Iâm not arguing against Blood Elves being supportive of High Elves returning. I know they are more than willing to welcome any High Elves back as citizens of Silvermoon⌠but my personal opinion (I admit this is opinion), is that those returnees would be expected to refer to themselves as Blood Elves once they returned. I could be wrong about that, but from the impression I get from NPCâs like Lorthemar and Rommath, is that theyâd take offense if a cititzen of Silvermoon were unwilling to honor their fallen by taking the Blood Elf monker.
Iâve always thought (and again this opinion) that Blood Elves donât take offense to High Elves, that arenât citizens of Silvermoon (and thus not members of the Horde) calling themselves High Elves because⌠well⌠they arenât citizens of Silvermoon or members of the Horde.
Those Thalassians who hold no allegiance to Silvermoon, werenât born there, never set foot there, have no reason to call themselves Blood Elves and I think Blood Elves recognize that fact.
Itâs certainly a magnanimous thing to allow pilgrimage to the Sunwell even to those Thalassians who are allied with your enemies (the Alliance). And Lorethemar does indeed make efforts to bring High Elves back into the fold as you said⌠but that âfoldâ is the Sinâdorei. Iâm not necessarily saying a returning High Elf would be required to take the Blood Elf moniker, but rather it might be seen as disrespectful if they didnât and some Sinâdorei might look down upon them for it.
I do agree that these options are the âHigh Elfâ option for both sides. Both sides have a legit claim to that legacy. I was merely trying to answer your question as to why some people think the new options mean different things depending on the side.
All weâve got are our opinions and interpretations of comments from the devs and any relevant in-game references. Everyone is going to view things in their own way. Iâm not saying a Horde player canât call their Blood Elf a High Elf. I just think it would feel weird since as far as the game has shown us, outside of a few outliers, the Thalassians that call themselves High Elves, tend to be allied with the Alliance or neutral, and those that are allied with the Horde refer to themselves as Blood Elves (with some exceptions as mentioned previously).
I do not agree with you, we give more importance the fact of being called blood elf or high elf than themselves
The name of blood elves we have already said it thousands of times is something symbolic that the last true prince of the high elves kaelthas announced, if kaelthas had not done that the people of silvermoon would continue using blue, or if many believe that blue is for the alliance xd
if high elves return to silvermoon it is because of the source of the sun, and obviously they would change their colors, many of them did not leave because we were called blood elfs, but because of sucking fel, which they considered unworthy
The other question is to accept who is lothermar, he does not have enough nobility to be the one in charge, it is very possible that in silvermoon or of exiled elves who return they are from more important houses than lothermarâs but it is not something that either blizz has expanded a lot
Whatâs the point in overcomplicating it? I donât understand all the fuss over wanting to call Blood Elves High Elves? Especially when theyâre both separated ingame. No where in game that ive seen do any Blood Elves even refer to themselves as High Elves. Why would they start now? You may have a few individuals High Elves who could go back to QuelâThalas but i think itâs silly to keep calling them High Elves when theyâre joining the Blood Elf society. I think it just needlessly muddies the water.
From where? When has this ever been mentioned in game or even suggested? If anything Lorâthemarâs attitude and behavior toward High elves as of late has suggested him to have a more compassionate, and understanding perspective than anything else. I also doubt Lorâthemar would be referring to High elves as âChildren of Silvermoonâ if he felt their decision to refuse the Blood elf moniker to be an insult to Silvermoon, or the Blood elves.
But without evidence to actually support this theory you canât use it as logic to convince someone else that Blood elves would dislike a High elf in Silvermoon, especially when Blood elves have already shown a tendency of being accepting, and welcoming toward them in the past.
Wouldnât this same logic apply to Void elves then? Arenât you taking the same amount of liberty with the lore by suggesting that a Void elf wouldnât identify themselves as a Void elf? Especially when Void elves have adopted their own traditions, and identity under a new banner, and as a new race themselves? I could cast my own doubts, and opinions of the likelihood of a High elf, or Blood elf going through the trials of becoming a void elf only to reject those beliefs and continue to call themselves by those names as well.
And I find it amusing, yet a bit hypocritical. These same individuals are defending these options as the indisputable âHigh elfâ customization for Void elves with nothing but circumstantial inference are the same people to turn around and use the same argument against them on others when faced with the exact same circumstance again.
Up until this point, the High elves were also supposed to be so inconsequential in number that they would never measure up to a playable race either, so if these customizations options are meant to reflect actual changes to their lore, thereâs going to be unprecedented changes on both sides, and anyone under the impression that they should exclusively apply to the Alliance is kidding themselves.
Iâm gonna skip replying with a wall of text. I made an effort to answer your question and obviously failed miserably at conveying what I was trying to.
âOk, let the ones on Horde use the name High Elf too in tooltip if the alliance ones get itâ
I donât have any issue with this tbh. It might look weird to me but⌠meh⌠more options are better. And if the option makes people happy⌠I say go for it.
You do realize that the Alliance does not own High elves as a playable race, right? That this decision is giving both Void elves and Blood elves High elf customization. That being said you canât claim giving Blood elves the choice to identify as high elves as anymore complicated or justified than allowing Void elves to justify as High elves.
And no where in game have I seen Void elves identify themselves as High elves either, so why would they randomly begin to now? That same logic can be applied to your argument too. Thereâs nothing suggesting that a High elf canât join the Horde, or the Alliance without having to change their identity. But heck, at least in one example they donât have to choose to be physically mutated by the void.
No less silly than a High elf calling themselves a high elf after joining Void elf society. I mean, isnât that the entire point of these customizations? That by giving players cosmetic themes found with other subraces that player could identify as that race, and RP whatever reason that suited them for joining that group/faction.
I can think of a few backstories off the top of my head. Elves who while they may have followed Alleria to Outland, did not sign up to fight their homeland and once they got a chance to go back home did so. Or dalaran Elves upset by the events of MoP that they had a rethink, and maybe not comfortable calling themselves blood elvs, still think of Silvermoon as home.
Oh sure thereâs lots of ways to justify it. Iâm just too used to seeing High Elf NPCâs (as in their name actually says High Elf something something) in Stormwind and other Alliance hubs and not in Horde ones (because I see Blood Elf NPCâs), so when I am on my Horde characterâs Iâd be doing double takes until I remembered âoh yea⌠both sides have it nowâ.
Eh. Not really. Because if you joined the Horde you could just change your name to Blood Elf. I mean, theyâre redeemed right? Itâs not like youâve got to be mana-addicted or fel-corrupted to join up.
fixed their lich bubble-bath with a naaru and a bubble-bath water girl.
In an in character view-point demanding to be called by an Alliance affiliated race name wouldnât go over wellâŚ
and in an out of character view-point itâd just be confusing for people. Post Blood Elf name change, High Elf designates a specific group of elves.
Iâm not gonna tell a Horde player (or anyone for that matter) that they canât call themselves a High Elf using the new options and their own background story. It isnât my place to say âyou canât do thatâ. If someone wants to RP that way thatâs entirely their prerogative IMO.
I mean in the end it sounds like your problem isnât with the idea of High elves returning to the Blood elves, but rather with the idea of them identifying as High elves.
Which I feel requires both Alliance and Horde players a fair bit of liberty with the lore in order to claim.
I think this was likely why they decided to enable High elves on both sides, as scenarios where High Elves might have joined the Blood elves, or Void elves all feel entirely possible. And considering what the devs have been hinting at revolving these new customizaitons, the choice for a player to identify as a subrace is entirely up to them.
Plus I honestly think that Ion was being truthful when he said he believed that blue eyes didnât make sense on âBlood elvesâ so I really doubt they rationalized it with something Blood elf related in the end. The likely came to the conclusion that these customizations could be explained by High elves, and then simply decided to give it to both sides.
I donât really have a problem with it though. I was just trying to explain why some people might and I apparently botched it but good. I may personally think it would look odd, but as I said in previous posts, Iâm not gonna tell someone they canât RP the way they want.
All we have is the teaser announcement everyoneâs abuzz over for now. Iâm hoping the thing on the 9th tells us more, but if not weâll see what ends up on alpha when they re-enable Blood and Void Elves.
I have a feeling the next build wonât drop till just before or on the 9th. The devs are gonna leave us stewing in our juices over this till then I bet.