Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[Varodoc]

I would say void elves will be treated like blood elves in WoD. They will receive a complete set of new customization options in 9.1. or 9.2, which would include blonde hair options, tattoos, maybe darker skin to look like Void Alleria, etc. Core races are done, I don't see why Blizzard would wait an entire expansion to move onto allied races.

[Eric Arthur Blair]

I would say void elves will be treated like blood elves in WoD. They will receive a complete set of new customization options in 9.1. or 9.2, which would include blonde hair options, tattoos, maybe darker skin to look like Void Alleria, etc. Core races are done, I don't see why Blizzard would wait an entire expansion to move onto allied races.

I'm betting on something like this:

9.0 core race options
9.1 allied race options
9.2 new covenant allied races
9.3 next expansion early release content, whatever that may be

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

I would say void elves will be treated like blood elves in WoD. They will receive a complete set of new customization options in 9.1. or 9.2, which would include blonde hair options, tattoos, maybe darker skin to look like Void Alleria, etc. Core races are done, I don't see why Blizzard would wait an entire expansion to move onto allied races.

I'm betting on something like this:

9.0 core race options
9.1 allied race options
9.2 new covenant allied races
9.3 next expansion early release content, whatever that may be

You two are incredibly optimistic, even rather naive.

Blood Elves in WoD were meant to ship with all other core race updates at lunch, but they got delayed, that's why we got them a patch later.

AR aren't even confirmed to get new options like BE's were back then, so expecting to any specific customization for AR within SL's patch cycle is highly optimistic.

Goblin and Worgen updates took two expansions more than the rest, because they were considered "newer" at the time; Let's even call that the worst case scenario in terms of timeline, so 5-ish years.

Saying " I don't see why Blizzard would wait an entire expansion to move onto allied races" when we have seen them be quite liberal with how much they take to tackle on already presented projects, really comes more like wishful thinking rather than an informed opinion.

But I really hope you are right and we get AR sooner, it' just doesn't seem likely from what we have seen before.

[Vaedan]

You two are incredibly optimistic, even rather naive.

Blood Elves in WoD were meant to ship with all other core race updates at lunch, but they got delayed, that's why we got them a patch later.

AR aren't even confirmed to get new options like BE's were back then, so expecting to any specific customization for AR within SL's patch cycle is highly optimistic.

Goblin and Worgen updates took two expansions more than the rest, because they were considered "newer" at the time; Let's even call that the worst case scenario in terms of timeline, so 5-ish years.

Saying " I don't see why Blizzard would wait an entire expansion to move onto allied races" when we have seen them be quite liberal with how much they take to tackle on already presented projects, really comes more like wishful thinking rather than an informed opinion.

But I really hope you are right and we get AR sooner, it' just doesn't seem likely from what we have seen before.

I believe it is more likely to get them during SL lifespan. Afterall, new customizations are one of the selling points SL have, in similar way allied races were in BfA. We don't what will they get, but I'm sure they will get something. What Blizzard told us is they are working on core races first, which doesn't rule out allied races for later releases.

[Varodoc]

You two are incredibly optimistic, even rather naive.

Blood Elves in WoD were meant to ship with all other core race updates at lunch, but they got delayed, that's why we got them a patch later.

AR aren't even confirmed to get new options like BE's were back then, so expecting to any specific customization for AR within SL's patch cycle is highly optimistic.

Goblin and Worgen updates took two expansions more than the rest, because they were considered "newer" at the time; Let's even call that the worst case scenario in terms of timeline, so 5-ish years.

Saying " I don't see why Blizzard would wait an entire expansion to move onto allied races" when we have seen them be quite liberal with how much they take to tackle on already presented projects, really comes more like wishful thinking rather than an informed opinion.

But I really hope you are right and we get AR sooner, it' just doesn't seem likely from what we have seen before.

They'll need some kind of feature that gets people coming back to the game or anyway keeps them playing, and void elves are very popular, so it's only logical to do that.

And I mean how hard can it be to make these new customization options? Is it really that hard for a multi-billionaire company to come up with some new hairstyles without tentacles, paint them yellow and black, and maybe make a darker skin tone? They really need 2 years for that?

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

I believe it is more likely to get them during SL lifespan. Afterall, new customizations are one of the selling points SL have, in similar way allied races were in BfA. We don't what will they get, but I'm sure they will get something. What Blizzard told us is they are working on core races first, which doesn't rule out allied races for later releases.

Again, this just seems way to optimistic for me; we know blizzard's history of delayed content, and AR customizations aren't even announced, so it really feels unlikely to me we will be seeing any major AR revamp during SL, and for sure this is one of the things I'd like to be super wrong about.

- - - Updated - - -

They'll need some kind of feature that gets people coming back to the game or anyway keeps them playing, and void elves are very popular, so it's only logical to do that.

They literally are revamping core races. That's the feature they introduced for the expansion in terms customization. Do you really expect them to add AR on top of that, without previous announcing? Or is just wishful thinking?

And I mean how hard can it be to make these new customization options? Is it really that hard for a multi-billionaire company to come up with some new hairstyles without tentacles, paint them yellow and black, and maybe make a darker skin tone? They really need 2 years for that?

Yeah, this is just wishful thinking. Come on, Blizzard is known for their delays and cut content, and AR customization hasn't even be announced. To expect it to be added, without being even announced, is very, very unlikely.

And I hope I am wrong, but just look at the game, this is not the sort of thing that gets added during an expansion, when it can be added as a feature of the next one. Best case scenario it's an AR deal where they were BfA content added on the end of Legion.

- - - Updated - - -

they are very similar practically the same

Honestly it's weird that the previous darkest BE hair color is pretty much the lightest VE hair color lol.

[Varodoc]

Again, this just seems way to optimistic for me; we know blizzard's history of delayed content, and AR customizations aren't even announced, so it really feels unlikely to me we will be seeing any major AR revamp during SL, and for sure this is one of the things I'd like to be super wrong about.

- - - Updated - - -



They literally are revamping core races. That's the feature they introduced for the expansion in terms customization. Do you really expect them to add AR on top of that, without previous announcing? Or is just wishful thinking?



Yeah, this is just wishful thinking. Come on, Blizzard is known for their delays and cut content, and AR customization hasn't even be announced. To expect it to be added, without being even announced, is very, very unlikely.

And I hope I am wrong, but just look at the game, this is not the sort of thing that gets added during an expansion, when it can be added as a feature of the next one. Best case scenario it's an AR deal where they were BfA content added on the end of Legion.

- - - Updated - - -



Honestly it's weird that the previous darkest BE hair color is pretty much the lightest VE hair color lol.

And they already revamped core races.

[Vaedan]

Again, this just seems way to optimistic for me; we know blizzard's history of delayed content, and AR customizations aren't even announced, so it really feels unlikely to me we will be seeing any major AR revamp during SL, and for sure this is one of the things I'd like to be super wrong about.

- - - Updated - - -



They literally are revamping core races. That's the feature they introduced for the expansion in terms customization. Do you really expect them to add AR on top of that, without previous announcing? Or is just wishful thinking?



Yeah, this is just wishful thinking. Come on, Blizzard is known for their delays and cut content, and AR customization hasn't even be announced. To expect it to be added, without being even announced, is very, very unlikely.

And I hope I am wrong, but just look at the game, this is not the sort of thing that gets added during an expansion, when it can be added as a feature of the next one. Best case scenario it's an AR deal where they were BfA content added on the end of Legion.

- - - Updated - - -



Honestly it's weird that the previous darkest BE hair color is pretty much the lightest VE hair color lol.

To be honest, I don't expect serious revamp for AR either, but I'm pretty positive there will be some addictions across the board.

You are right it was not announced yet specificaly, but Blizzard told us that they are working on core races FIRST, which implies there are plans for AR, but they did not want to tell us when it will be, probably because they didn't have clear picture either. Even though there were announced new customizations for core races only, we get some options for AR se well.

It is clear that they aim on core races now to provide us more sub-racial options. Allied races Are already kind of subraces, so that's the reason I believe most of them will not get serious revamps. On the other hand, majority of AR are pretty similar to core races, so implementing any feature from core to allied race should not be that great issue. They already did that with void elves and their skin tones. It really looks like little effort work with great effect, so I actually don't see a reason why should they pass on it.

[Kyriani]

I can't say for sure either way, but I expect allied races to get something in the way of a customization pass at some point during Shadowlands. I don't think Blizzard will leave them completely untouched for an extended amount of time like Worgen and Goblins were. With that said, I'm not expecting anything ground breaking. To be honest, what I actually expect to happen is for allied races to get hand-me-downs from their parent races where possible, and not too much else beyond that.

The only allied races that stand out to me as needing real effort above and beyond that are Nightborne who are woefully in need of a great deal of work beyond just ineriting Night Elf skins and hair (which would still need refitting for their models), and Vulpera, if only because Goblin hand-me-downs won't work for them. Basically, I expect as many reused assets as possible for allied races.

In the case of Void Elves, I have a concern about Blizzard just giving them some or all of the Blood Elf hairstyles and colors. I don't really care about exclusivity or faction uniqueness. My main concern is that hair shared as a straight up port, would end up working the same way as the skins + faces currently do. That is, we can't actually use the shared Blood Elf skin with Void Elf faces and vice versa. The only reason this isn't a huge deal is because nearly all the Void Elf faces are duplicates of Blood Elf faces. There are however, 2 male and 3 female Blood Elf faces that Void Elves never had which cannot be used with Void Elf skin tones. There is also a single female Void Elf face that Blood Elf females do not have which cannot be used with the new skin tones.

If Blizzard just ports the Blood Elf hairstyles and colors to Void Elves and they end up working the same way, we may not be able to use the ported colors with Void Elf hairstyles or Void Elf hair colors with the ported hairstyles, and I'd find that to be a terrible shame.

I am holding out hope though, that when the time comes that something is done for allied races, that Void Elves, at the very least, get their hair tentacles turned into a toggle option like the Night Elf hair vines. That would open up some interesting options I think. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see what happens down the road though. It seems obvious we won't see much else in terms of customization before Shadowlands launch.

[Vaedan]

I can't say for sure either way, but I expect allied races to get something in the way of a customization pass at some point during Shadowlands. I don't think Blizzard will leave them completely untouched for an extended amount of time like Worgen and Goblins were. With that said, I'm not expecting anything ground breaking. To be honest, what I actually expect to happen is for allied races to get hand-me-downs from their parent races where possible, and not too much else beyond that.

The only allied races that stand out to me as needing real effort above and beyond that are Nightborne who are woefully in need of a great deal of work beyond just ineriting Night Elf skins and hair (which would still need refitting for their models), and Vulpera, if only because Goblin hand-me-downs won't work for them. Basically, I expect as many reused assets as possible for allied races.

In the case of Void Elves, I have a concern about Blizzard just giving them some or all of the Blood Elf hairstyles and colors. I don't really care about exclusivity or faction uniqueness. My main concern is that hair shared as a straight up port, would end up working the same way as the skins + faces currently do. That is, we can't actually use the shared Blood Elf skin with Void Elf faces and vice versa. The only reason this isn't a huge deal is because nearly all the Void Elf faces are duplicates of Blood Elf faces. There are however, 2 male and 3 female Blood Elf faces that Void Elves never had which cannot be used with Void Elf skin tones. There is also a single female Void Elf face that Blood Elf females do not have which cannot be used with the new skin tones.

If Blizzard just ports the Blood Elf hairstyles and colors to Void Elves and they end up working the same way, we may not be able to use the ported colors with Void Elf hairstyles or Void Elf hair colors with the ported hairstyles, and I'd find that to be a terrible shame.

I am holding out hope though, that when the time comes that something is done for allied races, that Void Elves, at the very least, get their hair tentacles turned into a toggle option like the Night Elf hair vines. That would open up some interesting options I think. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see what happens down the road though. It seems obvious we won't see much else in terms of customization before Shadowlands launch.

Blizzard already teased us with possibilities of high elf fantasy on void elves. Getting natural skin tones are solid first step in the direction, but more needs to be done on that matter. De-tentacled hairstyles would go a long way as well, same for implementing another "traditional fantasy" hairstyles from other races and larger pallete of hair tones.

I also don't see a reason why not to implement most of features core races gets to AR. I'd say there are little technical problems to implement things like tail lenght for lightforged draenei, ear lenght for elf races, etc... These things may look like small details, but it makes difference.

Nightborne definitely needs a lot of love. The difference between playable and non playable models is ridiculous.

[Rhlor]

I think would be cool if down the line Blizzard bring a pack of Dark Fallen/San'layn customizations for Blood Elves based on Lanathel or Kael'thas from Revendreth and a Wood Elf/Ranger pack based on Alleria for Void elves.

the undead are not the blood elves theme, new customization for forsaken

[Frenchvince]

https://blizzcon.com/en-us/news/23513935

I am happy but at the same time it will probably be necessary to wait 5 months to have interesting news concerning the customizations, in particular the high elf customization for the void elves.

- - - Updated - - -

the undead are not the blood elves theme, new customization for forsaken

The paladin class may be the only thing preventing blood elves from getting Dark Ranger customization, and I find that normal.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

And they already revamped core races.

Are you actually reading?

[Varodoc]

Are you actually reading?

???? Your whole argument is that they are busy revamping core races to focus on allied races, but they already revamped core races and there is no statement that they will receive more customization in a future Shadowlands patch.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

To be honest, I don't expect serious revamp for AR either, but I'm pretty positive there will be some addictions across the board.

You are right it was not announced yet specificaly, but Blizzard told us that they are working on core races FIRST, which implies there are plans for AR, but they did not want to tell us when it will be, probably because they didn't have clear picture either. Even though there were announced new customizations for core races only, we get some options for AR se well.

It is clear that they aim on core races now to provide us more sub-racial options. Allied races Are already kind of subraces, so that's the reason I believe most of them will not get serious revamps. On the other hand, majority of AR are pretty similar to core races, so implementing any feature from core to allied race should not be that great issue. They already did that with void elves and their skin tones. It really looks like little effort work with great effect, so I actually don't see a reason why should they pass on it.

As I have said, this just seem far too optimistic regarding what Blizzard's time tables are. Put it simply, it just seems far more likely AR will be addressed when they are announces specifically to be so, and when it can it be sold as a feature and again, I must point out to how Goblins and Worgen took almost 5 years more than other core races to be revamped, and being conservatively that would be a worst case scenario.

I'm going to be honest, to a degree I do think that AR are not being updated is intentional, I agree with everyone that says it would be easier to simply copy options from core races to AR -and personally support it as we have seen it working wonderfully with VE and MG- so the fact that is not being done, to me suggest a deeper look will take place on AR, but that will take time.

What that deeper pass means is simply speculation; It could be expanding them with unique options to the point they have many more options that rival Core races, offering entirely different things for exclusivity's sake, or simply different yet unique options, or it could be something more substantial like a re-arrangement of how AR and customization works.

But that's the thing, It WOULD have been easier to just carry over some options from AR to core races and be done with it; that we didn't focused on that save for some options, to me implies whatever is done with AR will be more involved, but will take time.

- - - Updated - - -

I recall hearing that they would revamp the allied races at some point in Shadowlands, time permitting.

I do not; the only thing I remember is one of the initial statements saying "races" instead of making any distinction. Considering that every expansion as cut downright announced content, AR specific customization -which was not specifically announced- could very well end up being that.

I do want to make clear that I DO want AR customization as soon as possible, I'm just giving my opinion based on Blizzard's precedents of development, and in my perception, optimism just is not the way to go.

But I certainly hope I am wrong.

- - - Updated - - -

I can't say for sure either way, but I expect allied races to get something in the way of a customization pass at some point during Shadowlands. I don't think Blizzard will leave them completely untouched for an extended amount of time like Worgen and Goblins were. With that said, I'm not expecting anything ground breaking. To be honest, what I actually expect to happen is for allied races to get hand-me-downs from their parent races where possible, and not too much else beyond that.

The only allied races that stand out to me as needing real effort above and beyond that are Nightborne who are woefully in need of a great deal of work beyond just ineriting Night Elf skins and hair (which would still need refitting for their models), and Vulpera, if only because Goblin hand-me-downs won't work for them. Basically, I expect as many reused assets as possible for allied races.

In the case of Void Elves, I have a concern about Blizzard just giving them some or all of the Blood Elf hairstyles and colors. I don't really care about exclusivity or faction uniqueness. My main concern is that hair shared as a straight up port, would end up working the same way as the skins + faces currently do. That is, we can't actually use the shared Blood Elf skin with Void Elf faces and vice versa. The only reason this isn't a huge deal is because nearly all the Void Elf faces are duplicates of Blood Elf faces. There are however, 2 male and 3 female Blood Elf faces that Void Elves never had which cannot be used with Void Elf skin tones. There is also a single female Void Elf face that Blood Elf females do not have which cannot be used with the new skin tones.

If Blizzard just ports the Blood Elf hairstyles and colors to Void Elves and they end up working the same way, we may not be able to use the ported colors with Void Elf hairstyles or Void Elf hair colors with the ported hairstyles, and I'd find that to be a terrible shame.

I am holding out hope though, that when the time comes that something is done for allied races, that Void Elves, at the very least, get their hair tentacles turned into a toggle option like the Night Elf hair vines. That would open up some interesting options I think. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see what happens down the road though. It seems obvious we won't see much else in terms of customization before Shadowlands launch.

Indeed, to a degree the issue with the new skin tones and faces on VE's comes from being an efficient port. It was simply the most practical way of implementing it; underwear still isn't fixed, and the only change besides adding the BE skin tones on VE was to separate the jewelry on female skin textures. And I don't think it will be addressed, cause rn several human faces have similar limitations based on skin tone range.

But it does speak to the fact that all AR "new" options have been simple ports from their core races, eye colors, and separation of options. Whenever AR get more options, besides the actual work load of making them, we can't dismiss the pre-production development behind the choices themselves. There's a lot of concept development before any assets are actually made, and it really just seems way to optimistic to see a deep dive into AR within Shadowlands patch cycle.

That's why I hoped we at least got a couple recolored VE hair color textures to tide us over until that. Alas.

Personally, when AR get updated, I think there will be a lot to be excited about; I do think they will put effort in giving AR new and cooler options. But it will take time.

Still, makes me wish that for SL they would have added more ports, it would have been simple, but I do think that does suggest AR will get their due, but not soon.

- - - Updated - - -

the undead are not the blood elves theme, new customization for forsaken

And yet every race has Death Knights, so that isn't really true.

[Vaedan]

As I have said, this just seem far too optimistic regarding what Blizzard's time tables are. Put it simply, it just seems far more likely AR will be addressed when they are announces specifically to be so, and when it can it be sold as a feature and again, I must point out to how Goblins and Worgen took almost 5 years more than other core races to be revamped, and being conservatively that would be a worst case scenario.

I'm going to be honest, to a degree I do think that AR are not being updated is intentional, I agree with everyone that says it would be easier to simply copy options from core races to AR -and personally support it as we have seen it working wonderfully with VE and MG- so the fact that is not being done, to me suggest a deeper look will take place on AR, but that will take time.

What that deeper pass means is simply speculation; It could be expanding them with unique options to the point they have many more options that rival Core races, offering entirely different things for exclusivity's sake, or simply different yet unique options, or it could be something more substantial like a re-arrangement of how AR and customization works.

But that's the thing, It WOULD have been easier to just carry over some options from AR to core races and be done with it; that we didn't focused on that save for some options, to me implies whatever is done with AR will be more involved, but will take time.

I don't think worgen/goblin precedent have that much value. Improving all character textures, reworking all assets like faces, hairstyles, etc and polishing animations definitely feels like WAY more work then adding new customization options, especially when you can just adjust these you just made for core races.

Announcement is also not really needed. Heritage armors were also originaly announced as a feature exclusive for AR and the only announcement we had with core race heritages was that Blizzard does not plan to implement them in the near future, yet we had dwarf and blood elf heritages included in 8.1 without anybody expecting it and we had one pair of heritages each major patch since then.

I think they intend to have AR customization as cool new addition for some content patch after expansion launch, maybe even some content to show on blizzconline. Time will tell.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

???? Your whole argument is that they are busy revamping core races to focus on allied races, but they already revamped core races and there is no statement that they will receive more customization in a future Shadowlands patch.

That's not even my argument, so I know you are not actually reading. As I said to Vaedan.

As I have said, this just seem far too optimistic regarding what Blizzard's time tables are. Put it simply, it just seems far more likely AR will be addressed when they are announces specifically to be so, and when it can it be sold as a feature and again, I must point out to how Goblins and Worgen took almost 5 years more than other core races to be revamped, and being conservatively that would be a worst case scenario.

I'm going to be honest, to a degree I do think that AR are not being updated is intentional, I agree with everyone that says it would be easier to simply copy options from core races to AR -and personally support it as we have seen it working wonderfully with VE and MG- so the fact that is not being done, to me suggest a deeper look will take place on AR, but that will take time.

What that deeper pass means is simply speculation; It could be expanding them with unique options to the point they have many more options that rival Core races, offering entirely different things for exclusivity's sake, or simply different yet unique options, or it could be something more substantial like a re-arrangement of how AR and customization works.

But that's the thing, It WOULD have been easier to just carry over some options from AR to core races and be done with it; that we didn't focused on that save for some options, to me implies whatever is done with AR will be more involved, but will take time.

[Rhlor]

As I have said, this just seem far too optimistic regarding what Blizzard's time tables are. Put it simply, it just seems far more likely AR will be addressed when they are announces specifically to be so, and when it can it be sold as a feature and again, I must point out to how Goblins and Worgen took almost 5 years more than other core races to be revamped, and being conservatively that would be a worst case scenario.

I'm going to be honest, to a degree I do think that AR are not being updated is intentional, I agree with everyone that says it would be easier to simply copy options from core races to AR -and personally support it as we have seen it working wonderfully with VE and MG- so the fact that is not being done, to me suggest a deeper look will take place on AR, but that will take time.

What that deeper pass means is simply speculation; It could be expanding them with unique options to the point they have many more options that rival Core races, offering entirely different things for exclusivity's sake, or simply different yet unique options, or it could be something more substantial like a re-arrangement of how AR and customization works.

But that's the thing, It WOULD have been easier to just carry over some options from AR to core races and be done with it; that we didn't focused on that save for some options, to me implies whatever is done with AR will be more involved, but will take time.

- - - Updated - - -



I do not; the only thing I remember is one of the initial statements saying "races" instead of making any distinction. Considering that every expansion as cut downright announced content, AR specific customization -which was not specifically announced- could very well end up being that.

I do want to make clear that I DO want AR customization as soon as possible, I'm just giving my opinion based on Blizzard's precedents of development, and in my perception, optimism just is not the way to go.

But I certainly hope I am wrong.

- - - Updated - - -



Indeed, to a degree the issue with the new skin tones and faces on VE's comes from being an efficient port. It was simply the most practical way of implementing it; underwear still isn't fixed, and the only change besides adding the BE skin tones on VE was to separate the jewelry on female skin textures. And I don't think it will be addressed, cause rn several human faces have similar limitations based on skin tone range.

But it does speak to the fact that all AR "new" options have been simple ports from their core races, eye colors, and separation of options. Whenever AR get more options, besides the actual work load of making them, we can't dismiss the pre-production development behind the choices themselves. There's a lot of concept development before any assets are actually made, and it really just seems way to optimistic to see a deep dive into AR within Shadowlands patch cycle.

That's why I hoped we at least got a couple recolored VE hair color textures to tide us over until that. Alas.

Personally, when AR get updated, I think there will be a lot to be excited about; I do think they will put effort in giving AR new and cooler options. But it will take time.

Still, makes me wish that for SL they would have added more ports, it would have been simple, but I do think that does suggest AR will get their due, but not soon.

- - - Updated - - -



And yet every race has Death Knights, so that isn't really true.

DK are their own faction and the only NPC we saw who joined the horde and fought against the alliance in the service of the horde was Koltira and joined the Forsaken.

[Varodoc]

That's not even my argument, so I know you are not actually reading. As I said to Vaedan.

No, this was your argument to me:

They literally are revamping core races. That's the feature they introduced for the expansion in terms customization. Do you really expect them to add AR on top of that, without previous announcing? Or is just wishful thinking?

Is it, or is it not a fact that they already revamped core races, and thus are done with them?

You then went on to claim that it would be unlikely for them to announce additional options for allied races in Shadowlands, even though they announced out of nowhere heritage armors for core races in BfA, and those also took a lot of effort (since they required a new high quality tier set and a new fully-voiced questline for each race).

As I have said, this just seem far too optimistic regarding what Blizzard's time tables are. Put it simply, it just seems far more likely AR will be addressed when they are announces specifically to be so, and when it can it be sold as a feature and again, I must point out to how Goblins and Worgen took almost 5 years more than other core races to be revamped, and being conservatively that would be a worst case scenario.

I'm going to be honest, to a degree I do think that AR are not being updated is intentional, I agree with everyone that says it would be easier to simply copy options from core races to AR -and personally support it as we have seen it working wonderfully with VE and MG- so the fact that is not being done, to me suggest a deeper look will take place on AR, but that will take time.

What that deeper pass means is simply speculation; It could be expanding them with unique options to the point they have many more options that rival Core races, offering entirely different things for exclusivity's sake, or simply different yet unique options, or it could be something more substantial like a re-arrangement of how AR and customization works.

But that's the thing, It WOULD have been easier to just carry over some options from AR to core races and be done with it; that we didn't focused on that save for some options, to me implies whatever is done with AR will be more involved, but will take time.

How could I read a post that didn't exist at the time?

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

I don't think worgen/goblin precedent have that much value. Improving all character textures, reworking all assets like faces, hairstyles, etc and polishing animations definitely feels like WAY more work then adding new customization options, especially when you can just adjust these you just made for core races.

I do agree, that's why I put them as the worst case scenario. As said previously, my best case scenario is last patch of the expansion, so my range is kinda between 1.5 years and 5 :/

Announcement is also not really needed. Heritage armors were also originaly announced as a feature exclusive for AR and the only announcement we had with core race heritages was that Blizzard does not plan to implement them in the near future, yet we had dwarf and blood elf heritages included in 8.1 without anybody expecting it and we had one pair of heritages each major patch since then.

Not really, Heritage armor for core races was first addressed on 2018 on a Dev Q&A

https://youtu.be/aN0MSAzupjw?t=632

Basically he said "not currently planned, but we'd like to" so it was not an outright confirmation, but it already put out there it was something they wanted to do almost half a year before it was announced.

I feel we really don''t have the same equivalent addressing for new customization for AR.

I think they intend to have AR customization as cool new addition for some content patch after expansion launch, maybe even some content to show on blizzconline. Time will tell.

Full honesty I hope you are right, but IDK, I do think AR "newness" works against them. When they said "customization will be a continuing effort" I was expecting less "during SL" and more of a "through WoW", much in the way Heritage Armor will keep coming.

It just doesn't feel like AR will be a development priority during SL's lifetime, but to me that does suggest they will put a good effort when their time comes, specially how it could relate to Azeroth being changed upon our return.

Not really a "Wold Revamp" but to a degree wit would be a good opportunity to showcase more of the AR adjusting to the "outside world" in terms of let's say assets and presence, like a Void Elven store in Stormwind, with actually new VE assets.

- - - Updated - - -

Is it, or is it not a fact that they already revamped core races, and thus are done with them?

That has nothing to do with my point; Not because they are done with CR they will go straight to AR. My whole point is that they rarely just throw in unannounced stuff as features, because the whole point is to use features as selling points.

You then went on to claim that it would be unlikely for them to announce additional options for allied races in Shadowlands, even though they announced out of nowhere heritage armors for core races in BfA, and those also took a lot of effort (since they required a new high quality tier set and a new fully-voiced questline for each race).

Sigh. The point I was making was that new features are announced or even addressed well beyond time -and as I just said on a later post to this one- Heritage Armor for CR was indeed brought up almost half a year before them showing up on the PTR in October 2018.

How could I read a post that didn't exist at the time?

Because that was a clarification of my previous point that apparently didn't come across correctly.

It's not about being "easy" and "should be done since core races are done", but about development cycles and how features are announced. The whole point is that there's little to make me think AR customization will be part of the SL patch cycle looking at how other stuff has went.

And again, that's just my opinion based on observations -not what I want to happen- That's my issue with your opinion, it's just what you want to happen based on little evidence.

Considered we actually want the same thing -AR customization ASAP- this issue is entirely a discussion about plausibility, and you are not giving a string argument beyond "could happen"

- - - Updated - - -

DK are their own faction and the only NPC we saw who joined the horde and fought against the alliance in the service of the horde was Koltira and joined the Forsaken.

Playable DK's literally serve either Horde or Alliance; they are a part of their factions, they often have shown-up as NPC's and mobs. What's with disregarding anything that doesn't fit your narrative?