Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[Kyphael]

With white skin? Sure I suppose, I just don't wanna go around looking like a dark emo dude lol

Yes, and blood elf hairsyles, not edge-lord cow licks with too much hair gel and not enough personality.

[DeicideUH]

The way it works with Blizzard, is you ask for what you 100% want, then they'll give you maybe 10-20% of it.

If you start at 20% they'll give you 1-2% of it.

Yes, and that's the reason the high elf threads endured.
Back when void elves were announced we made a ton of suggestions and expressed our hopes to make them a good compromise. None was heard, there wasn't even a blue answer trying to calm our worries.

So, we ask for what we want, not for compromises. Whatever comes will be a monkey paw fulfillment anyway.

[Obelisk Kai]

Yes, and that's the reason the high elf threads endured.
Back when void elves were announced we made a ton of suggestions and expressed our hopes to make them a good compromise. None was heard, there wasn't even a blue answer trying to calm our worries.

So, we ask for what we want, not for compromises. Whatever comes will be a monkey paw fulfillment anyway.

As has been pointed out to you repeatedly, you are not being ignored. You have instead started from the wrong point, that a compromise must be found between Void Elves and playable High Elf Exiles in lieu of the later.

The reason you keep being disappointed is you refuse to accept that Void Elves themselves are the compromise, not between between Void Elves and playable High Elf exiles, but between playable High Elf exiles and having no thalassian elf at all.

[cocomen2]

As has been pointed out to you repeatedly, you are not being ignored. You have instead started from the wrong point, that a compromise must be found between Void Elves and playable High Elf Exiles in lieu of the later.

The reason you keep being disappointed is you refuse to accept that Void Elves themselves are the compromise, not between between Void Elves and playable High Elf exiles, but between playable High Elf exiles and having no thalassian elf at all.

If you want players to stop asking for High Elfs its pretty easy to do -> Ask Ion or writer of wow lore, to kill all high elfs on Alliance side (that are not Void Elfs, nor ever went to the Horde side).

But as long even one high elf NPC gonna be ALIVE on Alliance side, demand for High Elfs as playable characters on Alliance side will exist.

[DeicideUH]

The reason you keep being disappointed is you refuse to accept that Void Elves themselves are the compromise, not between between Void Elves and playable High Elf exiles, but between playable High Elf exiles and having no thalassian elf at all.

Void elves are shit, and shit can't be a compromise to anything.

[FlubberPuddy]

Void elves are shit, and shit can't be a compromise to anything.

So damn true. Still can't bring myself to play the race. Feels shallow and hollow.

[Kyphael]

So damn true. Still can't bring myself to play the race. Feels shallow and hollow.

They're not that bad, it's still the Thalassian model, just with a sickly Death Knight skin and some awful hairstyles, but in essence it's still basically a High Elf who became a Blood Elf, and then became a Void Elf.

[Talrath]

Problem is that blizzard doesnt continue a story from a certain racial faction/order/character, if they did, well im sure they could fit every race in a faction. Void elfs could have had a very intriguing story instead of "oh we got kicked out so we need a new place". Instead they could have said that while they have been kicked out anduin is forced to take them in because of reason x. It would have also been able to get high elfs in the alliance with a reason x IF blizzard didnt just drop peoples story.

It seems alot to make a different story for each class with a different faction where the story eventually converges at the same finish line as other quests but people would really like it and it would be alot more easier to write and discuss things. Right now we are always speculating what guy x was doing, where the hell was he etc.

Sorry got a bit derailed, but in short, a good story where no1 gets left out, in such a environment every race can be put in a certain faction.

[DeicideUH]

They're not that bad, it's still the Thalassian model, just with a sickly Death Knight skin and some awful hairstyles, but in essence it's still basically a High Elf who became a Blood Elf, and then became a Void Elf.

I think you mean: it's still the Thalassian model, just with a sickly Death Knight skin, some awful hairstyles and no lore and purpose, but in essence it looks almost like a High Elf, but twisted in a horrible way, like a mockery, and with no interesting story behind it.

8.3 was the last straw. If void elves can't be relevant in the ultimate void patch, then they are worthless.

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So damn true. Still can't bring myself to play the race. Feels shallow and hollow.

Amazing that Blizzard outdid the their own neglect of draenei and worgen. Seems like Alliance always gets the "maybe some day in a few years we can shine a spotlight on them" race.

It's laughable how, after having whole zones and storylines for them in Legion, highmountain and nightborne got more to do in BfA than the introduced-in-last-second void elves and the barely-touched lightforged draenei.

[FlubberPuddy]

They're not that bad, it's still the Thalassian model, just with a sickly Death Knight skin and some awful hairstyles, but in essence it's still basically a High Elf who became a Blood Elf, and then became a Void Elf.

Maybe they'll be palatable if they get to become Deathknights like the datamines are showing. Although at that point it will almost be seemingly impossible that they release vampire undead elves. An Emo Vampire sounds exactly like how a Void Elf Deathknight will appear.

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Sorry got a bit derailed, but in short, a good story where no1 gets left out, in such a environment every race can be put in a certain faction.

No you're right. That would make a lot more sense. Unfortunately they've decided to go with more focused characters rather than the overall story of racial groups. Which means we're not likely to see the overall races develop much, but more character arcs instead.

[DeicideUH]

No you're right. That would make a lot more sense. Unfortunately they've decided to go with more focused characters rather than the overall story of racial groups. Which means we're not likely to see the overall races develop much, but more character arcs instead.

The thing is: most races get developed mostly in their debut/introduction. That's when you get to know them and familiarize with some faces. Then those faces carry the story forward. That's why it's cool to see Lasan, Mayla or Ebonhorn doing things, as small as they appear to be, because they remind you about everything you experienced in highmountain. Same with Occuleth, Talyssra, Valtrois.

Void elves skipped that fleshing out stage. They have no faces, no customs, no quirks, no side peculiarities, they are just homeless blood elves in blue. They are depthless, directionless and meaningless. Even Umbric, their one and only face, is as shallow as it can get. Compare him to Occuleth, who serves in a similar role, and you can see the chasm in development between them. Occuleth is quirky, charismatic and competent, every time he's on screen, it causes a smile in my face. Plus, he's only one false among many we got to know in Suramar. Umbric is... meh. A plain good guy who seems competent and... that's it.

That vintner, Margaux, had alone more story and personality (and voice acting) than the entire void elf lore. And there was Runas. And Arluin. I felt each of their deaths. I won't care if all void elves die horribly tomorrow, because we never had any chance to empathise with them.

[FlubberPuddy]

Amazing that Blizzard outdid the their own neglect of draenei and worgen. Seems like Alliance always gets the "maybe some day in a few years we can shine a spotlight on them" race.

It's laughable how, after having whole zones and storylines for them in Legion, highmountain and nightborne got more to do in BfA than the introduced-in-last-second void elves and the barely-touched lightforged draenei.

It does seem like recently the Alliance has been an afterthought. For all the complaining that some Horde players do, their faction is actually getting a lot of story development.

Whining about shit like 'in Legion we barely had any characters do anything!" well no shit, it's usually been the Alliance that has had characters dealing with the Legion historically (Tyrande/Malfurion/Illidan/Kadgar/Turalyon/Alleria/Cenarius/ etc etc) I can't think of that many Horde characters that were involved. And if they were (people like Broxigar, Cairne, or Thrall at the time in Legion etc etc) they're not in the CURRENT Horde.

It's probably a hold over from when it was clear that they put the time into Alliance stuff in Classic and not as much on Horde. Blizzard is always 0 to 100 and probably swinged so much the other way.

Like I would like to hear their reasoning over how Mechagnomes (an AR of Gnomes which are unpopular) is equivalent to the Vulpera (an AR of Goblins which aren't so popular). Stuff like that would be interesting to see.

And it's clear that even though they said they're looking at the feedback, it's very clear Vulpera and Mechagnomes were already planned to happen. Makes me wonder which threads they are actually looking at then when they said feedback is turning out interesting in that regard and that they're at a time now where they can take that in.

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The thing is: most races get developed mostly in their debut/introduction. That's when you get to know them and familiarize with some faces. Then those faces carry the story forward. That's why it's cool to see Lasan, Mayla or Ebonhorn doing things, as small as they appear to be, because they remind you about everything you experienced in highmountain. Same with Occuleth, Talyssra, Valtrois.

Void elves skipped that fleshing out stage. They have no faces, no customs, no quirks, no side peculiarities, they are just homeless blood elves in blue. They are depthless, directionless and meaningless. Even Umbric, their one and only face, is as shallow as it can get. Compare him to Occuleth, who serves in a similar role, and you can see the chasm in development between them. Occuleth is quirky, charismatic and competent, every time he's on screen, it causes a smile in my face. Plus, he's only one false among many we got to know in Suramar. Umbric is... meh. A plain good guy who seems competent and... that's it.

That vintner, Margaux, had alone more story and personality (and voice acting) than the entire void elf lore.

Yeah I agree with everything said there. And it seems like unless we get an expansion focused on them like the Draenei got, Void Elves being fleshed out - that ship has sailed for the foreseeable future.

[DeicideUH]

Like I would like to hear their reasoning over how Mechagnomes (an AR of Gnomes which are unpopular) is equivalent to the Vulpera (an AR of Goblins which aren't so popular). Stuff like that would be interesting to see.

At least mechagnomes had effort. It's not the best race ever, but they got a comic, a (mega)dungeon, a storyline, lots of gossip text explaining their point of view, a zone and a cool city. A minor plus, but in the end all gnomekind unite, and it's a kinda cool point.

Mechagnome lore is almost point by point what void elf lore should be: they are a transformation of an existing race, except that: we know what are the advantages of their state, how they are transformed, and what are their thoughts about it.

We also got to know more than one of them, and they are united with their normal brethren, which means their stories will go on together from now on and we can expect plenty of interactions between gnomes and mechagnomes ahead. These small but essential details are all lacking in void elves, who couldn't get even a short story to flesh them out since their debut.

And it's clear that even though they said they're looking at the feedback, it's very clear Vulpera and Mechagnomes were already planned to happen. Makes me wonder which threads they are actually looking at then when they said feedback is turning out interesting in that regard and that they're at a time now where they can take that in.

Back when they said they were hearing feedback, I joked that, once vulpera and mechagnomes were released, they'd say: "Well, we did look at feedback. There were several threads asking for vulpera, they were instant fan-favorites. As for mechagnomes, we wanted to do something new and cool."

Then next allied races will be something like San'layn for Horde (especially if we get more Lich King next), a much-requested race, and something out of left field for Alliance...

Yeah I agree with everything said there. And it seems like unless we get an expansion focused on them like the Draenei got, Void Elves being fleshed out - that ship has sailed for the foreseeable future.

If we use draenei or worgen as paralels, it will take four expansions for them to start to be relevant.

At least draenei and worgen had starting zones...

[FlubberPuddy]

Back when they said they were hearing feedback, I joked that, once vulpera and mechagnomes were released, they'd say: "Well, we did look at feedback. There were several threads asking for vulpera, they were instant fan-favorites. As for mechagnomes, we wanted to do something new and cool."

Then next allied races will be something like San'layn for Horde (especially if we get more Lich King next), a much-requested race, and something out of left field for Alliance...

What's funny is that Blizzard knows about how the majority opinion of the community is too, just like they admitted it with the Nightborne. They knew whoever didn't get them would be upset. Except that when usually it tends to be 50/50 which is okay, for Allied Races there's been quite a lot of left-fields for Alliance (Void Elves, Lightforged Draenei, and Mechagnomes).

It's a stark contrast when looking at Horde Allied Races where every single race added to them so far has been seeded incredibly well.

My hope is that the reason they're doing this is so they can get out the "moar different" concepts for Alliance first, that way those players that screech about 'omg it's not unique wtf' actually have a lot of options already.

Then when they start introducing milder choices like Wildhammer or possibly High Elves, it's not going to cause as much of an uproar as it would've if it were released now.

Like all the people who want really unique looking races, now you have them in spades after this first round is over.

You got your strongman/woman
You got your terminator/cyborg/engineer robo gnomes
You got your Lava/soot based rockin dark iron dwarves
You got your space/void/occult/dark elves
You got your holy/battle hungry/militaristic draenei

It's time to get the more nuanced choices in the future. There's not a whole lot of 'crazy unique' races that show up on Alliance side. They're not like the Horde where it's an amalgamation of a bunch of contrasting races.

Even the AR Alliance has gotten so far has kept in line with a race that's already existing. Whereas Vulpera now add 'foxes' to the horde, a race unlike any other on its side.

[Goldielocks]

Then next allied races will be something like San'layn for Horde (especially if we get more Lich King next), a much-requested race, and something out of left field for Alliance...

This actually almost already happened. Dreven was going to join the Horde, but he failed in his mission and presumably all of the San'layn under him were killed as well.

So, Blizzard basically trolled its audience by saying "lol u thought."

[DeicideUH]

This actually almost already happened. Dreven was going to join the Horde, but he failed in his mission and presumably all of the San'layn under him were killed as well.

So, Blizzard basically trolled its audience by saying "lol u thought."

I don't think Dreven's death matters at all. He was a nobody and died a nobody (Horde players don't even interact with him).

There's more San'layn around, there's a lot of people wanting them, and there's a really cool thread in the official forums with incredible designs. Plus, san'layn would use a model that hasn't been used for an allied race in the Horde so far, which is a plus. If next expansion is really themed around the Lich King and death, I can totally see the san'layn being available as a preorder bonus.

[Goldielocks]

I don't think Dreven's death matters at all. He was a nobody and died a nobody (Horde players don't even interact with him).

There's more San'layn around, there's a lot of people wanting them, and there's a really cool thread in the official forums with incredible designs. Plus, san'layn would use a model that hasn't been used for an allied race in the Horde so far, which is a plus. If next expansion is really themed around the Lich King and death, I can totally see the san'layn being available as a preorder bonus.

Of course it doesn't matter. Nothing actually matters. Blizzard can invent any shit they want to make literally anything happen. The point was that San'layn has little to no chance of happening but we were given a storyline in which San'layn almost join the Horde.

It's comical.

[DeicideUH]

It's time to get the more nuanced choices in the future. There's not a whole lot of 'crazy unique' races that show up on Alliance side. They're not like the Horde where it's an amalgamation of a bunch of contrasting races.

I think the system will not be used as much once the last pair is revealed, however. I don't expect them to keep releasing one race after another. They'll probably focus on a class or on character customization next.

[FlubberPuddy]

I think the system will not be used as much once the last pair is revealed, however. I don't expect them to keep releasing one race after another. They'll probably focus on a class or on character customization next.

When I talk about “next” or “it’s time for this” I’m always talking in the sense of the future and not “the next immediate patch” or “next immediate expansion”.

It’s just like if I were to say right after Demonhunters released “the next class they add should be ranged cuz we’ve had 3 melee so far”

It’s not saying that I Hope next expansion after Legion includes a new class that is ranged.

It means the next time the opportunity surfaces, this is the type of class I’d like to see.

Same goes for AR, ofc they’re going to take a break from it. But it’s also a great new way of adding races.

And if there’s one thing to be sure of, it’s that WoW will continue to add races and add classes.

The cadence might slow, but those two features were said to always be at the top of the list when it comes to new expansion features by former Blizz dev Kevin Jordan.

And as we often see that people have asked for new classes and new races since before WoW released, so will these two features continue to be the most requested and typically added at some point.

[Obelisk Kai]

Void elves are shit, and shit can't be a compromise to anything.

Which isn't a mature answer, just a reflection of your opinion on Void Elves. Void Elves are very much a compromise. You didn't like the compromise, but the data suggests Void Elves are the most popular allied race and they are even the fourth most played race in the Alliance. By every metric that actually matters, Void Elves are a success for Blizzard. People on a forum being upset isn't a real metric.

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I think the system will not be used as much once the last pair is revealed, however. I don't expect them to keep releasing one race after another. They'll probably focus on a class or on character customization next.

Which is actually true. They've confirmed they will use the Allied race system a lot less in future because they don't wish either faction to collapse under the weight of options into indistinct blobs.

But players are now a bit blasé towards new races, given how many options we have received in the past two years. That ground will almost certainly be left to lie fallow for a long time.