Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[Kyriani]

That tabard is one of the reasons I am going with the Night Fae for my covenant!

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

That's a major problem for paladins as well as 99% of paladin armour is basically designed around humans and nothing is for Belves, Dwarfs, Tauren. Draenei rightfully got armour for their design in BC and WoD though. (Zandalari not included due to how new they are)

Trully a shame this recolor wasn't made available and we ended with the weird mustard one on the horde. It was perfect for Blood Knights



At best we have what Liadrin is wearing on the Warfront

https://wow.zamimg.com/uploads/scree...dy-liadrin.jpg

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That tabard is one of the reasons I am going with the Night Fae for my covenant!

I'm very tempted myself XD, tbh none of the covenants fit my warrior aesthetically, so might as well!

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Oh, and speaking of unused armor in general, I found this compilation of unused Legion stuff :/ it's a lot!

https://imgur.com/a/t6RKl

[Lumineus]

That's a major problem for paladins as well as 99% of paladin armour is basically designed around humans and nothing is for Belves, Dwarfs, Tauren. Draenei rightfully got armour for their design in BC and WoD though. (Zandalari not included due to how new they are)

I mean... that set is literally a Blood Elf armor. It has phoenix wings on top of phoenix wings (on top of even more phoenix wings in the mythic/elite set). They should have just released the Blood Knight colorway to players.

[Ardenaso]

I mean... that set is literally a Blood Elf armor. It has phoenix wings on top of phoenix wings (on top of even more phoenix wings in the mythic/elite set). They should have just released the Blood Knight colorway to players.

that kinda looked more like the WC3 Lordaeronian armor, they have eagles too

[Varodoc]

Given that the Kirin Tor is neutral, it is something both BE and VE players can pull off now; as for VE players specifically, maybe there's more interest on repping alliance than a neutral faction.

I used to have the same mog Kirin Tor Guardians have on my mage, kinda using another look for now.

Actually I believe the Kirin Tor guardians are specifically High elves with blue eyes, not Blood elves, but oh well.

In fact I don't even understand why Blood elves have blue eyes now... what's that option supposed to represent? I don't remember seeing any Blood elf with blue eyes.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

Actually I believe the Kirin Tor guardians are specifically High elves with blue eyes, not Blood elves, but oh well.

In fact I don't even understand why Blood elves have blue eyes now... what's that option supposed to represent? I don't remember seeing any Blood elf with blue eyes.

What I mean is that regardless of being High Elves, they are neutral -not alliance High Elves-, so I don't think people are that excited to rep for a neutral group, such as the Kirin Tor

As for why Blood Elves have blue yes, honestly I don't care; they always said that fel radiation would disappear with time, guess it did sooner rather than later.

Also there ARE blood elves with blue eyes tbh -one blacksmith and Astromancer Darnarian as well as some Sunreaver Frosthands during the Purge, so, they do exist-

[Vaedan]

Actually I believe the Kirin Tor guardians are specifically High elves with blue eyes, not Blood elves, but oh well.

In fact I don't even understand why Blood elves have blue eyes now... what's that option supposed to represent? I don't remember seeing any Blood elf with blue eyes.

It was actually never explained. I guess it's an option for players to fullfil their RP better. There are few theories made by community:

- elven eyes take color tied to power source they tap into. In the case of blue eyes, it would be most likely arcane
- restored Sunwell slowly cleanse blood elves of their fel taint, restoring their eyes to their uncorrupted form
- they are high elves who never tapped into fel and never got corrupted, but for some reason they decided to go Horde

Regarding the last example, there are some people who are after this fantasy, but I don't understand why exactly. Modern history of sin'dorei is all about accepting new path in order to survive. Horde elves were always defined by their pragmatism, not idealism. Not to mention that sin'dorei considered high elves disrespectful at best and traitors at worst. I can imagine that even if some high elf would like to rejoin Silvermoon, he/she would be pushed to accept new identity of sin'dorei to be welcomed back.

[Varodoc]

What I mean is that regardless of being High Elves, they are neutral -not alliance High Elves-, so I don't think people are that excited to rep for a neutral group, such as the Kirin Tor

As for why Blood Elves have blue yes, honestly I don't care; they always said that fel radiation would disappear with time, guess it did sooner rather than later.

Also there ARE blood elves with blue eyes tbh -one blacksmith and Astromancer Darnarian as well as some Sunreaver Frosthands during the Purge, so, they do exist-

I assumed the Fel radiation wearing off would lead into golden eyes (which were added in BfA), not blue eyes. They had blue eyes in the past because the Sunwell was a fount of pure Arcane energy, but now it's a source of Light energy.

I wonder how many of those NPCs you cited were supposed to have blue eyes, because my instinct tells me it was just an oversight from Blizzard.

It was actually never explained. I guess it's an option for players to fullfil their RP better. There are few theories made by community:

- elven eyes take color tied to power source they tap into. In the case of blue eyes, it would be most likely arcane
- restored Sunwell slowly cleanse blood elves of their fel taint, restoring their eyes to their uncorrupted form
- they are high elves who never tapped into fel and never got corrupted, but for some reason they decided to go Horde

Regarding the last example, there are some people who are after this fantasy, but I don't understand why exactly. Modern history of sin'dorei is all about accepting new path in order to survive. Horde elves were always defined by their pragmatism, not idealism. Not to mention that sin'dorei considered high elves disrespectful at best and traitors at worst. I can imagine that even if some high elf would like to rejoin Silvermoon, he/she would be pushed to accept new identity of sin'dorei to be welcomed back.

The funny thing is that Ion said, and I quote, "Blood elves have evolved past blue eyes" a short time before the reveal that Void elves would get fair skin options.

I mean, talk about a bait and switch lol.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

I assumed the Fel radiation wearing off would lead into golden eyes (which were added in BfA), not blue eyes. They had blue eyes in the past because the Sunwell was a fount of pure Arcane energy, but now it's a source of Light energy.

IMO could have gone either way, since the Sunwell is both Light and Arcane, guess the thing is that gold appeared first and maybe because it cleansed the fel now the arcane blue can return.

I wonder how many of those NPCs you cited were supposed to have blue eyes, because my instinct tells me it was just an oversight from Blizzard.

Danuser stated there was a reason why the blacksmith had blue eyes, so we know there intentionality behind that one at least. Alas, they ARE in game, so we can't just dismiss them as bugs because they don't fit a narrative.

https://twitter.com/stevedanuser/sta...87595542433792

[elbleuet]

IMO could have gone either way, since the Sunwell is both Light and Arcane, guess the thing is that gold appeared first and maybe because it cleansed the fel now the arcane blue can return.

Danuser stated there was a reason why the blacksmith had blue eyes, so we know there intentionality behind that one at least. Alas, they ARE in game, so we can't just dismiss them as bugs because they don't fit a narrative.

https://twitter.com/stevedanuser/sta...87595542433792

There also are green eyed blood elves in some Alliance camps. Are blood elves part of it ? Just asking

[Vaedan]

The funny thing is that Ion said, and I quote, "Blood elves have evolved past blue eyes" a short time before the reveal that Void elves would get fair skin options.

I mean, talk about a bait and switch lol.

I guess there was some internal discussion on that matter between Ion's statement and their reveal of new customizations for blood and void elves. I feel that blue eyes for blood elves were actually kind of trade off for void elves getting fair skins... just imagine the outrage from blood elf fans if Blizzard announced new options for void elves and leaving blood elves with nothing new. To be honest, void elves got way more in this trade off, since eye color is just a detail, while skin colors make a big difference.

I actually don't really care that blood elves got blue eyes. For me, it's still blood elves, with history of mana tapping and use of fel and other pragmatic decisions they took in order to persevere. When it comes to eye colors, I'd be more happy if blood elves got orange and red eyes to more match their fiery theme. Siin'dorei fire mage or warlock would be pretty cool with orange/red eyes in my opinion, in the same way blood elf priests and paladin now use gold eyes.

[Rhlor]

There also are green eyed blood elves in some Alliance camps. Are blood elves part of it ? Just asking

blood elves in telogrus!

[Ardenaso]

There also are green eyed blood elves in some Alliance camps. Are blood elves part of it ? Just asking

yup Azara Goldenwing and Rovan Astalan

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- they are high elves who never tapped into fel and never got corrupted, but for some reason they decided to go Horde

Regarding the last example, there are some people who are after this fantasy, but I don't understand why exactly. Modern history of sin'dorei is all about accepting new path in order to survive. Horde elves were always defined by their pragmatism, not idealism. Not to mention that sin'dorei considered high elves disrespectful at best and traitors at worst. I can imagine that even if some high elf would like to rejoin Silvermoon, he/she would be pushed to accept new identity of sin'dorei to be welcomed back.

some neutral Dalarani civilians and/or some Highvale and at least some few 3-5 Allerians can return given if they didn't join the Silver Covenant or the 7th Legion

[shoc]

Actually I believe the Kirin Tor guardians are specifically High elves with blue eyes, not Blood elves, but oh well.

In fact I don't even understand why Blood elves have blue eyes now... what's that option supposed to represent? I don't remember seeing any Blood elf with blue eyes.

Because the effects of Fel affliction have worn off. Same reason they have yellow eyes now too. They are, and always have been High Elves. In MoP they were one treaty signature away from joining the Alliance if not for Jaina's purge of Dalaran. Even then though, they would have been Blood Elves in the Alliance - since the renaming of their people to Blood Elves was in remembrance of the genocide they suffered and not their relationship with other factions.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

There also are green eyed blood elves in some Alliance camps. Are blood elves part of it ? Just asking

Probably? For example the Silvermoon Scholars in Telogrus could be alliance, or at least heavily inclined towards it. Or are you simply defining High Elf or Blood Elf by their eye color, which would be reuctive.

The point is that looking at eye color as a political signifier has been fraught since day one even if there was correlation; The HE/BE divide wasn't biological, but ideological, so even where there has always been a strong correlation regarding eye colors, it wasn't the cause of the divide.

I mean, Void Elves were literally Blood Elves and changed factions recently, and we were told their alliance sympathy preceded them becoming Void Elves; Even QT as a whole was close to return to the Alliance during MoP. It's entirely logical there are BEs, regardless of void inclinations, that would prefer the alliance.

Yet... I can't say "blood elves are part of the alliance" and this is more of a personal definition; for a group to be "part" of a faction, it has to be, well, a group, with their own structure and ideology. A such, groups as the Void Elves and Silver Covenant are part of the alliance, so "High Elves are part of the alliance" but there are no BE groups on the alliance, and the individual BE's we might see on the Alliance are that, individuals.

Also, worth repeating, is that there are no High Elves on the Horde now, at least no more than there was before prepatch, because, again, eye color does not define if you are a high elf or a blood elf -strong correlation, but not definitive- and as said before, there are no self denominational High Elf groups on the Horde.

So what does that mean? Well, that is more likely for a blue eyed blood elf to be a... blood elf in the horde, than a High Elf, because the horde just doesn't have a context for High Elves as part of that faction.

But again, the simplest answer to your question is that eye color doesn't define whether you are a blood elf or a high elf; blood elf don't define themselves by their eye color, and theoretically we could see a high elf with fel irradiated eyes, but that would require them to either had been affected by fel somewhere else while part of the alliance, or be a BE that switched side and changed their name back to HE -which to me is the least likely scenario since BE's are very proud of their identity, even when they are not Horde.

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yup Azara Goldenwing and Rovan Astalan

That's exactly the point; are they Blood Elves that just have a HE voiceset, High Elves with green eyes, or a bug? Without confirmation, they can be either of those things.

Cause as much as having blue eyes doesn't make a blood elf a high elf, having green eyes doesn't make a high elf a blood elf. It has always been more nuanced than that.

some neutral Dalarani civilians and/or some Highvale and at least some few 3-5 Allerians can return given if they didn't join the Silver Covenant or the 7th Legion

Would be unlikely that no High Elves resettled in Quel'thalas after the Sunwell was re-ignited. Even if the choice of joining the Horde to be able to return home after all those years would have been hard, it would have been something many did.

Just as some BE's chose to leave the horde and rejoined the alliance, some would have done the opposite. It's really all about politics and ideology, and those are not defined by eye color, even if we can make generalizations about it.

But as it is the case with such things, there are always room for exceptions.

[Rhlor]

Probably? For example the Silvermoon Scholars in Telogrus could be alliance, or at least heavily inclined towards it. Or are you simply defining High Elf or Blood Elf by their eye color, which would be reuctive.

The point is that looking at eye color as a political signifier has been fraught since day one even if there was correlation; The HE/BE divide wasn't biological, but ideological, so even where there has always been a strong correlation regarding eye colors, it wasn't the cause of the divide.

I mean, Void Elves were literally Blood Elves and changed factions recently, and we were told their alliance sympathy preceded them becoming Void Elves; Even QT as a whole was close to return to the Alliance during MoP. It's entirely logical there are BEs, regardless of void inclinations, that would prefer the alliance.

Yet... I can't say "blood elves are part of the alliance" and this is more of a personal definition; for a group to be "part" of a faction, it has to be, well, a group, with their own structure and ideology. A such, groups as the Void Elves and Silver Covenant are part of the alliance, so "High Elves are part of the alliance" but there are no BE groups on the alliance, and the individual BE's we might see on the Alliance are that, individuals.

Also, worth repeating, is that there are no High Elves on the Horde now, at least no more than there was before prepatch, because, again, eye color does not define if you are a high elf or a blood elf -strong correlation, but not definitive- and as said before, there are no self denominational High Elf groups on the Horde.

So what does that mean? Well, that is more likely for a blue eyed blood elf to be a... blood elf in the horde, than a High Elf, because the horde just doesn't have a context for High Elves as part of that faction.

But again, the simplest answer to your question is that eye color doesn't define whether you are a blood elf or a high elf; blood elf don't define themselves by their eye color, and theoretically we could see a high elf with fel irradiated eyes, but that would require them to either had been affected by fel somewhere else while part of the alliance, or be a BE that switched side and changed their name back to HE -which to me is the least likely scenario since BE's are very proud of their identity, even when they are not Horde.

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That's exactly the point; are they Blood Elves that just have a HE voiceset, High Elves with green eyes, or a bug? Without confirmation, they can be either of those things.

Cause as much as having blue eyes doesn't make a blood elf a high elf, having green eyes doesn't make a high elf a blood elf. It has always been more nuanced than that.




Would be unlikely that no High Elves resettled in Quel'thalas after the Sunwell was re-ignited. Even if the choice of joining the Horde to be able to return home after all those years would have been hard, it would have been something many did.

Just as some BE's chose to leave the horde and rejoined the alliance, some would have done the opposite. It's really all about politics and ideology, and those are not defined by eye color, even if we can make generalizations about it.

But as it is the case with such things, there are always room for exceptions.

or is it self-identification! valeera lived for years in stormwind and served under 2 alliance leaders! but she always identified herself as blood elf because she lived what was the destruction of quelthalas and she honored the fallen with that name.

[Xilurm]

What do purple eyes signify?

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

or is it self-identification! valeera lived for years in stormwind and served under 2 alliance leaders! but she always identified herself as blood elf because she lived what was the destruction of quelthalas and she honored the fallen with that name.

Indeed I already alluded to her.

...which to me is the least likely scenario since BE's are very proud of their identity, even when they are not Horde

The distinction that I am making is that self denomination of individuals is something we already see in game so we can have BE individuals on the Alliance and HE individuals on the Horde, but that is not aplicable on a group context, since there are no self denominational "groups" of Blood Elves on the Alliance, nor High Elf groups on the Horde. This distinction matters, as groups are defined by their ideologies and politics, whether individuals only are bound their own actions.

That's why saying "Blood Elves are an Alliance race", "Goblins are an Alliance Race" or "High Elves are a Horde Race" is inaccurate, because they are not represented as racial groups with shared ideologies and politics, but individuals, unlike High Elves, which indeed have groups within the alliance.

Of course, goes without saying that the existence of individuals may lead to the creation of groups -Such as the origin of the Silver Covenant- but it's not an interchangeable definition.

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What do purple eyes signify?

Honestly? I have NO clue:

So far we have only seen purple eyes in canon as a temporary state -Valeera in the comics- and an unknown one on Vereesa's Heartstone portrayal. That is not enough to get a concise answer, but we can have some theories.

Mine is that "refined arcane energy" may cause purple eyes, and as so many things with Elves, the level of exposure leads to a permanent change. I make the distinction between refined arcane energy, and let's say, the one of the Sunwell. We see arcane often as a mix of the two colors, so my guess the difference in color could be gradation or strength of the arcane energy, say, how Thas'dorah is pure arcane energy, or the scepter Valeera syphoned, while the Sunwell give a more low, but constant arcane radiation.

So of arcane energy is a spectrum, Blue is low levels, Purple is high levels. So perhaps the most arcane attuned elves do get permanent purple eyes

None of this theory makes sense why female HE NPCs have purple eyes and the males blue. I just have to go with that being a bug caused my using the ID of the old female HE eye color on the new purple ones.

[Rhlor]

Indeed I already alluded to her.



The distinction that I am making is that self denomination of individuals is something we already see in game so we can have BE individuals on the Alliance and HE individuals on the Horde, but that is not aplicable on a group context, since there are no self denominational "groups" of Blood Elves on the Alliance, nor High Elf groups on the Horde. This distinction matters, as groups are defined by their ideologies and politics, whether individuals only are bound their own actions.

That's why saying "Blood Elves are an Alliance race", "Goblins are an Alliance Race" or "High Elves are a Horde Race" is inaccurate, because they are not represented as racial groups with shared ideologies and politics, but individuals, unlike High Elves, which indeed have groups within the alliance.

Of course, goes without saying that the existence of individuals may lead to the creation of groups -Such as the origin of the Silver Covenant- but it's not an interchangeable definition.

tell me what is the ideological difference between blood elves vs high elves? being part of a faction is not an ideological difference. idiology is something that transcends nation states or geopolitical alliances! China and Vietnam, despite being ideologically communist, went to war with each other.

Do you know why the capitalist United States recognized communist China and practically betrayed capitalist China (Taiwan)? Because for the United States, having a country like China as an ally against the Soviet Union was something that geopolitically was much more useful!

Tell me then what would have been the ideological difference between the high elves and blood elves if in pandaria quelthalas had joined the alliance.

[Xilurm]

Honestly? I have NO clue:

So far we have only seen purple eyes in canon as a temporary state -Valeera in the comics- and an unknown one on Vereesa's Heartstone portrayal. That is not enough to get a concise answer, but we can have some theories.

Mine is that "refined arcane energy" may cause purple eyes, and as so many things with Elves, the level of exposure leads to a permanent change. I make the distinction between refined arcane energy, and let's say, the one of the Sunwell. We see arcane often as a mix of the two colors, so my guess the difference in color could be gradation or strength of the arcane energy, say, how Thas'dorah is pure arcane energy, or the scepter Valeera syphoned, while the Sunwell give a more low, but constant arcane radiation.

So of arcane energy is a spectrum, Blue is low levels, Purple is high levels. So perhaps the most arcane attuned elves do get permanent purple eyes

None of this theory makes sense why female HE NPCs have purple eyes and the males blue. I just have to go with that being a bug caused my using the ID of the old female HE eye color on the new purple ones.

Yeah thought so pretty much. Just wasn't sure because Night Elves have multiple tints of blue. Blue which apparently means arcane connection. White blue which leans more towards light. But there ain't a purple one so I wasn't sure. Nelves are inherently attuned to arcane anyway so it would make sense if they had the option to get purple eyes. I think.