Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[FossilFree]

Reminded me when I did Broken isles, it felt like NElf Kalimdor 2.0 but with all the history, the places out of the WotA book, plus some new ones like Highmountain.. it reallyfeltl ike the land of the ancients, in a much better way than Kalimdor main came across.

Yeah, Suramar was perfect, it felt lieka night city, the Darnassus upgrade, or rather how Darnassus shoudl ahve been like.

now Ardenwelad has that feel of how a night forest should have been.

The tree landform assets they created for Ardenweald prove to me that they have the ability to create a really cool new tree city for Night Elves. Maybe the core of Teldrassil is still alive, like in the ending cinematic for WC3, where Nordrassil suffered the explosion of Archimonde. Right after that, we see the tree grow new roots, implying that it survived (which of course it did, as we see in game today).

I'd like to see a modern take on a rebuilt Darnassus that actually matches the concept art finally, since the vanilla and Cata ones were both just big stumps.

[Eleann]

The tree landform assets they created for Ardenweald prove to me that they have the ability to create a really cool new tree city for Night Elves. Maybe the core of Teldrassil is still alive, like in the ending cinematic for WC3, where Nordrassil suffered the explosion of Archimonde. Right after that, we see the tree grow new roots, implying that it survived (which of course it did, as we see in game today).

I'd like to see a modern take on a rebuilt Darnassus that actually matches the concept art finally, since the vanilla and Cata ones were both just big stumps.

You know what? This is an amazing idea! A modern, rebuilt, high-end Darnassus, with its temples of Elune, its crystal clear lakes and running fountains, swans and tigers all over the place, and large trees in the middle with a small dreamlike garden. Oh, the dream!

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Regardless I knew from the beginning that Shadowlands would feel too out of place for me, as a Void elf main. That's fine. I'm obviously not expecting Blizzard to come up with 10+ different Covenants. I just accepted that, and am waiting patiently for 10.0.

They really need to delve deep into the Void for 10.0, I can imagine the Void expansion being a really frigging badass place if Blizzard plays its cards correctly. I can imagine dark zones with starry skies and voidy trees and environment, pitch black caves that can be explored using fireflies and what not, and ofcourse a big capital shared between Void elves and High elves in Telogrus, as well as Void themed fortresses for both Alliance and horde just like it happened in Pandaria.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

Still talking about high elves? Didn't void elves and blood elves get their blue eyes?

Talk about High Elves? In the High Elven Megathread? More likely than you think!

[FossilFree]

You know what? This is an amazing idea! A modern, rebuilt, high-end Darnassus, with its temples of Elune, its crystal clear lakes and running fountains, swans and tigers all over the place, and large trees in the middle with a small dreamlike garden. Oh, the dream!

Imagine if it actually looked like this!

[Pregnant Orc]

Imagine if it actually looked like this!

If not for how it would clash horrendously with the other maps scale it could hold en entire expansion on its own. Would be pretty hard to work in the Horde though unless it's another "faction war expansion (honestly we promise this time)" sort of deal. Though in the end we'd learn that it's not actually a world tree but an old god tentacle with some plant growth covering it and we'd have to burn it again

[Narwhalosh Whalescream]

Talk about High Elves? In the High Elven Megathread? More likely than you think!

So did we get high elves to our satisfaction or?

[Kyriani]

So did we get high elves to our satisfaction or?

I think the answer to that will vary depending on who you ask.

Some players are satisfied with Void Elves as the Alliance High Elves now that they can have the full range of normal human skin tones.

Some players still want normal human hair colors and hairstyles to complete the High Elf aesthetic (I'm sort of in this camp since I really want black as a hair color option but that has nothing to do with High Elves for me).

Some players still want more in-game lore showing and explaining how and why the High Elves are joining up with the Ren'dorei (I'm strongly in this camp - I like the concept of Void Elves as the way forward for the Alliance High Elves, but the lore is lacking currently).

Some players will never be satisfied until the racial tag says "High Elf" or "Quel'dorei" and they can be Paladins.

So for me, the answer is... "almost". We're very close to what I personally feel is a satisfying answer to the High Elf request.

In regards to High Elves specifically, I feel like, outside of the Silver Covenant, the Alliance High Elves have stagnated for years as far as story advancement goes. I believe that Void Elves can be the future of the High Elves, but there needs to be in-game story elements showing and telling us about this development, what drew them to the Ren'dorei, and how they are acquiring their powers (we still don't know how new recruits are becoming Void Elves).

Aesthetically, all that's really needed to finish the "High Elf Look", is to add a few hair color options in the human range of hair colors (yes that includes blonde, though my personal want is black), and a toggle for the hair tentacles so they can be turned on or off (or replaced with braids as some would prefer). More options in general are always desirable regardless of what "theme" they might trend towards though.

I personally don't feel like the Paladin class is essential to Alliance High Elves, though others may disagree. There's also the lore conflicts of that being possible unless Blizzard decides to just throw lore out the window for gameplay's sake, or make new lore explaining how it's possible. The most important thing to me however, is that Void Elves have their lore expanded so we understand essential things about them as a people going forward, and how they are the future of the Alliance High Elves (and defecting Horde Blood Elves as indicated from the Silvermoon Scholar NPC's in Telogrus).

[AOL Instant Messenger]

I think the answer to that will vary depending on who you ask.

Some players are satisfied with Void Elves as the Alliance High Elves now that they can have the full range of normal human skin tones.

Some players still want normal human hair colors and hairstyles to complete the High Elf aesthetic (I'm sort of in this camp since I really want black as a hair color option but that has nothing to do with High Elves for me).

Some players still want more in-game lore showing and explaining how and why the High Elves are joining up with the Ren'dorei (I'm strongly in this camp - I like the concept of Void Elves as the way forward for the Alliance High Elves, but the lore is lacking currently).

Some players will never be satisfied until the racial tag says "High Elf" or "Quel'dorei" and they can be Paladins.

So for me, the answer is... "almost". We're very close to what I personally feel is a satisfying answer to the High Elf request.

In regards to High Elves specifically, I feel like, outside of the Silver Covenant, the Alliance High Elves have stagnated for years as far as story advancement goes. I believe that Void Elves can be future of the High Elves, but there needs to be in-game story elements showing and telling us about this development, what drew them to the Ren'dorei, and how they are acquiring their powers (we still don't know how new recruits are becoming Void Elves).

Aesthetically, all that's really needed to finish the "High Elf Look", is to add a few hair color options in the human range of hair colors (yes that includes blonde, though my personal want is black), and a toggle for the hair tentacles so they can be turned on or off (or replaced with braids as some would prefer). More options in general are always desirable regardless of what "theme" they might trend towards though.

I personally don't feel like the Paladin class is essential to Alliance High Elves, though others may disagree. There's also the lore conflicts of that being possible unless Blizzard decides to just throw lore out the window for gameplay's sake, or make new lore explaining how it's possible. The most important thing to me however, is that Void Elves have their lore expanded so we understand essential things about them as a people going forward, and how they are the future of the Alliance High Elves (and defecting Horde Blood Elves as indicated from the Silvermoon Scholar NPC's in Telogrus).

I wouldn't say High Elf Paladins have ever been particularly iconic - in fact, the idea of Elves as paladins came in to existence with the Blood Knights in TBC, when previously the High Elves were only ever shown to be Priests. Although there were some in the Silver Hand, Mehlar was the only known High Elf in the Silver Hand at the time. Historically, the themes of High Elves have been mages, farstriders, and priests. Paladins are distinctly Blood Elven in nature.

[Frenchvince]

There are people who just want to be a void elf like Alleria (I'm one of them).

I would mainly need these 3 customization options, which would remain unique to the void elves:

- new natural hair colors
- new hairstyles "less octopus"
- a "with or without tentacles" toggle option for all hairstyles

I don't want to copy / paste blood elf hair customizations.

We come in peace ...

[Kyriani]

I wouldn't say High Elf Paladins have ever been particularly iconic - in fact, the idea of Elves as paladins came in to existence with the Blood Knights in TBC, when previously the High Elves were only ever shown to be Priests. Although there were some in the Silver Hand, Mehlar was the only known High Elf in the Silver Hand at the time. Historically, the themes of High Elves have been mages, farstriders, and priests. Paladins are distinctly Blood Elven in nature.

I agree. Paladins just don't feel essential to complete the High Elf fantasy. And just going by their WC3 presentation, High Elves, as you mentioned, are primarily shown as mages, priests, and farstriders.

[Eleann]

There are people who just want to be a void elf like Alleria (I'm one of them).

I would mainly need these 3 customization options, which would remain unique to the void elves:

- new natural hair colors
- new hairstyles "less octopus"
- a "with or without tentacles" toggle option for all hairstyles

I don't want to copy / paste blood elf hair customizations.

We come in peace ...

I tottaly agree with this and I would be more than happy with it. I have made a few forum threads about this on EU forums, and I am receiving so much attack by Horde players that it's really exhausting and makes me want to throw up. It really hurts because all I wanted was some hairstyles and hair colors. What's really bizzare though is that there are barely any Alliance players commenting. The activity is mostly Horde based. Just shows how low the Alliance has dropped with its demands. All you might see ocassionally is ''Give tails to Worgen'' or ''Remove race restrictions''. Not even that. Most EU posts are stuff like ''I quit'' or ''Shadowlands is bad''.

[Frenchvince]

I tottaly agree with this and I would be more than happy with it. I have made a few forum threads about this on EU forums, and I am receiving so much attack by Horde players that it's really exhausting and makes me want to throw up. It really hurts because all I wanted was some hairstyles and hair colors. What's really bizzare though is that there are barely any Alliance players commenting. The activity is mostly Horde based. Just shows how low the Alliance has dropped with its demands. All you might see ocassionally is ''Give tails to Worgen'' or ''Remove race restrictions''. Not even that. Most EU posts are stuff like ''I quit'' or ''Shadowlands is bad''.

The void elves and customization options are the last chance to get the "high elves of the alliance".

I think everyone is aware of it, that's why there are even more virulent people who are against it.

[ravenmoon]

So did we get high elves to our satisfaction or?

For me, no.

I really like void elves. More than High elves, but they aren't high elves. High elves are very specific and unique, and while i'm all for void elves having those options to their skin tones i will never use, Saying that, they aren't high elves.


High elves returning would be big thing for the warcraft community.

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I would still play if they never came, I have versions of them in blood elves and void elves, but I don't think any racial group /race can have as big an impact on the alliance as the high elf can, even if I don't play them, I would be very excited over the alliance if and should they return, and they return well.

[FossilFree]

If not for how it would clash horrendously with the other maps scale it could hold en entire expansion on its own. Would be pretty hard to work in the Horde though unless it's another "faction war expansion (honestly we promise this time)" sort of deal. Though in the end we'd learn that it's not actually a world tree but an old god tentacle with some plant growth covering it and we'd have to burn it again

I don't think it would be any more difficult than making Ardenweald. Just stick all the questing areas at the top of the branches instead of a chopped off stump. It would be mostly an exterior redesign for the lower sections. Rut'theran village would be a real village finally, and wrap its way up the trunk.

[Isilrien]

So did we get high elves to our satisfaction or?

I think we did, or as close as we can get.

I don't think it would be any more difficult than making Ardenweald. Just stick all the questing areas at the top of the branches instead of a chopped off stump. It would be mostly an exterior redesign for the lower sections. Rut'theran village would be a real village finally, and wrap its way up the trunk.

The village wrapping up the trunk would be awesome!

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

So did we get high elves to our satisfaction or?

I think that generally, mostly yeah. Overall chatter has decreased by a lot, and while most agree natural hair colors would be swell, it just doesn't reach the same presence HE threads did before VE's got natural skin tones and blue eyes. Lot's of people just happy sharing their mogs in places like twitter, lot's of cowls and hoods tho haha.

Be it just because people wanted something closer to the specific aesthetic or the understanding that HE's are already part of the alliance and this is really close to that fantasy being playable, it really seems most people are content enough.

[Goldielocks]

So did we get high elves to our satisfaction or?

The joke here is that Blizzard said fuck it and gave everybody High Elves.

[ravenmoon]

Personally, after asking for High Elves for years and fondly remembering my Alliance Rangers from Warcraft 2 in the 90s...

I'm ok with Void Elves being our version of the Quel'dorei. They're a pretty interesting development of that race, and clearly they do contain both "true" High Elf members and Blood Elves judging by the NPCs present at Telogrus.

Would I have preferred a more "Wood Elf" take on them, with Highvale Lodge as their home, Shamanism taught from the Wildhammer Clan and so on? Sure. The Void isn't my favourite cosmic force. But I'm content with the route they went.

We got blue eyes and light skin tones, which is great!

However. Here's my lingering concern...

We need better hair options.

- Options without tentacles for a natural look. Whether you want to look like a cute little adventurer or a dashing ranger.
- Options that don't look "emo".
- Traditional colours like brown, blonde, silver, and so on.
- More "voidy" options to distinguish their aesthetic as well, like perhaps a short haircut which is shaven on one side of the head and looks a bit cyberpunk.

That's all I "expect" and honestly think we deserve from Blizzard to complete the picture.

Aside from that, obviously I would kill for some runic tattoos and war paints, etc. But those would all be nice pluses. The hair is crucial and just needs to happen.

It's fair enough.. to be honest I feel everyone is just settling, because blizzard just don't seem to want to give what they want, and their feedback has been a bit manipulated by very enthusiastic opposers.

I have observed that wow's narrative development has not flowed organically in a very noticeable way, and the great tangent came with blood elves going horde - but then this is what happens when decisions are made for other reasons than the narrative.

Still it's spilt milk.

Void elves are nice for what they are, an interesting take on high elves, but they do not replace high elves, nor should people expect them too, any more than Highmountain replace Tauren, or Lightforge draenei, or Zandalari troll etc - just because they become playable. They may have pulled void elves out of thein air, but face it, this is the origin of most races, they just usually have or give more time to dress them up or they are in the lore a lot longer before they become playable like worgen and Dark Iron , Zandalar and Mag'har were. So they got the rough end of the stick.

Still as much as I like them, i would like to see high elves proper alongside the alliance, and I have no trouble with having both high elves and void elves, as well as night elves and Nightborne all on the alliance - it's hypocritical for most to object really, but then, for as much elf bias there is there is anti bias.

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The joke here is that Blizzard said fuck it and gave everybody High Elves.

It was the only way to go, I'm sure the hair colours will come sooner or later, but I think it would be much much better for the alliance if they were introduced properly. I also think that for such a well loved faction amongst the fanbase, the high elves deserve a grand re-entrance to the main stage of the alliance, not a sneak in through the back door via the void elves.

They've been such a force of nature amongst wow fans, and as minimised as they were by the very developers throughout wow history, no other group caused as much excitement and furor as high elves have.

Given their role as 1 of the original 3 diverse races of the alliance (the other two being humans and dwarves) and the role they play in broader fantasy, as well as in wow - to leave the high elf legacy destroyed with only blood elves and lesser known void elves I honestly think is shooting your self in the foot.

You clearly have an asset, that causes more talk than all your existing races, often combined, and you don't use it. Well loved and captured the imagination of most of your fanbase, and you leave it suppressed?? I understood the need, when the horde was still struggling with numbers and even after gaining them fearing that high elves might jeopardise that lead, but we are well well past that now, not to use the high elves properly is like throwing away the key can that re-invigorate your fading franchise, just to chase all the other weird things, not realising , weird things while making things interesting are nice, aren't ever more appreciated than well loved favourites.

At the end of the day, the greats need both, you need both the well established faves and the new novel, interesting weird things. So they should use the high elves, the way they are sneaking in via the void elves, is not generating the excitement could be. The feeling amongst fans is more resignation than engagement - sort of like we've settled, eh alliance fans feel exhausted, they're not giving us high elves but after so long whining for them, and being disappointed, let's just take this backdoor quickly before they change their mind... the horde fans are just so fed up too of trying to block it, and seeing just how interested or rather, covetously greedy those alliance goons are longing for their precious - they're like you know what, I'd just accept this, I'm so done with arguing. For such a desirable asset that high elves are, they could have breathed new life and generated a ton of excitement using them for wow, for both the alliance and the horde



I feel blizzard would do well to cause the high elves to return in style.. the night elf vs blood elf thing never really took off nor struck it with the fans.. the high elf vs blood elf thing that has so much more fire to it. And it should be the centre stage.

if you ask me, the night elves should be like in their own world doing their own thing, more like how we saw TFT night elves interact with Kael'thas - an acknowledgment - "we might help, because we go way back" (remember what Tyrande said to him and the reason she gave for helping him in TFT?) - but none of that drummed up animosity that looked so fake after you'd introduced them with a different dynamic. It's just another instance of the whole thing not flowing right, trying to force things.

Now if they use high elves instead, then their is well established history that flows naturally with the story and has the fans opposing each other too. It also has the nuance of a people trying to get together but it hopelessly falling apart because of how differently the two groups now view life. Those who uphold the pre-scourge standards and those the post-scourge ones. it's kinda like the Night elves and their Highborne city groups, except they never went killing each other like Thalassians are written to do.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

You know, it is kind of funny to me how this is still going even though barely a fraction of the original posters still regularly post on this megathread. It's like the Ship of Theseus.

[Thalassian Bob]

Weren't we always? >.>

True enough!