San’layn/vampyr Elf ALLIED RACE Coagulated Megathread of Ideas{Re-VAMPed} (Part 1)

Community General Discussion
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10/30/2018 04:07 PMPosted by Fallynn
I sincerely hope we don't just get undead elves. They bring nothing new, not at all, and there is nothing unique about them. Might as well just play a Blood Elf Death Knight at that point, you know? Whereas thematically, San'layn embody blood magic, something not deeply explored. Blood Death Knights use runic magic to control blood, yeah, but it's just a spec and is not true vampirism at all. I wouldn't really settle, to be honest, and would find myself a bit sad if it happens.

That being said, I don't see just regular undead elves as being a thing. They have no unique identity. San'layn, for this reason, have a much higher chance of making it in because they would be new and bring playable vampires. Look at how they've been presented so far! There has to be more. I can almost guarantee it.

I hope you're right because San'layn do have a more unique theme and appearance. Maybe we'll get a catch all of undead elves like Maghar Orcs.
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10/30/2018 04:07 PMPosted by Fallynn
I sincerely hope we don't just get undead elves. They bring nothing new, not at all, and there is nothing unique about them. Might as well just play a Blood Elf Death Knight at that point, you know? Whereas thematically, San'layn embody blood magic, something not deeply explored. Blood Death Knights use runic magic to control blood, yeah, but it's just a spec and is not true vampirism at all. I wouldn't really settle, to be honest, and would find myself a bit sad if it happens.

That being said, I don't see just regular undead elves as being a thing. They have no unique identity. San'layn, for this reason, have a much higher chance of making it in because they would be new and bring playable vampires. Look at how they've been presented so far! There has to be more. I can almost guarantee it.


It's not necessarily that I'm settling. I tend to have tiers of expectations to prevent myself from getting too hyped. Here's where I am at currently regarding potential Undead ARs...

San'layn Allied Race Confirmed = Stretch goal. Will dance outside naked if this happens.
Undead Elf/Dark Ranger Allied Race Confirmed = Current expectation. Will feel "ok" about it and at least will be able to somewhat meet the fantasy through assassination rogue. The situation could be better, but I'll live.
Lightforged Undead Allied Race Confirmed = Slight disappointment. Will be super salty on the forums for about a week, and then move on.
No new undead allied race at all = severe disappointment. I go into exile for years and learn the ways of the ninja to take vengeance upon all my enemies, but will likely forget all my lessons upon returning to the United States. But the anger. The anger will still remain.

Undead elves remain the expectation for me at the present because, compared to the San'layn, they require much less work to implement. All of the San'layn ideas in this thread are fantastic, but we must remember that virtually all of them remain conceptual rather than observable in-game. Even though Dreven uses the Blood Prince model, for instance, the Blood Marquis mobs all seem to just use generic blood elf death knight skins.

It is possible, albeit unfortunate, that Blizzard does not see San'layn as a special breed of undead elf in the same way we do. I hope they're aware of this thread, and I hope they're aware of the interest in vampires, but there are also various reasons why they might prefer to implement the dark ranger-style undead elves over San'layn.
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Though I would prefer San'layn do to their unique themes. Mag'har make me think they might do some kind of catchall for Undead Elves.

We got

Zombie Elves (Zombelfs?)

Banshee/Ghost Elves

Vampire Elves

Adding radicals and customizations for each could make everyone happy.
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10/30/2018 04:12 PMPosted by Plainswander
no. more. elves.
Blizzard would be stupid to not add more elves. They are guaranteed money in the bank.
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10/30/2018 05:41 PMPosted by Drede
Though I would prefer San'layn do to their unique themes. Mag'har make me think they might do some kind of catchall for Undead Elves.

We got

Zombie Elves (Zombelfs?)

Banshee/Ghost Elves

Vampire Elves

Adding radicals and customizations for each could make everyone happy.


I would tend to agree, but I also think that they could focus on San'layn because of their unique flavor, which could give them a far more intereting set of racials based more on Vampirism than Undeath.

Like I feel San'layn have more flavor to be an allied race cause they are indeed truly unique and we would get the overall undead elf fantasy as a secondary effect, which I guess would be alright if it all hinges in customiation options.

I feel that Magh'ar were necessarily broad to get all the clans, but I don't think San'layn need that when they are indeed such an specific group.
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Yeah I agree with what Talendrion said there. And you have a point Arron but I honestly really want San'layn and not much else. Of course, will I deal with it if we don't ever get it? Yes. I won't pitch a fit, and I will encourage the community we've built to remain respectful. That's what we're all about, idea sharing. As for Lightforged undead... really hope we don't see that in game, especially in place of San'layn. If it's workable and the lore behind it starts to make a little more sense, and as a counterpart to San'layn, sure. But the Alliance already has 3 flavors of humans. Even more than elves. Humans, worgen, and soon Kul'tiran. I don't know if they'd want that. And I don't think they'd fit into Horde at all either, if anything Nathanos-grade undead would be a bit more backed up in my opinion.

All of that said, I don't think we should dwell on the negative. We might get San'layn, we might not--but sharing ideas regardless so long as we know the answer is never a 'nope!' is a good idea. Therefore, let's talk a bit more, shall we?

The Blood Elves using blood magic, I think, is a good sign. Blood seems to be a growing theme in this expansion, what with Nazmir and the Blood Trolls. San'layn are a brutal race for sure. Aesthetically, what could encompass this properly? Bloody hair might be a good one, and blood spatter effects on the racials.

OH! And I found an art piece finally to show exactly what I was talking about with a mouth full of sharp teeth. It's perfect! Take a look.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/440899045850873856/507064476143452161/eCf8Pv0.jpg
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Glad to see i am far from alone in the want for them.

I would main the hell out of them.
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10/30/2018 04:07 PMPosted by Fallynn
I sincerely hope we don't just get undead elves. They bring nothing new, not at all, and there is nothing unique about them. Might as well just play a Blood Elf Death Knight at that point, you know?
while i do much prefer San'layn, i would not mind "normal undead elves" if, and only if, they come with the added bonus of being able to choose which type of elf they are an undead version of. i do not think i could pass up the chance at playing an undead night elf unless San'layn were an option (though Night Elf San'layn would be my 100% every character gets changed to race)
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San’layn would be a pretty cool option. It also could fill that elven dark ranger theme for anyone that wants to roll an undead elf hunter.

I would love to see racials involving leeching health or some type of vampirism being spread to other npcs/players through disease.

I would be kind of bummed if they didn’t get a death knight class option. They seem like they fit the death knight class perfectly. That’s what I would like to roll if they became playable.
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10/31/2018 07:02 AMPosted by Remela
I would be kind of bummed if they didn’t get a death knight class option. They seem like they fit the death knight class perfectly. That’s what I would like to roll if they became playable.
they'd have to give other allied races the ability to be DKs and would probably have to tweak the system, either DKs start out at 20 (thus making them rework/scale abilities to be functional at lower levels) or make them start at 55 without the ability to get the racial transmog. though i guess for allied race DKs they could simply only allow race changes into them with the inability to create them though that'd be lame as heck.
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Happy Hallow'layn folks! Figured this would be a great time to say hello. Hoping for some news at Blizzcon this Friday, but I am not getting my homes up. Still, hope you bats are having fun on this night.
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with the last wowhead posts about the game... i really starting to fear that they give to us some random forsaken elf instead of san'layn in the future.... because san'layn is obviously waaaaaay cooler
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09/22/2018 06:14 PMPosted by Fallynn
In addition: Allied Races have been brought up and shot down quite a bit. Yet the races being talked about the most right now: Vulpera, Sethrak, Arakkoa, Ogre, and SAN'LAYN(yeah go bats!) have not been sliced to bits yet.


High Elves for the Alliance are still talked about quite a bit as well. And they haven't been " sliced to bits " --- but the reasoning for that can go in the High Elf megathread.

That aside, I am okay for San'layn for the Horde. Their story in BFA so far and the fact that Sylvannas is raising more Dark Rangers makes sense. Also scratches an itch of long time requests for non-human undead models for the Forsaken.
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The coven made a Halloween video for the best transmog ideas :) We had a contest and here are the results. Please enjoy! https://youtu.be/DV1s2v2mddY also has some speculation in regards to what we see with the blood magic used by the Blood Elves.
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That was neat.
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10/31/2018 07:02 PMPosted by Darknessgodd
with the last wowhead posts about the game... i really starting to fear that they give to us some random forsaken elf instead of san'layn in the future.... because san'layn is obviously waaaaaay cooler

I personally am not worried about it to be honest. We've been here this long and have not been shot down, that has to count for something, right? Even if it does not, I think that this idea for San'layn and the vampire is unique enough to look at and implement.

10/31/2018 08:19 PMPosted by Daromir
09/22/2018 06:14 PMPosted by Fallynn
In addition: Allied Races have been brought up and shot down quite a bit. Yet the races being talked about the most right now: Vulpera, Sethrak, Arakkoa, Ogre, and SAN'LAYN(yeah go bats!) have not been sliced to bits yet.


High Elves for the Alliance are still talked about quite a bit as well. And they haven't been " sliced to bits " --- but the reasoning for that can go in the High Elf megathread.

That aside, I am okay for San'layn for the Horde. Their story in BFA so far and the fact that Sylvannas is raising more Dark Rangers makes sense. Also scratches an itch of long time requests for non-human undead models for the Forsaken.

I didn't mean that as a jab, I just meant San'layn have not been mentioned at all yet even when Dreven came out, when they had a perfect chance to shoot us all down. Again, not meaning to be an insult to the races that did get responses, was more of a joking thing!

Anyway, thanks for the support there regardless. Yeah I hope to see something soon in regards to them in Blizzcon but won't lose hope if we don't.

10/31/2018 11:15 PMPosted by Drede
That was neat.


I appreciate it ^^ Trying to keep the hype going in the way that I know how, I feel like having a positive outlook and chat on our ideas is great, along with the events to bring the community more together. It's fun!
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well we'll find out within 2 business days whether or not San'layn will make it as an allied race.

unless of course they decide to not announce the all of the upcoming ARs and only announce another set of 2 that will be available in 8.2 leaving 1 more set to be made announced for 8.3 (going under the assumption that all regular, non-allied races, will be getting an allied race counterpart, we should have 4 more left with Worgen/Goblin and Gnome/Forsaken)
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11/01/2018 11:45 AMPosted by Nemestrïnus
well we'll find out within 2 business days whether or not San'layn will make it as an allied race.

unless of course they decide to not announce the all of the upcoming ARs and only announce another set of 2 that will be available in 8.2 leaving 1 more set to be made announced for 8.3 (going under the assumption that all regular, non-allied races, will be getting an allied race counterpart, we should have 4 more left with Worgen/Goblin and Gnome/Forsaken)

I don't think the final nail will be in the coffin if they're not announced, only if they officially exterminate them (which has not happened at all despite what people claim) or say 'no forever'. I will keep this up and keep hope going anyway even after Blizzcon. Like I said, we haven't been told no, or to stop our megathreads yet. It has to count for something, even if it's not planned they could see our ideas and support.

------------------
I wanted to recap on all of our ideas by the way.
Model Variations

-Claws
-Fangs
-Serrated Teeth
-A mouth full of sharp teeth, just carnassials like most carnivores have
-Tall, lithe model
-Blood Elf modification (Lana’thel)
-Night Elf Modification (Princes)
-Temporary or Permanent wings
-Patterned body scars
-Pulsating Blood scars
-Glowing Blood runes
-Bat-like ears
-Torn ears
-Varying ear options in general
-Black, Red, and Amber, pure white, white with a red pupil, black with a red center eye options
-Hunched over (options only, not as a base, imo)
-Black marks under their eyes like Sylvanas.
-Grey/Black/white skin
-Bandages to hide scars due to vanity

Hair
-Blood-stained Hair
-Dual colors like some of the princes

Colors:
Black
White
Red
Brown
Silver
Blue
Grey
-Mixture of Blood Elf, Night Elf, and Void Elf Hairstyles?
-Half mohawk for females
-Mohawk for males/partial mohawk
-Long hair for males (examples: Alucard from Hellsing)
-Facial Hair options

Architecture
-Examples from Blood Halls
-Necropolis
-Gothic Themed
-Castle-like
-Naxxanar reused
-Ghostlands reused
-Deathholme as a base
-Nazmir temples as a base due to blood themes

Jokes
-At least we don't sparkle either.
-What am I doing? Nothing much, just San'layin around.
-It's so hard getting dental work done when every dentist you see runs screaming.
-I vant to suck your blood! Or have it in a smoothie. That sounds nice too.
-No, we don't consume void energy--that's the Ren'dorei. Totally different emo elf.
-My favorite color is red. For the Horde, why would you think there's other reasons?
-I actually don't mind the worgen all that much, aside from their constant yapping.
-Too many elves, you say? You haven't met the murlocs yet.
-I see a black door and I want it painted red.
-You think we're hot? You haven't seen Bolvar yet, have you?
-We take the 'Blood' in 'Blood elf' very seriously.
-...Why did you throw sparkle dust on m-- oh. I get it. And I'm not laughing.
-I actually don't mind worgen all that much, they're easy to get along with if you have a stick and yell 'fetch!'.
-Why does everyone keep asking me for an Interview, and then laugh?
-What? Ok fine, just this once. Bleh! I vant to suck your blood!
-Why did I decide to become a Rogue? They wear leather. You've seen Underworld, haven't you? I look just as good in leather.
-No I don't sprout tentacles! That's the Ren'dorei. Totally different emo elf.
-I love Worgen, their fur is so soft, and fluffy, and cuddly, I could just relax on it in front of the fire pit all night.
-I don't mind a Worgen coming to visit me, their timing always coincides perfectly whenever I need a new carpet.
-I'm tired of hearing things about being a San'Layn... 'Oh your teeth are so sharp! Oh your skin is so pale!' Oh you're so damn annoying.
-We loved red so much we joined the horde, and other reasons of course.
-Nooo! I do not sparkle!
-Whats the mirror for?
-I'd flirt with you, but I'm afraid all my lines either suck or bite.
-Where'd I get this snow cone? ...Icecream Citadel.
-Nosfer-who? No... do my fangs look like a beavers to you?
-Where do we go for a snack? No not the blood bank, we just go to Snaxxramas.
-The dirty looks sometimes drive me batty.
-No, I don't like to watch you sleep, what do I look like? A freak?
-Blue is such a horrible color. why would the alliance pick it?
-I love a good fight, but usually my opponents are too drained to go in.
-Wooden stakes? Garlic? Holy water? Mere annoyances compared to tooth decay.
-Get a life? Well I suppose your's will do.
-What's the difference between a gnome and a basketball? You can't drink a basketball before you dunk it.
-Looks like it's time for a bloodbath... Why are you looking at me like that? It works wonders for your skin! I swear people are too jumpy these days, I wonder why?
-It's 'squash', not 'gnomeball.

Flirts
-Don't worry, I won't bite. At least, not unless you want me to…
-I hunger for you... not your blood, of course.
--If you were a blood type, you'd be my favorite
- Is that Bloodlust I'm sensing - or just lust?
- Is there room for two in your coffin?
- You're so beautiful I think my heart just stopped. Wow it really did!
- You're like the sun you're so hot you make my blood boil
- Will you turn into bat for me? A long, hard one?
-Do you mind if I take a bite? I want to see if you're as good inside as you are outside.
-I vant to suck your- no! Not that, your blood! Oh stop it, you’re embarrassing me!
-No, YOU suck. ... well, I mean- so do I. But, totally different sucking.
-I'm a darkfallen, but I'm so darkfallen for you.
-How about joining me for a bite?
-I suck? Oh honey you have noooooo idea.
-I think I've Darkfallen in love with you!

Racials
-Self resurrection every half hour; not applicable in PvP or PvE(?), only open world
-A % leech buff
-% Leech Proc
-Sylvanas “Banshee” form, or something similar
-Teleportation racial of some sort, like blood racial Dreven used
-Enthrall: Temporarily control an NPC or pet.
-Infiltrate: The San'layn takes the form of the target for 3 seconds, confusing them and becoming unattackable.
-Take Control: A mind control that lasts for 3 seconds.
-Soul Reflect: % damage is reflected for 3 seconds.
-Blood spatter effects on racials
-Blood mist racial mount
-Cloud of bats racial mount
-Racial ability like zen mist but they turn into blood mist


Heritage Armor
-Armor that looks to have wings like Lana’thel
-Armor similar to those that the Blood Princes wear
-Vampiric cape and collar
-Famous fanged mask
-Dracula styled armor
-Phantom of the opera themes

Class Mount
-Corpse spider
-Skeletal Hawkstrider
-Skeletal Wolf
-Decaying Wolf
-Bat (No flying?)
-Some form of Felbat model with messed up wings (prevent flying)
-Skeletal Lynx or some form of skeletal cat (could use the dark manasaber model with some skeletal modifications)

Potential Leaders
-Blood Prince Dreven resurrect
-One of the missing Blood Princes (Prince Atherann or Prince Theraldis)
-Lana’thel, resurrected
-Kael’thas, resurrected (ritualistically? His head is kinda on a pike.)
-Thal'ena ressurected
-Lucard (from Stormheim)
-An entirely new Blood Kind or Queen
Random suggestions that are unlikely but can be talked about, why not:
-Liadrin, killed and rezzed
-Romath

Potential Classes (and reasoning given)
-Warrior
-Hunter
Starting pets:
Spider
Bat
Undead Dog
Wolf/Skeletal Wolf/zombified wolf
Rotting bear
Darkhounds like Nathanos uses

-Monk (Most can be monks, if Forsaken and Void Elves can utilize the magic so shouldn’t San’layn. They could be initiated into the Horde and taught how to utilize chi energy by monks already there.)

-Rogue (Definite for San’layn, there’s already rogues in blood halls)

-Warlock (There’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to use fel, other undead such as Forsaken can do so.)

-Priest (Forsaken can wield the light and shadow as priests, therefore it isn’t unreasonable to assume that San’layn can as well. They are powerful beings, but like the Forsaken they’d be harmed by the light when casting.)

-Mage (Blood Mages are seen in the Blood Halls, transforming their friends and laughing.)

Unlikely
-Paladin
Horseman was a paladin
Powerful undead can wield the light, though it hurts them
Light is about willpower, no being ‘just’, otherwise the Scarlet Crusade would not be able to use it
See Blizzard Blue Post: https://wow.gamepedia.com/Ask_CDev

-Druid
Kul’tiran Druids have a theme of undeath. Having an option like this on Hordeside would be excellent.
Nightmare magic could be expanded here. We have yet to see Nightmare being actually controlled, but the undead and those attended to fel and void have a habit of using darker magics for their own desires. Perhaps something could be done here, and we can obtain Nightmare druids with nightmarish or blood-like forms.

In popular lore, vampires have had the power to shapeshift. This could be achieved through the druid class for San’layn.
The San’layn could learn from troll allies, either from Northrend or the new Islands, if that’s where they fled out of Northrend. They could learn from the Zandilari or Blood Trolls, perhaps, and could manipulate magics to become druids. There is a bat loa--perhaps they could look into that.
Blood and life in general are connected, perhaps they could manipulate both simultaneously if they entwine it correctly.

-Death Knight (Even if not at first, perhaps sometime in the future. They were Arthas’s elite soldiers, so it would make sense for them to become Death Knights. The Blood Knight NPCs in the Blood Halls act more as Death Knights, though in living elves they are actually paladins. The Blood Knight San’layn however only possess shadow spells.)

Very unlikely
-Shaman (I don’t see how this one would work; I’m mentioning all classes however. There have not been any elf shamans in history. Does not mean it’s off the table, as Blood Shamans sound cool, but Blood is not an element.)
-Demon Hunter (There is no such lore to explain this, unless they train more Demon Hunters in the future. I do not see this as being a class for them.)
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Wow, looking at that BEHEMOTH of a list brings me all the way back to the beginning of this thread chain when we barely had any ideas. It's crazy to see just how much we've brainstormed over this chain's lifespan.

Also, all the model editing work Qualia did even though she didn't have to is awesome as well! She's a very talented artist imo.

Not bad for "six people posting over and over again" huh? ;)
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That large list of things Fallynn posted.


Nice compilation!

Here's hoping we hear more about allied races tomorrow.