Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[Ielenia]

Been a while, but from memory the bear is hanging around so you're sent to kill him. Not the most "moral" choice if the bear was living there before the high elf was.

Well, "from memory" isn't exactly a strong argument when said "from memory" is a crucial part of it. For all we know, the bear could be attacking the locals. Or got infected with something and needs to be put down.

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Making them look like Alleria would essentially just be giving the Alliance a core Horde race who turn purple occasionally.

You don't think them turning a glowing purple for twelve seconds every minute would be sufficient differentiation?

A permanent skin color difference along with tentacles and a permanent void thematic was deemed a sufficient distinction.

You don't know what. For all we know, less than that was deemed "sufficient" but Blizzard decided to go one step further. Or more.

[PalliesThrowStuff]

What are your ideas? What unique design elements could be added to Silver Covenant High Elves to make them stand out?

While I believe that inclusion of Shaman is novel, and to my personal taste, it would be pretty sweet. I do disagree.

I'm not against high elves as an AR inherently, but I do believe that they should be included as visual customization options for Void Elves, with the Void Shift racial optionally having a distinct visual that makes it look naturey or arcaney instead. Maybe some of those blue tats we see High Elves rocking in the strategy games.

Classes: Would insist on Druid, there's a lot of reference to druidic magic in High Elf lore, being 'rangers' not just 'hunters' kind of leans towards the nature magic realm, and while Shamans might fulfill that aspect, I'd say that Druid is the go to. Druids do some Arcane damage via Balance spec, and many of those powers are sun-themed, like pretty much everything in Blood Elf/High Elf culture. This demonstrates a needed dichotomy against the Night Elves' more Moony theme, and would really tie the Druid class together neatly, IMO.

Cat form as the same Lynx seen in High Elf/Blood Elf homeland which conveniently already have elf ears. Flight Form can be a more expectable golden/white bird, or I'd rather see a Dragonhawk form. Bear form's harder to be original, but Darkhounds never did get explained other than that they are magical beasts that appeared around the same time as the Scourge, alongside Demons, and for some reason or another the Blue Dragonflight used a whole ass bunch of them in WotLK content as 'Magehunters'. Following that theme, they might also be the default tame for High Elf Hunters, give them a cute name that fits like "Spell Hound" or "Mana Tracker", and make a similar mesh to the Darkhounds' that fits onto a bear skeleton like the ZTrollBearDino.

[Obelisk Kai]

Yeah and even more recently he said they could happen, just not in BfA since it's a really faction centered expansion...like I've been saying, blame him not the players who want High Elves.

That was the time he told that guy from the helf discord at blizzcon the same things about helves he said previously except phrased in such a way that it didn't ruin his day. Again,right now they have no plans, they have no intentions, 'anything is possible' means 'no and if it ever turns to yes it is for reasons we cannot foresee' and if you think it is some kind of promise then I am afraid this is a case of why false hope can be damaging.

[Resident Rump]

Playable undead look nothing like their leader (now ex leader). They've been in the game since vanilla, why should void elves be given special treatment that undead players weren't given? And the void elves story connects with Alleria in that they were all high elves who have now embraced the void. The void elves were in need of a leader (ie Alleria) who could show them the way... just as the forsaken were in need of a leader (ie Sylvanas) who could lead them into the future.

Nightborne are as distinct from night elves as void elves are from blood elves. Blizzard initiated a trade, the night elf model for Horde (with some changes) and the blood/high elf model for Alliance (with some changes).

And again, undead haven't been able to look like their leader... please tell me why void elves should?

They will soon get Lilian Voss who looks exactly like them, especially since the talk of Calia and Derek definitely not joining the Horde. All the more reason to add the options to Void Elves if even Forsaken get to look like their leader in the future.

[Kithelle]

That was the time he told that guy from the helf discord at blizzcon the same things about helves he said previously except phrased in such a way that it didn't ruin his day. Again,right now they have no plans, they have no intentions, 'anything is possible' means 'no and if it ever turns to yes it is for reasons we cannot foresee' and if you think it is some kind of promise then I am afraid this is a case of why false hope can be damaging.

So in other words "I don't want the game to have High Elves...I hate them and don't want people to have fun...so I'm going to pretend what he said means something completely different even though time and time again things have proven they can change."

Noted.

[Obelisk Kai]

So in other words "I don't want the game to have High Elves...I hate them and don't want people to have fun...so I'm going to pretend what he said means something completely different even though time and time again things have proven they can change."

Noted.

The game already has high elves. Blood elves are high elves. They are actually the most popular race in the game and so a huge number of people have been having fun. Anyone who wants to play a high elf and isn't and is not having fun is inflicting that choice upon themselves. What you are complaining about is the faction those elves are on rather than their absence. Anyone who wants to 'have fun' can move to the horde.

[delus]

Regardless, there is visual and thematical distinction between them and blood elves.

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So the color blue is a different theme huh?

[Manariel]

The game already has high elves. Blood elves are high elves. They are actually the most popular race in the game and so a huge number of people have been having fun. Anyone who wants to play a high elf and isn't and is not having fun is inflicting that choice upon themselves. What you are complaining about is the faction those elves are on rather than their absence. Anyone who wants to 'have fun' can move to the horde.

Blood Elves are Blood Elves. They lost the right to be called High Elves when they rejected this name, sided with monsters, hypocrites and degenerates (aka the Horde) and generally displayed an utter lack of values, principles and a general bare level of morality.

The remaining High Elves, baring minor exceptions which are pushed as some massive proof of division in their ranks -which they aren't, especially the cases of nameless BE NPC with blue eyes which are just mistakes- lean toward the Alliance, reject the evolution of the current Qual'thalas society and have proven to always be able to field as much troop as the BE when they were deployed alongside them.

If you want High Elves, you either play human, NE or VE and RP as HE. Using the BE model is not RPing a HE. It's disregarding the lore.

[scubi666stacy]

Blood Elves are Blood Elves. They lost the right to be called High Elves when they rejected this name, sided with monsters, hypocrites and degenerates (aka the Horde) and generally displayed an utter lack of values, principles and a general bare level of morality.

The remaining High Elves, baring minor exceptions which are pushed as some massive proof of division in their ranks -which they aren't, especially the cases of nameless BE NPC with blue eyes which are just mistakes- lean toward the Alliance, reject the evolution of the current Qual'thalas society and have proven to always be able to field as much troop as the BE when they were deployed alongside them.

If you want High Elves, you either play human, NE or VE and RP as HE. Using the BE model is not RPing a HE. It's disregarding the lore.

It's like having 1 albino exemplar of the species in a million and demand that this rare phenotype is the rule, and the majority is an outlier.
Totally moronic.

High Elves are a minority which will go extinct. No matter how hard they cling to their "true" name, they are irrelevant. And thus should not be in the game as PCs.

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While I believe that inclusion of Shaman is novel, and to my personal taste, it would be pretty sweet. I do disagree.

I'm not against high elves as an AR inherently, but I do believe that they should be included as visual customization options for Void Elves, with the Void Shift racial optionally having a distinct visual that makes it look naturey or arcaney instead. Maybe some of those blue tats we see High Elves rocking in the strategy games.

Classes: Would insist on Druid, there's a lot of reference to druidic magic in High Elf lore, being 'rangers' not just 'hunters' kind of leans towards the nature magic realm, and while Shamans might fulfill that aspect, I'd say that Druid is the go to. Druids do some Arcane damage via Balance spec, and many of those powers are sun-themed, like pretty much everything in Blood Elf/High Elf culture. This demonstrates a needed dichotomy against the Night Elves' more Moony theme, and would really tie the Druid class together neatly, IMO.

Cat form as the same Lynx seen in High Elf/Blood Elf homeland which conveniently already have elf ears. Flight Form can be a more expectable golden/white bird, or I'd rather see a Dragonhawk form. Bear form's harder to be original, but Darkhounds never did get explained other than that they are magical beasts that appeared around the same time as the Scourge, alongside Demons, and for some reason or another the Blue Dragonflight used a whole ass bunch of them in WotLK content as 'Magehunters'. Following that theme, they might also be the default tame for High Elf Hunters, give them a cute name that fits like "Spell Hound" or "Mana Tracker", and make a similar mesh to the Darkhounds' that fits onto a bear skeleton like the ZTrollBearDino.

The blue eyes option should be there for Blood Elves, namely the arcanists.
Void Elves have been drastically altered by the Void and should not look like High Elves anymore. And if they assimilate other Thallasian Elves, no matter where these come from, they also change to the Void pattern. Just like Lightforged Draenei have their specifics which differentiate them from normal Draenei.

Enough with more Elves, anyway. Give Stormwind Humans a Half-Elf customization option if anything, and be done with that. Half-Elves have more future potential in the Alliance.

[Obelisk Kai]

Blood Elves are Blood Elves. They lost the right to be called High Elves when they rejected this name, sided with monsters, hypocrites and degenerates (aka the Horde) and generally displayed an utter lack of values, principles and a general bare level of morality.

The remaining High Elves, baring minor exceptions which are pushed as some massive proof of division in their ranks -which they aren't, especially the cases of nameless BE NPC with blue eyes which are just mistakes- lean toward the Alliance, reject the evolution of the current Qual'thalas society and have proven to always be able to field as much troop as the BE when they were deployed alongside them.

If you want High Elves, you either play human, NE or VE and RP as HE. Using the BE model is not RPing a HE. It's disregarding the lore.

On holiday in london using phone while waiting for train so my replies will not be of the usual standard but the entire premise of your response is wrong. Blood Elves being the high elves of this franchise has been confirmed on multiple occasions across the past 20 odd years. You say blood elves are not high elves. Chris Metzen and Ion hazzikostas, who work on and create the game, disagree. Therefore you are wrong.

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So the color blue is a different theme huh?

If it's a by-product of the void transformation that is their actual theme then yes.

[elbleuet]

On holiday in london using phone while waiting for train so my replies will not be of the usual standard but the entire premise of your response is wrong. Blood Elves being the high elves of this franchise has been confirmed on multiple occasions across the past 20 odd years. You say blood elves are not high elves. Chris Metzen and Ion hazzikostas, who work on and create the game, disagree. Therefore you are wrong.

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Blood elves themselves say they're no longer high elves. Therefore you are wrong.

[Obelisk Kai]

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Blood elves themselves say they're no longer high elves. Therefore you are wrong.

Which blood elf or blood elves said that so we can better understand the context of the comment?

[FlubberPuddy]

Which blood elf or blood elves said that so we can better understand the context of the comment?

If you want context to matter you should stop conflating the race with the group itself that refer to themselves as High Elves as this request from the very beginning has always been about getting that specific group to become playable, not simply the race itself.

Yet you purposefully conflate this with the focus of the race itself, even Ion did this, as a lazy way to dismiss the request because “we already have the race playable” when the “context” has never been about the focus on the race rather than the specific group on the Alliance.

[delus]

If it's a by-product of the void transformation that is their actual theme then yes.

And what if they find a safer way that barely changes them at all?

[Maljinwo]

And what if they find a safer way that barely changes them at all?

Those are Shadow Priests

[Obelisk Kai]

Then you'd have to ask why blizzard created a process that turned them blue in the first place and the answer is that the skin tone shift was an easy way of differentiating them from Blood/High elves. The skin tone shift is a deliberate choice.

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If you want context to matter you should stop conflating the race with the group itself that refer to themselves as High Elves as this request from the very beginning has always been about getting that specific group to become playable, not simply the race itself.

Yet you purposefully conflate this with the focus of the race itself, even Ion did this, as a lazy way to dismiss the request because “we already have the race playable” when the “context” has never been about the focus on the race rather than the specific group on the Alliance.

So as I said, it's not about the race but the faction they are on. That a tiny political faction of this race is aligned to the alliance is irrelevant, the race is playable.

[FlubberPuddy]

Then you'd have to ask why blizzard created a process that turned them blue in the first place and the answer is that the skin tone shift was an easy way of differentiating them from Blood/High elves. The skin tone shift is a deliberate choice.

It wouldn't be the first time that Blizzard implements a lazy solution stat that they then later improve upon in an entirely better way and still leave that lazy solution in.

Ex: Void Storage before collections tab for mounts/pets/tmog/toys.

More recent example would be the increased customizations we're seeing coming with Shadowlands itself. Makes the concept of Allied Races themselves redundant, especially Void Elves who are a simple re-skin of Blood Elves (no model change in any way like Nightborne/Vulpera/Zandalari), Mag'har, LF Draenei, HM Tauren.

Just because Blizzard utilizes one method at first doesn't mean they're beholden to it for the entirety of their game's life.

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So as I said, it's not about the race but the faction they are on. That a tiny political faction of this race is aligned to the alliance is irrelevant, the race is playable.

It's funny that in the same snippet you say "it's not about the race" you still end it with focusing on the race. Proving my point.

[delus]

Then you'd have to ask why blizzard created a process that turned them blue in the first place and the answer is that the skin tone shift was an easy way of differentiating them from Blood/High elves. The skin tone shift is a deliberate choice.

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So as I said, it's not about the race but the faction they are on. That a tiny political faction of this race is aligned to the alliance is irrelevant, the race is playable.

What I ask is why they would even bother if they are just going to use the same model.

[FlubberPuddy]

What I ask is why they would even bother if they are just going to use the same model.

They could've went with a design like this



And that would've been so much better.

[Thalassian Bob]

Which blood elf or blood elves said that so we can better understand the context of the comment?

I preface by saying that we are on the same side of the argument and I agree with you that the blood elves are technically WoW's playable high elves and fulfil that role perfectly adequately. On top of this, I think it's also worth remarking that, at this point, Silvermoon has participated actively in the Horde for such a length of time as to match or even surpass their active membership in the Alliance of Lordaeron which really only consisted of their (reluctant) involvement in the Second War. So, I believe that people saying that the "high elves" are a core Alliance race are wrong. Many high elves were prominent and important figures within the Alliance as individuals, but Quel'Thalas as a whole was never particularly fond of the organisation and saw it as more of a burden than a boon.

Having said all that, I believe the blood elf heritage armour quest line reveals the blood elven leadership's thinking on their racial status:

Remember the Sunwell. We ride into battle with those words for a reason. We lost so much that day... I lost so much that day. Shine the lantern on the southern side of the island, where the Dead Scar meets the sea. There you will see how the fall of the Sunwell began. And with it, the last act of the High Elves.

The phoenix, with its cycles of death and rebirth, is an animal with profound cultural significance to the Sin'dorei and I think Liadrin's words here reveal that the blood elves see the high elves - who they were - as dead. A people who they were but no longer are. When their old world was unmade by Arthas' monstrous attack the Quel'Thalas of the Quel'dorei was burned to cinders, but from the ashes, like a phoenix a new people arose - the Sin'dorei.

I think another reflection of this detachment from their high elven past is Lor'themar's continued resistance to the notion of founding a new royal dynasty and making himself the new king of Quel'Thalas. Kael'thas declared that his father was the last king of the high elves and the regent lord shows no signs of going against the prince's wishes on this and, as far as we know, most of the blood elven populace seems satisfied with this arrangement.

I think the blood elves see themselves as a new people and when they see their Quel'dorei kin clinging on to their old identity, I think they probably pity them. At least partially (when they're not murderously purging them from Dalaran).