First, let me acknowledge that I accept the cat is out of the bag. I am not advocating for the removal of either race or their newfound customization options. I am, however, stating my belief that both races have “chipped away” at faction identity.
This leads to the first question: how much do we value the faction divide? Judging by the promotion material for BFA, the expansion was billed as a re-ignition of the faction war. This would suggest a dedication to the seperation of factions.
Nightborne AND Void Elves present the contrary. Nightborne are an infringement on the identity of night elves. At a glance, you could forgive someone for conflating the two races. Would these not have provided a valuable apperance alternative for the Alliance?
The same can be said about the Void Elves. Individuals can easily confuse between Blood Elves and Void elves. Would these not have provided a valuable apperance alternative for the Horde?
I feel as though both allied races were a mistake. In the future, I hope Blizzard refrains from adding any additional similar allied races.
Considering the faction conflict didn’t last past Battle for Dazar’alor, despite this expansion being heralded as a return to the faction conflict, is a good indicator that even if they try to claim it’s important, it isn’t being proven in game. And that’s a laughable sin.
Otherwise, I can sort of agree. I’m in the boat of Night Elves and Forsaken were mistakes to add to the Alliance and Horde respectively, and I think they’ve done more damage than Void Elves and Nightborne. But I do think that, as your posting avatar proves, Elves are a way to sell things. More Elves on both sides means more interest on both side. It’s sad that that superficial view is a fairly appropriate one, yet here we are. Elves sell.
They could have ended the faction nonsense after Legion and we wouldn’t be in this mess. They could end it now and it would still go a long way toward fixing the future story. But trying to provoke emotional responses with manufactured tribalism is easier than attempting a good story, and modern Blizzard is all about low effort and high returns, so this is just where we are now I guess.
If you’re going based solely on the look of the races then you make a valid point. However the lore surrounding the races points them to their respective alliances. I get that Blizz wrote the lore so they could have gone in either direction, but the goal here was to sell units. Adding a Horde version of Night Elves and an Alliance version of Blood Elves makes people happy and increases subs.
What is more important: visual distinction between factions OR allowing people to play a desired appearance on a desired faction. I consider lore secondary as, let’s be honest, most consider it a vehicle for gameplay.
