Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[Andromedes]

I am well aware of the situation, just playing a counterpoint to High Elves and more So their demand for it.

Honestly I wouldn't be genuinely surprised to see topics created of "Void Elves When?" And demand them if High Elves became playable, and Void Elves played a story driven role.

Literally the same topics and counter would mutate the same genuine way, too. It's basic fandom nature. And this time it's getting all the elves, or none of them.



Let's rephrase; Would you feel the same genuine way about an Alliance Nightborne if the given reasons were in reverse? Would you still advocate them to been neutral?

Yes, because i like lore. And i hate when characters like Liadrin say bullshit, just to look better in front of Thalyssra. That is not her character. Those idiotic lines were created just to push nightborne into horde and i dont like that.. If Anduin told Thalyssra some lies about the horde, i would feel same, because that wouldnt be his character.

[KyrtF]

Trowing barrel of powder in the thread

Dear Aliance players. Want to know one thing?

Source

Horde have even MORE chances for getting "High elves" than you my dear blue players. Even more - horde have chances to get golden eyes for them as Light users.

please understand one thing. "Blood Elf" is how Kaelthas changed NAME for their race. they NOT calceled being High elves in the "evolution" meaning. And part of so called "high elves" still returned to their relatives in the silvermoon, or not canceled their connections with them. So please stop crying.

Your entreaty, sarcastic as it is, misses the point.

I play a Blood Elf. My character may be biologically identical to a High Elf, but he most assuredly is NOT a High Elf.

Both come with a whole host of baggage that differentiates one from the other. My character does not have the same beliefs, loyalties, or focus as a High Elf.

There is indeed, less difference between a Blood Elf and a Void Elf.

This argument that the Alliance cannot get High Elfs because of biology or numbers or anything else has been totally and utterly destroyed by the introduction of Allied Races. Any possible argument is gone.

You and I might think High Elfs are boring but Alliance players have been consistent in requesting them now for 14 years and more, since before WoW even launched. Nor can we argue that they just want a pretty model...they have the model and if anything, calls for High Elfs are stronger now than they've been for years.

So....simply to shut them up about it, I say it's time to give the Alliance High Elfs. Time to continue their story as a player race. Preferably with some degree of difference but at this point in time, it's largely irrelevant.

Give us Grimtotem Tauren...or another goblin cartel....or leper gnomes...but now that the model exclusivity is gone, now that the Alliance have the model, the only thing to do is give them High Elfs in some form simply to stop these arguments.

[Traycor]

This is absolutely incredible! Though at this point, I think the only way for something like this was to happen is if the Horde were to get Eredar.

As for another suggestion (which was probably already done before) on ways to further distinguish High Elves from Blood Elves, different types, shapes, and sizes of ears.

No one has suggested ear variation. Great idea!
Maybe they could have ears with slight scars or nicks. Something to represent that all High Elves have to fight now for every scrap they have. Nothing too extreme.

[KyrtF]

The High Elves of Quel'thalas proper had their name changed to Blood Elves to honor the deaths of the scourge invasion and destruction of the Sunwell.

In their withdrawal from the Sunwell's energy they began to look for other sources. And from the ashes they rose. That's where the phoenix motif and red branding comes from. They also gained a do anything to survive attitude.

Regardless, High Elves and Blood Elves are the exact same people. Elves live thousands of years. It's not as if hundreds or thousands of years with separate populations caused the two groups to evolve divergently. They are the same exact people.

It's only been a few years in Warcraft lore since Arthas sacked the sunwell.

This is another bogus argument. You argue that its OK for the Blood Elf culture and beliefs to change in a few short years, and then that it is impossible for High Elfs because they live for thousands of years.

Can't have both

[Traycor]

How about Alliance gets High Elves:
And for the counterpart, horde gets Undead Elves (dark rangers, San'layn):

Sounds like a fun trade off! Unfortunately, those undead males have nothing distinct about them. Their design is based almost entirely around the face mask. I'm sure Blizz could come up with something, but as is they would be insufficient. Maybe if they blended their design with the Wretched?

[KyrtF]

While it's a cliche to say so, there is no compromise acceptable to both positions. This has been proven with the recent addition of Void Elves.

Quoting you...to be fair...I'm not certain why a "compromise" is even necessary now.

Why strip the High Elf identity? Why are Void Elfs acceptable but High Elfs are not? Why, again quoting you, is it important that "the all important theme of High Elf" is stripped?

What is it about High Elfs that make you and others so deadset against them? Is it just spite? Is it that you've spent so many years running down the idea of High Elfs that you don't want Blizzard to show you wrong?

Don't you get it? The Alliance already have everything. Any possible argument against High Elfs is gone, dead and buried. Void Elfs are even fewer in number, and even more similar in belief and outlook and have the same model.

But Void Elfs are acceptable to you, while High Elfs are not. Even if you want to argue that looks are important...and I don't believe that anymore...we can simply give High Elfs a different model. The idea has been dissed for years because "ye cannae have one race with two models" but give the Orcs and trolls the option for straight backs and that argument doesn't seem so strong anymore.

The Alliance got my Blood Elf model. There's no longer any reason to keep High Elfs off them.

[Paraka]

Hope so! Ignore the lowborn scum who will complain.

Please. San'layn would be another demand from Alliance. Let's be real.

[Andromedes]

Please. San'layn would be another demand from Alliance. Let's be real.

Holy hell now i see, why did i even bother responding to you?

[KyrtF]

Please. San'layn would be another demand from Alliance. Let's be real.

We have better options and more possibilities open to us as Horde.

[Traycor]

I admit, I actually really like the painted elf look from WC2. Runes, rangers, runestones, and sleek ships. Elves were quick and deadly, and not all about arcane mastery, but knowledge and skill borne from long lifespans and countless hours of practice. Bring that feel, and I'll support High Elves.

Now that it's marinated for a bit, I think these designs with a unicorn tabard (new design) and feathers on the belt would work nicely. Maybe if the feathers were added so they hung down over the pants. Just two or three feathers would be enough.

[Paraka]

Yes, because i like lore. And i hate when characters like Liadrin say bullshit, just to look better in front of Thalyssra. That is not her character. Those idiotic lines were created just to push nightborne into horde and i dont like that.. If Anduin told Thalyssra some lies about the horde, i would feel same, because that wouldnt be his character.

Well the Alliance also has another reason (outside ally players believing they did it all). And it's genus. They won't need to "lie" and just say Tyrande treated them like garbage and they sided with Alliance to prove otherwise. That has been one thing Alliance has been holding pretty hard against them joining Horde, because they literally betray them, as players, for not siding with them story wise.

Would you felt okay with them hands off and Nightborne side with the Alliance simply due to Night Elf bloodline among them?

That is the reason Alliance wants them on their side, and that is where I feel that High Elf demands, when met, would move to the next.

I do think it is amusing with VEs, cause that was one I remember seeing as a suggestion for them around Cata, and these "Felt Elves" would be the same way. And end up with the same response.

[Friendlyimmolation]

The best option is to go back in time and beg Metzen to give the Alliance Blood elves instead. As long as Blizzard cares about factions being different, "helves" aren't happening. It's the entire reason for velves.

[Traycor]

Would you felt okay with them hands off and Nightborne side with the Alliance simply due to Night Elf bloodline among them?

I feel (and always felt) that Night Elves fit the culture and motivations of the horde much better than the Alliance. So Nightborne going Horde makes sense to me. However, we seem to be drifting off topic from Silver Covenant character designs. Don't want to derail the thread.

[Paraka]

Holy hell now i see, why did i even bother responding to you?

Jumping the gun early for a knee-jerk, aren't we?

Someone even said one the reasons I'd know this would be a thing.

We have better options and more possibilities open to us as Horde.

If there is one ace Alliance loves more of, it's Elves.

[RangerDaz]

Sounds like a fun trade off! Unfortunately, those undead males have nothing distinct about them. Their design is based almost entirely around the face mask. I'm sure Blizz could come up with something, but as is they would be insufficient. Maybe if they blended their design with the Wretched?

Well they are the Wrath of the Lich King San'layn models, a mixture of blood elf and night elf models.
I am sure Blizzard could come with many cosmetic ideas for undead rangers / vampiric elves.
These are the undead elves existing in WoW lore, that is why i mentioned them.


actually they tried to give the vampiric look to void elves, as their haircuts seem inspired in the dracula franchises.

[Sorrior]

I admit, I actually really like the painted elf look from WC2. Runes, rangers, runestones, and sleek ships. Elves were quick and deadly, and not all about arcane mastery, but knowledge and skill borne from long lifespans and countless hours of practice. Bring that feel, and I'll support High Elves.

Sadly seems very few remember elven rangers

[Traycor]

Racial Ability Ideas:

On The Move: Increases flight path speed by 10%.
Perception: Increases your stealth detection.
Nimble Feet: Increases your Agility by X (scales with level).
Troll bane: Experience gains from killing trolls increased by 20%.
- An ability similar to Hunter Disengage?
- Bring back Mana tap?

Your thoughts and ideas?

[Martymark]

Meanwhile in other threads, Alliance fans post about how their Allied races are just Humans and Elves and it's unfair Horde Bias they they don't have more monster races like Vulpera and Sethrak.

[Jastall]

How about Alliance gets High Elves:

And for the counterpart, horde gets Undead Elves (dark rangers, San'layn):

No. Enough freaking elves. There's four flavors of them to choose from now, far more than any other species, and we just got back from the most elf heavy expansion ever. Let other races get some love for pete's sake, and if you want to play a High Elf roll Horde and have fun.

[FlubberPuddy]

Firstly because I am curious to see what the experience is like on the other side of being accused of twisting a dev's words. I mean Ion came out and said High Elves were already playable when asked about playable High Elves and pro High Elfers have been falling over themselves to twist HIS words to mean High Elves still might happen. I suspect you'll do much the same thing in response or ignore this point.

No pro-helf person is twisting his words. His literal quote is, "High Elves? Spoilers guys, Blood Elves are pretty much High Elves. Void Elves also are another flavor of High Elves." That's it, that's his quote. We're not twisting anything. We're just saying "pretty much" doesn't satisfy the High Elf crowd. That's all the position have taken from his quote. When you can look at Mag'har and see all the customization they're getting, with multiple orc clans. No compromise. Therefore, that fact that Ion 2014 as you mentioned, spoke about Mag'har and High Elves hand-in-hand. Should show that High Elves induction as a playable race shouldn't have any compromises either.

Actually I think you'll find you are the one being intentionally obtuse. After all, I am not saying that they were lying or that they were wrong. Merely that what they said does nothing to contradict my supposition Void Elves are a compromise to give the Alliance a High Elf model without giving them High Elves. I'd only be obtuse if I was saying that what the devs were saying is flat out wrong and they don't really mean that, which I am not.

You're trying to say their reasoning doesn't contradict your "Void Elves are a compromise to give Alliance High Elf model without High Elves" yet you're using this reasoning to justify not adding High Elves. That is what contradicts your supposition. You're trying to call Void Elves a compromise yourself when the devs didn't mention it as so. This is your own made up point. That's what's being disproved: they are not a compromise to High Elves, since player feedback was never a consideration when creating them.

You are passive-aggresively saying their wrong by continuing to say, "Void Elves are the compromise for High Elves." So yeah you are being obtuse at this point. You don't need to explicitly state you think they're wrong, your opinions/comments on the matter show this implicitly.

You should talk to Northem. He was predicting Alleria's return for years. As the racial leader of Alliance High Elves. You are right that an elf counterpart was needed to Nightborne;but you still seem desperate to avoid the logical conclusion as to why Void Elves were created as that counterpoint, rather than High Elves.

Who cares if a person was predicting how Alleria would return? Does he work for Blizzard? Does he know Blizzard's story ideas 2-4 years into the future? NO ONE could suspect Void Elves being a thing, it's completely out of the blue. There's nothing desperate about this, Vereesa is the one leading the Silver Covenant, why the hell would Alleria have to be the one bringing High Elves back? Besides it doesn't take a rocket science to say that Alleria's story took the turn it did to bring about Void Elves, not the other way around unlike most of the other Allied Races. Void Elves seem to be added to fit into the Allied Race system rather than naturally being absorbed into it like the other races.

So why not now? The storyline could easily have been written to have Alleria come back and lead the Alliance High Elves. Why create Void Elves from almost nothing instead? If they hadn't added either you could argue High Elves were being held in reserve. It seems to be they almost bent over backwards NOT to add them.

You're asking me to give you reason only Blizzard can know, they're the one that controls the main storyline for WoW. Again, no one knew that Void Elves were coming, that Alleria's return to story would be like this, this is completely new lore we're stepping into. No one but Blizzard can know that.

Well they are playable now. Ask Ion. You are of course in favour of listening to what the devs say right? I mean Ion was even flat out asked and he sniggered.
As for the interview you quote, again, where do I say that what they are saying is wrong? Nothing they say contradicts what I have said elsewhere.

I am in favor of taking what the devs say at face-value. Even though this has time and again been proven to not likely be the real truth as well. Case in point, Zandalari Druid dino forms, where Ion also literally said only their Travel form would be Dino specific because they considered Bear and Cat form to be about those animals specifically. Lo and behold we have all Dino related forms for Zandalari Druids. This is more recent than his HE quote as well, so just because devs say one thing doesn't mean that's something they'll always follow through with, just like regular people they change their minds.

High Elves are incredibly unlikely to be added to the Alliance. You have made a big show of taking the developers at face value whilst pushing your point. It is hypocrisy to discount the most senior developer ruling out Alliance High Elves on the grounds that they are already playable.

As for you trying to predict what Allied races are coming next based on a sixth sense of Blizzard's business model...now that IS reaching.

It's also hypocrisy to discount a Blizzard Producer (the person paying Ion's checks) say as well. The fact of the matter is this: High Elves weren't added. Lots of High Elf fans still want them, Void Elves do not satisfy that niche. Blizzard asked their players tell us which races you would like to see. The High Elf fans are thus giving their feedback, just like anyone else who wants any other race to be playable.

No one cares about how many years you've spent arguing against the fact, this isn't about you or me or anyone in particular. High Elf fans are letting Blizzard know, "hey VEs, they don't cut it. we don't want exiled Blood Elves, we want actual Quel'dorei like Silver Covenant etc that have been loyal to Alliance since WoW's inception."

And lmao it doesn't take a sixth sense to know that when any company is unveiling their "new shiny" they're only going to be discussing and focusing on that "new shiny". If Ion even mentioned that High Elves were coming down the line then that would be a PR shit-storm/shooting yourself in the foot. Also doesn't take a sixth sense to know that Blizzard likes to pace their content, this entire expansion has been about content pacing. Any MMO business works off of pacing. This is not sixth sense stuff, this is common sense stuff. I'm sorry if you are not that shrewd in this aspect.

Feedback on Void Elves are already showing their unsatisfying, this much is obvious. It's only a matter of time until High Elves like the Silver Covenant are added. No other race deserves an Allied Race spot as much as them, this system is pretty much designed for them. No other race also has been requested for this long and still hasn't died down. Void Elf release didn't do anything to quell the request for High Elves, it added more fuel to the fire.