Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[Sigxy]

LOL, a pro-high elfer posted this on the official forums

“High elves to me mean loyalty to friends and family above all. What I want specifically for them to be is to embody the ranger culture that was prevalent in the ranger core of quel'thalas. The classic wood elf feels but to also incorporate elements from the high elves of Stormwind and dalaran giving them magi and a link to the kirin tor as well as paladins."

The high elves literally abandoned their friends and family to remain allied with the alliance. Just....lol.

Sounds about right... they also abandoned the Alliance after the 2nd war if I recall right, so can't say there's much of loyalty there. Hmm...

Abandon their friends and families, then become enemies of those that didn't side with them... sound a bit like.. EREDARS!

[Strippling]

Most of them are those who lived among the Alliance races and not in Quel'thalas, hence they would far more likely to have friends in Alliance than in a city they didn't live in.

They still abandoned their family...

[Doffen]

If you really want an Alliance High Elf as of now, just customize your Void Elf so it looks close to a Belf. Or, more like DK Belf. It's actually not far from it if you really want to go for it.

All Blood Elves/Void Elves are High Elves, but not all High Elves are Blood Elves(or VELF). Fuel for the fire.

I'll go and enjoy my Blood and Void Elf.

[Goldielocks]

They still abandoned their family...

There's also the fact that Kael guided the newly named Blood Elves away and abandoned Silvermoon soon after the Sunwell was destroyed due to their magic addiction. Only after Lor'themar guided the remaining Blood Elves back to Silvermoon did it become their race capital once more. This was when the High Elves fractured into the people who didn't want to siphon magic with Kael and those who did.

This idea of loyalty is complete bullshit. It's not even in the inherent Elf fantasy. These fucks are never loyal lmao

[Doffen]

There's also the fact that Kael guided the newly named Blood Elves away and abandoned Silvermoon soon after the Sunwell was destroyed due to their magic addiction. Only after Lor'themar guided the remaining Blood Elves back to Silvermoon did it become their race capital once more. This was when the High Elves fractured into the people who didn't want to siphon magic with Kael and those who did.

This idea of loyalty is complete bullshit lmao

Loyalty was never a good (Azerite? LOL) trait when it comes to any sort of High Elves :P

[Villager720]

This is honestly the only fair argument I've seen about this so far. Good point.

Except, again, the issue is that blizzard has stated that they don’t want the same race available to both factions.
Mag’har orcs and orcs are still on the same faction.

And as has been stated many times over - any customizations high elves have, blood elves would/should have too.
Just cause Alleria really liked face paint doesn’t make that a racial identity. Sylvanas, Halduron and Lorthremar were all high elf rangers with Alleria at the same time. They just didn’t paint their faces. That’s like thinking it’d be legitimate to include a race of humans on the Horde because they all wear bandanas.

[Katchii]

Except, again, the issue is that blizzard has stated that they don’t want the same race available to both factions.
Mag’har orcs and orcs are still on the same faction.

And as has been stated many times over - any customizations high elves have, blood elves would/should have too.
Just cause Alleria really liked face paint doesn’t make that a racial identity. Sylvanas, Halduron and Lorthremar were all high elf rangers with Alleria at the same time. They just didn’t paint their faces. That’s like thinking it’d be legitimate to include a race of humans on the Horde because they all wear bandanas.

I was just agreeing that Blizzard is already putting in "Allied Races" that are part of existing races in the game (Mag'har Orcs) so the idea of High Elves being implemented isn't that far fetched given that precedent. I will agree though that they won't likely put them on the Alliance side because of what they've said about the same race on different factions.

As I said before, I'd find it hilarious if "High Elves" were added to the Horde. But literally all Blizzard would have to do is add a blue eyes option to Blood Elves....so not really a race, just a cosmetic option for the playable "High Elves" that are already in the game.

[FlubberPuddy]

Except, again, the issue is that blizzard has stated that they don’t want the same race available to both factions.
Mag’har orcs and orcs are still on the same faction.

And as has been stated many times over - any customizations high elves have, blood elves would/should have too.
Just cause Alleria really liked face paint doesn’t make that a racial identity. Sylvanas, Halduron and Lorthremar were all high elf rangers with Alleria at the same time. They just didn’t paint their faces. That’s like thinking it’d be legitimate to include a race of humans on the Horde because they all wear bandanas.

Alleria is an immediate callout to WC2 High Elf iconography, Halduron and Lorthemar are not. This is because when these guys were introduced into the game, Blood Elves with their iconic green eyes were already a thing, Blood Elves with their "majestic" selves and city were also already a thing. Alleria doesn't share that at all, she looks more woodsy/less ornate. She's got feathers sticking out of her hair/armor, less armor more bare skin, tats, and a raggedy cape. Way more rough and tumble than the thematics that's been used to represent Blood Elves since their inception.

Let's be honest, if they wanted the Horde Blood Elves to resemble the WC2 Rangers like Alleria then they would have those customization options available to them, especially since it's pretty clear Blizzard has been focusing on Blood Elves internally for a while now with all the new stuff they've been getting and will get.

But every playable race in WoW adheres to an overall theme:
SW Humans are all about Knights/Castles
Night Elves are "savage"/of the forest
Dwarves are run-of-the-mill-living-in-a-mountain dwarves
Gnomes are super techy
Draenei are Alien/Crystal themes
Worgen are British

Orcs are "savage"/tribal
Tauren are pretty Native American like
Darkspear Trolls are very tribal/witchdoctor-y
Forsaken are zombie themes
Blood Elves are the "majestic" variety
Goblins are gold-schemers

This is why Heritage Armors are only 1 look. They will be a look that reps the thematic that race displays. I guarantee you the Blood Elf Heritage Armor is either going to be something Mage-y or Paladin-y but 0% chance it'll be Hunter/Ranger-y.

If they haven't added those thematics to Blood Elves by now then they won't ever (a similar argument people use about adding in High Elves). Especially since all the iconography that's being added to Blood Elves isn't showcasing any of what's being suggested for Alliance High Elves.

Also Wildhammer Dwarves are literally defined by their tattoos over Bronzebeard Dwarves and they still seem to be on the table for being added, being given a similar response of "anything can happen" but with no preceding "this is why bronzebeards are wildhammers" bs.

Also it isn't true that just because one race has customization options that it should be given to the ancestral race. Mag'har Orcs have much different hairstyle/facial options than Green Orcs and the only difference between these two groups is Fel corruption - they still have the same warring beliefs, attitudes, and culture.

Infusing yourself with Void isn't required to have facial hair options presented by the Void Elves (or else all Humans/Dwarves/NightElves/Draenei are infused with Void as well) and these options are not available for Blood Elves even after the additions they're already getting.

Same goes for Lightforged Draenei beards vs Regular Draenei beards.

Truth is the different options between the races serves to keep them unique, this is very easily observed and to say otherwise is to just be ignorant of what's plain to see.

- - - Updated - - -

As I said before, I'd find it hilarious if "High Elves" were added to the Horde. But literally all Blizzard would have to do is add a blue eyes option to Blood Elves....so not really a race, just a cosmetic option for the playable "High Elves" that are already in the game.

This would just beg the meme, "if Blue Eye Blood Elves are playable then all these Blue Eye Blood Elves on Alliance should be playable". Because that's exactly what would happen. Which is why like I've seen some other posters say, I think either they will add Alliance High Elves or not give Blood Elves blue eyes. Giving them Blue Eyes would just cause confusion among the playerbase "hey Blizz what are these Blood Elves doing on Alliance - points to every High Elf NPC - ".

Blizzard's pretty meme-y but not that meme-y. It's clear they want to keep the Blue Eyes as signifying High Elves. Whether Alliance get them as playable or not.

[Villager720]

Alleria is an immediate callout to WC2 High Elf iconography, Halduron and Lorthemar are not. This is because when these guys were introduced into the game, Blood Elves with their iconic green eyes were already a thing, Blood Elves with their "majestic" selves and city were also already a thing. Alleria doesn't share that at all, she looks more woodsy/less ornate. She's got feathers sticking out of her hair/armor, less armor more bare skin, tats, and a raggedy cape. Way more rough and tumble than the thematics that's been used to represent Blood Elves since their inception.

Let's be honest, if they wanted the Horde Blood Elves to resemble the WC2 Rangers like Alleria then they would have those customization options available to them, especially since it's pretty clear Blizzard has been focusing on Blood Elves internally for a while now with all the new stuff they've been getting and will get.

If they haven't added those thematics to Blood Elves by now then they won't ever (a similar argument people use about adding in High Elves). Especially since all the iconography that's being added to Blood Elves isn't showcasing any of what's being suggested for Alliance High Elves.

Also Wildhammer Dwarves are literally defined by their tattoos over Bronzebeard Dwarves and they still seem to be on the table for being added, being given a similar response of "anything can happen" but with no preceding "this is why bronzebeards are wildhammers" bs.

Also it isn't true that just because one race has customization options that it should be given to the ancestral race. Mag'har Orcs have much different hairstyle/facial options than Green Orcs and the only difference between these two groups is Fel corruption - they still have the same warring beliefs, attitudes, and culture.

Infusing yourself with Void isn't required to have facial hair options presented by the Void Elves (or else all Humans/Dwarves/NightElves/Draenei are infused with Void as well) and these options are not available for Blood Elves even after the additions they're already getting.

Same goes for Lightforged Draenei beards vs Regular Draenei beards.

Truth is the different options between the races serves to keep them unique, this is very easily observed and to say otherwise is to just be ignorant of what's plain to see.

- - - Updated - - -



This would just beg the meme, "if Blue Eye Blood Elves are playable then all these Blue Eye Blood Elves on Alliance should be playable". Because that's exactly what would happen. Which is why like I've seen some other posters say, I think either they will add Alliance High Elves or not give Blood Elves blue eyes. Giving them Blue Eyes would just cause confusion among the playerbase "hey Blizz what are these Blood Elves doing on Alliance - points to every High Elf NPC - ".

Blizzard's pretty meme-y but not that meme-y. It's clear they want to keep the Blue Eyes as signifying High Elves. Whether Alliance get them as playable or not.

All those cross-racial distinctions you’ve noted are explained by physiological changes, or vast swaths of time.
Void elves got mutated by a botched...experiment?
Our new Mag’har have almost 70 years (35 of our timeline years + 35 of theirs = 70 years of different experiences) of different events/experiences/environments AND never drank pitlord blood.
Lightforged Draenei got infused with the most priordial of forces and have been separated from normal draenei for millennia.
Wildhammer would make a fine allied race for two reasons. They’re a distinct culture with centuries of unique history AND even if the same “biological race” as bronzebeard dwarves (not sure if that’s true) - they’re going to be on the same faction.
Same race + same faction = ok. Same race + different faction = bad.


In comparison - high elves and blood elves split like what? Maaaaybe a decade ago? How different could they be now physically or culturally? The majority lived in Dalaran alongside blood elves.
Noting that they intend for Alleria to look different than blood elves is fair - but they’ve never made any other high elf distinct from the rest of the sin’dorei sans eye color. Because there wouldn’t be a reason for the same race/people to look exceptionally different.
Because they’re the same race. Alleria just likes blue paint. Sylvanas has feather motifs in her armor as well.

Both these topics are compelling reasons for why playable alliance high elves are a no go.

[FlubberPuddy]

All those cross-racial distinctions you’ve noted are explained by physiological changes, or vast swaths of time.
Void elves got mutated by a botched...experiment?
Our new Mag’har have almost 70 years (35 of our timeline years + 35 of theirs = 70 years of different experiences) of different events/experiences/environments AND never drank pitlord blood.
Lightforged Draenei got infused with the most priordial of forces and have been separated from normal draenei for millennia.
Wildhammer would make a fine allied race for two reasons. They’re a distinct culture with centuries of unique history AND even if the same “biological race” as bronzebeard dwarves (not sure if that’s true) - they’re going to be on the same faction.
Same race + same faction = ok. Same race + different faction = bad.


In comparison - high elves and blood elves split like what? Maaaaybe a decade ago? How different could they be now physically or culturally? The majority lived in Dalaran alongside blood elves.
Noting that they intend for Alleria to look different than blood elves is fair - but they’ve never made any other high elf distinct from the rest of the sin’dorei sans eye color. Because there wouldn’t be a reason for the same race/people to look exceptionally different.
Because they’re the same race. Alleria just likes blue paint. Sylvanas has feather motifs in her armor as well.

Both these topics are compelling reasons for why playable alliance high elves are a no go.

Excuse me but you don't need to not drink Fel to put your hair into braids, or grow a beard. You seem to have missed what I was talking about entirely and focused on body looks/skin tones. I'm talking strictly hairstyles to counter your "whatever customization they get Blood Elves should have too!" Since clearly that isn't the case between Mag'hair/Orc hairstyles Void Elf/Blood Elf beards LFD/Draenei beards, etc etc.

You should learn better reading comprehension.

[Villager720]

Excuse me but you don't need to not drink Fel to put your hair into braids, or grow a beard. You seem to have missed what I was talking about entirely and focused on body looks/skin tones. I'm talking strictly hairstyles to counter your "whatever customization they get Blood Elves should have too!" Since clearly that isn't the case between Mag'hair/Orc hairstyles Void Elf/Blood Elf beards LFD/Draenei beards, etc etc.

You should learn better reading comprehension.

No need to get caustic and imply I can’t read “gud”.
The assumption I made was that noting the 70 years of separation (or millennia for the LFD) might result in different popular/trendy/cultural hair styles and accessories. I didn’t think I needed to spell that out so clearly. But now I have for you.
Void elves have tentacle hair. Hard for them to have the same hair styles as high/blood elves.
You also noted other things besides hair styles and I covered all that for you as well.
Care to refute those or shall you just try to attack my lack of reading comprehension once more?

[Deleted]

I am not sure how exactly is this an argument against High Elves since the introduction of Allied Races. Most of them are of the same race as their 'parent race'. Especially consider Mag'har Orcs and regular Orcs which are exact same people with no political, cultural, philosophical and physical differences beyond skin colour. Heck, there is a possibility that some Orcs have doppelgangers of themselves among Mah'gar.

Mag har are from an entirely different version of Draenor with an different history which had lead to the tribes still being a thing and the tribes themselves having both lore and cosmetic differences. Bad example. You could potential have alternati e Azeroth High Elves that developed differently than Azeroth Blood Elves. But aint nobody got time for that.

[FlubberPuddy]

No need to get caustic and imply I can’t read “gud”.
The assumption I made was that noting the 70 years of separation (or millennia for the LFD) might result in different popular/trendy/cultural hair styles and accessories. I didn’t think I needed to spell that out so clearly. But now I have for you.
Void elves have tentacle hair. Hard for them to have the same hair styles as high/blood elves.
You also noted other things besides hair styles and I covered all that for you as well.
Care to refute those or shall you just try to attack my lack of reading comprehension once more?

Yeah I can, the simple fact you're trying to relegate hairstyles/facial hair styles/accessories etc to a specific time period just kills your own argument. You can't refute my own set forth that these things are not going to be given to their companion races because it's specifically what's adding onto each race being unique.

The sharing of the styles would result in less uniqueness, which is something a lot of BE players want to keep: their "uniqueness".

See you can't say "any customization given to High Elves would have to be given to Blood Elves too because they're the same race/people" and then turn around and say "oh but Blood Elves can't have Void Elf beards because they're not infused".

You keep cherrypicking things like Void Elf hair with tentacles, when you could remove the tentacles and the hairstyles would function 100% the same and look great (something Void Elf fans are asking more for: hairstyles without tentacles). I mean take a look yourself, there's no tentacles for male hairstyles that are absolutely necessary to the style. For female hairstyles there are maybe 2 or so, the rest could have tentacles removed and not compromise the style. Also not to mention that half of Void Elf hairstyles don't have tentacles so it's not as defining as their skin color of which you cannot be not blue/grey/pale.

It also doesn't address literally all other Allied Race examples I brought up.

So really you're just destroying your own original argument that Blood Elves would get access to the customization that High Elves do, simply because if you're saying "this is what was popular/trendy/cultural" then racial customization represents a certain period of time which if High Elves got added to Alliance would be in another direction of what Blood Elves have.

We all already understand that Alliance High Elves and Blood Elves diverged politically and culturally and time has passed as well. To show that difference in-game if they were playable in the future would be through different customization options just as it has been displayed with the many other Allied Races.

[Villager720]

Yeah I can, the simple fact you're trying to relegate hairstyles/facial hair styles/accessories etc to a specific time period just kills your own argument. You can't refute my own set forth that these things are not going to be given to their companion races because it's specifically what's adding onto each race being unique.

The sharing of the styles would result in less uniqueness, which is something a lot of BE players want to keep: their "uniqueness".

See you can't say "any customization given to High Elves would have to be given to Blood Elves too because they're the same race/people" and then turn around and say "oh but Blood Elves can't have Void Elf beards because they're not infused".

You keep cherrypicking things like Void Elf hair with tentacles, when you could remove the tentacles and the hairstyles would function 100% the same and look great (something Void Elf fans are asking more for: hairstyles without tentacles). I mean take a look yourself, there's no tentacles for male hairstyles that are absolutely necessary to the style. For female hairstyles there are maybe 2 or so, the rest could have tentacles removed and not compromise the style. Also not to mention that half of Void Elf hairstyles don't have tentacles so it's not as defining as their skin color of which you cannot be not blue/grey/pale.

It also doesn't address literally all other Allied Race examples I brought up.

So really you're just destroying your own original argument that Blood Elves would get access to the customization that High Elves do, simply because if you're saying "this is what was popular/trendy/cultural" then racial customization represents a certain period of time which if High Elves got added to Alliance would be in another direction of what Blood Elves have.

We all already understand that Alliance High Elves and Blood Elves diverged politically and culturally and time has passed as well. To show that difference in-game if they were playable in the future would be through different customization options just as it has been displayed with the many other Allied Races.

If you can’t understand that physiological mutations or isolation for generations can lead to unique aesthetics as logical to be included, I just don’t think we’re going to get anywhere.
Which is fine I suppose.

I’m not saying that the different hair styles/skins/facial hair or whatever aren’t there to add uniqueness for the models. I’m saying it makes sense that they be unique and have unique qualities. It wouldn’t make sense for high elves to look unique due to a lack of the physical and cultural changes that are present in other allied races.
10 years of division while also still being around their kin =/= mutations and generational isolation.

Giving high elves their own physical uniqueness based on one ranger’s own aesthetics (who had been MIA for decades) and then comparing this to the other allied races with their justifiable cause for uniqueness seems silly to me.

[Obelisk Kai]

You know, I've been trying to rationalize what has caused the uptick in High Elf threads again on the official forums, this has been a pretty dead topic since the meltdown following the 04/26 Q and A died down (admittedly that took two months).

Was it the revelation of the potential Silvermoon warfront? That was my working assumption, the possibility of new Blood Elf lore is always twisted into 'High Elves are gonna be added' by someone and this is no different. But even so, it's been longer lasting than expected.

And then it hit me. The near incessant clamour of the past year made me forget that this activity isn't unusual. This is normal. This the run up to Blizzcon 2018. And High Elf threads ALWAYS peak before Blizzcon because on the grandest stage of them all, where else would they be announced?

I'm convinced Vulpera will be announced in the 'what's next' panel as the Horde's fifth allied race, but the Alliance allied race hasn't even been hinted at. So of course you can bet the pro High Elf community has likely convinced themselves that that hole is being saved for Alliance High Elves.

Still, the pro High Elf community will inevitably either watch the broadcast or follow a liveblog. They will get themselves worked up into a lather, because even though there is a ton of evidence (including the game director saying so) it isn't happening, all that will be disregarded in that moment. The building excitement, the sheer anticipation that maybe they've been listened to. Maybe they got Blizzard to U turn. Maybe J.Allen Brack is a secret High Elf fan and he is already giving Ion his marching orders to put them in. The announcement comes, it's Vulpera and...almost certainly not High Elves.

We are looking at another meltdown post Blizzcon I am afraid, and I pity whatever the fifth Alliance allied race is going to be, particularly if it's another customization variant on an existing race like Juncker Gnomes. The rage is inevitable at whatever the fifth race is (I think only Sethrak would mitigate it) and that race will be attacked for the sin of not being High Elves, just like Void Elves are. Claims of Horde bias will be aired frequently and bitterly.

But hopefully, once the venting is done, this topic can slip away again. Unless of course it's actually High Elves in which case things will get weird.

[Gaexion Ramza Beoulve]

Except, again, the issue is that blizzard has stated that they don’t want the same race available to both factions.
Mag’har orcs and orcs are still on the same faction.

And as has been stated many times over - any customizations high elves have, blood elves would/should have too.
Just cause Alleria really liked face paint doesn’t make that a racial identity. Sylvanas, Halduron and Lorthremar were all high elf rangers with Alleria at the same time. They just didn’t paint their faces. That’s like thinking it’d be legitimate to include a race of humans on the Horde because they all wear bandanas.

You dare mock bandana-men? Blizzard has never specifically stated to my liking that they will never implement bandana-men. Bandana-men are racially distinct from humans of the eastern kingdoms and honestly feel more at home in kalimdor anyways and fighting for the horde. It's all right there in the lore. Just because they look the same, speak the same language, and even wear the same styled bandanas as Alliance humans doesn't mean they are exclusive to the alliance. Just because 99% of the humans joined the Alliance during the last war doesn't mean there isn't still room for a story that would allow them to join the horde, clearly this is a case of extreme bias. For more information on how bandana-men can become a playable race check out my deviantart, discord, and don't forget to donate to my patreon please leave a like and subscribe and hit that notification button.

[Deleted]

If you can’t understand that physiological mutations or isolation for generations can lead to unique aesthetics as logical to be included, I just don’t think we’re going to get anywhere.
Which is fine I suppose.

I’m not saying that the different hair styles/skins/facial hair or whatever aren’t there to add uniqueness for the models. I’m saying it makes sense that they be unique and have unique qualities. It wouldn’t make sense for high elves to look unique due to a lack of the physical and cultural changes that are present in other allied races.
10 years of division while also still being around their kin =/= mutations and generational isolation.

Giving high elves their own physical uniqueness based on one ranger’s own aesthetics (who had been MIA for decades) and then comparing this to the other allied races with their justifiable cause for uniqueness seems silly to me.

Void Elves got the ability to have beards during the transformation?

[Grythletubs]

Except, again, the issue is that blizzard has stated that they don’t want the same race available to both factions.
Mag’har orcs and orcs are still on the same faction.

And as has been stated many times over - any customizations high elves have, blood elves would/should have too.
Just cause Alleria really liked face paint doesn’t make that a racial identity. Sylvanas, Halduron and Lorthremar were all high elf rangers with Alleria at the same time. They just didn’t paint their faces. That’s like thinking it’d be legitimate to include a race of humans on the Horde because they all wear bandanas.

This would be a good argument if you ignored the fact that there are no humans on the horde, whereas the alliance high elves are still one of their core races.

That's what many people seem to ignore. People who want high elves aren't asking for an entirely new race...they're just asking for a current alliance race to be playable. I'm sorry that the similarities between blood elves and high elves flusters you so much.
If the horde had humans as a major race that isn't playable, you can bet your ass people would be requesting them.

[Obelisk Kai]

This would be a good argument if you ignored the fact that there are no humans on the horde, whereas the alliance high elves are still one of their core races.

That's what many people seem to ignore. People who want high elves aren't asking for an entirely new race...they're just asking for a current alliance race to be playable. I'm sorry that the similarities between blood elves and high elves flusters you so much.
If the horde had humans as a major race that isn't playable, you can bet your ass people would be requesting them.

Alliance High Elves are not playable. By definition, they are therefore not a core Alliance race. They are a minor faction kept around for an occasional story purpose.

That the Alliance High Elves are present on the Alliance is not the issue, that they are identical to an available Horde race is.

I don't believe the similarities fluster Villager720, as they are the rationale behind why High Elves are not playable. They are an impediment to what you want and not vice versa.

As for your final comment, a major race is by definition playable. As unplayable race in a faction is not major. However for the sake of argument, were there an equivalent faction of Horde affiliated Humans and some were asking for them to be playable despite being identical to already playable Alliance Humans, I would be the first to oppose their position and state to them the truth 'the Alliance is waiting for you'.

[Grythletubs]

Alliance High Elves are not playable. By definition, they are therefore not a core Alliance race. They are a minor faction kept around for an occasional story purpose.

That the Alliance High Elves are present on the Alliance is not the issue, that they are identical to an available Horde race is.

I don't believe the similarities fluster Villager720, as they are the rationale behind why High Elves are not playable. They are an impediment to what you want and not vice versa.

As for your final comment, a major race is by definition playable. As unplayable race in a faction is not major. However for the sake of argument, were there an equivalent faction of Horde affiliated Humans and some were asking for them to be playable despite being identical to already playable Alliance Humans, I would be the first to oppose their position and state to them the truth 'the Alliance is waiting for you'.

From a lore perspective (and in game, obnoxiously), High elves have been a core race in the alliance since the dawn of wow, and still are.
Your personal definition of what kind of faction they are does not change that that they are a core race, a major race, in the alliance.

"Occasional story purposes", you mean like pretty much every book and every expansion since wotlk? They've received more attention than even blood elves ironically.

If there was a race with a presence similar to the high elves in the horde that was not playable, Horde would be asking for them.
But that's not the case, every main iconic horde race is playable.

Like I said, comparing a race of humans with bandanas on the horde (which don't exist) is not a good comparison to high elves (which do exist) for obvious reasons.

Next.