I don’t mind them making a new Sunwell, but it shouldn’t be same thing. Just moving the Sunwell is a weak story. Having to cope with loss is better. The new one should come at a cost.
I don’t see it happening because of narrative reasons. I was hoping for Malfurion or Tyrande’s death in the War of Thorns, but it didn’t happen. The fall of Teldrassil was the night elves’ lowest point, now it’s them climbing up the pit of despair they were in.
To make them lose even more (their leaders, their land again) would be to spit on night elf fans, by constantly making them sink even further with no sign of hope. That’s why I don’t think Blizzard will take this path.
A story that ends in a bitter note can still be good. If it has a good resolution and open interesting possibilities, it’s alright, even if the end is not what we hope for.
Honestly I think a lot of people would be pretty stoked to see the Blood Elves go back to their TBC narrative. I’d be one of them. I loved that whole ‘cracks in the facade of the utopia’ angle they had when they were first released.
Though, realistically, that entire shtick is now the entire crux of the Void Elf narrative. Now, if they’d taken the BE’s back in that direction (by making VE’s Horde, and attaching them to BE’s), playable HE’s would be a much easier sell.
I don’t think the void elves borrow that narrative. Blood elf original story was about them coping with loss and doing anything to survive, even sinking to depravity (feeding their addiction off living beings, enslaving a naaru, the many little distopian scenes in Silvermoon hinting at a totalitarian regime), while void elf is to use power, even dark power, responsibly for what seems to be greater good.
I think that blood elves returning to their roots would be good for them. And now they’d have a real reason to hate the Alliance as well.
Yeah. Void elves are ironically an evolution of the Blood Elf story that would have made a rather interesting alternative for Blood Elves in particular. But they’re Alliance now. So wishy washy! They take from the “doing anything to survive” metric and crank the dial to 11.
Why they’re suddenly okay by the Alliance when cranked up to the 11 and void touched is explained in-game and Alleria arguably holds a lot of sway over Anduin and the others due to her exalted past, I guess. I do think personally they were better off in the Horde, BUT, then there wouldn’t be an argument for Helfs, AND Void Elves in and of themselves are just an interesting story that I am looking forward to, period.
The thing is that they are not the same sin’dorei as the ones following Lor’themar.
I don’t agree that they revive the “coping with loss and doing anything to survive” belf story that @Arisran said because they didn’t need to study the void. The Sunwell was restored, they could just return home and be happy and frivolous or whatever. They did so for love of knowledge, and they were even exiled for it.
Just did Magister’s Terrace. Was reminded of how Kael’thas was one of the most wasted characters in this game’s history. What a shame.
It brought back memories of how much I loved the struggle of the High/Blood Elves in Warcraft III and how much I was rooting for them.
I was hoping they’d be playable some day, and when they became playable in BC, despite being on Horde, I was thrilled. Back then I enjoyed both factions you see. Thrall was pretty great. I loved Sylvanas back then cause I thought she was this cool pragmatic queen. My first character was even Forsaken.
But throughout WoW’s lifetime things changed. The Horde was hardly recognizable anymore. The connection to them loosened and by Mists I barely touched my Horde characters. Blood Elves were quickly becoming a greater anomaly and I was beyond pleased that the High Elves were always right there to continue the story for me on Alliance… always the foil to the Blood Elves.
But I didn’t really care all that much about them being playable. It wasn’t something I really put much thought to really.
Then BFA happened. The combination of a deeper focus on faction divides and the release of Allied Races created a perfect storm of desire for High Elves to be a thing.
When I heard about the Void Elves, I was initially pleased because I thought they would basically be High Elves who followed Alleria. I thought they’d look like her somehow.
But you guys know how that turned out.
I feel at this point I’m just disillusioned. I know I can play Blood Elves for their fantasy and Void Elves have their place in some fantasy too, one that I have worked hard to create and make sense of.
But as I left this Magister’s Terrace instead, all I could think about is how wasted the entire race has been. It’s a meme on the Horde, barely shown in cinematics, never fitting in. It almost makes me angry, if it weren’t for the tragedy in Blizzard’s failure to connect the dots and cultivate the intraracial conflict that they are more than willing to do for other races, most notably the humans.
At this point I just want closure, but I know I won’t get it. And I can’t really get over it because not only am I (unfortunately) invested in WoW’s story, but the very focused narrative this expansion only amplifies the desires that I was able to suppress when the narrative was more distant.
Well… here’s to another year of tired discussion. Hopefully Blizzard will make Lordaeron a thing again.
That’s true. You’re right about that. I take back what I said haha. I forgot it was more of just a thirst for knowledge deal, but couldn’t that also harken back to the “Do whatever it takes” mentality that Silvermoon Blood Elves seem to have? “Do whatever it takes to survive”, could evolve into"overcome any obstacle to learn and master the world around you"
The people who do systems and combat design and class balancing are not the same as the ones who do character art and animation. I’d like to know what mind bogglingly fresh and original yet lore friendly race they could be working on instead that you think would alleviate the myriad problems with BFA’s gameplay and make everyone forget how pathetic the WQ rewards are and how irritating Artifact Power is.
If the factions stick around, this is definitely a positive that would come from an invasion of Quel’thalas. If they plan on making them disappear, this might not be for the best.
My take on it. Notice that this is wild wild guessing:
Umbric was always interested in shadow magic. Way before the fall of Quel’thalas. He was probably studying it for a long time, and others with similar interests sought him. They had to keep a low profile, as others wouldn’t understand them.
After the Scourge, when Quel’thalas was ravaged, Umbric decided that void magic could have defended it where Arcane and the Light failed. Until then, he was very careful, studying the void from afar. Now, he and his friends went deeper into their studies. They had to master it, so Quel’thalas would have a way to fight back against the undead and the trolls any other threats.
When Silvermoon joined the Horde, Umbric thought it was an unwise move. He still remembered that the Horde itself had once invaded and ravaged Quel’thalas, too. However, desperate times required desperate measures, so he played along. His research was more important.
But then the Sunwell was restored as a fount of Light as well as Arcane. The dark times neared the end. A new beginning for the elves. However, their new Light-powered source of magic was threatened by shadow magic. Rommath noticed that, and ordered Umbric and his followers to stop.
Umbric refused. He had gone too far to go back. He had found some secrets of the Void, he was so close to unlocking the secret to wield it safely, he was sure of it! Threatened to be forced to stop, he decided to exile himself and keep studying. To his surprised, his companions chose to go with him. Even some other elves, moved by how tenacious and dedicated Umbric was to Silvermoon during the dark times, decided to help him in other ways, by offering protection, supplies and news during his exile. One day, he would return with his discoveries , and Quel’thalas would be safer than ever.
In his exile, Umbric found information about Dar’khan, which in turn led him to discover the exitance of Telogrus. Also, more researchers came for him, eager to learn the forbidden arts of the Void.
Then, not long after they unlocked the way to Telogrus, Alleria found him. And then, Durzaam sprung his trap, as we all know.
The event changed Umbric. He realised how truly dangerous the void was, and how he was doomed to fail, if not for Alleria’s (and the Alliance champion’s) intervention. Humbled, he and his followers became pupils of Alleria. And, discovering the Horde’s cowardly attack against the night elves, realised that he had chosen right to serve the Alliance, as the Horde couldn’t be trusted with power! One day, he wishes he can drive his beloved Silvermoon away from the Horde.
(Wouldn’t a short story fleshing that out be cool? I’m still baffled why Blizzard didn’t provide suplementary media to improve the void elf introduction back in February!)
I hope the Silvermoon Warfront ends up being a thing before the expansion ends. That would be such a great way to give love to lore both old and new. Umbric with his wanting to claim Silvermoon, and the developing story of the Quel’dorei in general.
I’m low key hoping to see the Silver Covenant involved in as early as 8.2 since Queen Baddy has her ancestral roots with the Highborne.
I’m not expecting any high elf presence in the Azshara storyline. We could see void elves (since, you know, Azshara is linked to the void), but that is not very likely.
About warfronts, I’d expect two more, for 8.2(.5?) and 8.3(.5?). One in Kalimdor, one in EK. If I’m right, then EK one would most certainly be Quel’thalas, there’s no other place where there would be meaningful conflict.
But what would be the one in Kalimdor? Would it be the Alliance being on offensive again and striking at the heart of the Horde (Barrens?), or could it be the Horde taking the offense and invading the Myst Isles? I’d love to see the later. Maybe the Mag’har with their Iron Horde aesthetic could lead the charge against the draenei.
![:stuck_out_tongue:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/stuck_out_tongue.png?v=6" ":stuck_out_tongue:")