Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[FlubberPuddy]

I love how Syegfred who hates elves so much, is trying to do so much to 'protect' a specific argument of Blood Elf lore.

It's just wonderful irony

[Aldo Hawk]

I love how Syegfred who hates elves so much, is trying to do so much to 'protect' a specific argument of Blood Elf lore.

It's just wonderful irony

I don't exactly know the problem with saying that fel was all around and that inevitably it got absorbed one way or the other.

It literally changes zero, it's the same as saying they got irradiated by it. How does anyone think irradiated fel sinks into a body? It's being literally absorbed... Duh...

But the best part is him claiming to know certain parts of lore as if he himself wrote it, exactly as he did to me. And of course instead of providing a source (that doesn't exist) everything are excuses and a 'no but' and unexpected digresses sprinkled with void acusations that can't be proved nevertheless -_-

I have done well by ignoring him, next time I will not even answer the first time, doesn't matter what is said, he just demonstrated with how much bad faith he argues with.

[Aucald]

the more the fel magic consumed the more the effects on your body

Granted, but either way we know that the amount they consumed regardless of the manner of consumption, created the effects we later see in them. I would label this an argument from nothing - the end-result is the same either way.

the orc situation with you pointed, the ones who drank directly got burning red eyes, unlike the other who didn't, the red orcs is again proof of how the more the fel magic the more trace of corruption you show.

And Blood Elves show the same basic arc, yes. Minor Fel taint changes the color of their eyes and apparently darkens their psychology, whereas major Fel taint causes them to develop scales, blackened flesh, grow wings, etc. etc. The Blood of Mannoroth did not turn Orcs into Fel or Chaos Orcs directly, though; they didn't develop red skin or grow demonic horns and such from their bodies.

effects on the elves, if they were indeed feeding on fel tainted sources that would be way more noticed on their, int heir behaviors and knowing what they were sucking there was no way they, powerful magicians with affinity of magic would not notice that their food was not tainted somehow with fel magic.

Again, this is an argument from nothing. You're making an implication here that is basically already covered either way. We have no way of knowing what "level" of Fel causes what effects, we only know that ambient Fel and pervasive Fel taint does X thing to Blood Elves. The result in the same.

Again, even if the elf energies tainted the crystals, the blood elves didn't feed on those because that would be mentioned, that blood elves got green eyes by sucking arcane magic from fel tainted sources, and we know that is not the reason, in nowhere is said blood elves feed on arcane taint

You've seen visual evidence of Blood Elves feeding on the tainted crystals - that not really a deniable thing. If you concede the crystals were indeed tainted by Fel, then you reflexively accept that they did indeed imbibe residual Fel energies from them.

not in the magic though, not every place in quel'thalas had fel crystals

A distinction without a difference. The taint permeated everything and anything in the vicinity, unless you can again point out exceptions and cite evidence for them.

thats like you said its extrapolation and your own view of how worked, blizzard pretty confirmed the only elves who feed on fel energies were the ones who sided with kael in outland and later on the Dungeon, saying they took elf energy into their system by that is a big dump of lore that would not be left unnoticed.

Again, if that happen, they obvious should have said in the answer, its like saying the fel energy tainted also the water, the food and everything they consumed, and its not the case, the answer explicitly said the fel energy around tainted the elves, not their source of magic, their were around and they got their eyes green.

The Blood Elves who sided with Kael fed *directly* from demons, e.g. captured Terrofiends such as those seen at the Throne of Kil'jaeden. The Blood Elves feed on both organic foodstuffs as well as the magic contained in Burning Crystals in the absence of the Sunwell, ergo the Blood Elves consumed Fel taint from multiple sources. Extrapolation is not conjecture, it's an understanding of a given causal relationship or trend producing a measurable and predictable set of results. The process of A, to B, to outcome C. Their sources of magic are things, things in the vicinity of the Fel fallout, and thus subject to Fel taint.

Maybe its missing because its not true at all? there is no reason to omit such big information in the question this is brought up

It's been referenced multiple times now, with corroborating evidence from multiple sources, including a refutation of your original source showing that this interpretation is indeed borne out by the Devs themselves. In that light, your claim is the one with zero evidence thus far - and your insistence that it isn't true is the Internet equivalent of someone sticking their fingers in their ears and chanting "nuh uh" to drown out a competing argument. Which is to say, it's not a very compelling argument at the end of the day.

you re taking the word 'anything" too literally, while ignoring the fact that if the energy was tainted the elves would have know and feel the effects of that and blizz would have said that since there was no reason to omit if it was the case

How does one take the word "anything" too literally? It means any thing, any object, up to and including every object in the area of effect. How else does one define anything? This argument stretches credulity to a snapping point.

they not knowing don't mean they would not feel the difference

its not a "direct consequence" its a assumption based on a extrapolation, what we know is elves do not feed on fel, but arcane energy, and their eyes got green due to the radiation from energies around, not because they feed on sources corrupted by fel energies, anything beyond that is assumption.

Again, you're making a claim that I did not make - you either don't understand the argument, or you've constructed a Strawman version of it to argue against. I'm not saying the Blood Elves fed explicitly on Fel (excepting of course the Felblood Elves we see later), but that the Arcane energies they fed on were tainted by the same Fel fallout that effected *all* of Greater Silvermoon. Yes, the Blood Elves fed on Arcane energies, but those energies carried the same Fel taint signatures they *everything* in Silvermoon acquired from the Fel magic used to rebuild it. That's the argument - borne out by the CDev talks, corroborated with additional in-game lore, etc. etc.

[Valnerre]

Granted, but either way we know that the amount they consumed regardless of the manner of consumption, created the effects we later see in them. I would label this an argument from nothing - the end-result is the same either way.



And Blood Elves show the same basic arc, yes. Minor Fel taint changes the color of their eyes and apparently darkens their psychology, whereas major Fel taint causes them to develop scales, blackened flesh, grow wings, etc. etc. The Blood of Mannoroth did not turn Orcs into Fel or Chaos Orcs directly, though; they didn't develop red skin or grow demonic horns and such from their bodies.



Again, this is an argument from nothing. You're making an implication here that is basically already covered either way. We have no way of knowing what "level" of Fel causes what effects, we only know that ambient Fel and pervasive Fel taint does X thing to Blood Elves. The result in the same.



You've seen visual evidence of Blood Elves feeding on the tainted crystals - that not really a deniable thing. If you concede the crystals were indeed tainted by Fel, then you reflexively accept that they did indeed imbibe residual Fel energies from them.



A distinction without a difference. The taint permeated everything and anything in the vicinity, unless you can again point out exceptions and cite evidence for them.



The Blood Elves who sided with Kael fed *directly* from demons, e.g. captured Terrofiends such as those seen at the Throne of Kil'jaeden. The Blood Elves feed on both organic foodstuffs as well as the magic contained in Burning Crystals in the absence of the Sunwell, ergo the Blood Elves consumed Fel taint from multiple sources. Extrapolation is not conjecture, it's an understanding of a given causal relationship or trend producing a measurable and predictable set of results. The process of A, to B, to outcome C. Their sources of magic are things, things in the vicinity of the Fel fallout, and thus subject to Fel taint.



It's been referenced multiple times now, with corroborating evidence from multiple sources, including a refutation of your original source showing that this interpretation is indeed borne out by the Devs themselves. In that light, your claim is the one with zero evidence thus far - and your insistence that it isn't true is the Internet equivalent of someone sticking their fingers in their ears and chanting "nuh uh" to drown out a competing argument. Which is to say, it's not a very compelling argument at the end of the day.



How does one take the word "anything" too literally? It means any thing, any object, up to and including every object in the area of effect. How else does one define anything? This argument stretches credulity to a snapping point.



Again, you're making a claim that I did not make - you either don't understand the argument, or you've constructed a Strawman version of it to argue against. I'm not saying the Blood Elves fed explicitly on Fel (excepting of course the Felblood Elves we see later), but that the Arcane energies they fed on were tainted by the same Fel fallout that effected *all* of Greater Silvermoon. Yes, the Blood Elves fed on Arcane energies, but those energies carried the same Fel taint signatures they *everything* in Silvermoon acquired from the Fel magic used to rebuild it. That's the argument - borne out by the CDev talks, corroborated with additional in-game lore, etc. etc.

This guy knows what he's talking about.

[FlubberPuddy]

I don't exactly know the problem with saying that fel was all around and that inevitably it got absorbed one way or the other.

It literally changes zero, it's the same as saying they got irradiated by it.

Some people just want to argue for sake of arguing, and some want to get the 'last word' in. Some want to do both. That it essentially changes nothing with the end result we see today, means is really inconsequential and not worth anyone's time on.

[Broflake]

Visiting the Sunwell is a birthright that we don't know if they maintain after the events of the purge of Dalaran.

Nightborne reruitment quest dude.

Some people just want to argue for sake of arguing, and some want to get the 'last word' in. Some want to do both. That it essentially changes nothing with the end result we see today, means is really inconsequential and not worth anyone's time on.

If neither of you are going to contribute to a discussion, and instead talk back and forth passive aggressively about the other posters, then you should refrain from posting. It is a silly way of trying to get your licks in.

[Aldo Hawk]

Nightborne reruitment quest dude.

This has been addressed a hundred times, 'dude'.

You can't say a war veteran that was missing for decades (especially since long before the event that created such situation as pilgrimages being allowed or not to a seceded group of Thalassians) and is considered a hero is going to be treated as any other person.

I am not further engaging into that argument, it's been adressed already and it's totally inconsequential.

[Broflake]

This has been addressed a hundred times, 'dude'.

Your view has been countered repetedly aldo

You can't take the way a war veteran that was missing for decades (especially since long before the event that created such situation as pilgrimages being allowed or not to a seceded group of Thalassians) and is considered a hero to be equally treated as any other person.

Except for the fac tthat this is YOUR interpretation even though it was stated explicitly by lor'themar that despite what Alleria has become, she is a child of quel'thalas and will not be denied her birthright.
Your headcanon does not supersede what is explicitly stated

I am not further engaging into that argument, it's been adressed already and it's totally inconsequential.

Even though you have repeatedly ue this to further your headcanon of high elves not being allowed in silvermoon.

[FlubberPuddy]

If neither of you are going to contribute to a discussion, and instead talk back and forth passive aggressively about the other posters, then you should refrain from posting. It is a silly way of trying to get your licks in.

I'll leave that up to the people who run this forum. Me and Aldo are having a nice chat regarding some of the arguments people put forth specifically in this discussion.

[Obelisk Kai]

People used this same type of premise for there not being able to be Demonhunters. "The skills have been given to a Warlock" "play a Warlock or Rogue, they're the closest thing we'll have to Demonhunters," suffice it to say that didn't pan out as a truth.

Necromancers appear to be in the same place. Now I don't personally care if Necromancers happen or not. But those arguments above didn't hold up for Demonhunters so it's strange people use them still now for another potential class.

Context is king. People had good reason to suppose Demon Hunters wouldn't be a thing, given how Demonology Warlocks were set up, but at the end of WoD there were three factors in play.

Firstly, the Demonology spec was so degraded that a dev flat out recommended to Warlocks that they play another spec and that Demonology would be 'fixed' in the next major update, correctly assumed to be the next expansion.

Two, Legion was seen as the class focused expansion and as a result Blizzard was going to forensically go through each class and restructure every spec to make them viable. This of course was where they committed the cardinal error of elevating spec at the expense of class, but at the time this was disguised with the addition of legendaries and the artifact weapon progression system. The opportunity was therefore there for them to completely rebuild Demonology.

Three, Blizzard HATED what Demonology had become. They wanted a spec based around summoning multiple pets at once, to facilitate the demonology fantasy. What they had was a spec built around metamorphosis, which they realised they would need for the new Demon Hunter class.

So we have the opportunity of the class revamp, the complicity of enough of the Warlock community that the backlash wasn't enormous given the deliberate de-emphasising of Demonology at the end of WOD and we have the dual motive of Blizzard wishing to remove Metamorphosis from Warlocks to give to Demon Hunters AND their own dislike of what demonology had become and what they wanted it to be.

The only factor that seems to be at play at the moment is Blizzard seems to be gearing up for another rejigging of the classes, given their own admission that they went too far with the pruning. However, none of the other factors seem to apply. They seem content with how Death Knights and Warlocks currently are.

Of course this is not to say Necromancers are impossible. What it does say is that perceived precedent can only survive as precedent if it can handle interrogation of the underlying facts rather than using a blunt one to one equivalence.

That Blizzard gutted Demonology for the sake of Demon Hunters does not mean they are equally willing to gut Warlocks and Death Knights for the sake of Necromancers.

Allied Races system has given us a plethora of reskinned races. There's talks of Wildhammer happening at some point too. If those can happen, so can High Elves.

Also, when I say "next round" or "another round" for AR I am taking into account that a "break from releasing AR" will happen, same as why you wouldn't see most discussing next potential class options right after Demonhunters/Monks/Deathknights released. There's a cooldown period so to speak.

But as they've developed pretty much a pattern of introducing new classes and class options (think Tauren Paladin etc) and new playable races and playable race options (AR), it's inevitable that another form of Elves will be introduced again.

Because Elves are popular, and people want variety. And maybe you think there is enough variety already, but I remember when you also believed 2 elves were enough as well.

As we have seen further extra customization to existing races (think BE Golden Eyes and NE Dark/Blue Eyes), people keep asking for more and more for elves because people will always want more of a popular thing. Being that this is the reality of the situation, there's always going to be new things included for elves - whether that's more customization or another playable race option etc.

It's just inevitable, and Blizzard hasn't gone on record of saying anything close to "we have enough Elven races and will do no more" nor for any of the other races like "there's enough human race options" etc etc.

The Allied race system has given us a plethora of reskinned races, but as with the above answer to an entirely different question, looking to the past on some topics isn't the best guide to the future.

It is a fact that Blizzard does not wish to have too many additions to the Alliance and the Horde, as they fear that too many options would cause the core identities of the faction to buckle. They have said this.

It is also a fact that Blizzard wishes to drastically slow down the addition of Allied Races post BFA. They have also said this. The reason so many are being added in the BFA cycle is that most of them are, as you say, reskins and many of them are long requested reskins such as the Dark Iron Dwarves, the Mag'har Orcs and yes, even the Void Elves, who are exactly what some pro High Elfers told me years ago they wanted...a type of High Elf that was different from a Blood Elf.

I believe you are operating under a misapprehension of what the Allied race system is intended to be. It is no longer just a sub-race system, which is where the germ of the idea began. It is a way for Blizzard to add genuinely new races without having to create starter content for them, or even new models. Vulpera, who seem exceedingly likely to be added, are neither a sub-race of an existing core race, nor do they use a truly unique model as they are based on the goblin skeleton.

So on the one hand, we have confirmation allied races are becoming rarer. And on the other hand, we have a system that ensures Blizzard can add a new race without having to create expensive, time consuming and limited starter content for that new race. As we progress onwards from Battle for Azeroth into 9.0 and beyond we are going to venture to new landmasses and new areas, each containing their own denizens and populations whom Alliance and Horde will interact with and befriend.

If an Allied race pair comes along every two to four years in future, i.e. the same cadence as new races previously seemed to be introduced, then that is going to be a rare, precious opportunity to expand your faction with a new option. I would suggest that given the choice between a Dragonkin race for the Alliance at the end of a hypothetical Dragon Isles expansion and High Elves that Blizzard might conclude that the Dragonkin would be a far better choice. Or if the choice was between Ethereals and High Elves at the end of a void expansion, they would likely conclude Ethereals are the better choice.

The point is facetious of course, as they would never have a binary choice between one of these races and High Elves. The expansions would be developed in such a way that if an Allied race is going to be added, they will know far in advance who it is going to be. There is nothing inevitable about more elves coming our way, as you believe. I find it hard to believe Blizzard will take the rare post BFA opportunity of adding a new race to the Alliance and waste it, yes, waste it, on High Elf exiles, a faction of a race that is already playable in two forms already on both Alliance and Horde.

Blizzard is convinced that this entire request is predicated on skin tones. Ion clearly believed it when he told you why Blizzard rejected High Elves for the Alliance. The Lost Codex guys believed it when they talked to Afrisiabi about Void Elven skin tones. I believe it because I've debated with enough pro High Elfers over the years to know that is a huge motivating factor, despite the denial of some. And the reason this is believed is because it is true for a large chunk of the pro High Elf movement.
Anyone who has said that Void Elves getting high elf or high elf like skin tones would be a 'compromise' exposes that this IS about skin tones now, because a Void Elf with those skin tones is still a Void Elf with everything that entails.

Why would Blizzard waste a new slot on High Elf exiles...which will entail a Horde counterpart that brings it's own baggage (do we make everyone angry and give the Horde a crappy race too, or do we give the Horde something awesome and make the Alliance twice as mad?)...when they can just shove a couple of normal skin tones onto a Void Elf and call it a day? That is something I can actually see them doing. I think it would be a stupid move personally, undermining the distinctiveness of the Void Elves, but is it possible? Absolutely.

After all, that is what Alex Afrisiabi said was REALLY possible when he was asked. Nothing to do with the High Elf exiles at all.

[FlubberPuddy]

After all, that is what Alex Afrisiabi said was REALLY possible when he was asked. Nothing to do with the High Elf exiles at all.

I'll respond to the rest later, but this I really want to know. Who do you think he's talking to when he says with emphasis, "Don't give up hope!" when clearly many of those against High Elves have come in to focus on the "be respectful about it" to reference how 'Helfers are crazy', 'Helfers were told to be on good behavior' and yada yada yada.

So is he talking to the audience that wants High Elves, or is he talking to the audience who are Void Elf fans?

This is where it breaks down, because I don't see Void Elf fans creating multiple threads asking for 'High Elf skins on Void Elves', so can you truly not see which audience he is speaking to when he literally looks at the camera and emphasizes the, "Don't give up hope" portion?

After all, as you say:

Context is king.

Which audience do you think he was speaking to and what evidence makes you think so?

[Varodoc]

I think it would be a stupid move personally, undermining the distinctiveness of the Void Elves, but is it possible? Absolutely.

It doesn't undermine anything. You can give them pink skin tones and still show some residual void energy in various body parts, plus obviously in combat they'd still have the void form proc. Obviously it wouldn't literally just be a paint recolor, there would be some detail that show that you're not looking at a high elf, but at a pink-skinned void elves (which would satisfy most helfers anyway, because again give them a pink-skinned Alliance elf and then they'll take care of the lore of their new character with RP).

[Syegfryed]

Granted, but either way we know that the amount they consumed regardless of the manner of consumption, created the effects we later see in them. I would label this an argument from nothing - the end-result is the same either way.

if all of then have the same and minor fel exposure, they obviously were not feeding on fel sources, cause that would mean different stages on the fel corruption, and that would be indicated on lore.

And Blood Elves show the same basic arc, yes. Minor Fel taint changes the color of their eyes and apparently darkens their psychology, whereas major Fel taint causes them to develop scales, blackened flesh, grow wings, etc. etc. The Blood of Mannoroth did not turn Orcs into Fel or Chaos Orcs directly, though; they didn't develop red skin or grow demonic horns and such from their bodies.

as far as we know the fel exposure, not direct feed, is what changed their eyes, there is no such thing of changing their skin, this is a gameplay thing

the longer the consume of a pit lord blood they did develop demonic horns and spikes like the ones we see in outland after drinking the blood of maghteridon

Again, this is an argument from nothing. You're making an implication here that is basically already covered either way. We have no way of knowing what "level" of Fel causes what effects, we only know that ambient Fel and pervasive Fel taint does X thing to Blood Elves. The result in the same.

we do know that their eyes turned to green from being around fel energies, that mean that green eyes is a direct consequence of just being around fel energies, if they are feeding on fel sources we should notice different stages on the corruption not something so minor for ALL of then that is equal of just being around fel energies

You've seen visual evidence of Blood Elves feeding on the tainted crystals - that not really a deniable thing. If you concede the crystals were indeed tainted by Fel, then you reflexively accept that they did indeed imbibe residual Fel energies from them.

we see then feeding on burning crystals of mana, there is no proof those are tainted/corrupted by fel except you taking the world "anything" to literally

A distinction without a difference. The taint permeated everything and anything in the vicinity, unless you can again point out exceptions and cite evidence for them.

this don't mean the fel magic would corrupt or taint the arcane magic there, you are taking the word to literally thinking tis impossible to have uncorrupted sources of magic

The Blood Elves who sided with Kael fed *directly* from demons,

the ones in the dungeon feed directly on fel crystals too and there you can see the effects of it


pure addiction and more visible changes

if the elves were feeding unknowing on fel energies they would show more effects of it both physiological and visually than just green eyes that is an effect of just being around fel energies and not feeding on then.

It's been referenced multiple times now, with corroborating evidence from multiple sources, including a refutation of your original source showing that this interpretation is indeed borne out by the Devs themselves

.

Again, why they would omit that and let free for speculation or people interpretation when they could have answered clear? it make no sense

In that light, your claim is the one with zero evidence thus far - and your insistence that it isn't true is the Internet equivalent of someone sticking their fingers in their ears and chanting "nuh uh" to drown out a competing argument. Which is to say, it's not a very compelling argument at the end of the day.

Zero evidence? the dev quote clearly state they got their green eyes - the fel taint - just for being AROUND feel energies, not feeding on fel tainted arcane magic, i for one stick with that instead of like you say an extrapolation

How does one take the word "anything" too literally? It means any thing, any object, up to and including every object in the area of effect. How else does one define anything? This argument stretches credulity to a snapping point.

because it mean it can corrupt any thing not corrupted every single thing that existed there, they said all orcs got corrupted, and we know that inst true

Again, you're making a claim that I did not make -

you are saying they did feed on fel taint arcane magic, and as far the lore goes they didn't, because that would be mentioned in why they got their green eyes.

being around fel energies =/= feed on arcane magic that was tainted/corrupted by fel

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I love how Syegfred who hates elves so much, is trying to do so much to 'protect' a specific argument of Blood Elf lore.

It's just wonderful irony

its because unlike most im not biased towards the subject

[Gurluas]

the ones in the dungeon feed directly on fel crystals too and there you can see the effects of it


pure addiction and more visible changes

They drank demon blood, they didn't just feed on Fel energy, it's taking it to the next level!

[Ielenia]

the ones in the dungeon feed directly on fel crystals too and there you can see the effects of it


pure addiction and more visible changes

if the elves were feeding unknowing on fel energies they would show more effects of it both physiological and visually than just green eyes that is an effect of just being around fel energies and not feeding on then.

"The felblood elves are a group of Kael'thas Sunstrider's most loyal followers, who were rewarded by Kil'jaeden with the gift of being allowed to gorge themselves on demonic blood for days for remaining in Outland, even as many of his blood elves retreated through the Dark Portal."

They are like that because they gorged directly from demon blood, not because of the crystals.

[The Silver Covenant]

It doesn't undermine anything. You can give them pink skin tones and still show some residual void energy in various body parts, plus obviously in combat they'd still have the void form proc. Obviously it wouldn't literally just be a paint recolor, there would be some detail that show that you're not looking at a high elf, but at a pink-skinned void elves (which would satisfy most helfers anyway, because again give them a pink-skinned Alliance elf and then they'll take care of the lore of their new character with RP).

This is 100% the correct way of looking at it. If Blizzard thinks Void Elves are "good enough" to satisfy people who want to RP a High Elf, then why not simply allow one or two skin tones and hair colors? It would do nothing to detract from Void Elves because their racial leader is literally just a High Elf who goes purple sometimes and do everything toward being the real compromise Void Elves were supposed to be on the High Elf question.

[Syegfryed]

"The felblood elves are a group of Kael'thas Sunstrider's most loyal followers, who were rewarded by Kil'jaeden with the gift of being allowed to gorge themselves on demonic blood for days for remaining in Outland, even as many of his blood elves retreated through the Dark Portal."

They are like that because they gorged directly from demon blood, not because of the crystals.

it is both, this guy is from the magistere's terrace dungeon, he and other wretched are sucking fel magic from the fel crystals

regardless demon blood is literally felblood, fel magic, showing the difference of feeding on fel energy

[Hallowseve17]

You can't have faction identity problems if the race is already part of the faction. And this applies to more than just high elves. If I see a Wildhammer dwarf running around, they're Alliance, they are part of the Alliance identity. If I see taunka running around, they're Horde, they are part of the Horde identity.

And once again, there are no limited "slots". Where was this stated? I'm tired of people saying this.

[Obelisk Kai]

I'll respond to the rest later, but this I really want to know. Who do you think he's talking to when he says with emphasis, "Don't give up hope!" when clearly many of those against High Elves have come in to focus on the "be respectful about it" to reference how 'Helfers are crazy', 'Helfers were told to be on good behavior' and yada yada yada.

So is he talking to the audience that wants High Elves, or is he talking to the audience who are Void Elf fans?

This is where it breaks down, because I don't see Void Elf fans creating multiple threads asking for 'High Elf skins on Void Elves', so can you truly not see which audience he is speaking to when he literally looks at the camera and emphasizes the, "Don't give up hope" portion?

After all, as you say:


Which audience do you think he was speaking to and what evidence makes you think so?

This seems self-explanatory. Everyone knows there is a lot of crossover between the Void Elf community and those who wanted High Elf exiles as an Allied race. Indeed, given Void Elves are a compromise between those who demanded a duplicate of a Horde race and Blizzard's red lines regarding faction diversity, that they would assume the Void Elf audience and the pro High Elf audience are roughly analogous is not a tremendous leap of logic to make, nor an unwarranted one.
Particularly given that the initial phase of the modern pro High Elf campaign, post Blizzcon 2017, was driven by the Unofficial Void Elf thread spam on the official forums that wished to 'compromise' on Void Elves by giving them Blood Elf like skin types.

Yet, and this is important, Afrasiabi was NOT asked about a dedicated High Elf exile Allied race. The Lost Codex interviewer who posed the question very carefully framed it to say that Void Elves filled the high elf niche within the Alliance. The question was about potential customization options for Void Elves, NOT a High Elf exile allied race.
Attempting to ignore the context of the question to repurpose the answer in favour of a High Elf Allied race is disingenuous, as that is not what happened at all. He was speaking about the possibility of customizaton options.

Of course, this was far from a promise to the pro High Elf community. Whilst possible, his 'don't give up hope' comment, when combined with the majority of his answer, all indicates what the developers think of when reminded of the High Elf debate is a toxic dumpster fire. 'Don't give up hope' isn't a promise, it's an appeal for decorum on a topic that likely drives the CMs to despair.

However, whilst not a promise, this is a still an outcome that genuinely could happen. Of course were it to happen, the consequences would be interesting to say the least. A Void Elf with 'normal' skin tones would still be a Void Elf, not a High Elf exile. And this presumes they don't give Void Elves the 'monkey paw' result as discussed by Tenebra below, where the skin tones are normal-like and still somehow tainted by the void. And of course, the very act of giving Void Elves these tones would be a demonstration that Blizzard is doing everything it can to not give a dedicated High Elf exile race to the Alliance.

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It doesn't undermine anything. You can give them pink skin tones and still show some residual void energy in various body parts, plus obviously in combat they'd still have the void form proc. Obviously it wouldn't literally just be a paint recolor, there would be some detail that show that you're not looking at a high elf, but at a pink-skinned void elves (which would satisfy most helfers anyway, because again give them a pink-skinned Alliance elf and then they'll take care of the lore of their new character with RP).

Residual void energies in body parts would be regarded as the monkey paw result and I think you are wrong to believe otherwise. Plenty of the hardcore pro High Elf community will not accept such a result.

Besides, role-playing will not solve this issue. Role playing only works in certain contexts, where the character's origin is up to you. Anyone who tries to roleplay their Void Elf as a High Elf will be lying to themselves. They will be playing a Void Elf, and no skin tone will ever change that. You can roleplay as a member of the Silver Covenant who chose to become a Void Elf, but you cannot roleplay as a High Elf exile and pretend your character has nothing to do with the void. The moment entropic embrace procs, the illusion will shatter.

[Ielenia]

it is both, this guy is from the magistere's terrace dungeon, he and other wretched are sucking fel magic from the fel crystals

regardless demon blood is literally felblood, fel magic, showing the difference of feeding on fel energy

You implied that they're felblood because they're sucking directly off the crystals. That is false. They became felblood because of the copious amount of felblood they consumed, not because of the crystals.