Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[FlubberPuddy]

Blizzard used Thalassian to describe the race as well.

In the Blood Elf heritage quest line there are NPCs names “Thalassian Priest” as an example.

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https://wow.gamepedia.com/Thalassian_Priest

I believe it’s like calling night elves Darnassian or Nightborne Suramarian.

Thalassian works because they’re from Quel’thalas.

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Oh yay, we’re also on the next page of this thread.

I’m tired af atm but expect more high elf art tomorrow

[Manariel]

You literally just have to google Thalassian and see I'm correct.

https://wowwiki.fandom.com/wiki/Thalassian
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Thalassian

"Thalassian is the primary language of blood elves and high elves (and by extension, of the void elves). It has both written and spoken equivalents. Individuals who are unfamiliar with the language's proper name may refer to it as High Elven." It is the name of their language.

There is far more conclusive proof that Thalassian is also a location's name and the name of their race, while Sin'dorei (Blood Elves) is the name of one of the three ethnic groups hailing from Quel'Thalas (the other two being the Quel'dorei - High Elves - and Ren'dorei - Void Elves) :

https://wow.gamepedia.com/Thalassian_Base_Camp
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Thalassian_Pass
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Thalassian_Range
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Thalassian_Wildercloak
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Thalassian_Compound_Bow
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Thalassian_Charger_(NPC)
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Thalassian_Ranger_Gauntlets
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Thalassian_Civilian
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Thalassian_Priest

As you can see, "Thalassian" is thus a name which encompass a language, geographical elements, weapons, armors and clothes and even peoples.

And considering that the thalassian population splintered in three as of the tail end of Legion (with the aforementioned Blood Elves, High Elves and Void Elves being each a distinct branch), to refer to the whole race, one has to use the term "thalassian" while all other names refers only to a portion of the race, as examplified below :

https://wow.gamepedia.com/Ren%27dorei_Ranger
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Ren%27dorei_Gloves
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Quel%27dorei_Steed
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Quel%27dorei_Wraith
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Quel%27dorei_Ghost
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Quel%27dorei_Spirit

Of particular importance are the Quel'dorei Steed and Spirit here, because the former display the use of a unique mount which has no equivalent among the Blood Elves (at least it didn't at that time, I don't know if there has been a unicorn specifically designed for the Horde added in the game since); as for the spirit, the fact that he is part of a trilogy with a kaldorei and a sin'dorei, and is situated in Kalimdor, also clearly support the distinction between the two non-corrupted ethnic groups of thalassian elves.

Below is how I see the elves' family tree :

[DeicideUH]

Thalassian is the same as saying "of/from Quel'thalas".
It denotes origin/ancestry/nationality, rather than race.
Thalassian food is food from Quel'thalas.
Thalassian priests are priests from Quel'thalas.
Thalassian languague is the language of Quel'thalas.
And so on.

"Thalassian elf" is not a race, which is why you don't see the therm being used in-game. But it's a valid catch-all term to represent all different races of elves that had their origins in Quel'thalas. It's easier and nicer to use than to type blood/high/void elves every time you want to talk about all of them as a group.

[Obelisk Kai]

Thalassian is the same as saying "of/from Quel'thalas".
It denotes origin/ancestry/nationality, rather than race.
Thalassian food is food from Quel'thalas.
Thalassian priests are priests from Quel'thalas.
Thalassian languague is the language of Quel'thalas.
And so on.

"Thalassian elf" is not a race, which is why you don't see the therm being used in-game. But it's a valid catch-all term to represent all different races of elves that had their origins in Quel'thalas. It's easier and nicer to use than to type blood/high/void elves every time you want to talk about all of them as a group.

Which is fairly accurate. If there was a in universe catch all name for the race it's probably Blood Elf. There are so many Blood Elves compared to the exiles that an uncorrupted elf is almost certainly a Blood Elf and it wouldn't be surprising if the two are treated as synonymous.
After all, the exile in Allerian Stronghold feels the need to immediately correct the Alliance player in case they think they are dealing with a Blood Elf.

And Void Elves are so clearly their own thing, and they have more visibility within Alliance lands, that they wouldn't be mistaken for a Blood Elf.

But the term Thalassian elf is a handy one for these discussions in encompassing the elves from Quel'thalas, but it probably doesn't have much meaning in universe.

[Manariel]

Thalassian is the same as saying "of/from Quel'thalas".
It denotes origin/ancestry/nationality, rather than race.
Thalassian food is food from Quel'thalas.
Thalassian priests are priests from Quel'thalas.
Thalassian languague is the language of Quel'thalas.
And so on.

"Thalassian elf" is not a race, which is why you don't see the therm being used in-game. But it's a valid catch-all term to represent all different races of elves that had their origins in Quel'thalas. It's easier and nicer to use than to type blood/high/void elves every time you want to talk about all of them as a group.

Basically this, indeed.

[Broflake]

Does “plenty” mean “two”?

Lanesh steel weaver.
Sunreaver assassins, captains, the sunreaver frost mages, Thalo'thas brightsun, etc etc.

I thought numbers didn't matter to helfers anyway? Funny how double standards kick in so suddenly.

Anyway, yeah, thalassian definitely stands for their race. Maybe not in the past, but I believe its something blizzard has been pushing in their most recent storylines

[Manariel]

Lanesh steel weaver.
Sunreaver assassins, captains, the sunreaver frost mages, Thalo'thas brightsun, etc etc.

I thought numbers didn't matter to helfers anyway? Funny how double standards kick in so suddenly.

Two named NPC, all the others are just random mistakes from Blizzard.

But even admitting that they are not a mistake, the bulk of the Blood Elves (the overwhelming majority really) has green/gold eyes while the entirety of the High Elves (who have always been far more numerous the Void Elves ever were) has blue eyes but a tiny minority of them (HE Warlocks - if the one High Elf Warlock known is still alive Summoner Nolric) should also have green eyes. So, in that regard, they are akin to Night Elves Paladins.

They may happen to exist in lore, but are not representative of their faction.

[Broflake]

Two named NPC, all the others are just random mistakes from Blizzard.

They're not mistakes if they're intentional.

But even admitting that they are not a mistake, the bulk of the Blood Elves (the overwhelming majority really) has green/gold eyes while the entirety of the High Elves (who have always been far more numerous the Void Elves ever were) has blue eyes but a tiny minority of them (HE Warlocks - if the one High Elf Warlock known is still alive Summoner Nolric) should also have green eyes. So, in that regard, they are akin to Night Elves Paladins.

They may happen to exist in lore, but are not representative of their faction.

The fact of the matter is that it is an option that exists, and shouldn't be denied or diminished in value. Most of the worgen you encounter use a generic face and eye color, that does not mean worgen should not have customization options or tht those customizations do not exist. Whether or not they are representative of their faction is irrelevant, it is to point out the fact that the only difference between high elves and blood elves is their politics.
Who they wish to pledge allegiance to and the like.

This does not take away from the helf initiative, so I do not understand why people seek to make something such as eye color so divisive.

[FlubberPuddy]

If there was a in universe catch all name for the race it's probably Blood Elf.

The in-universe catch all name wouldn’t be Blood Elf because Void Elves nor High Elves would call themselves that.

In-universe it’s likely each group just identifies as what kind of elf they are (Blood, High, Void) and never use the catch-all terms we use in these discussions.

Aka if a dwarf saw one they’d immediately either say “it’s an elf” or “it’s a [Blood/Void/High] elf” as it’s easy to identify which elf is which.

The exile in Allerian Stronghold doesn’t correct the player but reassures them, mainly because the player was more likely to run into hostile Blood Elves and that stronghold is one of the first concentrations of a High Elven regiment.

Calling the entire race Blood Elf doesn’t make sense since High Elves are not Blood Elves. But every one of those three groups are from Quel’thalas so it’s correct to state they’re all Thalassian.

[Ardenaso]

Check out this custom "actual" High Elf Archer skin

https://www.hiveworkshop.com/threads...equest.323094/





Because the Archer with green crystals seemed more of a Blood Elf Archer

[FlubberPuddy]

Check out this custom "actual" High Elf Archer skin

Damn that looks real good!!

[Ardenaso]

Damn that looks real good!!

Now we only need the High Elf Lieutenant and a High Elf "Blood Mage" (minus the verdant spheres) to make a full fledged High Elf custom altered melee race.

Then a Blood Elf Archmage for a counterpart for the Blood Elf custom altered melee race

Check out this High Elf Spellbreaker custom skin!

https://www.hiveworkshop.com/threads...venant.324587/





He also made the High Elf Lieutenant custom skin so I expect him to publish it soon as well

[FlubberPuddy]

Now we only need the High Elf Lieutenant and a High Elf "Blood Mage" (minus the verdant spheres) to make a full fledged High Elf custom altered melee race.

Then a Blood Elf Archmage for a counterpart for the Blood Elf custom altered melee race

That will look interesting, too bad the same isn't happening in World of Warcraft...for now.

[elbleuet]

Lanesh steel weaver.
Sunreaver assassins, captains, the sunreaver frost mages, Thalo'thas brightsun, etc etc.

I thought numbers didn't matter to helfers anyway? Funny how double standards kick in so suddenly.

Anyway, yeah, thalassian definitely stands for their race. Maybe not in the past, but I believe its something blizzard has been pushing in their most recent storylines

Bugs except for one. Those are blue-eyed blood elves with blood elf voices not high elf ones = bug.

There are no blue-eyed thalassians in the Horde. Confirmed by Ion.

[Manariel]

They're not mistakes if they're intentional.


The fact of the matter is that it is an option that exists, and shouldn't be denied or diminished in value. Most of the worgen you encounter use a generic face and eye color, that does not mean worgen should not have customization options or tht those customizations do not exist. Whether or not they are representative of their faction is irrelevant, it is to point out the fact that the only difference between high elves and blood elves is their politics.
Who they wish to pledge allegiance to and the like.

This does not take away from the helf initiative, so I do not understand why people seek to make something such as eye color so divisive.

Yoy say it as if choosing not to serve in the warmongering, never changing, Horde was the same thing as being a part of the Alliance. You know, a faction with actual values and morals. But it makes for a far more fundamental difference then being similar to a playable race on the other side.

And again, most of those NPC are not intentional, just generic mook for whom Blizzard forgot to put green eyes instead of blue ones.

[FlubberPuddy]

Bugs except for one. Those are blue-eyed blood elves with blood elf voices not high elf ones = bug.

There are no blue-eyed thalassians in the Horde. Confirmed by Ion.

And again, most of those NPC are not intentional, just generic mook for whom Blizzard forgot to put green eyes instead of blue ones.

Yup, it's because the files used for high elves back then were labeled as blood elf files (because in coding you want to organize things as simple as possible). This is also why Wowhead's Stiven placed those blue eyes onto Blood Elves in the datamining a few weeks ago.

Because those files were simply next to the files for Blood Elven eyes. If I recall correctly, in BFA they changed some high elf file names to 'high elf' when the Golden Eyes came around to Blood Elves so that High Elves wouldn't start spawning with Golden Eyes.

Frostfencer Seraphi himself had the same issue in the BFA beta, green eyes instead of blue. They quickly changed it to blue for Live, to indicate he's a High Elf, not Blood Elf.

As Ion said in the most recent official statement: it [blue eyes for blood elves] doesn't make sense for how they've [blood elves] evolved.

So even if the past has blue-eyed blood elf NPCs, it's now been retconned that they should not. Whether Blizzard decides to fix small bugs like that remain to be seen. That they haven't updated more popular things like Silvermoon City/Azuremyst Isle has a whole makes me think they'll leave any old content bugs there as well.

I think only Lanesh was confirmed 'to have a story' (which we have yet to see followed-up on), but one single NPC has been shown to not allow an entire race to also get those customizations.

[Ardenaso]

Yoy say it as if choosing not to serve in the warmongering, never changing, Horde was the same thing as being a part of the Alliance. You know, a faction with actual values and morals. But it makes for a far more fundamental difference then being similar to a playable race on the other side.

And again, most of those NPC are not intentional, just generic mook for whom Blizzard forgot to put green eyes instead of blue ones.

Bugs except for one. Those are blue-eyed blood elves with blood elf voices not high elf ones = bug.

There are no blue-eyed thalassians in the Horde. Confirmed by Ion.

They're not mistakes if they're intentional.


The fact of the matter is that it is an option that exists, and shouldn't be denied or diminished in value. Most of the worgen you encounter use a generic face and eye color, that does not mean worgen should not have customization options or tht those customizations do not exist. Whether or not they are representative of their faction is irrelevant, it is to point out the fact that the only difference between high elves and blood elves is their politics.
Who they wish to pledge allegiance to and the like.

This does not take away from the helf initiative, so I do not understand why people seek to make something such as eye color so divisive.

There's also this annoying oversight that Blizzard won't change: High Priest Thel'danis

[FlubberPuddy]

Woops I misspoke, this is what Danuser actually said on Lanesh

https://twitter.com/stevedanuser/sta...87595542433792

"I did see this, and I do know who he is. Would rather not delve into character backgrounds here, as someday there might be an opportunity to tell the tale in game. That's always more satisfying than an off-the-cuff tweet. "

Sounds more like 'we could potentially use this character for something so I'd rather not give his backstory now.'

Funny how it was asked by that same girl lol

But then we also have this tweet as well https://twitter.com/MickyNeilson/sta...91022719004672

@MickyNeilson
A few of the Sunreavers in the Purge of Dalaran quests have blue eyes, is this an oversight or an intentional design choice?

@Mutterscrawl
I believe this being changed. @daveKosak
would know for sure.
@MickyNeilson

@Mutterscrawl
I thought we fixed that bug already? Do you have the specific mob names?"

So bringing up the sunreaver assassins/captains/frost mages was a bug and not intentional.

[Ardenaso]

Woops I misspoke, this is what Danuser actually said on Lanesh

https://twitter.com/stevedanuser/sta...87595542433792

"I did see this, and I do know who he is. Would rather not delve into character backgrounds here, as someday there might be an opportunity to tell the tale in game. That's always more satisfying than an off-the-cuff tweet. "

Sounds more like 'we could potentially use this character for something so I'd rather not give his backstory now.'

Funny how it was asked by that same girl lol

But then we also have this tweet as well https://twitter.com/MickyNeilson/sta...91022719004672

@MickyNeilson
A few of the Sunreavers in the Purge of Dalaran quests have blue eyes, is this an oversight or an intentional design choice?

@Mutterscrawl
I believe this being changed. @daveKosak
would know for sure.
@MickyNeilson

@Mutterscrawl
I thought we fixed that bug already? Do you have the specific mob names?"

So bringing up the sunreaver assassins/captains/frost mages was a bug and not intentional.

They should've also asked him if Jaina was actually just teleporting Sunreavers to prison and the kill code was a bug or not

[Manariel]

There's also this annoying oversight that Blizzard won't change: High Priest Thel'danis

Damn, I keep forgetting about him. That dude makes so little sense I'm not even mad, it's amazing.