Yes, I'm shocked too, but I've had a chance to catch up on all the stuff for Battle of Azeroth, and looked at the new allied races, some are really powerful in lore than others and whiles that sometimes seems a bit unfair, actually it balances overall if you factor in ALL the races and their rough numbers. Here is how it looks imo.:
We have: [From the EU forums post]
- The highborne (farondis/shen'dralar) the match for the nightborne,
- The combination of the fewer numbered but more powerful void elves and not as powerful high elves being the match for the larger numbered blood elves (think of the extra power in the void elves making up for the lack of numbers.
- The few Draenei and even fewer but more powerful Lightforged being the match for the far more numerous orcs - again the extra power of the lightforged making up for the lack of numbers.
- Night elves balancing out the few Darkspears but the many more Zandalari
- Humans balanced out by the Forsaken
- Gnomes balanced out by the Goblins
- Dwarves (with Dark Irons and Wildhammers) matched by Tauren (with Taunka and Highmountain - tho not actually playable, Taunka are in the horde as Wildhammers are in the alliance so not available yet as their own playable group)
- Alliance Pandaren cancel out Horde Pandaren
It's interesting how this has potentially worked out. Void elves and Lightforge are empowered by the power of the light and the void. The Alleria storyline and the quests in 7.3 show the void she wields and they access is really powerful, this puts the void elves above DHs/DKs and certainly above normal high/blood elves - same with Lightforged draenei over normal draenei. But their numbers are very few. Lore wise night elves and worgen are the other super races with the Well of eternity enhancement superior to the sunwell/nightwell and the curse of the worgen elevating them above humans to night elf level. However this is mitigated by few numbers and countered by the trolls and power of the Zandalari. While the highborne arcane advantage is cancelled out by the nightborne. The forsaken and humans are evenly matched, the forsaken are bound by a dark magic, but they have a downside of limbs falling off which is a bit crippling. The list goes on.
Overall it actually is balanced but it's weird what's happening in wow.
Alliance embracing dark powers like the void (void elves/s.priests), the fel (illidari)
Horde getting tons more high civilization (kaldorei empire Suramar, Silvermoon, Zuldazaar) compared to LF Draenei, void elves and now night elves being homeless.
Alliance getting more powerful races - that use to be the horde (orcs were empowered over humans due to demon blood, and traditionally appeared the stronger races, with plot handing alliance the victory.
Horde have the more established lore races - use to be the alliance, but nightborne/highmountain/Zandalari have so much more lore than the Lightforged and the Void elves. in a reversal
But the power is even overall, and the landmass is even too overalll altho horde may have the slight advantage as they have the Broken Isles + Kalimdor
There is a lot of reversal going on it seems.