Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[Ardenaso]

As a War2 purist

but you don't like alteraci human for the horde

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I am hardcore blood elf fan
And the only make me mad are canibal option for blood elves

at this point I wouldn't mind now san'layn or dark ranger options for blood elves; but I wish to implement that Blizzard implements first the sub-race system

[Vaedan]

the sanlayn ate soldiers of the horde I suppose the horde would not accept them again. also the void elves use necromancy so it would be better for the sanlayn as part of a society that accepts necromancy than a society that is radiated by light.
it could be a neutral allied race i see a lot of alliance players wanting the sanlayn to be playable

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the sanlayn use the night elf model so the easiest way to have sanlayn is with the night elves

Void elves used dead bodies as vessels for the Void entities, which is not exactly necromancy, at least not that one which was used to rise san'layn and is possibly used by them. That power draws from the power of Death, not the Void.

It's the same case as Anduin and Faol raised Calia Menethil as undead with powers of Light. Completely different methods, completely different sources. Or should I say undeath is just fine with light users, according to this one event?

San'layn are risen blood elves, not night elves. Adding them to night elves does not make sense. Also, it's been Horde players who requests that for years now, this feature has nothing to do with the Alliance.

[Dristereau]

From a personal POV I honestly think the three new colours added (White, Black and Brown) are much better and what I wanted than the others, I think the white looks really cool. I never expected or cared much for Red/Ginger as I felt you should keep the Void Elves cold colours (White/Black/Blue) and have the Blood Elves with warm (Red, Blonde etc).

Hairstyles
I want to see the tentacle free versions of hairstyles before I pass judgement on those, if they're just removed I think half of them may look incomplete and not sit right. I still want to see more hairstyles, essentially ones which give the Void Elves a more elegant option than most which look like they forgot to care about personal hygiene when they left Quel'thalas. There are some interesting options at the start of this thread and you give the options to Blood Elves as well as the OG race.

Eye/Skin Colour
Yes I know, we've been doing this road before but I have a few final requests. For both Void and Blood, a blue eyes option similar to the purple one with a white sclera, I think this looks much better than the full blue we currently. And for Blood Elves, give them a Dark Ranger pale skin and red eyes. Why not?

Accessories
This is another one I think that would be really nice to add which is feathers/plumes similar to the Dwarves as it would help reinforce the High Elf theme. I also really think Body/Face paint/tattoos would add a new dimension to Elves in the same way it has for other races, such as Dwarves, Tauren, Orcs and Trolls. Again, the first page demonstrates this really well. For Blood Elves as well, Runic Tattoos. It feels somewhat criminal for Blood Elves to still not have Runic Tattoos when they were show on the Box Art for TBC

[Kyriani]

From a personal POV I honestly think the three new colours added (White, Black and Brown) are much better and what I wanted than the others, I think the white looks really cool. I never expected or cared much for Red/Ginger as I felt you should keep the Void Elves cold colours (White/Black/Blue) and have the Blood Elves with warm (Red, Blonde etc).

Hairstyles
I want to see the tentacle free versions of hairstyles before I pass judgement on those, if they're just removed I think half of them may look incomplete and not sit right. I still want to see more hairstyles, essentially ones which give the Void Elves a more elegant option than most which look like they forgot to care about personal hygiene when they left Quel'thalas. There are some interesting options at the start of this thread and you give the options to Blood Elves as well as the OG race.

Eye/Skin Colour
Yes I know, we've been doing this road before but I have a few final requests. For both Void and Blood, a blue eyes option similar to the purple one with a white sclera, I think this looks much better than the full blue we currently. And for Blood Elves, give them a Dark Ranger pale skin and red eyes. Why not?

Accessories
This is another one I think that would be really nice to add which is feathers/plumes similar to the Dwarves as it would help reinforce the High Elf theme. I also really think Body/Face paint/tattoos would add a new dimension to Elves in the same way it has for other races, such as Dwarves, Tauren, Orcs and Trolls. Again, the first page demonstrates this really well. For Blood Elves as well, Runic Tattoos. It feels somewhat criminal for Blood Elves to still not have Runic Tattoos when they were show on the Box Art for TBC

Here's what the hairstyles look without tentacles courtesy of Talendrion




We'll have to wait till the PTR is updated to see them in the new colors.

[Yarathir]

I am hardcore blood elf fan
And the only make me mad are canibal option for blood elves

Not hardcore enough, apparently, since you aren't frothing at the mouth that Blizzard is "destroying your character's racial identity and culture and throwing it to the big bad Alliance crybabies."

[Geisl]

We did it!!! We did it!!

We really should start pushing for void elf paladins.

The even let the newest hair colors have smirks on their faces :P YAAAAYYYY FINALLY!!!!!

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This. Nothing is iconic about High Elf Paladins.

It is and has always been Rangers (Hunters) and Sorcerers (Mages)

Priests too I believe

[Flade]

I am hardcore blood elf fan
And the only make me mad are canibal option for blood elves

Not hardcore enough, apparently, since you aren't frothing at the mouth that Blizzard is "destroying your character's racial identity and culture and throwing it to the big bad Alliance crybabies."

This. You shame your race, traitor!

[Edward Wu]

All this stuff is validating the idea that they really should have just had the BC races be Blood Elves for the Horde and High Elves for the Alliance.

BE fans simply do not get it: No this isn't enough. It will never be enough. Because your race caused an enormous maelstrom within the balance of faction populations which has caused upsetting ripples throughout the game for over a decade.

You talk about stealing the racial identity of the BE but the Horde literally stole a core race from the Alliance in BC and never looked back. It's been nothing but disingenuous argumentation and coping mechanisms from then on. The fact that you have the nerve to ask for alterac humans and dark ranger BEs just speaks volumes about how tone deaf you are.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

Priests too I believe

Honestly they are on THIN ice, their iconic-ness just being carried by Warcraft 3. No major or relevant High Elf priest characters have been introduced in WoW. They are indeed one of the most iconic RTS units, but they never really got brought up during WoW itself on a significant way.

The only modern examples we have that High Elves participate in holy light worship is Vereesa saying "By the Light!", and the Highvale Elves being very light focused (beyond class trainer and vendor NPC's)

IMO, High Elves have never really been a very religious race, it just doesn't define their culture in a way it does for humans or night elves. Of course there are important cases and notorious branches, but for me they have always come across as not very religious as a whole, on a cultural level.

The whole "light" aspect of the modern Sunwell comes after the schism, and while of course is a cultural and historic heritage locale for all High Elves, the religious light aspect of it is completely a Blood Elven cultural thing.


Alleria is pretty much, literally, the template of what an "Alliance High Elf" is. She's literally the face of the race as introduced. The fact that she didn't share the ideological views her own husband had on the light and chose to use the potential of the Void, could be a good representation of the beliefs of her generation.

[choom]

All this stuff is validating the idea that they really should have just had the BC races be Blood Elves for the Horde and High Elves for the Alliance.

BE fans simply do not get it: No this isn't enough. It will never be enough. Because your race caused an enormous maelstrom within the balance of faction populations which has caused upsetting ripples throughout the game for over a decade.

You talk about stealing the racial identity of the BE but the Horde literally stole a core race from the Alliance in BC and never looked back. It's been nothing but disingenuous argumentation and coping mechanisms from then on. The fact that you have the nerve to ask for alterac humans and dark ranger BEs just speaks volumes about how tone deaf you are.

Imagine caring this much about the color of elves in a video game. It's a sad and pityable sight. Not just you, goes for the 1262 other pages of this thread too.

[ravenmoon]

No more red vs blue expansions. Blizzard have already said they are laying off them for a long time.

And the Blood Elves can lose Silvermoon...17-20 years after Quel'Thalas is updated for the Horde Sin'dorei.
Suramar will never be updated - Horde only have the Nighthold.

I do look forward to a Quel'Thalas update for the Horde Sin'dorei. They deserve and need it.

EDIT:
The fact that you, @ravenmoon - want to enforce the same misery onto the Sin'dorei fanbase as what your going through now with the Night Elves, makes me less sympathetic to actually wanting Night Elves to have their own city, have their own lands...you want to punish my favorite race for no reason, other than your personal views and think that I should be alright with it and if I'm not - "Well join the Alliance." No, Blizzard should not force that on me and they won't. I didn't ask them to write BFA and make the Night Elves homeless...it's very hypocritical for you to be wanting sympathy for the Night Elves, yet want the Sin'dorei to go through the exact treatment and expect Sin'dorei fans to remain quiet about it.

Maybe, Night Elves should be left out of the story for a good few expansions and let the Void Elves take over and build up Telogrus Citadel?

Sin'dorei and Shal'dorei carry on as they are, in an updated Quel'Thalas and in the Nighthold, because Horde players won't get an updated Suramar.

You are taking this FAR to personally.

I use to sometimes, especially after what they did to night elves. Trust me it’s much healthier if you don’t.

Trust me, I was purely analysing the situation from as rationally as I could. the trending and projection of fan influenced directions.

you’ll find it helpful to love all elves regardless of whether it’s blue or red and desire them to be enjoyable.

you quaked at the idea of blood elves losing Silvermoon. You didn’t care whether they moved into something better or got improved by the experience.

what is falling about what happened to the night elves was the consistent degradation and loss since their fantastical introduction in Wc3, leading from the sundering with no good improvement.

not once have I ever suggested blood elves losing something without gaining something. You basically always want exciting things players can rally around for a race when they lose something. Loss is part of the story. What’s bad is when they keep losing and never improve or get better things and performances.

if losing Teldrassil meant the night elves powering up with the well of eternity arcane, world tree nature and night warrior Elune, gaining a better city than Darnassus and Suramar and being quite powerful in action every time you meet them in the events. Like they were supposed to be when they were described as a TITANIC race in the Wc3 manual, even regaining their immortality (which face it, none of these affect gameplay at all), then I’d say you are now compensating night elves for losing horribly in the WoR, looking so bad in Cata, ineffective and awol for most of classic to wotLK, and coming out of wc3 with significant reductions.

Do you not think of blood elves lost Silvermoon. I would not be championing great ways they could improve and end up even better than before?

for me that’s the main thing

[Varodoc]

Why exactly were we talking about giving San'layn options to the Ren'dorei? They are still Ren'dorei, not "Umbrella term for all elves". The Ren'dorei got these new options because fair skin and blonde hair is part of the Ren'dorei identity (see their leader Lady Alleria Windrunner), but they have nothing in common with the San'layn or the Dark Rangers.

While they use magic that can be compared to necromancy, it doesn't seem like the creatures they raised in Zuldazar were sentient like the undead are. They were simply animating fallen bones and corpses using the Void energy.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

The even let the newest hair colors have smirks on their faces :P YAAAAYYYY FINALLY!!!!!

Like I will say that brown hair color was my least favorite option but that's just nitpicking on my end TBH.

BTW, this does leave VE's having the same number of hair colors than BE's -this latest addition really has doubled the options!- so I kinda doubt we see more colors on VE's for a hot while, unless BE also get more. I don't think VE's are going to get more options than BE's ever -and they are already on thin ice on skin tones because Blood Elves technically do have access to 23 skin tones, yet 9 of them are class locked.

Best case scenario, DK skin tones (and maybe some DH ones) are unlocked for BE's next expansion, and VE's will get like 2 new skin tones. Otherwise, I think it's likely VE's will only get jewelry/colors, hairstyles/tendrils and some sort of marking.

But maybe we won't be getting more hair colors on VE's at all for a long time.

[Pheraz]

I really do not understand why horde needs to "get something" for alliance finally getting voidy high elves or high void elves

I mean, why not improve the monster-aspect of the horde a bit more? More orc colors/types. Fel orcs, void orcs, space orcs, spice orcs whatever.

The vampire elves some people ask for do not really fit into the horde, in my humble opinion.

Forest trolls and more orc types are something I could really see coming.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

Here's what the hairstyles look without tentacles courtesy of Talendrion

SNIP
We'll have to wait till the PTR is updated to see them in the new colors.

Male hair styles are rather tragic not gonna lie; it's mostly that they look very samey.

But that's alright, these will do until whenever VE's get updated hairstyles.

Like for real, they might not give em more skin tones or hair colors, but it would be SUPER weird if they were the only race to not get more hairstyles lmao.

Eventually, that is. Doubt w'ell see it before 10.0

[Varodoc]

To all the San'layn fans: Blizzard clearly isn't interested in making San'layn playable in any way. Otherwise they would have done it in BfA. Did they do it in BfA? No, quite the opposite in fact. They had this plotline with Dreven the San'layn trying to join the Horde, only for his plans to be thwarted completely and him and his lackeys to be exterminated.

While giving the High elf options for the Ren'dorei made sense because there are several Quel'dorei delving in the study of the Void in Telogrus Rift; and they too are "Ren'dorei", "Children of the Void", children united in the Void. They might not be biologically Void elves, but they are still Ren'dorei.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

I really do not understand why horde needs to "get something" for alliance finally getting voidy high elves or high void elves

I mean, why not improve the monster-aspect of the horde a bit more? More orc colors/types. Fel orcs, void orcs, space orcs, spice orcs whatever.

The vampire elves some people ask for do not really fit into the horde, in my humble opinion.

Forest trolls and more orc types are something I could really see coming.

I think vampire elves are indeed pretty cool, and they do have tons of potential by connecting to old lore (Being Kael'thas lost Northern forces) and new lore (the Venthyr)

Not only that, they also would work as a link between Forsaken and Blood Elves, which would also serve to make them stand ins for Dark Rangers and other undead elves.

San'layn would fit as much as Blood Elves and Forsaken did, so I think overall, they do fit in the Horde. Let's not forget that Ma'ghar, Zandalari, Highmountain and Vulpera all fit the Western Horde aesthetic, with only Nightborne doing so for the Eastern, and specifically the Blood Elves. San'layn would be a perfecr unifier for undead and blood elves, creating a more cohesive aesthetic spectrum for the Eastern Horde

[Yarathir]

I really do not understand why horde needs to "get something" for alliance finally getting voidy high elves or high void elves

I mean, why not improve the monster-aspect of the horde a bit more? More orc colors/types. Fel orcs, void orcs, space orcs, spice orcs whatever.

The vampire elves some people ask for do not really fit into the horde, in my humble opinion.

Forest trolls and more orc types are something I could really see coming.

Still waiting for the Alliance to get something in return for the Orcs getting a straight back option. Hmhh...

(Jk, I'm not really, but for the sake of tit-for-tat argumentation)

[Geisl]

Honestly they are on THIN ice, their iconic-ness just being carried by Warcraft 3. No major or relevant High Elf priest characters have been introduced in WoW. They are indeed one of the most iconic RTS units, but they never really got brought up during WoW itself on a significant way.
....
Alleria is pretty much, literally, the template of what an "Alliance High Elf" is. She's literally the face of the race as introduced. The fact that she didn't share the ideological views her own husband had on the light and chose to use the potential of the Void, could be a good representation of the beliefs of her generation.

You know that makes a lot of sense (them not being so religious). Yeah the WC3 unit is what made me think so, kinda like Pandaren Brewmaster (so Panda Monk is basically the flagship aesthetic for Monks).

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Like I will say that brown hair color was my least favorite option but that's just nitpicking on my end TBH.

......

Best case scenario, DK skin tones (and maybe some DH ones) are unlocked for BE's next expansion, and VE's will get like 2 new skin tones. Otherwise, I think it's likely VE's will only get jewelry/colors, hairstyles/tendrils and some sort of marking.

But maybe we won't be getting more hair colors on VE's at all for a long time.

Brown was the one I was most hoping for so ! :P But I feel more hair colors can wait at this point. Tbh the de-coupling of tentacles are going to make hairstyles look so freakin good (imo) that I'm fine with all hair color options come 9.1.5 and if we never got anymore afterwards.

[Yarathir]

I really, really hope we get some wicked void-themed stuff for Void Elves now, whenever they get their next customization update. Tentacles, teeth, eyes, some space/star mimicking particle effects for their body, eyes or hair.

Nightborne similarly need arcane effects for their body and hair.