Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[Wyrt]

Green eyes were not not caused only by rebuilding Silvermoon. From AskCDev:

The situation regarding blood elf eyes is, in fact, extremely similar to that of the green skin of orcs: just being around heavy use of fel magic turned the eyes of the blood elves green. You could be the most pious of priests or most outdoorsy of Farstriders, chances are, if you were a high elf in Quel'Thalas or Outland following the Third War, you were around fel energies, and your eyes would turn green. Like the orcs' skin color, such an effect would take a very long time to wear off. Fel magic works a bit like radiation in this sense; it permeates the area and seeps into anything in the vicinity. Anything near a source of fel magic shows signs of slight corruption, it just so happens that high elves and orcs manifest it in a very visual way.

Since this doesn't explain Alliance High Elves in Outland still having blue eyes it could be speculated that draining mana from living beings also must have played a role...or blue eyes are just a game device Blizzard uses to visually distinguish between Blood Elves and High Elves.

Yes, that blue quote backs up what I said. The fel crystals that were used in the reconstruction of Silvermoon are what caused any high elves in the vicinity to have green eyes.

[Manariel]

No, you want them because they are traditional fantasy elves, they don’t look like Night Elves, and someone mentioned one day they look cool and it rolled on from there. Bottom line, you want them because they are pretty.
That’s cool. I don’t care what your reasons are, but the ways people twist their reasonings around to justify it is laughable. People want them simply because they like the idea behind them and like the aesthetic. Translation: they are pretty.

If I wanted them for their skins, I'd play a Blood Elves. But I hate Blood Elves, I've tried several times to create such a character and I never was able to play it past level 15, because I just can't stand them. The appearance of the High Elves doesn't matter, it's the lore, their character and history as a distinct faction from the Blood Elves.

[Alixie]

Even the Bronze Dragonflight knows that the High Elves belong on the Alliance side, and Blood Elves belong on the Horde side, and separated them accordingly.

[Thalassian Bob]

[IMG]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/442591285317206021/641317281237958659/17681-wows-15th-anniversary-event-now-live-15-bonus-experience-and-reputation.jpg?width=993&height=559[/MG]

Even the Bronze Dragonflight knows that the High Elves belong on the Alliance side, and Blood Elves belong on the Horde side, and separated them accordingly.

The "elves" on the other side are "high elves" too.



Dragons almost universally adopt the look of high elves in their humanoid form (thanks to Knaak's shit lore), green dragons sometimes adopting Kaldorei forms and black dragons sometimes adopting human forms being some of the main exceptions. The portal keepers for the Caverns of Time in Orgrimmar are "high elves" too.

Since high elves are so rare and usually found in specific areas, I suppose having dragons adopt high elven forms helps players who aren't as up on their Thalassian lore as people like us distinguish them from regular, more populace blood elves.

[Wyrt]

If I wanted them for their skins, I'd play a Blood Elves. But I hate Blood Elves, I've tried several times to create such a character and I never was able to play it past level 15, because I just can't stand them. The appearance of the High Elves doesn't matter, it's the lore, their character and history as a distinct faction from the Blood Elves.

They're literally the same thing, just on different factions.

[Aldo Hawk]

They're literally the same thing, just on different factions.

Like Pandaren.

Except High elves and Blood elves have more visual differences than Huojin and Tushui, and they also have a history that makes them to be a different society all along.

And you also have motives to give them different racials, classes and customization options.

[matrix123mko]

Like Pandaren.

Except High elves and Blood elves have more visual differences than Huojin and Tushui, and they also have a history that makes them to be a different society all along.

And you also have motives to give them different racials, classes and customization options.

Yes. I think we should go this way.

[FlubberPuddy]

Yes. I think we should go this way.

I concur, wholeheartedly.

- - - Updated - - -

From Reddit :

Lord Garithos

It's so true it hurts, and it'll perhaps help horde players understand why we want High Elves.

Funniest thing is it's said by someone named Lord Garithos lol

[Wyrt]

Like Pandaren.

Except High elves and Blood elves have more visual differences than Huojin and Tushui, and they also have a history that makes them to be a different society all along.

And you also have motives to give them different racials, classes and customization options.

They really aren't different societies. If Blood Elves were still the mana vampires they were introduced as then sure, but now? No, they're the same.

And racials would also mostly be the same. Blood elves have arcane racials, high elves would also have arcane racials.

[Ignaz]

No, you want them because they are traditional fantasy elves, they don’t look like Night Elves, and someone mentioned one day they look cool and it rolled on from there. Bottom line, you want them because they are pretty.
That’s cool. I don’t care what your reasons are, but the ways people twist their reasonings around to justify it is laughable. People want them simply because they like the idea behind them and like the aesthetic. Translation: they are pretty.

You cannot force someone to want something in a specific way just because it seems the truth to you. I want them as a playable race for what they represent and for all the possibilities they offer for a future lore (Alliance / Horde conflict). (that's my truth, not yours)
You can't tell anyone how to think and want things.

[Anastacy]

How is this thread still going? Like, what is there left to say?

[Ruri]

How is this thread still going? Like, what is there left to say?

The same thing, until we are, hopefully, listened to.

[Ignaz]

Like Pandaren.

Except High elves and Blood elves have more visual differences than Huojin and Tushui, and they also have a history that makes them to be a different society all along.

And you also have motives to give them different racials, classes and customization options.

I agree with you in some way.
I still see the high elves as a different race from the blood elves (only that they belong to the same species) but; as for the current in-game aesthetics they could be compared to the Pandaren, and I share your idea of giving them different racials, clases, customization options and even a new model.

- - - Updated - - -

They really aren't different societies. If Blood Elves were still the mana vampires they were introduced as then sure, but now? No, they're the same.

And racials would also mostly be the same. Blood elves have arcane racials, high elves would also have arcane racials.

not necessarily, quel'danil Helves could have totally different racial, along with a hybrid culture

[Anastacy]

The same thing, until we are, hopefully, listened to.

“Being listened to” and “having demands met” are very different things, y’know.

[Uthan]

Personally I think Blizz should go with making a combined Half-elf/High Elf allied race, to go along with Elisande's comment, making the options span the full range of customization from very visibly mixed blood to full high elf in looks (but still slightly different model than blood elves).

Edit: Which would also mitigate some of the Belf player concerns that they'd have options stolen from them to make a High Elf race distinct, since most of the options in hair and such would be more "human".

[Garfurion]

Personally I think Blizz should go with making a combined Half-elf/High Elf allied race, to go along with Elisande's comment, making the options span the full range of customization from very visibly mixed blood to full high elf in looks (but still slightly different model than blood elves).

Edit: Which would also mitigate some of the Belf player concerns that they'd have options stolen from them to make a High Elf race distinct, since most of the options in hair and such would be more "human".

Blizzard could just add glowing blue eyes and pointy ears as Stormwind human customization option (kalecgos look). Hybrids are officially very rare in the Warcraft universe so an official race would be problematic. However, Dark Trolls are supposed to be extinct but made available as customisation option for Darkspear Trolls which kind of bypasses the lore since all player characters together are just a single lore character ("the hero") so an official "race" is not required.

[Uthan]

A race being rare hasn't really been an issue before (cough, void elves), and a combined half-elf/high elf race would be less "rare" than either on it's own so eh, don't see that as much of a concern.

[FlubberPuddy]

A race being rare hasn't really been an issue before (cough, void elves), and a combined half-elf/high elf race would be less "rare" than either on it's own so eh, don't see that as much of a concern.

Nothing gets rarer than being the only one of your kind. Even Void Elves are >1.

They are showing at this point that population number(s) do not matter at all.

So that destroys every population argument against High Elves.

[Aldo Hawk]

They really aren't different societies. If Blood Elves were still the mana vampires they were introduced as then sure, but now? No, they're the same.

And racials would also mostly be the same. Blood elves have arcane racials, high elves would also have arcane racials.

The whole society changed when the scourge almost destroyed and killed everything, what existed before the Scourge attack doesn't exist anymore.

So we are in a situation where the ones who are still on the realm are different than what they were, and those who defected are not just also different from what were but they lost parts of their culture that they shared with these who stayed in the realm, the past and the present parts of their culture, they are a different people living different things.

Both groups have changed.

[jzhbee]

From Reddit :



It's so true it hurts, and it'll perhaps help horde players understand why we want High Elves.

Remind me why the Horde keep getting their leaders become evil, and yet it's obviously Horde bias? The only characters shown as being absolute "good" are High King Anduin "Literal Hurty Bones From Doing Bad" Wrynn, while the Horde gets genocidal maniacs they get to put down.

The Horde get literally evil characters, in a game where the villains drive the plot. So yeah, we'll see more of them.

But at least the only characters on the alliance that get shafted on the regular are the night elves.