Its always been this way, though. Ever since the Blood Elves were added to the Horde. There has always been a population of players in the Horde who don’t see the Blood Elves as, “really being Horde,” and instead just a race to get Alliance players to play, because so few people wanted to play Horde back in Vanilla.
If its not an Orc, Troll, Tauren, or Goblin, it’s not Horde enough.
I would argue their initial presentation worked well with The Horde, but they resolved their condition in the expansion that introduced them. The bit about them being a Horde race Alliance players wanted to play seems like an inarguable fact by now. Horde was the underdog faction until Belves, who are now the vast majority on Horde side, and have been for a long time.
Having said all of that, I still like Blood Elves. They bring something unique to the table that could play out in interesting ways if The Horde had been competently written at any point in the past decade.
It wasn’t a perfect narrative, but if we’re being honest, in a two faction game, Blood Elves would’ve had some narrative dissonance on being in the Horde OR the Alliance. They were made for the Illidari, but Blizzard never had any intention of adding a third faction, which is a shame.
The New Horde could’ve maintained it’s honorable savages route just fine if we’d had the Illidari to be the blatantly evil faction.
I’d disagree with this. The Sunwell was restored, sure, but the mana addiction itself was never solved or cured. This WAS the goal of the Reliquary and Tae’thalan Bloodwatcher, but Blizzard went “Who? No no, only the Alliance has archaeologists and explorers worth exploring. None of that stupid Horde stuff.”
Over time, the Sunwell’s Light could cure the blood elves of their cursed state, but many still cling to the arcane powers they procured and are hesitant to relinquish them.
The Sunwell feeds the addiction, it doesn’t cure it. Also, notice how it says could, not that it has already.
It says it can cure it. Now whether it has done so or not is a different question.
It hasn’t. This is the entire point of the Reliquary.
As of now they dont need to and the Sunwell effectively covers their magical dependence. And over time it will not even be needed(its effectively the arcandor but light based and will take time)
Tae’thelan’s ultimate goal is to unify his race as the proud, indomitable people they once were, and to break the magical addiction that has gripped them; to this end he seeks items of great power that could either cure or ameliorate his people’s dependence on the arcane. Further, Tae’thelan also seeks to wield these artifacts of great power to increase Silvermoon’s strength, as well as his own. He acknowledges that his people have made mistakes in the past, and is eager to ensure they are never again repeated.
You see, there are ancient, powerful relics found throughout this world that I plan to use to free my people from their addiction and unify them again as the proud, indomitable race we once were.
From Tae’thalan Bloodwatcher, the Reliquary’s leader.
Yes they do, it makes all the sense for them to. Why wouldn’t they take steps to permanently end what nearly destroyed their people and caused them so much suffering?
Because the Sunwell will already permanently end it.
Nightborne and blood/high/void elves having a physiological need for arcane magic akin to needing food and water would have been much better. A magical addiction that just gets magically cured in the same expansion it’s introduced in is dumb.
Dumb or not that is the current lore. The nightborne are not magic addicts anymore and on this note if the blood elves are still addicted to magic why not just eat some of the arcandor? If it works for the nightborne why wouldnt it work for them?
It’s just weird. The elves withered without mana, humans wither without food. Why don’t we call humans food addicts and try to cure their addiction?
Because being proactive is far better than just waiting?
Because it’s not the same condition. What the Blood Elves suffered is not the same as what the Nightborne suffered.
It is literally addiction to arcane magic. Both night and sunwell are just fonts of arcane magic.
You dont need to cure something that is already being cured. In the same vein you dont need to take two medicine when one will do the job for you and the other medicine is experimental at best and you dont even know if it will work.
The Nightborne were addicted to the energies of the Nightwell, and the loss of being connected to it made them more and more hungry for it until they became Nightfallen, eventually Withered. The lack of the Nightwell’s energies is what caused them to transform.
The Thalassians were addicted to the energies of the Sunwell, and the lack of it caused them to become more and more hungry until overindulging on arcane turned them into the Wretched - too much of it caused their transformation. The two addictions are different.
This isn’t just the common cold, this is something that nearly destroyed their civilization. Being proactive and getting rid of the mana addiction entirely would be far better for the Sin’dorei, and any Quel’dorei that accepted it long-term rather then sitting on their laurels and waiting for the Sunwell to fix their woes. Not that the Sunwell fixing it is guaranteed, anyway; considering Midnight will just void corrupt it again and leave them back at square one (the consequences of Blizzard ignoring Horde lore and worldbuilding)
Considering they have stated it will be the final victory against the void I think maybe the opposite will happen. That Midnight will be the time when both void elves/blood elves will truly be cured of addiction/the whisper but we will see.
If they haven’t gotten rid of the addiction by now, Blizzard will never get rid of it.
Let’s be honest. If a when the subject comes up again, Blizzard will do whatever they heck they want. If they want them addicted, then clearly they never resolved it like the Nightborne. If the don’t, then they will just assume the fruit of that tree has cured them all.