. They are already very played, despite being the hardest allied race to unlock.

Unlikely. Humans have paladins and night elves have druids and DH. Void elf population will grow that's for sure (the main contributor being the removal of reputation requirements), but I'd say night elves and humans will remain as the top played.

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Ah that makes sense. I haven't checked out Vereesa yet! That is interesting though because I haven't seen the purple color on any BE NPCs, unless I've missed em.

There are blood elf NPCs with purple eyes on the beta. I've seen a few screenshots floating around

[Graden]

I've been very busy lately so I didn't have time to check. They didn't add new hair colors to Void Elves, did they?

[Lahis]

I've been very busy lately so I didn't have time to check. They didn't add new hair colors to Void Elves, did they?

No. They only ported over Blood Elf skincolors, without even changing the underwear, so it was basically zero effort job. No new unique customizations for Velves.

[Varx]

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Not easy, I've been dreaming for this for however old this thread is. Also my therapist is an avid alliance and warcraft 2 player so he's just as rustled as me.

[matrix123mko]

No. They only ported over Blood Elf skincolors, without even changing the underwear, so it was basically zero effort job. No new unique customizations for Velves.

Keep in mind that nightborne didn't get anything either. The only change is that their tattoos are bugged on PTR.

[Graden]

No. They only ported over Blood Elf skincolors, without even changing the underwear, so it was basically zero effort job. No new unique customizations for Velves.

Thanks, I see.
I don't really care tbh, but 'normal' Blood Elf skincolors in combination with corrupted, dying Void Elf hairstyles is gonna look weird as fuck.

[Lahis]

Keep in mind that nightborne didn't get anything either. The only change is that their tattoos are bugged on PTR.

No Allied Race got any new customizations. Giving them option to choose eye color was just technical update (Eye Colors being their own thing in customization instead being tied to skin colors).

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Thanks, I see.
I don't really care tbh, but 'normal' Blood Elf skincolors in combination with corrupted, dying Void Elf hairstyles is gonna look weird as fuck.

This is about as normal you can make Void Elf look.

[FlubberPuddy]

This is about as normal you can make Void Elf look.

They also said the underwear will get updated to the ones Void Elves have by release. We're probably 2+ months from shadowlands pre-patch being on live, and I think they released the PTR in the state it is so people could test the new class/leveling/character customization/pre-patch event changes.

I felt it pretty jarring when I realized my corruption was gone (because the corrupt gear icon still shows on gear) and then noticed they also nerfed vision of perfection essence <_<!

I swapped it out for the dope rank 4 focusing iris anyway and feels fun to mow down bunch of mobs since a lot of the pre-patch event appears to just be killing mobs lol

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There are blood elf NPCs with purple eyes on the beta. I've seen a few screenshots floating around

That's interesting! Where were those screens floating around?

[Kyriani]

Thanks, I see.
I don't really care tbh, but 'normal' Blood Elf skincolors in combination with corrupted, dying Void Elf hairstyles is gonna look weird as fuck.

I was actually able to make some rather satisfying looking Void Elf characters with the new skins + old hair:



The light grey, wine red, and blue-green hair colors seem to work best for a close-to-high-elf look. Hopefully more colors will be added before pre-patch launches, but I wouldn't expect any new hairstyles until allied races get a proper pass, which likely won't be until 9.1 or 9.2

[matrix123mko]

Thanks, I see.
I don't really care tbh, but 'normal' Blood Elf skincolors in combination with corrupted, dying Void Elf hairstyles is gonna look weird as fuck.

Yes indeed.

[Varx]

Yes indeed.

What did you guys expect? There has to be some kind of difference between belves and velves. The helf community demanded belf skin tones and you got them. Giving velves the same hair color would kill any distinction between the two races. Other wise whats he point of having VOID elves. Leave the blond hair to Alleria as she's a special NPC. Kinda how like Thrall is the only orc with eye brows.

[Kyriani]

What did you guys expect? There has to be some kind of difference between belves and velves. The helf community demanded belf skin tones and you got them. Giving velves the same hair color would kill any distinction between the two races. Other wise whats he point of having VOID elves. Leave the blond hair to Alleria as she's a special NPC. Kinda how like Thrall is the only orc with eye brows.

If you don't think blonde, brown and black hair colors are coming to Void Elves in the future, I think you're going to be very disappointed. They might not be the same exact shades that Blood Elves have, but I'm fairly confident they will happen at some point before Shadowlands is over.

[Zantos]

What did you guys expect? There has to be some kind of difference between belves and velves. The helf community demanded belf skin tones and you got them. Giving velves the same hair color would kill any distinction between the two races. Other wise whats he point of having VOID elves. Leave the blond hair to Alleria as she's a special NPC. Kinda how like Thrall is the only orc with eye brows.

There is already no point in having VOID elves since their void touch is supposed to be a physical manifestation. With regular skin tones, that is gone. Their basically ex shadow priests who decided to keep in touch with the void.

[Frenchvince]

What did you guys expect? There has to be some kind of difference between belves and velves. The helf community demanded belf skin tones and you got them. Giving velves the same hair color would kill any distinction between the two races. Other wise whats he point of having VOID elves. Leave the blond hair to Alleria as she's a special NPC. Kinda how like Thrall is the only orc with eye brows.

What you're saying doesn't make sense.
So the blood elf community should stop asking for the ranger / farstrider tattoos of Alleria, a special alliance NPC? And they should also stop asking for their "second theme", the dark ranger, which comes from another special NPC, Sylvanas?

The high elves are available for BE and VE with their customization options, you have to get used to it now, Blizzard has made its choice.

[FlubberPuddy]

What did you guys expect? There has to be some kind of difference between belves and velves. The helf community demanded belf skin tones and you got them. Giving velves the same hair color would kill any distinction between the two races. Other wise whats he point of having VOID elves. Leave the blond hair to Alleria as she's a special NPC. Kinda how like Thrall is the only orc with eye brows.

Yeah you're about to be disappointed then because 'natural hair colors' is the next most asked thing aside from the skin tones. Speaking of the skin tones, there were many in the helf community that wanted similar but different tones, it was actually only the Anti-helf community that kept using reductive logic to spread around 'you guys just want the exact same skins copy and pasted to Void Elves'.

I do find it hilarious that Blizzard did end up doing just that. Maybe if the anti-helf community wasn't so vocal about it, maybe Blizzard wouldn't have gotten that idea.

Now we're beginning to see the same with regards to hair colors, despite the fact that that even human/Kul'Tiran hairstyles/colors are being asked for. These anti-helfers should be aware they may end up with a proverbial foot in their mouth if they keep spouting that the Void Elf/High Elf community want copy paste hair colors!

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What you're saying doesn't make sense.
So the blood elf community should stop asking for the ranger / farstrider tattoos of Alleria, a special alliance NPC? And they should also stop asking for their "second theme", the dark ranger, which comes from another special NPC, Sylvanas?

The high elves are available for BE and VE with their customization options, you have to get used to it now, Blizzard has made its choice.

Yup exactly. Blizzard took all the discussion and went: You will both share the HE customizations. They almost hit the mark, but hair colors are needed for Alliance HE to look like Alliance HE.

It's no different than BE players asking for Alleria (an Alliance leader) warpaint/tattoos.

At this point I think Blizzard believe the unique BE Jewelry/hairstyles/eye colors (because remember they have unique green and gold colors y'all!) to be what sets apart BE from VE. Just like VE have unique skins/hair colors/tentacle hair.

I think the HE customization will go to both sides because that's what Ely Cannon alluded to in an interview.

[Kyriani]

Yeah you're about to be disappointed then because 'natural hair colors' is the next most asked thing aside from the skin tones. Speaking of the skin tones, there were many in the helf community that wanted similar but different tones, it was actually only the Anti-helf community that kept using reductive logic to spread around 'you guys just want the exact same skins copy and pasted to Void Elves'.

I do find it hilarious that Blizzard did end up doing just that. Maybe if the anti-helf community wasn't so vocal about it, maybe Blizzard wouldn't have gotten that idea.

Now we're beginning to see the same with regards to hair colors, despite the fact that that even human/Kul'Tiran hairstyles/colors are being asked for. These anti-helfers should be aware they may end up with a proverbial foot in their mouth if they keep spouting that the Void Elf/High Elf community want copy paste hair colors!

It really does seem like all the pushback from those against Alliance High Elves, ended up backfiring horribly. Had High Elves been an allied race, they might have had much more distinctiveness from Blood Elves than Void Elves will soon have. Instead, Void Elves are basically going to be able to look virtually indistinguishable from Blood Elves by the end of Shadowlands.

[Frenchvince]

Yup exactly. Blizzard took all the discussion and went: You will both share the HE customizations. They almost hit the mark, but hair colors are needed for Alliance HE to look like Alliance HE.

It's no different than BE players asking for Alleria (an Alliance leader) warpaint/tattoos.

At this point I think Blizzard believe the unique BE Jewelry/hairstyles/eye colors (because remember they have unique green and gold colors y'all!) to be what sets apart BE from VE. Just like VE have unique skins/hair colors/tentacle hair.

I think the HE customization will go to both sides because that's what Ely Cannon alluded to in an interview.

I also think that some "high elf" options will be shared between BE and VE, such as ranger / farstrider tattoos.
I think this is one of the requests that comes up often for both.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

If you don't think blonde, brown and black hair colors are coming to Void Elves in the future, I think you're going to be very disappointed. They might not be the same exact shades that Blood Elves have, but I'm fairly confident they will happen at some point before Shadowlands is over.

IMO -on the more pessimist side- I'm thinking 10.0 rather than SL, but I do believe we are likely going to get actual black, and lighter shades -probably kinda desaturated- that would fit the off-white hair color most HE NPC's have.

But as for blonde blonde, IDK. But if we get, won't be one of the BE shades.

But yeah, I think we are pretty much set as to what Beta is concerned, and only Core Races might yet get something big before launch.

[Mace]

I also think that some "high elf" options will be shared between BE and VE, such as ranger / farstrider tattoos.
I think this is one of the requests that comes up often for both.

yes, ofc hey should, they're not totally independent races, they partially exist to give one faction what the other has in many respects to fulfil an objective. blood elves were an alliance race given to the horde to boost it numbers, then made playable on the alliance much later on with void elves again, given how popular they are

It's the same with Nightborne and night elves, like Void/High elf and blood elf - they should share a number of key things based on what they represent.

For example, Nightborne and the Highborne night elves should share some features - I really hope the star symbology Ravenmoon had some great ideas about would make it into the Nightborne and night elf as one new feature they share in common, but some arcane features can be shared by night elves because of the Highborne/Moonguard which is the ilk the Nightborne are from. Furthermore there is also the Order of Elune, which is not just about sentinels and huntresses, it's Priestess leadership is very caster based, and has a strong arcane tradition - they never got addicted so obviously they were doing something right, they are also likely the oldest users of the arcane as it was studying the Well that first brings the discovery of Elune, and desire to uncover more of her that accelerated exploration of the well, it is likely that it was the priesthood that first start using the arcane and form which the magocracy deviate. That's 2 areas they have a lot of cross overs but locked into 2 orders. There is also the potential valewalkers/balance druids form Val'Sharah teaching the Nightborne druidism especially with the Arcan'dor about - that could also be interesting. The focus and emphasis on each group would be different, but they would share things. Druidism and Eluinsm is huge amongst the current kaldorei, while magocracy isn't, but it's the reverse amongst the Shal'dorei, magocracy is huge, while druidism and Elunism is much smaller - and in one we get to explore it in a more rural outdoor and world setting, in the other we get to explore it in a civilization based setting. There is synergy. And this is how you can reflect one group off the other.


Void elves and high/blood elves should certainly have things in common, while having their own unique facet. the void elf and the Nightborne are really the sub-races, tbh they are best served when their plots and story involves the core races of the blood elves and night elves, so when we only focus on them (i.e. void elf and nightbonre) we are getting an extension of the blood elves and night elves but on the other faction - they serve as a continuation of the Thalassian people and the Kaldorei people respectively - a variant that is very much involved with what's going on.

[Strippling]

That's interesting! Where were those screens floating around?

A few players on discord sent some through. I can try find them if you're interested