Yeah you have a point, but as usual it’d be more like a skirmish that happened because both sides had a misconception about what the other is doing. You could just copy Ashran and have both sides find out about an ancient Elven artifact buried in the center of Silvermoon which is still in ruins and controlled by undead. Both sides launch an attack to claim the artifact as both sides think they have a rightful claim. Technically the expedition is about fighting Scourge, but Horde and Alliance run into each other and the fighting begins.
This wouldn’t be the first time both factions erupted into a large conflict over ancient artifacts during peace time, Wintergrasp and Ashran were both such instances. And it’s barely touched upon outside of the zone conflict itself, and the main big bad of the expac is defeated anyways.
And the High Elves have shown time after time that their population may be smaller, but they’re able to counter the Blood Elves wherever they go. And with the Void Elves on their side, Blizz opened an avenue for them to have just enough Void Elves for any situation since they recruit from both Alliance High Elves and Horde Blood Elf defectors, you see both in Telgorus Rift.
Not really. At best the Silver Covenant and the Sunreavers were mirrored factions, and that counts for less than it did with both of them gutted in TWW and (PTR spoilers) what’s left of them recommitted to the Kirin Tor. Discount the SC and you’ve got what, the inhabitants of three two ranger lodges and Alleria’s skeleton crew in Terokkar? That’s your fighting force against the Farstriders, the Magisters, the Blood Knights, the Sunfury, the Spellbreakers, the Reliquary, the blood magi, the arcane/anima golems, mana bombs and gibbing crystals and whatever else? And in the one place on Azeroth all that stuff is available at a moment’s notice? That’s crazy.
See, this was a cool idea the push for faction unity undermined. A void-themed Thalassian dissident movement sapping recruits from directionless high elves and discontented blood elves had potential for long-term intrigue and faction conflict.
Remember the Nightfallen? Remember all the time and effort it took to build that rebellion up, entrench it, entice defectors, and court three foreign armies to finally pose a credible threat to Suramar City? I feel like that’s the sort of scale your “Battle for Silvermoon” warrants. A throwaway battleground against the backdrop of Azeroth’s elves unifying against the Void sits poorly with me. (Not least of all because we’ve been told the BEs have been rebuilding western SMC these past 15 years; it really shouldn’t be free real estate.)
One. The high elves in Quel’Lithien turned Wretched save for three, one of whom is a killable rare in the Eastern Plaguelands, and the ranger lodge in Loch Modan was only populated by one elf. And given that the Highvale in Quel’Danil have renounced magic completely and live in close tandem with the Wildhammers, I don’t think they would care much about moving back to Quel’Thalas.
But knowing Blizzard they would conjure enough high elves to conquer all of Azeroth.
Players guess that means Silvermoon is going to be the Hub. It is a decent guess.
Players talk about it as though it is a given.
Players decide Blizzard told us it would be the hub.
Now, if it turns out that it is not the central hub people are going to say Blizzard lied.
Probably a case of the land is to large to completely patrol. So, even if they were spotted it would be unlikely a force sufficient to challenge them could have arrived in time to stop them.
I know it is unlikely to happen, but now I really want that.
We could have a bunch of different ships with an Airship flying above. Could have supply ships with bank, AH, and vendors on them. A big command ship or the airship having the Innkeeper. And a couple big ships having the crafting tables.
Obviously, could fly between ships. But could also have:
Ropes to swing between ships.
Cannon to shoot yourself up to the Airship
Parachute to jump from Airship
Rope bridges setup between ships.
Etc.
Honestly, that feels like it could be a very unique and cool hub. Thanks for making me want something I wont get.
My guess is that part of the city will allow Alliance. If you leave that part you will get teleported. And Alliance will have a debuff that says they are being watched, similar to what Horde get in Bel’ameth.
If it ends up the Hub it will almost assuredly be a sanctuary zone where you can’t fight.
Exactly. Bel’ameth is not a neutral city just because Horde players can enter under watch. I would not be surprised to see something similar in Midnight with Silvermoon, but that wouldn’t make Silvermoon neutral. It would be a Horde capital city that is graciously allowing the Alliance to be present in force due to extenuating circumstances.
Well, you are Forsaken, so at least you already have plenty of experience?
Portal to Silvermoon.
Ship to Revantusk Village.
Waltz to Hiri’watha Research Station.
Go through the tunnel to the Arathi Highlands, bypass any border defences Stromgarde might have towards Hillsbrad entirely.
Stick close to the mountains and waltz east until you reach Hammerfall.
You’re also assuming that Midnight isn’t going to start off with some catastrophic event that probably kills a decent amount of Blood Elves, not to mention the many more that will be on the front lines against the Void, whatever that may look like. So their numbers may be reduced.
The High Elf population also doesn’t matter at the end of the day, Blizz can pull however many they want out of nowhere. Maybe the ones in Outland started a breeding program or something decades ago since they got stranded. Or maybe there’s still multiple other High Elf lodges in Alliance lands that we don’t see because it’s a game and doesn’t show how large or populated the world actually is. Goldshire apparently has thousands of people despite in game being 2 buildings. They can literally say anything.
Even if that doesn’t fly, we can still just make it a generic Horde vs Alliance BG with both sides being led by Blood Elves and High Elves.
I definitely see your points. I just don’t see how it’s much more different than most other BGs. We’re somewhat united against Xal right now, and we’re still fighting over mine carts in the Ringing Deeps right now for some reason. In WoD we were united against the Iron Horde, but we still fought over Ashran.
Even right now there’s random stupid decisions both sides are making in Arathi.
not sure why mag’har are in Arathi they should be in Desolace. It is an empty zone, in my opinion it would be perfect for them. They can even go grind their axes with Centaurs.
Given what has been indicated about relative numbers you would be talking a massive catastrophe to make it even kind of feel like the numbers would be even in the realm of close. Silvermoon would have to have some kind of Teldrassil level of disaster for High Elves to be even kind of competitive at Silvermoon.
Setting a fight in Silvermoon would feel out of place with the rest of the story AND would make the Blood Elves feel impotent in their home. Blizzard is not going to do that.
There will certainly be some BG(s) added with elven architecture. But it wont be Silvermoon. It will be an island, or part of the Ghostlands, etc. It will be somewhere that can largely be ignored. IF it is even mentioned in any lore it will be as a small skirmish between commanders/small groups that got out of hand briefly. Which is kind of what they do with all BGs that come out during peace times.
There will certainly be some BGs added with elven architecture. But it wont be Silvermoon. It will be an island, or part of the Ghostlands, etc.
This exactly. There was massive player blowback to Darkshore being turned into a Warfront and only getting resolution through a short cutscene. I doubt Blizzard would turn around and do something similar to Silvermoon when so much of Dragonflight and TWW have built around trying to avoid the mistakes of BfA and Shadowlands.
