A really cool detail, every day in Dornogal the Silver Covenant/Sunreaver/Kirin Tor NPCs have a different random appearance.
Today I met this high elf I’ve never seen before.
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As I saw it on the Draenei heritage quest, it’s possible to say you are a High Elf with the High Elf skin on Void Elf. As you can see it here:
https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Emergency_Efforts
Arzaal can know if you have the Man’ari Eredar skin or not and he will have a special interaction with you if you have this customization. So it would be nice to get the same thing for the High Elf skin on Void Elf.
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The problem with doing the same for Void Elves is that normal skin and hair colors can be part of the Void Elf identity as shown by both Alleria and some of the new NPC’s in Telogrus. For Void Elves to be acknowledged as High Elves by NPC’s I think would require something more, such as a subrace tag option in customization (something that would ideally be given to ALL races).
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Would it even be that hard to implement?
Harder than you’re thinking, but not so hard to be impossible I’d bet.
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Isn’t it just as simple as flipping a switch? Change “void elf” to “high elf”?
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No, not at all. It’d probably be a lot more complicated than that simply because of how code tends to work out and making it function in every situation as it does for the standard array would probably be an extremely minor pain to setup and make sure its working.
(Now doing that for one quest like they do with the Man’ari here and there that would be easy.)
Again its not impossible, in fact its probably quite doable, its just that its not as simple as people like to make it seem.
It sounds simple, but without knowing how the code of the game implements race names, it could be much more complicated than you might imagine.
For the Draenei/Man’ari distinction, there’s probably code in the dialogue checking to see if the player is using the new Man’ari skin options. If they are, the dialogue changes to the Man’ari reference. While Blizzard could technically do the same for Void Elves, that would mean anyone that uses a mix of void and non-void customization (like yourself for instance), would be referred to as a High Elf instead of a Void Elf, just based on their skin tone.
The problem with that (beyond the fact that it could be jarring for players who identify as a Void Elf but choose to use human skin tones), is that human range skin tones are part of the Void Elf identity by virtue of Alleria and the new Void Elf NPC’s sporting them.
Adding a subrace system (even one that is simply a name change) is a lot more complicated than what is happening in the Draenei quest dialogue.
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Ah, I’m not familiar with coding so i just assumed that there was a line that might say something like “Racename” and you just change that if the toggle is active when you create a character lol
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You also get a unique visual for your Racial if you use the Eredar skin. The rune above your head is fel green instead of light colored! Shows the Devs have the resources to do cool sub-racey stuff outside of just flat customization options 
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It’s more like a database. Like there may be a column called “race tag” that the race you picked at creation references, and that column has all the specific race names. And then in dialogue there’s something to indicate if race name is mentioned and the sentence may go something like “Greetings -refer to race name column-! Welcome to my inn!”.
So if a Draenei speaks to them it says “Greetings Draenei! Welcome to my inn!”. But for the recent quest it may have an if/then flag. So the npc’s dialogue may be set up with code that basically says (note this is not actual code):
IF player skin color = 16-17 (the numbers that represent the Man’ari skin colors in the database)
THEN use X dialogue,
ELSE use Y dialogue.
For Void Elves to be identified as anything other than Void Elves, there would need to be some sort of new identifier added to the database that players would be able to access and select. Since skin color is too broad an identifier for Void Elves to use (since human skin tones can be part of the Void Elf identity), Blizzard would have to create something new. And then, Blizzard would have to create a way for players to access that method (more code, new UI elements, maybe some in game NPC to interact with and make the selection, etc).
That’s all just speculation on my part and presented in a very basic and vague way. It’s way more complicated than my description may make it seem and there’s a host of connected systems that could be impacted.
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Yeah, media and some not so honest coders have given everyone that impression.
Code is often both simple in nature but complicated when your game is old and large.
Honestly it mostly will probably depend on how they did the initial Racename concept for the wider code base as a whole on if its really something simple or something that will take time and effort.
Thats probably the general gist given that the race name is referenced with !racename or something like that.
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As someone who knows nothing about programming, it seems like they kinda wrote (coded?) themselves into a corner then
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More like into a maze.
There’s a way but it’s not straight forward.
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I bet they put a blindfold on as well then. Really giving themselves a handicap
The scary thing is, A LOT of games (and non-game software to be fair) is written that way. Especially older ones. Over time you have different programmers with different levels of skill, different ways of doing things, all piled on top of each other with little to no documentation between them so the next guy coming to work on it has no clue what those before him were thinking/doing.
But even “bad code” can function. So if it works, it often gets a pass. “Clean code” however, is easy to read, understand, and maintain.
Why Is Clean Code Important?
When teams adhere to clean code principles, the code base is easier to read and navigate, which makes it faster for developers to get up to speed and start contributing. Here are some reasons why clean code is essential.
Readability and maintenance: Clean code prioritizes clarity, which makes reading, understanding, and modifying code easier. Writing readable code reduces the time required to grasp the code’s functionality, leading to faster development times.
Team collaboration: Clear and consistent code facilitates communication and cooperation among team members. By adhering to established coding standards and writing readable code, developers easily understand each other’s work and collaborate more effectively.
Debugging and issue resolution: Clean code is designed with clarity and simplicity, making it easier to locate and understand specific sections of the codebase. Clear structure, meaningful variable names, and well-defined functions make it easier to identify and resolve issues.
Improved quality and reliability: Clean code prioritizes following established coding standards and writing well-structured code. This reduces the risk of introducing errors, leading to higher-quality and more reliable software down the line.
Here’s the link to the article I quoted above. It’s a good read if you’re interested in more info on “Clean code”. https://blog.codacy.com/what-is-clean-code
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That’s interesting. I’m guessing that back then they didn’t think it would be necessary to write down everything they did for future reference so now the current employees are stuck with this mess
That could be the case (and it’s probably more likely than not), but without seeing the code firsthand, it’s impossible to say for sure.
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Aight, who’s calling up lester to set up the next job? 
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