I sort of go back and forth. On one hand, copy paste between races (as in hairstyles) is a good way to get a lot of mileage out of a look. My blood elf pally was rocking the draenei twist haircut for a long, long time before the Lor’themar ponytail.
On the other hand, it’s soooooooooooo–oooooooo boring. Not getting anything new is lame.
And on the third hand, I see the Drac’thyr getting the high def version of the dwarf shieldmaiden cut and I am smitten with envy.
From what I recall actually before the site went down, Void Elves were actually around 4-5% of the total Alliance population at 120 in BfA. The jump would’ve been because of the ridiculous reputation grind to unlock them being removed.
I’m of the opinion that all first wave allied races that were essentially copy and pasted should have been given custom animations (dance/casting, etc) that make them feel unique and further inform their identity.
On the issue of Blood Elves and Void Elves specifically: the developers need to bolster the unique identity of the void part of Void Elves, because right now they’re giving budget Blood Elves for the Alliance. As for the Blood Elves, their visual identity needs to be expanded for essentially being copied over to the Alliance.
Custom animations would be awfully nice as an option.
Could be done through the dance studio they promised us back in Wrath.
Entirely possible. Like I said I may be misremembering the actual percentage.
I do agree it’s probably more likely that it’s the reputation removal that can account for a jump like that. One reason I want to see the data is to compare it to the date and the other ARs as well.
Should show an increase across the board at the time of the reputation removal for all ARs.
I am very certain though that void elves had by bfa become third highest played race for the Alliance.
That would be wonderful.
I agree with this.
It’s great that folk can play what they want to, but I’d really like to get something for my end of the race as well.
And my Belves need something…
Oddly enough, I’m not part of the max level statistics there.
…though my void elf is at 54, so a few more bgs and I’ll join the party.
I got two at max. Probably have many more if SLs hadn’t drained me of so much desire to play…
Love my velves.
I have more Darkspear trolls than I do short elves of both flavors.
But I really like trolls. And any characters who survive my constant winnowing of my roster are dearly beloved.
But what I’m really invested in is customizations as a concept. And call me crazy, but more for elves means more for everyone, usually. And as well as the joy of tweaking my own characters, I love hanging out on Wyrmrest and seeing what people have come up with and how they’re portraying it in game. So the more choices, the better! Even if they don’t always line up with what I’ll utilize on my roster.
I think there’s plenty of distinction as is. Remember that the entire crux of the void elves is that Blizzard didn’t feel Highelves were distinct enough from blood elves. So they pulled an explanation out of nowhere for these “void elves” which are actually fewer in number than high elves which you could still find in places around Azeroth like the Silver Covenant, the Argent Tourney Grounds and in Dalaran. Highelves were literally uncorrupted blood elves that chose to remain loyal to the Alliance.
But Blizzard gave us “Void Elves” which have purple hued skin or tentacles. So if you want them to look different to a blood elf? You can do so. They have since added the option to make a void elf look like a high elf with blue hued eyes, etc. It’s a compromise but it’s one I feel kind of finds the middle ground. Your character will still say “Void Elf” in the tool tip. But you have a greater degree of control over what your character looks like.
I do think more options in general are always a positive. I saw some folks mention different hair styles. If you can make one hair style work for multiple races? Then why not? Variety is the spice of life.
I don’t feel that Blizzard shafted anyone. They gave players more options if they wanted a high elf. Like I said the Void Elves always felt like they just invented lore to justify not including High Elves because they didn’t feel that highelves were “unique” enough. But there was more lore justification for high elves because of the number of them found in areas in the game. It made void elves always appear to be contrived imo.
That said? I wouldn’t be opposed to more options for not only void elves but all the races in general. The more customization options that exist, the more players feel like the character is their own. And I would even agree with folks that the allied races should have their own animations, dances, etc. The void elves love them or hate them, exist now, and the players that do enjoy them should be able to have the same kind of control over their characters as other players enjoy on other races.
I feel there is some nuance to be discussed here. We’ve seen in other games where some folks were accused of cultural appropriation because they gave their avatar “buns” and they tweeted “Space Buns” thinking it looked like Leia.
There is a difference between cultural appropriation and appreciation. Enjoying the cuisine of one culture for example.
Hairstyles for example there may be more of an argument to be made. You wouldn’t expect a human to say start running around dressing like a Troll, etc.
But like real people, I don’t think that void elves would be solely defined by what jewelry they wear. To your point, yes I think it’s fair to say that they would perhaps have mementos of their past life. Remember that void elves i.e. those under Umbric were cast out of Silvermoon. Which is kind of ironic considering how Blood Elves were tainted by the fel (hence their green eyes) but messing with the void? That was a bridge too far. 
From a roleplay perspective…there is nothing saying that all the void elves would be eager to embrace their change. I think it’s possible that some may even regret their meddling with the void which is a dangerous magic. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to suggest that they perhaps lament their loss of homes (perhaps even families) in Silvermoon. It’s also likely that some of these void elves were once branded as traitors by the very Alliance they now are part of under Marshal Garithos. And then after having found a home in Silvermoon they are branded as traitors again and cast out. There’s a lot of interesting possibilities there. Maybe they view being a void elf as something they aren’t so proud of and would be reluctant to wear jewelry that reminded them of what they are.
I would agree that just because one race has something doesn’t mean another should automatically get the same. More options is always better and I feel like there is room for cross-pollination of various cosmetic options depending on the context.
I’ve browsed the internet. I linked it on Discord, but thought to link it here actually.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/276315/distribution-of-world-of-warcraft-characters-by-race/
This was recorded in December of 2019, and does mention about being also from RealmPop for one of its sources as well as Blizzard’s API, though not sure whether if from at max level at the time or for all levels. Though even with RealmPop, the numbers weren’t accurate, so, same thing with this, just take it with a grain of salt.
I mean.
I imagine being a void elf is different from being a shadow priest. Just like being a fel blood elf or a demon hunter is different from being a warlock.
A Paladin and a Warlock or a Light Priest and a Shadow Priest, are hardly going to have the same little electrictfying paini when shaking each others hands, like what Alleria, a void-elf, and Turalyon, a Lightforged human, had.
It is the void and the light manifested in a whole other form. The void that Alleria and the Void Elves were affected by, was also a whole other form than just shadowy mists and brain-damages that the shadow priests throw around. Alleria was injected with literal void.
Throwing Alleria into the Sunwell is probably like throwing cold water into extremely hot oil. Throwing a shadow priest into the Sunwell is just “throwing” steam into extremely hot oil.
That said… that is my perception of it… I doubt blizzard even thought about it as much as I did… and it is clear I did not give it much thought.
Please do not put water on burning oil literally or metaphorically. It bad.
Thank you.
But I thought oil and water don’t mix…
I don’t think void elves are contrived at all, personally. We’ve seen time and time again how deeply the various elf races of Azeroth are affected by the magics they wield, yet they still manage to find success. If elves can wield other forbidden magics like fel, they can wield void magic. If elves (like demon hunters) can literally infuse themselves with demons and still manage to maintain their identities, then they can do so with void magic. The issue is that Blizzard didn’t do a very good job with the introductory story, which is why so many people view void elves as a joke vs. looking at how they fit into the broader picture.
I’m not saying that people are solely defined by things like jewelry. Just that their life experiences and choices would start to cause differences in what they choose to wear. There is, of course, always room for nuance. But for the sake of customization options for void elves and blood elves, it would just be nice to start getting options that are reflective of their distinct identities vs. looks that are just recycled from one to the other.
Actually no. The alliance won’t take them in as they are not simpathetic towards fel curruption as horde is.
There is also the fact that being as the ones that rommath might be simpathetic towards them as he came from keal’thas too.
How ever light-elves would be given to both sides to quell the high elf crowd, as high elves takes energy from the same source as blood elves do. And lets be honest, do we really want to see void elves more watered down with light customizations due to the need for “high elf” customizations?
Lying to yourself is an unhealthy habit.
Doesn’t fit for VE, but that arguement is already done with.
VE don’t need more of it.
I am fine with model toggles though.
I feel with BE they could toggle with felblood elves for example.
That’s a fair point. I would also agree with you in that I think Blizzard didn’t do a great job when it came to their introduction.
Contrived may not have been the right word. But it felt a bit contrived because of the reasoning they gave. I don’t remember the exact source atm. But I believe they argued that High elves weren’t different enough. And then they went into the population. Which was an even poorer argument when the void elves are but a fraction of a fraction. Blood elves were once high elves so the void elves which were already blood elves were an even smaller fraction. Had they said what you just did? I think it would have better justified their reasoning.
I do agree that more customization would ultimately be a good thing!
Nothing about your post makes any sense. People asking for VE customisations are the ones to blame for the lack of VE customisations? Blizzard is to blame.
you dont know their post history obviously. they claim void elves brought them back to wow but then spend 3 years crying about not having normal blood elf skin tones and, oh yea, use a blood elf skin tone on their velf
and um, let me check. yea, their void aspect thread still instantly segues into the legolas fantasy for the first paragraph in the thread and is all they actually talk about in the void aspect thread. legolas elf mentions is probably in the millions in that thread
although with 7 posts im sure you already know this
Almost like some people prefer playing a particular faction and want to play something they enjoy on that faction
Non-void, blood elf customization options were logical on void elves from day one and people rightfully wanted to have them to play with without being forced onto horde.