The Unofficial High Elf Discussion Megathread

Going to repost this because the same dead argument keeps coming back up.

The idea that every single Blood Elf would switch factions just because of 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 think they would delete their Blood Elves or completely stop playing it/the Horde?

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.
1 Like
Drede I think most people forget that the overwhelming majority of players actually play both factions... It's ultimately just about those who main one faction only... and those players, as you said, most likely have long-standing commitments to their faction either through their class, faction theme, guild or their friends making a main switch also unlikely.

Would High Elves be popular? Absolutely. However they're far more likely to draw from the Human/Night Elf population than the Blood Elf one.

And this one Dark Iron dwarf :P
1 Like
Drede I think most people forget that the overwhelming majority of players actually play both factions... It's ultimately just about those who main one faction only... and those players, as you said, most likely have long-standing commitments to their faction either through their class, faction, guild or their friends making a main switch also unlikely.

Would High Elves be popular? Absolutely. However they're far more likely to draw from the Human/Night Elf/Void Elf population than the Blood Elf one.

And this one Dark Iron dwarf :P


It's not the only argument. Blurring the faction lines is pretty important. As you think our arguments are dead, we feel the same about yours.
10/14/2018 05:14 PMPosted by Grabmytotem
Blurring the faction lines is pretty important.
That's partly why people want High Elves. Faction lines have been blurred since the Blood Elves were handed to the Horde, and High Elves would indisputably correct the Alliance's current identity crisis.
1 Like
10/14/2018 05:14 PMPosted by Grabmytotem

It's not the only argument. Blurring the faction lines is pretty important. As you think our arguments are dead, we feel the same about yours.


"We". There is no "we". This isn't some tribal divide. You don't speak for anyone other than yourself.

"Blurring faction lines" is as contrived an argument as any other.

In Legion I remember walking through Suramar in wonder on my Alliance toon. I remembered all those Night Elf ruins I saw all the way back in Warcraft III when Maiev talked about the great library of Suramar raised from the depths by Gul'dan to the ruins of High Maul in World of Warcraft.

FINALLY, I thought.... I was seeing the ancient Highborne Night Elf aesthetic in all its glory and wonder. It was just as beautiful as I thought. I wondered what the Night Elves (both Teldrassil and Shend'ralar) were going to do after the Legion was defeated.

Now it's Horde territory with Arcane infused Night Elves partnering with ex-High Elves I played on the Alliance in Warcraft II/III fighting against ex-ex-High Elves dipped in blueberry paint with some Pandaren cheerleaders on both sides.

Faction lines don't get to be blurred on an arbitrary basis. And you don't get to reduce the historic intraracial High/Blood Elf conflict across multiple expansions to some arbitrary model differentiation that Void Elves in full armor instantly break.
10/14/2018 05:17 PMPosted by Joyeuse
10/14/2018 05:14 PMPosted by Grabmytotem
Blurring the faction lines is pretty important.
That's partly why people want High Elves. Faction lines have been blurred since the Blood Elves were handed to the Horde, and High Elves would indisputably correct the Alliance's current identity crisis.


Please stop with your headcannon. Whats in game is real, what you think about it is irrelevant. Blood Elves are not a Blurring of the lines. There is nothing to correct.
Not gonna go in a circular argument about it. I would suggest other people drop it too. "Population" and "Faction lines" are the same tired old arguments that have never and will never make sense.
"We". There is no "we". This isn't some tribal divide. You don't speak for anyone other than yourself.


Don't get cute, you know very well there are many who feel this way.

"Blurring faction lines" is as contrived an argument as any other.


It's really not. Blurring lines between what is supposed to be unique factions is real. You can't dismiss it no matter what you say.

And you don't get to reduce the historic intraracial High/Blood Elf conflict across multiple expansions to some arbitrary model differentiation that Void Elves in full armor instantly break.


I do, because its really that simple. Nightbourne are nothing like the disaster High Elves would bring.

Your problem is you are living in the lore of the past. How about you catch up a bit and play the current game. Cus we all are. Blood Elves went horde for whatever reasons. Nightborne went Horde because Tyrande cant diplomacy. These are lore reasons that nobody can accept. You are in like the stages of grief for like 15 years
10/14/2018 03:20 PMPosted by Grabmytotem


Exactly. This is what the entire thing has been about.


How does this re-hash of what you guys have been saying make it all better or easier to understand?

We understand you just fine. We don't want you to have High Elves as an allied race. bottom line.


You realize this entire post is in reference to the half-elves that you yourself were pushing a couple pages back?

You are just playing the contrarian now aren't you?
10/14/2018 05:24 PMPosted by Mythlor
Not gonna go in a circular argument about it. I would suggest other people drop it too. "Population" and "Faction lines" are the same tired old arguments that have never and will never make sense.


it's almost like we both think each others arguments are without merit. Where have you been the last 10 months?
10/14/2018 05:30 PMPosted by Grabmytotem

Don't get cute, you know very well there are many who feel this way.


"This way"

Every person feels differently. There are shades of everything. Even people who are publicly in favor of or against something will change perspectives with different context.

You are trying to elucidate this exchange as some form of rigid tribal conflict in which only one side can exist.

This is what's happening IRL. This is just a symptom of it. This isn't about High Elves at all in the end.

The fact is, we're both on the same team against big daddy Blizzard, and although every single one of us expects different things from the same game, we all want the same overall experience: Entertainment.

And ultimately every implementation they make will only appease a subset of their playerbase. The mere fact that High Elves are popular is enough to justify them, even if only 5% of the current population rolls them. Just like only x% raids, y% pvps, z% runs warfronts a lot, a% does pet battles, b% farms achievements, c% farms allied races, d% runs the auction house, etc..

And since this is a shared experience, even those who vehemently cry out against them might still roll one if they're so inclined, because they can. I didn't want Void Elves. Got em anyway. Played them anyway.

You don't play Alliance at all? Then you're not the target market, so what you feel is already useless to Blizzard. People won't quit if something they don't like is put in the game. They do something else, unless they don't like so many things that they feel compelled to leave.

That's all I'm going to exchange with you.
After following, but not participating in this debate for the past...forever, I'm finally decided in favor of High Elves being playable.
1 Like
10/14/2018 05:30 PMPosted by Grabmytotem

Your problem is you are living in the lore of the past. How about you catch up a bit and play the current game. Cus we all are. Blood Elves went horde for whatever reasons. Nightborne went Horde because Tyrande cant diplomacy. These are lore reasons that nobody can accept. You are in like the stages of grief for like 15 years


Pretty much what this all boils down to is not being able to accept the decisions Blizzard has made with their own lore. And while not everyone is "to be damned with the devs!" a lot of this is basically just trying to change a decision they don't like.

Watching the rage after Blizzcon should be rather amusing.

10/14/2018 05:32 PMPosted by Grabmytotem

it's almost like we both think each others arguments are without merit. Where have you been the last 10 months?


Should have seen the rampant head canon fest and denial when void elves were announced, we'll probably be subject to the same until the servers shut down at this rate while Blizzard and everyone else just goes about their day.

Pretty much what this all boils down to is not being able to accept the decisions Blizzard has made.


And you spend the entirety of your time on these forums talking in High Elf threads when you should be telling everyone else in all other threads to stop complaining about every other decision WoW devs have made in BFA.

The irony of course is that you request blue eyes for blood elves constantly irrespective of lore when Blood Elves have explicitly moved away from that aesthetic with their different magical infusions.

You rated BFA 8/10... so that means you disagree with a WoW decision. It's almost as if you're biased or have a particular agenda.

Hmm...

Look. You can say what you want about High Elves, but framing this as some sort of unique blasphemous refusal to accept a Blizzard decision is pretty hilarious when all it takes is one click on General Discussion to see that this is all this forum does.
1 Like
10/14/2018 04:43 PMPosted by Mythlor
10/14/2018 04:41 PMPosted by Alamara

I feel the night warrior customization so lacking. A single skin with dark eyes. I was hoping for at least a few skin color variations.

And even worse than eye color: male night elves still lack a beardless option with eyebrows.


While the single skin is annoying, the eyes are navy blue with a missing glow texture so it's not the complete look right now.

The same thing happened with Blood Elves when their eyes looked like #1 without the glow. (Still looks a bit like that tbh).

I kinda gave up on expecting more options after allied races came out with so little options and were ignored for nine months.
10/14/2018 05:04 PMPosted by Drede
Going to repost this because the same dead argument keeps coming back up.

[quote]The idea that every single Blood Elf would switch factions just because of 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 think they would delete their Blood Elves or completely stop playing it/the Horde?

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.

If blizzard changes their minds on allied races getting death knights, then I hope that high elves will get death knights as well. We need to draw people to the alliance.
10/14/2018 09:56 AMPosted by Wallurian
10/13/2018 09:02 PMPosted by Lisbick
...

...

Reasons why I will support High Elves until the end of this game.


Me too. Honestly at this point. I just ignore the Antis. Because after dealing with them for 10 whole months its probably for the best to not feed the Trolls and continue supporting for True Iconic Races.

Not only do i support for High Elves but also other 3 Warcraft 2 races like Forest Trolls, Wildhammmer Dwarves, and Ogres.

10/14/2018 08:33 AMPosted by Mythlor
Fun fact: The Humans in Warcraft 3 originally had a female Half Elf hero with archer "city/wood elf" theme before it was scrapped.

It's clearly a theme they were willing to develop, and can do so again.


As long as Half Elves have Quel'dorei High Elf Features like Tattoos from Warcraft 2, Different Eye Color, and Different ear options and etc. I'll be fine with it.


Oh i see how it is. All the Antis are automatically trolls just for disagreeing with you all. Ok then, we see how it is.
High Elf Death Knights would be interesting for sure.

In fact all Thalassian Death Knights being Blood Elves has always bothered me. A lot of them were raised before the rise of Blood Elves and there's no reason to assume they would just ditch the Alliance as well in favor of the Horde after being Scourge.

Kol'tira is the biggest example. He "chose" to join the Horde when he was lacking purpose despite Thassarian being his bestie there being High Elves right there in Dalaran. Bleh.

Just another lore casualty of the Blood Elf Horde integration.

10/14/2018 05:49 PMPosted by Nixnil

Oh i see how it is. All the Antis are automatically trolls just for disagreeing with you all. Ok then, we see how it is.


Less pearl clutching, more substantive arguments.
1 Like
10/14/2018 04:49 PMPosted by Calero

While this would make the loud group of players very happy, it would also probably tip the faction imbalance into a really bad place that would be difficult if not impossible to correct.


I agree it would tip the faction balance and it does steal thunder, but it would not be impossible or all that difficult to balance aesthetically at least. Giving Horde Undead Night Elves for example. However I don't think it is that great of an idea by itself.

As many people who want High Elves this implementation it would cause a lot more people, who are even more vocal, to be crying for more non elven races. This may only be my opinion but I think the majority will not find simple ol' High Elves all that intriguing(like me), same with Undead Night Elves (if they actually went that route).

Blizzard should know this so I'd hope they'd introduce a lot more options for those players who are already satisfied with the elven variants in place, either instead of, or on top of a High Elf implementation.
Just some more food for thought.

Some of the cultural themes I would like to see explored for potential Alliance High Elves is how they would look and act within Alliance society. What cultural aspects would they still retain from their Thalassian linage and what new aspects from Alliance society would they adopt? I could see some working their way up to the higher echelons of alliance society while others branching out into new aspects that would be consider atypically for Elves to occupy. Adaptation and resiliency are the key themes that I keep coming back to in my thoughts.

The aristocracy theme plays well with mages, priests, and paladins while the laymen occupancy works well for rangers, warriors, and other classes that play to the survivalist fantasy. But regardless of social hierarchy they achieve, their is a sense to me that High Elves had to work to achieve what they currently have. Being exiles in a land that has poor relations with their larger kin coupled with the idea that they have to prove themselves through accomplishment or loyalty could be fun themes to explore. I would also like to see how they would grow both in their perspective of the broader world and their personal goals. It must be a very humbling to to go from an advance noble society to living among what they once perceived as the lesser races. Would they find value in the ideas and the ways of life that lie outside of Silvermoon's walls and would these new experiences be worth fighting for as the world is brought to war?
1 Like