Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[Alanar]

What you fail to realize is that the citation for that comment is from the Warcraft Encyclopedia: a source written before we discovered both a contingent of high elves trapped behind the Dark Portal and before Blizzard collectively pulled a hitherto nonexistent group of high elf boogaloos out of their asses because they didn't want to commit the Kirin Tor to the faction they had consistently been members of since their introduction up until that point. The introduction of the Silver Covenant necessarily introduced a new high elf culture distinct from the pre-fall Silvermoon culture: the militarized culture of an insular ideological community. They're remnants, but remnants in such a way they're now distinct from what they used to be.

Even so, the quote still holds true imo, in the sense that its all past glory for them. They are not so much defined they are not radically different from blood elves. Their culture is pretty much the same.

Unfortunately, their identity currently exists in a vague and foggy half-reality where Blizzard simply can't let go of Cataclysm-style "prissy elf" memes or "muh elegance muh noble blood" copypastas from Wyrmrest Accord circa Legion while also being unable to fall into the TBC-era culture that would've allowed those to persist. Ideally, Midnight finally salvages them and sets the blood elves clearly as the race they've been meant to be since WotLK.

I think you look a little to much into it, as of high elves, you might give the silver covenant a bit to much credit. The race is still pretty much identical outside a few minor things. Like you said, they are a remnant of that past glory and only a small group. That glory tho never left with the majority of the renamed high elves now blood elves, flourishing in Silvermoon.

[Zuben]

Exactly, thats why I said we cant rule out any other options as well, with my previous examples. That doesnt take away the fact some people jump to far with little info we have.

Speculating a horde city becomes neutral, (that never happened befored or they use Quel'danas as a hub again or use the exodar as dreanei have been a very valueable ally in bc with the sunwell. Something can be said for both theories. One is stronger then the other imo. I am also not going to be basing anything on unpredictable devs. Not sure how feastable that is.

The problem is that we see people claim things will happen, which simply doesnt make it a very meaningfull discussion. That is all.

I agree that declaration of absolutes to either direction isn't fruitful to the discussion; with the data we currently have, there's simply no knowing how things will play out. Only thing that can be said with certainty is that a neutral Silvermoon isn't an impossible concept. Every major event in the game had their first time. What there is left to discuss is the likelihood of presented theories.

I've presented data on why I think Silvermoon will either be a shared hub or a Suramar-like questing area for both factions. Yes, Exodar as the Alliance hub is possible, I'm not denying that, though I touched on why I think it's less likely than a shared Silvermoon. I've yet to hear proper counter arguments in return. Some users here have declared the notion of a shared Silvermoon nonsense, dumb, high elf whining (I'm a blood elf main) or something along the lines, without properly explaining why. It's fine to think my theory is dumb, but one needs to explain why they think so, because without foundation the retort doesn't amount to more than "Nuh-uh".

I disagree: not only would Silvermoon becoming neutral compromise the blood elves' distinct identity from the high elves, it would just as well diminish the high elf identity by reducing them to nothing more than the Thalassian elves who were briefly separate from the blood elves prior to total reunification. The modern high elves are defined as much by the doubled loss of their home and sticking to their morals the whole way through as the blood elves are by their corruption and subsequent redemption. Both have wholly distinct paths behind and ahead of them that are better explored by separate evolution into their own races with different loyalties, aesthetic direction, and leadership, which would be muddled by them sharing a home and Sunwell.

On the other hand, these differences and grievances could be explored thoroughly and definitively if these groups were begrudgingly working together to save their ancestral homeland from the Void. Because of the faction divide I don't think there would be a total re-unification at the end of Midnight, but some sort of settlement would probably be reached. High elves would be allowed limited visiting rights or something, much like they were allowed to visit the Sunwell in the Quel'delar questline.

[allegrian]

You bunch are discussing all of this and taking it all much more seriously than blizzard ever will. Midnight will have quel'thalas as a neutral main hub for gameplay reasons and they'll fit the story to accomodate the alliance there, just like they did with amirdrassil and gilneas. All wow content is neutral content now, with the exception of some specific class or racial fluff quests + heritage questlines + expansion intro at each faction's capital (org/SW). That's why alliance has access to the Baine-central quests in DF or even the undead retaking lordaeron at the end of SL, and horde can see the founding of belameth and retake gilneas as well.

With the current lore post DF, both factions are at peace and some of the leaders from opposing factions are almost BFFs.

Quel'thalas letting alliance in there wouldn't be much different than Dalaran letting everyone in in wotlk/legion or neutral cities like Oribos, Valdrakken, Shattrath... letting strangers in who will prove their worth by gaining reputation and helping the locals.

[Evilfish]

You seem to want to attack a strawman more than actually respond to the people talking to you. I get that you're doubled down on Team Jacob, but not everyone responding to you is a rabid Twilight fan taking any side at all.

If Blizzard didn't plan on focusing on Quel'thalas, didn't plan on reunification, you wouldn't have to feel so defensive about the possibility of losing something you know you have little control over. And since you have little control, I guess the best way to vent that is by putting the blame on anyone who even remotely discusses the possibility it would happen. Am I getting this right?

Seems like it, since you seem to only be able to define the discussion in black and white tribes, as though the only way you can deal with the discussion is by dehumanizing anyone who even remotely disagrees with you. I see no other reason why you are choosing to respond to me as 'you guys'.

That's a you problem. It's got nothing to do with anything I've actually said in this thread, which you aren't bothering to read anyways. It doesn't actually matter what 2 cents are being put out here, since you'd just as easily devalue it as a blue blelf 'you guyz' response to keep your fee fees from getting hurt.


The developers have their own whims. I could ask the same thing back in 2005 when they put Blood Elves on the Horde in the first place, instead of remaining independent or part of the Illidari as we saw at the end of The Frozen Throne.

I'm on team Stop Robbing Belfs. Which is what's been happening. And this would be the biggest score if you people had your way. But say what you want, I honestly don't care how you see me.

It's not about control, you can do your armchair psychology routine as much as you want, I'm saying that I honestly don't believe that what you people think will happen, will, you know, happen. I'm just annoyed at the sheer amount of arrogance on display here here, first because you think other people are so stupid they don't see through your weak bs, when you say you have no horse in the race, then not only act like you do, but like you bet your life savings on it, then it's the type of arrogance that some Alliance fanboys have developed over them getting rewarded for their whining, thinking they can whine everything into reality because Blizzard listens to them and only them. Kind of like you trying to imply that the whims of the developers drift towards what you want, which again, is bs. That's what bothers me.

None of what you people say is based in any reality aside the one in your heads. That's been my message throughout the whole thread and that seems to bother you people.

[Alanar]

I agree that declaration of absolutes to either direction isn't fruitful to the discussion; with the data we currently have, there's simply no knowing how things will play out. Only thing that can be said with certainty is that a neutral Silvermoon isn't an impossible concept. Every major event in the game had their first time. What there is left to discuss is the likelihood of presented theories.

I've presented data on why I think Silvermoon will either be a shared hub or a Suramar-like questing area for both factions. Yes, Exodar as the Alliance hub is possible, I'm not denying that, though I touched on why I think it's less likely than a shared Silvermoon. I've yet to hear proper counter arguments in return. Some users here have declared the notion of a shared Silvermoon nonsense, dumb, high elf whining (I'm a blood elf main) or something along the lines, without properly explaining why. It's fine to think my theory is dumb, but one needs to explain why they think so, because without foundation the retort doesn't amount to more than "Nuh-uh".

Yes, without much context there isn't much to discuss besides the theories we have been talking about already. I have nothing to add there.

I have applauded you on the Suramar questing idea, I think it it's very lively, active rp kind of questing, which could tell the story a lot better then just regular quests. Silvermoon should be brewing and happening, the only way to do it, is to make it as lively as Suaramar, in that I think you got a good idea going. With that Idea tho, I think it would be cooler to have an Alliance version(focus on void elves mostly) and a Horde version(focus on blood elf mostly), different routes and places each visit. Coming together in the end for the void as the culminating thing. Looking at it in chapters, we could see things spread out over whole of Quel'thalas and also bring in the Amani etc, there is potential with that system to make it great imo. I think that would be fair, to maintain each identity, but also leave room for meet ups, other factions and trolls. It's also a nice way to build up relations.

It's fine, to have your own opinion on what you think is more likely, I to have my share ideas. I was merely adding it to the speculation, same as how I talked about what scattered elven tribes could potentially mean or how Quel'danas could be the absolute focus and hub, just because the Sunwell is located there and this used to be a hub as well. The exodar idea comes forth out one of these threads, when midnight was announced, the speculation was that people believed they would also undertake bloodmist isle etc, because these are the last pieces of land that are in the bc server. Adding to that the Drenaei with being the overlooked past ally in the Sunwell story from bc with Velen and all that. Look, I am also not saying neutral aint happening , in like a (nuh-uh) kind of way at all, but I find it hard to pull that out of that small bit of info, I am just not so sure how people see this as obvious, when I think we have other strong options available as well. Turning a horde city neutral is a big thing as it never happened before, but it's not out of the question either.

[Triceron]

I'm on team Stop Robbing Belfs. Which is what's been happening. And this would be the biggest score if you people had your way. But say what you want, I honestly don't care how you see me.

You should care, because I'm quite objective in the matter and I can agree with your sentiment, but your attitude and insistence on tribalism makes your message insufferable. My response has always been targeted at changes being the direct responsibility of Blizzard Devs, not of any collective group of fans willing things into existence out of voiced desires. This applies to both sides of the argument, and I have done nothing to show favour for either in this topic. Neither side should be making claims with certainty for what Blizzard might do. No fault should be blamed on players for what Blizzard might do. Like I said above, who would we blame for Blood Elves becoming Horde back in 2005? Do we say Blizzard listened to fans who wanted Blood Elves to be playable on the Horde? We know that's not how Blizzard designs WoW. They have their own internal reasons for what they do, and it is not influenced by a collective demanding shit that takes stuff away from other players. Blizzard does it on their own terms. Same way no one really asks for Sylvanas to become a villain but they go ahead and do it anyways. That decision can't be blamed on people who happen to hate Sylvanas amd want to see her dead

Like I said earlier, you're blanketly accusing others and projecting your own baggage for no reason. I never said I want Silvermoon to become a neutral city, nor would I care to rob BE of any culture. All I have come here is to point out the devs can do whatever they want with their fictional game, so past precedences aren't worth shit in the discussion, since we know they can change it any time and Silvermoon is no exception.

We can acknowledge this without agreeing or wanting it to happen, same way as how I can acknowledge a lack of Gnome centric class, capital city, heritage armor and expansion theme without agreeing with Blizzard's direction for them. This is all intentionally designed by designers, for their own reasons to put Gnomes on such a low priority. Having an actual Gnomeregan capital city or Heritage Armor or a Gnome-centric expansion is not dictated by the voices and demands of the players, it ia purely a machination of the Developer's whims, and their choice to abstain in exploring Gnomish lore as deeply as they do for other (arguably more popular) races. And this includes brand new races getting full blown expansions to cover a new class and culture fit for them, like the Pandaren or the Zandalari.

It's not about control, you can do your armchair psychology routine as much as you want, I'm saying that I honestly don't believe that what you people think will happen, will, you know, happen.

Which makes your message insufferable because not once have I ever said I believed it will happen


You are projecting your own baggage. Read ever response I have given you, and on no way do I express any desire or claim of certainty that Silvermoon would become a neutral city.

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I'm not challenging you that Blizzard is likely to do it: my point is not to say it won't happen, simply that it shouldn't. If Blizzard's intention is to fold them into one, — which it may well be —, then I believe that's a mistake. Blizzard's preferred vision isn't relevant to me: I'm challenging it and invoking death of the author to say that there are better and more interesting ways of developing this story as separated from the intentions of the writers.

I can understand and agree with your sentiment, as a WC2/3 purist who has disagreed with many of Blizzard's decisions with WoW. But I disagree with the High Elves having any distinct culture, rather their mere presence implies a contrast to the Blood Elves that we never really know or see explored, ever. Much like the genocide of rhe Draenei in WC1/WC2 existed in the background of lore but not explored as their own race; their purpose of existence was to explore Orcish culture and establish their warlike, conquering nature. It had little to to do with establishing them to explore as a new playable race; in WC1/2 they were merely used as a plot device.

And that is exactly what High Elves have become; a plot device. They do not have their own culture, they merely existed to create contrast to the Blood Elf's Horde-centric values. They exist to illustrate why Blood Elves decide not to join with the Alliance. The High Elves themselves have no actual culture being explored in the game, nothing taking them down any path, because their mere existence has been to illustrate what Blood Elves 'refuse to become' to maintain the illusion of a faction division. Every bit of High Elf lore is manifested to show a path the Blood Elves themselves are not willing to take, but that path is not explored in any way beyond a direct relation to the Blood Elves. Vereesa practically only appears when its matters of importance with her sisters, otherwise she has had little importance to the main plot. We don't even get to explore any High Elf lore beyond establishing a Silver Covenant, which doesn't really do anything but exist. If they are meant to be explored, then they should have been made playable.

I would say the same situation with Wildhammer, though they even got more than HE since we got to explore their culture through Cataclysm. Of course, that was also before Allied Races and Wildhammers getting the shaft by being customizations for Bronzebeards instead of having their own playable race option. Now Wildhammers exist in the same culturally muddled state, existing only to contrast the other Dwarven clans cultures, and little more than that. Let's face it, Bronzebeard lore has their own gryphon riders, outdoor explorers, nature-centric beast-tamers and shamanistic magic users, and even Stormhammer flinging Mountain Thanes. There really isn't anything distinct to Wildhammer culture that the Bronzebeards haven't been shown capable of adopting. The only cultural distinction comes from what we've seen in Twilight Highlands, and otherwise it has not been explored since. In fact, it has become further muddled with the Council of Three Hammers lore

[Zuben]

Yes, without much context there isn't much to discuss besides the theories we have been talking about already. I have nothing to add there.

I have applauded you on the Suramar questing idea, I think it it's very lively, active rp kind of questing, which could tell the story a lot better then just regular quests. Silvermoon should be brewing and happening, the only way to do it, is to make it as lively as Suaramar, in that I think you got a good idea going. With that Idea tho, I think it would be cooler to have an Alliance version(focus on void elves mostly) and a Horde version(focus on blood elf mostly), different routes and places each visit. Coming together in the end for the void as the culminating thing. Looking at it in chapters, we could see things spread out over whole of Quel'thalas and also bring in the Amani etc, there is potential with that system to make it great imo. I think that would be fair, to maintain each identity, but also leave room for meet ups, other factions and trolls. It's also a nice way to build up relations.

Yeah, it would be good and natural for the elf-expansion to cater to the themes of Alliance elves as well. It's also not mutually exclusive to an otherwise shared experience against the Void, so they could do this regardless of what happens with the hubs. My Suramar-theory works with a shared hub as well as separate ones.

The exodar idea comes forth out one of these threads, when midnight was announced, the speculation was that people believed they would also undertake bloodmist isle etc, because these are the last pieces of land that are in the bc server. Adding to that the Drenaei with being the overlooked past ally in the Sunwell story from bc with Velen and all that.

Dranei's inclusion is grounded enough to be plausible, it just kind of irks me to have them once again as the experts on all things cosmic. Azuremyst and Bloodmyst though... I've played through them maybe once years ago. They didn't seem that remarkable, either in theme or in lore. I was pretty much left with the impression that they're just some islands the draenei happened to crash into. Not to mention they're a world apart from Quel'Thalas, so I'm skeptical about them being included in Midnight.

If we're short on zones for the expansion I'd rather take some otherworldly void zones to provide contrast to Thalassian zones. Maybe have the void elves set up a hub there if separated hubs is the way to go. An abandoned Ethereal city or something? And have large tears in reality connect them to Quel'Thalas, so that we can Dynamic Flight our way there instead of the awful zone-Oribos-zone flightpath nonsense of Shadowlands.

[Alanar]

This is my feeling exactly.

I don't mind High Elves doing their own thing, but I don't want Sin'dorei identity to be lost. Silvermoon is that identity, but I've been bullied, bruised and battered so often now - I have very little fight left in me

You are bullied, because they know you are right. Silvermoon is a big part of the blood elves, always has been. You fought, but the shouting is overwhelming.. we arent like that.

[Grazrug]

You are bullied, because they know you are right. Silvermoon is a big part of the blood elves, always has been. You fought, but the shouting is overwhelming.. we arent like that.

Just let it go. We can't have faithful arguments with people who are ignorant to the plot.

[Triceron]

You are bullied, because they know you are right. Silvermoon is a big part of the blood elves, always has been. You fought, but the shouting is overwhelming.. we arent like that.

Is Silvermoon not also a big part of the High Elves and all those who once called it home?

[Lahis]

Is Silvermoon not also a big part of the High Elves and all those who once called it home?

What do you mean? High Elves are not Horde, ergo they have NEVER lived in the fundamentally HORDE city that is Silvermoon.

/s

[Alanar]

Is Silvermoon not also a big part of the High Elves and all those who once called it home?

Idk how usefull this is, Knowing they are pressent on both factions already.

Personally I wouldnt perse say so. The high elves that renamed themselves blood elves still live there for as long as wow excists. Those exiles or other groups you are talking about that left made their home on other places and never bothered with Silvermoon. There is no real legitemate claim either.

That being said, pilgrims were already seen around the sunwell a while ago and now that we know they are walking around and are canon on both sides, I dont feel like we are missing anything here.

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What do you mean? High Elves are not Horde, ergo they have NEVER lived in the fundamentally HORDE city that is Silvermoon.

/s

High elves are horde and alliance. Also blood elves are high elves, technically the majority still live there.

This is simply canon now. Idk what else to tell you.

[Evilfish]

But I don't care. Especially about the crap you post, your armchair psychologist routine, I'd say they are laughable, but to be honest it's just sad. You people cannot have a conversation without making it deeply personal. I'm telling you I don't care, I don't care about your amateur observations. So if you decide to delve again into the mysteries of forum armchair psychology, be aware that I won't respond to those statements.

Again, I will say that you people have built a castle on sand with this Neutral Slivermoon thing. You say I don't know what the devs will do and yeah, I don't but I'm pretty sure they are not gonna take a faction city and turn it neutral especially one that has been on popular demand by a certain group whose only purpose is to take that city and turn it blue. The same people barking at me here for saying it's gonna happen the way they want it to because, well, Blizzard once decided to give them belf customizations that means the'll get everything they ever wanted from now on, or something.

[Triceron]

Idk how usefull this is, Knowing they are pressent on both factions already.

Personally I wouldnt perse say so. The high elves that renamed themselves blood elves still live there for as long as wow excists. Those exiles or other groups you are talking about that left made their home on other places and never bothered with Silvermoon. There is no real legitemate claim either.

That being said, pilgrims were already seen around the sunwell a while ago and now that we know they are walking around and are canon on both sides, I dont feel like we are missing anything here.

That's kind of dishonest since High Elves didn't exile themselves at all, there was literally no explanation for why they aren't in the city any more. There was a very half-hearted explanation that High Elves of Silvermoon got fel eyes and transitioned themselves into Blood Elves, while any non-Silvermoon High Elf retained their original depiction with no explanation for why they don't return to the capital. The High Elf lore was sparse and haphazard at best.

There has been no exploration in the lore as to why High Elves don't return to Silvermoon. There is no lore explaining why they don't bother with claiming it at all. It's not that they don't care to, it's that Blizzard has literally ignored the connection completely. And it's not too surprising, since they even forgot to have the Windrunner sisters meet each other till a short story in BFA.

This is the first expansion that has a High Elf centric theme to it. Reuniting scattered Elven Tribes, Quel'thalas as the main focus, and the three sisters having repertoire in previous expansions (BFA and SL) makes it prime for High Elf lore to be expanded on.

And given how Blizzard takes massive shortcuts to push out content, I wouldn't put it past them if Silvermoon was made neutral for the sake of putting more resources into a single major city revamp, instead of separate ones for the factions.

[Alanar]

There has been no exploration in the lore as to why High Elves don't return to Silvermoon. There is no lore explaining why they don't bother with claiming it at all. It's not that they don't care to, it's that Blizzard has literally ignored the connection completely. And it's not too surprising, since they even forgot to have the Windrunner sisters meet each other till a short story in BFA.

Then why do you think it should be more then it is currently?

You already gave an explanation why the high elves excists still and I think you have your anwser there. They are backround characters and personally I dont feel like we are missing that as of the latest additions when high elves were solved. People seem to make the group larger and more relevant then they are realistically.

[Triceron]

Then why do you think it should be more then it is currently?

I don't. Blizzard is literally implying it heavily. Scattered Elf Tribes, Quel'thalas as a focus, Reuniting Elves... We really gonna ignore the Elephant in the room?

Last I checked, there were (at least) three splintered Elven 'tribes' who all originate in Quel'thalas.

You already gave an explanation why the high elves excists still and I think you have your anwser there.

And guess what's changed? The announcement of Midnight and its features. We never had an expansion ln talking about reunification of Elves.

Again, why are we ignoring the elephant in the room? Why are we pretending Silvermoon has only ever existed as a Horde city? Midnight's announced features literally recognize scattered Elven factions being reunited in Quel'thalas. That would include High Elves in that conversation. These background characters are being brought to the forefront.

Same way Earthen have also existed in the background of lore, till we got an expansion that brought them to the forefront. Using previous precedent also says Earthen featuring in an expansion is not realistic because they never did before. Yet here we are. What I see here is tunnel vision on not wanting things to change, and overlooking the bigger picture of the changes that are already happening.

Blizzard isn't catering purely to the vocal minority when addressing playable races. No one asked for bearded female Dwarves on the Horde, and yet here we are. Blizzard is starting to focus on story niches which they want to tell, regardless of what players are asking for. That's the big picture here. Not them catering to voices or seeking to piss off fans or whatever hidden agenda. They just want to tell the stories they want to tell right now. As I pointed out earlier, these decisions are all a product of the developer's whims. None of us can quantify why Bearded Female Dwarves on the Horde was decided as a major feature for TWW, and none of us can quantify why they want the Elven tribes to be reunited in Midnight. We'll only ever know in retrospect, through dev post mortems. The lines between Red and Blue are getting blurred, this is the direction Blizzard has chosen to take, not controlled by any of us posters on MMO-C.

[Alanar]

Again, why are we ignoring the elephant in the room? Why are we pretending Silvermoon has only ever existed as a Horde city? Midnight's announced features literally recognize all Elven subfactions being reunited, which would include High Elves in that conversation. These background characters are being brought to the forefront.
are.

Our known elven groups arent really splintered. I speculated before about what those tribes could be, thats part of the speculation. But we already went over that part. You can read back on past speculations. I have my own idea about that, which I was discussing with zuben before.

I already explained that the blood elves who live there used to be the majority of the high elves. For as long as it excisted in wow its been that. Its not an elephant in the room, it has already been discussed multiple times. You are simply repeating it. High elves are playable and not relevant perse. Idk what else you want to add to this, but you make them bigger and more important then they are in wow. These backround characters are not perse being brought to the forefront. That would be void and blood elves and high elves are hanging in the middle. They are barely a people, that are now just pressent among both factions and thats it.

[Zuben]

Our known elven groups arent really splintered. I speculated before about what those tribes could be, thats part of the speculation. But we already went over that part. You can read back on past speculations. I have my own idea about that, which I was discussing with zuben before.

I already explained that the blood elves who live there used to be the majority of the high elves. For as long as it excisted in wow its been that. Its not an elephant in the room, it has already been discussed multiple times. You are simply repeating it. High elves are playable and not relevant perse. Idk what else you want to add to this, but you make them bigger and more important then they are in wow. These backround characters are not perse being brought to the forefront. That would be void and blood elves and high elves are hanging in the middle. They are barely a people, that are now just pressent among both factions and thats it.

They were formidable enough to form up the Silver Covenant, and with notable characters like Vereesa and Auric I expect they will have their place in Midnight too. Especially if there will be side-stories about political grievances. This would be the best expansion to explore those.

[Alanar]

They were formidable enough to form up the Silver Covenant, and with notable characters like Vereesa and Auric I expect they will have their place in Midnight too. Especially if there will be side-stories about political grievances. This would be the best expansion to explore those.

Idk how relevant the Silver covenant will be, but it could be possibility if they wanted to. I am not expecting it myself tho.
It could be so that we will get nods here and there and high npcs, showing us they are around or finding their way. It could also be explored in a differrnt chapters like we discussed. Personally its fine for a side story, but not so much the main deal.

Simply showing that they are pressent, would already help for the immersion and explain the player they are active on both sides.

[Triceron]

Our known elven groups arent really splintered.

Then which splintered Elf tribes in Quel'thalas would blizzard be talking about? New Elves that will be introduced in Quel'thalas for the sake of saving it? Occam's razor, it would be the ones who are already splintered in the lore, despite what you personally think about them. Void Elves, Blood Elves and High Elves are not unified in the slightest in the lore.

These backround characters are not perse being brought to the forefront. That would be void and blood elves and high elves are hanging in the middle. They are barely a people, that are now just pressent among both factions and thats it.

High Elves in the middle meaning what exactly? They're not exactly friendly with both sides, and if you are suggesting they are, then... They also have a stake in Silvermoon by means of already being integrated and represented by the Blood Elves through customizations. Meaning this fear of Blood Elves losing their identity is pointless since we're acknowledging High Elves within the ranks of the Blood Elves, through a mix of customizations (RP/headcanon) and ambiguous lore implying they could be neutral with the Blood Elves, enough to freely come and go as they please amongst the Horde, and of course, within Silvermoon.

I'd disagree with that theory though, since I consider the High Elves as their own faction in the lore, one represented by Vereesa. High Elves remain non-playable because of the whims of the developers, and I think they are part of the conversation of 'splintered Elf Tribes' since they are not canonically unified with either Void Elves or Blood Elves. If they haven't been absorbed to either side, they are splintered.


And let's put it this way - if you consider them to be background characters who are hanging in the middle, and generally see their presence in the lore as being insignificant, then what threat does that pose to Blood Elves losing any of their own culture by means of adding the High Elves to Silvermoon in the lore? Nothing is lost.

This is a parallel of the Council of Three Hammers and the addition of Dark Iron and Wildhammer to Ironforge. Nothing of the Bronzebeard culture was lost by the addition of the other Dwarf clans. It doesn't even matter if they end up adding Horde aligned Earthen to Ironforge.

Loss of BE culture seems to be an excuse for BE fans feeling bad for having to share their capital. I can understand the sentiment, but I frankly don't invest myself in defending either side of that argument since the faction lines are practically nonexistent by now, by Blizzard's own doing. I don't see Silvermoon becoming neutral being a good or bad thing for Horde, since I never saw the original decision to have Blood Elves on the Horde to be a good or bad thing to begin with. Where would we be in this conversation would be if Blood Elves had remained independent or with the Illidari? Would people still bitch at Blood Elves losing their culture for having Silvermoon become accessible to both Player factions?