The Unofficial High Elf Discussion Megathread

10/13/2018 02:15 AMPosted by Pryde
10/13/2018 02:12 AMPosted by Gulrum
So I was just running a dungeon and someone thought the Void Elf in our group was a Night Elf. Kept calling for Shadowmeld.

Yep, Alliance received such diverse options!
Only Horde get diverse colored elves silly.


I'm sure they will make an earth-tone Highborne for the Nightborne next. Alliance will receive Mur-Elves, which will be High Elves twisted by Azshara into squid things. They will also be a blueish-purple color for good measure!
10/13/2018 01:59 AMPosted by Nindraine
10/13/2018 01:50 AMPosted by Pryde
...And if they happen, they will probably be Paladins. I guess all those people that have asked for Forsaken Paladins over the years will finally get to be one (on the Alliance).


Wouldn't that just be a kick in the nuts.
You know I would actually feel bad for those that wanted to be Forsaken Paladins on the Horde. When I first started playing, all my friends went Horde so I couldn't be a Paladin (this was at the start of the game). I always thought a Forsaken Paladin would be awesome, but many said it wouldn't happen for "obvious reasons".

Anyway, Lighforged/Redeemed Undead or whatever they'd be called kind of sound cool yet kind of don't. I don't know. I'd have to see how they'd look and how their story went.

BUT, I would take no satisfaction in the Horde not getting Forsaken Paladins. You see, I actually believe in player choice, so I'd be fine with any race/class combo (yes, even Void Elf Paladins! O M G!) because I believe character customization should be amazingly robust. That's also why I support High Elves, Man'ari, San'layn, Vulpera, Sethrak, Ogres, Wildhammer Dwarves, Vrykul, etc...
10/13/2018 02:20 AMPosted by Gulrum


I'm sure they will make an earth-tone Highborne for the Nightborne next. Alliance will receive Mur-Elves, which will be High Elves twisted by Azshara into squid things. They will also be a blueish-purple color for good measure!

Now that's an idea, those sea elves will be "azure" clearly not violet, nor blue!
I for one am looking forward to Light Undead (Redeemed?). I always wanted to be a Lordaeron Alliance player, Undead or not. I hate how Forsaken completely butcher their heritage so it was never appealing to me.
10/13/2018 02:09 AMPosted by Drede
The idea that every single Blood Elf would switch factions just because a similar Allied Race is just stupid.

1. That already Happened with Void Elves and there was not mass exodus from the Horde. If anything more people where going Horde for the other Allied Races/Racials.

2. They would not get Demon Hunters or Death Knights, and would likely not get Warlocks.

3. They would have to grind reputation and have to have a 120 Alliance Character already.

4. Even if some did change what makes anyone thing they would delete their Blood Elves or completely stop playing it?

5. Despite the "Nerf" to Arcane Torrent, Blood Elves still have some of the best Racials. High Elf Racials would have to be extremely good for people to want to change.

6. They would likely not have the same options as Blood Elves so you would not get to recreate your Blood Elfs looks on Alliance.

There's other reasons be these are some of the main points.


Pretty much this when referring to 'the health of the game'. People also already switch factions or play both as they please, like myself, yet I still have all 12 of my Blood Elves on my server and not one was touched or ever will be.

I also understand the feeling of jealousy some Horde players opposed to High Elves feel, which I felt to degree as well. Blood Elves were the only objectively pretty race the Horde had to offer and I felt trapped, but I learned to embrace both the Alliance and other aspects of the Horde. I'm excited about Zandalari and would also like to unlock Mag'har someday, never mind what the Undead variant may be (San'layn please).

Nightborne are also another pretty Elven faction, that I know aren't without issue as far as players go, but hopefully along with Void Elves, player concerns will be addressed.

So I'm not going to get into the toxic arguments that plagued the last 10 pages or so, but I wanted to offer my own insight on the matter as a predominantly Horde player.

As for the model change, the bulk of the remaining High Elf population would be found in Dalaran, who have lived among Humans for 3000 years, so intermingling would be most common there. Then you have that coupled with the remaining groups of High Elves, Rangers and some Paladins, which would also make for a better physique. Each reason alone is enough justification for a new model let alone both. These reasons are also much less contrived than Kul Tirans or Void Elves.

As far as the different groups involved in making up the Quel'dorei, I just touched on this a little bit. Hunters are a no brainer and Rogues could also fit into the Ranger Motif. Priests are also quite likely, especially in sects that forsake magic as well as live amongst Humans, as well as Draenei as far as Highvale. Paladins could likely be found within Human populations as well as Quel'Danil, as the Elves there can be seen training with Draenei Vindicators. Magi of course would hail from Dalaran predominantly. There are also High Elf Monk npcs so those are possible.

This brings us back to Druids and Shamans.

As far as Shamans go, The Highvale Elves have close ties to the Wildhammer, so like the Draenei. it's plausible for the High Elves to pick up Shamanism from them.

Druids would need the most work, but this would also make the idea all the more rewarding. I feel this would not only help the High Elf narrative, but the Night Elves as well. I like the direction the Night Elves are going in with the Night Warrior Priest/Warrior area and I hope they continue in that direction to get their teeth back, shying away from Druidic themes for a while.

Meanwhile the High Elves could learn Druidism with little to no Night Elf aid, upon stumbling upon Seradane, one of the Great Trees, befriending one of the many denizens of the Emerald Dream, learning Druidism from them, and surprising the Night Elves upon being admitted to the Cenarion Circle, earning a begrudging respect from the Kaldorei and perhaps even resulting in a subtle rivalry of sorts.

Some may say that this could detract from Night Elves, but they'd still have Death Knights and Demon Hunters while High Elves would have neither and I'd even give Night Elves Paladins. High Elves could also have Shamans as well, which would help differentiate the two, as well as giving the High Elves a different relationship with the natural world than Night Elves.

Forgive me for the long winded post, but this is my way with keeping up with the 10 pages a day, so I've compiled all of my thoughts and opinions on this post.

Edit; Ooo, I forgot, I like the different customization options representing different groups of Quel'dorei so much I wanted to add another group; Highborne. Yes I know they're technically Night Elves, but seeing as we have that Night Elf derived model, we could include the Highborne who still identify as Quel'dorei, have gold eyes exclusively unlike regular Kaldorei, and certain skin tones lorewise. They would also have smoother hairstyles being more bon vivant than average Night Elves.

I also see this as a somewhat two pronged thematic approach, reclaiming the Highborne themes in light of the Nightborne going to the Horde and diversifying the Quel'dorei as a whole much like Half Elves, bringing them another step further from Blood Elves.

How would this be done? Either add an option similar to Orc posture to bring up a limited group of cosmetic options and larger stature or just have this tied to select faces much like hero classes.

I realize this isnt such a popular idea for High Elves but I wanted to throw it out there in detail for the sake of contribution.
10/13/2018 05:14 AMPosted by Selesnya


Forgive me for the long winded post, but this is my way with keeping up with the 10 pages a day, so I've compiled all of my thoughts and opinions on this post.


Nah, it was a great post!
10/13/2018 05:20 AMPosted by Gulrum
Nah, it was a great post!


Aw, thanks ♥

I added on more :P
As for the Highborne, just check out https://wow.gamepedia.com/Shen'dralar

(for the lore stuff, the models are outdated now and would need some unique updates)
10/13/2018 01:07 AMPosted by Tyrandia
So I have to ask those who do not like the HE idea, what do you think about Blizzard dropping LF Forsaken on the Alliance?? What does that mean, a Forsaken model with tattoos? A group of forsaken killed and re-re rez’d... how will that not blur faction identity, but High elves will??

And to note, the pandaren split between factions works okay, but they don’t seem to have been developed as to why the two sides continue to fight for their respective factions. High elves already have this story twist built into the game.

But what are your thoughts on LF Forsaken? Do you feel the same for them as you do HEs? Why or why not?


I think LF Forsaken would make me laugh like crazy as the "too many X" argument may die as that would be 5 races descend from Humans in game (Kul'tirans, Humans, Worgen, and Forsaken. Add in LF Forsaken and you have 5).

Honestly though I dislike the idea as it yet again seems another race made up quicikly instead of one that has any standing precedent in the world already. Also it would seem odd to me for them to be playable as Calia in Before the Storm I figured was a special case instead of setting a standard for a race. We also already have a devoted Light race lore wise with LF Draenei, I would prefer to not see their story taken by humans yet again.
I think the Shen'dralar are pretty much set in stone.

They are a group of Highborne that never left Night Elf lands, and I think them just being paler Night Elves already does a good job reflecting that.

Plus they already integrated into Night Elf society, it's not like they can be shown as something new.
10/13/2018 05:28 AMPosted by Xeronia
10/13/2018 01:07 AMPosted by Tyrandia
So I have to ask those who do not like the HE idea, what do you think about Blizzard dropping LF Forsaken on the Alliance?? What does that mean, a Forsaken model with tattoos? A group of forsaken killed and re-re rez’d... how will that not blur faction identity, but High elves will??

And to note, the pandaren split between factions works okay, but they don’t seem to have been developed as to why the two sides continue to fight for their respective factions. High elves already have this story twist built into the game.

But what are your thoughts on LF Forsaken? Do you feel the same for them as you do HEs? Why or why not?


I think LF Forsaken would make me laugh like crazy as the "too many X" argument may die as that would be 5 races descend from Humans in game (Kul'tirans, Humans, Worgen, and Forsaken. Add in LF Forsaken and you have 5).

Honestly though I dislike the idea as it yet again seems another race made up quicikly instead of one that has any standing precedent in the world already. Also it would seem odd to me for them to be playable as Calia in Before the Storm I figured was a special case instead of setting a standard for a race. We also already have a devoted Light race lore wise with LF Draenei, I would prefer to not see their story taken by humans yet again.


I also think it would be lame to take the Lightforged thing from LFD. They already lost their unique eyes to Blood Elves for *reasons* and never even had time to represent the theme before that happened.
LFD actually have a theme. They represent the zealous, single-minded nature of the Light. They're super martial, and even though Draenei lean on the Light heavily, they are a lot more peaceful. In fact I'm fairly certain Blizz chose them specifically for that purpose.

Redeemed Undead aren't Lightforged anyway. They are just undead that are sustained by Light rather than Death. It's also an interesting development with regards to the Light, showing that it isn't actually in antithesis with the state of not being alive. I would assume they'd just use the currently unused Human model but with Undead features.

They fulfill different purposes, in the end, much like how High Elves would fulfill a different purpose than Void Elves and Blood Elves.

I honestly don't think Blizzard will shy away from yet another human race, specifically an undead one.

The fact is that most base races have now been used to a degree, with the exception of Goblins (Vulpera), Gnomes (speculated Mechagnomes), and Undead. We're almost at the point where it's reasonable to start pushing out 3.0s.

Obviously I want High Elves first and foremost, but the Undead can be represented by this "Light" Undead race on the Alliance (or alternatively San'layn/Dark Ranger on Horde).

Either way, there are plenty of possibilities.
10/12/2018 08:57 PMPosted by Mythlor
I do find it amusing that Blood Elves got golden eyes for free while Draenei had to race change for it.
I think it's sad that the night warrior eyes for the night elves is only tied to skin colour only having one variant instead of it being tied to three different faces like it is for yellow eyes for the blood elves and having choice for skin colour. Shame no one else has brought this up.
Glad to see this thread extended again. For the Quel'dorei! For the Alliance!
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You know, I'm gonna be a bit controversial for the Pro-side with this argument.

I love the passion y'all are coming with ideas for High Elves, but I really feel some of you are leaning way to hard on a "wishlist" of things you want for High Elves, rather than focus on the "proof of concept" that HE can be sufficeintly different from BE, to preserve faction integrity.

Cause that's the thing, that's the actual reason we have been given -population means nothing, the lore is already there- the issue is that according to present sensibility, they feel like HE infringe on the BE theme and aesthetics, which goes against their notion of "preserving faction identity"

So, personally, having that conversation is what would be the most, or maybe only, productive thing.

Cause at the end of the day, what every one of us wants for HE is a bit different, like what everyone ones for their favorite race really, but turning this thread into just a wishlist of things we want on HE is kinda fraught, cause let's be really honest, I don't think the developers actually care about that.

"I want HE paladins" or "I want HE druids with celtic themes" I mean it's fun to talk about it sure but it's pointless if all it is is a headcanon. Like if Blizz makes HE happen, it ill do on the context they decide, and I can't stress this enough, I doubt they will go through this thread for ideas tbh -and I say this as someone that likes to present ideas like everyone else-

Is this whole thread pointless? Not so, because the whole point is that at lage what we believe is that HE are, or can be made, sufficiently different, and that is both the reason we would like them to be playable, and the reason we believe they can be implemented in a way that makes them removed enough from BE to preserve faction identity.

If NB were made to be "sufficiently different" fron NE, so can High Elves. No, the context doesn't have to be the exact same thing -it doesn't have to be 10.000 of isolation- the point is that there is enough potential for difference overall, even if it's not the *same context* that can result on a similar level of differentiation.
As for some thoughts for the thread in general regarding why people still want HE, because it just seems that the motivation itself is always considered suspect no matter how many times we repeat ourselves. Of course, I can only speak for myself, and not all of us want the exact same thing, but if one thing is very crucial for HE fans, it's that they are part of the alliance, and more specifically, long time friends of humanity. And any opinion, explanation or solution that discounts this bond or minimizes it is simply missing the point.

Hence it bears repeating as always, Void Elves cannot be the compromise for people that wanted High Elves, because like the core reason why most HE people agree on is that "we want the High Elves that are loyal to the alliance, that have been loyal to the alliance for more than WoW's own longevity, to be playable" is a requisite that VE simply don't meet, and it's actually pretty unfair for VE to treat them as such.

It's only a compromise if you just don't understand why people want HE on the first place, and one would think that by now, after years of discussion, it would have been elucidated enough. You might still disagree, but to just refusing to understand such a core reason just shows you have no interest on the actual conversation at place.

Like this is simply to grasp: The reason why High Elves are appealing is BECAUSE they are on the alliance, because they have been a part of it's story since before the Alliance itself was born, because their friendship created one of the most wonderous modern cities in Dalaran. The HE presence on the alliance, even if most of their once whole nation is now on the Horde, is what makes them notheworthy, the fact that that bond, for some, has never been broken.
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I'd say start with a Thalassian frame, give them the upright ears like the Nozdormu High Elf model has, make them more muscular and rugged, blue magic glow for the eyes, earth-tone skin tones (not reddish and orange like BE), warpaints, scars, a less "stuck up" standing posture, and finally voices that are less hostile and more friendly.

That's how I would give the High Elves the Nightborne treatment.
@Talendrion

*standing ovation*
I've been away for the weekend, but so happy we got another extension! :)
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10/13/2018 04:55 PMPosted by Gulrum
I'd say start with a Thalassian frame, give them the upright ears like the Nozdormu High Elf model has, make them more muscular and rugged, blue magic glow for the eyes, earth-tone skin tones (not reddish and orange like BE), warpaints, scars, a less "stuck up" standing posture, and finally voices that are less hostile and more friendly.

That's how I would give the High Elves the Nightborne treatment.

I personally like your suggestion except for two things. The blood elf ears are fine and I believe that they don't need to be too muscular. I don't want their bodies to look unrealistic or thick.