its a quote from over 14 years ago. a quote that has been followed by a steady stream of ‘no’ and ‘high elves are already playable’ ever since
1 Like
So let me stop you right there.
This is 4 years prior to Blizzard intentionally implementing a completely Alliance-aligned group of High Elves – which suggests they clearly began to entertain, and continue to entertain, the possibility of playable HE’s down the road. Furthermore, at no point in any of that discussion, did I hear anything aking to “Alliance-aligned High Elves are an impossibility, and won’t ever happen”.
You’re definitely rocking 100 skill levels in “Deflection”, though, because you sure pivoted away from that Pandaren thing you were wrong about masterfully. So congrats on that.
7 Likes
If you look at it in the context that there weren’t allied races back then sure.
They don’t have the standing to be a core race, they do however fit an allied race description.
But after that statement they created the Silver covenant and have added high elves here and there that are alliance aligned… so not saying he is wrong in what he said at the time, but they have also disproven themselves for the above reason.
4 Likes
pandaren were introduced as neutral. blizzard have wanted to try a neutral race for awhile. and we know pandaren were a neutral experiment because they have said so
J. Allen Brack: It’s been something that we wanted to do for a long time. We’ve talked about the Pandaren for just about every expansion. That’s definitely not a new idea for us; it was super popular with the fans when we put them in Warcraft III . It was super popular with us. So it was just one of those things in the back of our mind that we wanted to do even before the original game launched.
We started talking about ideas for the next expansion, and when we were wrapping up Cataclysm someone said, “Hey, let’s talk about the Pandaren again.” We started talking about it more and more. Then one day it just became, “Wow, we’re really excited about this idea,” which eventually became the Pandaren.
Brack: We talked about [doing this] a great deal back in Cataclysm for the Goblin race. We thought that Goblins could be a neutral race because they’re neutral in the game already. Players start out as neutral and then you can go Horde or Alliance with that.
Obviously we ended up not doing that [in Cataclysm ]. But that was something we spent a lot of the time thinking about. The idea that was really compelling was that you start adventuring with people, and then one day, you have to choose sides. So that’s why we decided to do it this time around. It seems like it worked real well.
-
You’re right, my mistake. They’re neutral for precisely 8.33% of the 1-120 experience (less if you utilize time played as the metric), after which they’re not “neutral” by any stretch of the imagination. I’ll say that in the future, so there isn’t any confusion.
-
This isn’t how High Elves would work, and at no point would your character be “neutral”. So.
4 Likes
I think the Kirin Tor was spineless enough to actually allow this, as long as they didn’t fight inside Dalaran; and surprise surprise, the SC and the Sunreavers did sneakily attack each other.
They were most definitely part of their respective factions; the question is why Dalaran allowed this, an I think the answer is that they needed the Horde and the Alliance, and the best case scenario was to allow each faction a bit of sovereignty of Dalaran.
The Sunreavers and the Silver Covenant are Horde and Alliance factions respectively, undoubtedly.
5 Likes
I liked an idea someone else proposed on here the other day. Perhaps the idea that maybe some survivors of the Highborne that were caught in the sundering washed up on some island, and like the Blood elves were cut off the from tree and grew smaller, and frailer like the Blood Elves, but because they were on an island were more tan, and perhaps a little more athletic from living on more savage, or topical environment.
It would give a reasonable justification for a sort of different physique, they’d have a reason to be more “ranger” ish like the Night elves with braids and tattoos, and Blizzard could easily justify their difference in appearance while still maintaining that Elven appearance.
two senior developers a decade and a half apart saying the same exact thing, one of which actually created not only the blood elf rebranding(in wc3) but the high elves themselves in the previous wc games, and youre still in denial
its one thing to say ion is biased, but metzen? 
I agree. Trolls and Night Elves appear to be significantly different races.
Where Naga would be vastly different from NIght Elves…
and Nightborne just stayed out under Elune too long.
1 Like
I mean I get the argument that some customization options could be “locked” behind an specific faction, But I do agree more with the notion of “More customization for everyone”
It’s not new info that most people that want playable HE’s could do with the same model, because it’s not about the model.
So if we got a Thalassian Elf model with a lot more skin tones, hairstyles and tattoos and both HE’s and BE’s got it, I think there would be more happy people than angry people.
5 Likes
They don’t need any justification for a different physique…
They just need a different model. Not all Elves will have the exact same body.
Kul’tirans and Humans are the same race. They just have different bodies. It’s an inelegant solution to a game made in 2005 that doesn’t have sliders like other games, or even different choices for bodies like Swtor had.
But, since the complaint is they want them to look different, then… it’s just another model so people can tell them apart.
2 Likes
I haven’t said anything about anybody being biased.
They have had ~15 years to just kill all the High Elves that are aligned with the Alliance, if they were so committed to Blood Elves representing the only story Blizzard wanted to tell. Instead, the High Elves are not only alive and well but consistently juxtaposed into the Alliance’s narrative(s).
You seem to think I’m arguing that High Elves are an inevitability, when all that I’m actually saying is that they’re plausible. I think you’re the one who is in denial about just how little your personal opinion matters to Blizzard’s own narrative impulses.
I could get behind this.
I’m pretty thoroughly over Allied Races being cheap reskins, though, so I’d hope for the same type of love that the Kul Tirans and Zandalari received.
2 Likes
But being cheap reskins was the whole point of the AR system though.
1 Like
And it’s been decidedly hit-or-miss.
1 Like
But then you have the issue that they don’t have the Backstory of the High Elves people want -The ones already on the alliance- So it really means nothing for people that want High Elves. Just like Void Elves were.
If VE’s had been made out of Alliance HE’s tho; things would have been much more different.
3 Likes
A completely fair point, to be sure.
I guess they never miss, huh?
I think people would have still been upset. There may have even still been demand for normal High Elves.
But probably less pushback than there has been. That ships sailed anyways though.
It’s shocking what a literal change in idle stance will convince some people of, suddenly this elf that Looks, and Fights, and Emotes like a Night elf, is no longer a Night Elf.
Guess the same minute change is impossible for High Elves. 
6 Likes
A lot less pushback and frankly I think what is now the pro side would have been VERY divided.
I can see the “We got the HE lore, you just want to be a hot elf!” and “I don’t accept the HE’s going void” arguments being vicious.
6 Likes