I’d laugh if thinking of them didn’t trigger me because of all the times I’d nuke them and then get rooted>cycloned while they ran away from my snail speed warlock.
Well, to be fair, the situation there was basically:
Tyrande on behalf of the Alliance: “We don’t trust you, and we don’t like you.”
Liadrin on behalf of the Horde: “You guys seem swell, and we understand your struggle, as it is similar to our own. Maybe we could help you through it.”
This kinda reminds me of this one human rogue. They were a gank specialist basically, who would apparently get geared as fast as possible, so they could go gank.
They were apparently useless in a fight, but an absolute pro at escaping if anyone who could actually challenge them showed up.
I remember them because they were ganking during the WoW Anniversary event a few years ago, and I recognized their name from stories I had seen in the forums.
I feel like it cemented what their decision would have been anyways. But personality, and common interests wise they were always going to go with their BE kin even if “Tyrande was mean to them” I feel like that phrase is thrown out and ignores the commonalities the NB share with their BE kin and the commonalities that lay with the Horde, because by virtue of being kin with the BEs they very well do fit in culturally with the Horde.
Like if we pay attention, going off the basis of Blizzard telling story through leader NPCs, Liadrin and the BEs were far kinder to NB from the beginning based on common shared history and similar experiences that would cause them to see themselves in NB. Meanwhile almost all of the WQs Tyrandes dialogue was akin to rolling eyes and like almost bothered she had to help, was that the relationship with the NEs idk but it definitely sets up a different tone that paints a picture before we ever even get to her dialogue where she’s explicitly rude and dismissive of an good relations with Thalyssra.
I can understand people being bummed out if they had liked NB (personally I was late Legion and experienced the NB after they were announced so I was like wait people thought these Elves might actually go Alliance???) there situation isn’t like the Highborne that reintegrated into Darnassus society, the NB had their own society I doubt they’d like or respect Tyrandes 2 cents on how to live life even if she wasn’t being awful to them.
TLDR: I don’t think people summarizing “NB went Horde because Tyrande was mean to them” does anything but invalidate the real reasons they went Horde. It is “BEs went Horde because one human was mean to them” all over again, neither of which I find to be of much merit.