The Unofficial High Elf Discussion Megathread

I really don’t think there’s a single thing here that is somehow a secret from Blizzard. A couple hundred people have talked in circles with one another to the tune of 30000 posts. It’s known.

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There’d be less posts and circling if you and other antis gave up on whatever it is you hope to accomplish here.

Void Elves and High Elves can coexist. It’s not one or the other.

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I’ve been trying my damnedest to try and understand you and your motivations.

But so far all you want us to do is shut up, sit down, and be lectured about how plain wrong we are about everything and how we shouldn’t even bother asking what we even want.

I’m done trying to understand you. If you’re not gonna bother trying to reach even part of the way, whats even the point? You’re just as bad as Fyre. You just talk more.

I’m done for the night.

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Wow, that’s pretty narrow. I come here because I disagree with the notion High Elves should be made playable. I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone to shut up, nor stop being passionate about what they’re into, but I will absolutely debate their inclusion and the surrounding lore.

My suggestion: Buy a domain space, make a website with a forum and stick your own “No Belvez Allowed” sign up on it.

If you can’t handle the idea of some people, in a public forum for a game played by millions of people, not drinking the High Elf punch or dancing in the parade or, dare they, start taking up a counter position as I do, then I don’t think the General Discussion forum of this game is where you want to be.

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my point is a high elf that refers to themselves as a blood elf, is still a high elf. just putting up a bunch of strawmen that are easy to knock over doesnt change this fact. for all intents and purposes high elves are already playable

people just need to be more PC and start putting alliance in front of high elf or just saying silver covenant elves

im not saying they should be elevated from their flavor NPC status, just saying people need to be more PC

:thinking:

“We are no longer high elves!” - Kael’thas Sunstrider.

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and i want to go to hogwarts

:woman_shrugging:

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The name Blood Elf is symbolic of the trauma that they went through. It’s symbolic on how they changed their perspective. They’re effectively suffering from societal level PTSD and have internalized it in a very specific way that made them choose to separate themselves from that trauma. It’s a form of disassociation, a defense mechanism. But it’s still a very literal change in their identity. In a sense the High Elves as they exist in game suffered a similar trauma but being that most of them were removed from Quel’thelas at the time Arthas ravaged it they were affected very differently. It was still a trauma but as they were already in a sense distanced from it they internalized it by clinging onto their identity as a form of stability, which includes their allegiances to the Alliance.

This sort of internal conflict is similar many that have crisis of faith in their religion. They change their religious affiliation because something inside them changed. Biologically they’re still the same meatsuit, but how they view the world is different.

And that’s what happened to the Blood Elves and the High Elves. Yes they’re the same family, but they’re not the same in their beliefs and philosophy. And those are very important things in people and characters.

Names have meanings. Those meanings are important. If you ignore the name of a group by saying they’re effectively the same as another group you are attempting to take away that meaning.

I think you’ve more than once said everything pro-Helfers do is meaningless, Blizzard doesn’t pay any attention to us and when they claim they do it’s a lie, but probably with the best of intents and not to discourage anyone I’m sure.

What do you want, Lydon? To sleep knowing you’ve done your best to preserve and defend the sactity of Blood Elves? Fyre’s likes?

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If given the room some really killer political, social and psychological storytelling could be done with just the Blood Elf - High Elf rift.

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Wow, what a load of headcanon fit into a Gnome-sized head.

Blood Elves wear the name as a badge of honor for their fallen High Elven kin. It’s not PTSD or some kind of reactionary trauma as you’re insinuating:

This is literally lore from right before they were put into WoW, in 2005.
“Not in reference to anything dark.”
“Badge of Honor.”
“Mark of distinction that we survived the trials of our race.”
“We are those of the High Elven blood.”
All from Metzen’s own mouth.

Fast forward 14 years to present day, in the Heritage Armor questline, let’s see some takes on this:

From Liadrin:

Lady Liadrin says: My faith was shattered when Silvermoon fell. I lost sight of who I was. But by the grace of the Light, I found redemption before it was too late.
Lady Liadrin says: Let this monument serve as a reminder of what it means to be sin’dorei. That our every feed may honor the sacrifices of those who came before us.
Lady Liadrin says: No matter how much pain we endure, we will not lose hope. In the face of darkness, look always to the Eternal Sun.

From Lor’themar:

Lor’themar Theron yells: Always remember that our people are not defined by tragedy, but by our ability to overcome it. From the ashes of the past, we carry the flame of hope into the future.
Lor’themar Theron yells: It is my honor to present you with the regalia of our greatest heroes. Belono sil’aru, belore’dorei. Rise, champion of the sin’dorei!

Yeah. We still use the name to honor our kin.

The Blood Elves and High Elves went through the same trauma. Even Kael’thas, who wasn’t in Silvermoon at the time of its sacking, came to see his homeland in ruins. His people dead and suffering the necrotic pangs of the corrupted Sunwell. All High Elves felt this. The name change came after this.

The only reason there are any high elves alive today still bearing the name High Elf, is because some disagreed with the direction Kael’thas (and the crown before him) was taking their people, which was power at any cost. These leftover high elves were either exiled or left rather than follow.

It’s not at all this reality warping, internalization garble that you claim it is.

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Anasterian’s direction wasn’t power at any price. It was seclusion.

Dunno about High Elves going through the trauma, considering the majority of the modern High Elves had already chosen the Alliance over Quel’thalas when it got wrecked.

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High Elves were traditionally isolationist.

The entire kingdom was founded on the premise of being able to continue to practice and dabble in Arcane magic to their heart’s content and hide themselves away from both the Legion’s attention and their former Night Elven kin.

There’s also no citation or reference as to how many of the “currently living” High Elves were ones who left before or after the Sunwell’s destruction and Kael’thas’ return.

We do know ones like Quel’lithien were in Quel’thalas and were exiled (and did not receive aid from the Alliance either), but apart from directly spelled out cases like that, there’s no telling how many, even those in Dalaran, had returned with Kael’thas and stayed, or returned and left, not that these numbers even matter much to the narrative here.

All high elves felt the corruption and subsequent destruction of the Sunwell. Some to varying degrees, but all felt it. The choice to be a Blood Elf or remain a High Elf was completely separate from staying in the Alliance or going to the Horde (which didn’t happen until later).

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Our heads are bigger than yours.

I know what the lore says. I’m also doing some layman psychoanalysis. But it’s based on real reasons on why people change their names, religion or political affiliation. It’s often but not always tied to dramatic and sometimes traumatic life events. What the High Elves/Blood Elves went through fits that bill to a tee.

And of course they would call it a badge of honor. That would be further disassociation from the trauma. To say it’s a badge of honor let’s them have something of strength to cling to because after a level of violation as Arthas laid on them they’re feeling vulnerable.

The context shows that he meant it as they weren’t evil. Not that some traumatic event didn’t trigger this.

Their physiognomy has nothing to do with their current psychology and philosophy.

Their legacy will always be linked to the High Elves, but in their outlook they’re not High Elves anymore.

See above regarding badge of honor.

How many people lie about being okay and about how some harmful event didn’t hurt and change them so they don’t seem or feel weak? Lots.

Plus, that’s from the Heritage Armor quest line, many years after the initial trauma and identity change. He’s had a lot of time to build “scar tissue” and reframe that trauma to allow himself to operate from a position of strength. But that still speaks to the fact that in his heart he’s a different person than he would have been if Arthas had never brought death to Silvermoon.

The Blood Elves are very different people because of that event. Even the High Elves are very different people due to it as well. They’ve just handled it differently which has caused a literal schism of politics and philosophy.

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Most of the remaining “high” elves had chosen to remain with the Alliance following the Second War, and did not return to their kingdom following the Third.

Wowpedia, source is Ultimate Visual Guide, page 69

We don’t even know if Quel’lithien was part of the Alliance or independent. The only Alliance High Elf we know for sure was an exile is Vyrin Swiftwind.

Except that the Alliance High Elves seemingly all remained High Elves (at the very least enough to be the majority nowadays), while the surviving Quel’thalas High Elves seemingly all became Blood Elves later on (and then some went back after getting exiled).

The split after the Second War could very well be called the roots of the High/Blood division.

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It’s a different type of trauma. Think about how you felt during 9/11. How you felt for your fellow Americans. Much of America was grieving that day, not for what happened directly to them but what happened to our own, our brethren. We shared their pain. What you and I felt that day was still a trauma, just not as deep or pronounced or literal as our fellow Americans in NYC went through that day.

That would be similar to to how the High Elves away from Quel’thalas would have felt on hearing about the destruction.

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No, not at all similar.

All High Elves had a link to the Sunwell. All of them. A literal, tangible, magical push and pull. They had danced and spun and bathed in arcane magic for thousands and thousands of years until it infused their very being. When it was corrupted by Kel’thuzad’s necromantic resurrection, the Sunwell literally began afflicting the High Elves with necrotic energies. They would have died if it was not destroyed.

Then, after its destruction, all High Elves began to feel the pangs of arcane wirhdrawal. Some were affected less than others, but it’s not at all akin to watching planes hit a building on TV.

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So you wouldn’t care if horde had humans or night elves on dranei that looked exactly the same on horde?

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You’re way too literal dude. I’m glad I don’t read with your perspective. Reading would lose a lot of nuance.