That’s the problem though, helf people explicitly do not want to play horde, and addition of those options to belves while velves either get nothing or become more deeply voidy would just be salt on the wounds. It wouldn’t convince anybody to reroll, it’d just make a lot of people that much more disappointed. Could easily be the straw that leads some to quit.
If Blizzard didn’t want players to think about, or ask for high elves (or high elf customization features) they would have stopped including them on the Alliance side in literally every expansion after BC. High elves always had this presence in the Alliance, more so than many of the core races in the Alliance. Their popularity is a result of Blizzard showing Alliance players them, and then telling them they will never get them. When void elves were introduced it was kind of a “but honey, we have high elves at home.” Situation. Now that natural skins were given to void elves the flood gates have opened, and high elf fans are excited to finally get the appearances of the race they wanted in the game on Alliance since seeing the Silver Covenant in Wotlk.
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(Commentary): So you’re saying that the difference only applies to playable races? I thought the OP had made it clear that wasn’t the case when someone brought up the argument of red/orange names being the way to tell the difference. Seems to me one has two ways to argue this point; either from a playable race standpoint, or an NPC standpoint, and the OP’s words seem to suggest it wasn’t from a playable race standpoint.
I’m sorry but I’ve personally seen jealousy of the jewelry and ears, and they do both share blue eyes.
See, that’s cool, but two races can’t have it. That deletes the point of having two of those races. Seeing as void elves cannot interact with the sunwell without corrupting it, and that high elves have pilgrimage to a horde sunwell, in a horde quel’thalas, they really should just rejoin. There’s barely a reason not to. What, is it worth not going home for some political difference? Stay in exile forever from their heavenly comforts in Quel’thalas, and an infinite source of magic? It’s a bit unrealistic for the majority of those high elves to go anywhere but with us.
no op brought that up when someone implied she was saying she was incapable of telling them apart in battle
I really feel we are reading 2 different threads here
I’ve seen this as well and when I’ve seen it, it’s normally in a “Blood Elves got alllllllll this jewelry and all we got is skin tones for VEs” which to me is tone deaf every time it’s phrased like that and shows a lack of understanding the BE players but what ever.
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Void elves really don’t have that much lore and culture. They definitely should get some more!
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Give Blood Elves more stuff in general, Give Void Elves more void stuff.
(Commentary): You’re looking at it from a Blood Elf’s perspective, not a High Elf’s. To you, they should come home to all the magic they could ever want and the, ‘heavenly comforts of Quel’Thalas.’ But, their addiction is already sated by the Sunwell wherever they are, so why seek out infinite magic? At this point its a bit more than political difference. Think back to Alleria’s interaction with Vereesa on the Vindicaar, hearing that Sylvanas was in the Horde. She was shocked, outraged, and quite obviously felt betrayed by that. The Horde invaded Quel’Thalas, slew untold people, and nearly wiped out the entirety of the Windrunner family. Their beloved younger brother, Lirath, was killed by the Orcs.
(Commentary): Now imagine yourself as a High Elf for a moment. Your people tred down a dark path to feed their addiction to magic. This involved morally and ethically questionable choices, hard choices for survival. You chose to abstain. For this, you were labelled an exile, cast out of Quel’Thalas forever. What did you do? You turned to the Alliance, and they welcomed you with open arms. Now, from the Alliance you watch your people continue to spiral into darkness until the Sunwell itself becomes a portal for a new Burning Legion invasion, and at the last second they are pulled back from the brink of damnation by Velen, a leader of the Alliance. The Sunwell is restored. Your own magical addiction is now sated. Why? Thanks to the efforts of the Alliance and Velen.
(Commentary): Well, that’s certainly a major thing. You’d think the Blood Elves would reconsider being allied with the murderers of your family, friends, and loved ones, right? Nope. They continue to ally with the Horde, with the people who slaughtered your kin. It boggles your mind that they can stand to mingle with those monsters. Except, they do. And then they get caught up, repeatedly, in these major tragedies. Why? For the Horde. Theramore? The Theft of the Divine Bell? Teldrassil? Over and over the Blood Elves are dragged through the mud by the Horde! Used as fodder for whatever the Warchief’s current war campaign is.
(Commentary): Now, by this point, you’ve not only been supported by your allies in the Alliance who also restored the Sunwell and ended your own addiction, but you’ve built a new life for yourself there. You have a home. You might even have a new family. Does it seem remotely worth it to give all that up just to go back to Quel’Thalas? A land where dissenters are exiled or mind-wiped into compliance? A land where you’ll be dragged into whatever war the next Troll, Orc, or Undead decides to waste your people’s life on?
(Commentary): High Elves in the Alliance have homes, families, and allies whom have repeatedly proven themselves. Why leave that?
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For a healthier endgame progression population of course! (said completely in jest)
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That’s hard to argue against, well said. 
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I understand this was one pathway out of many, and that high elves aren’t all consolidated in one part of Azeroth or all part of the Alliance. However, the thing I know most about most elves in fantasy, and specifically Thalassians, is that they want to be left alone more than anything. The Alliance is not that. The Alliance is a place where you are welcome, yes, they will help you, yes, but you will help them too.
The blood elf ties to the Horde were always because it was the best choice, not because it was well-liked or popular. It was utilitarian. I guarantee blood elves noses wrinkle when going to orgrimmar, and they give a condescending look toward anything in it. But it doesn’t matter, because they get to exist.
The example with the divine bell will never happen again as the warchief position is just abolished, and Garrosh was a special case that failed the Horde.
With this reasoning, I cannot think that if an opportunity came for them to be re-accepted into quel’thalas, that the majority of them would just ignore it. Especially with the current government.
(Commentary): The Alliance supports one another, yes. That said, it’s never been to the point where one needs to commit all they have to it. Nations have deployed token forces in the past, as an example. You are supported by the Alliance and support it in turn, in whatever way you can. No High Elf is being dragged off the streets of Stormwind and conscripted into the 7th Legion.
(Observation): You cannot say the same about the Horde. After the events of the Sunwell, Lor’themar wanted to keep Quel’Thalas out of the Northrend campaign. The kingdom desperately needed time to recover from Kael’thas’ betrayal and all the other momentous events. They needed to bring back Kael’thas’ remaining followers and ensure they returned to the fold in a peaceful transition. Instead, Sylvanas threatened to leave Quel’Thalas to the Scourge and pull all the support of the Horde from it unless the Blood Elves committed to the Northrend Campaign.
(Commentary): Really, for a race that wants to be left alone more than anything, the Horde has a way of dragging them into wars they have no earthly business being a part of.
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We are talking about a Horde in the past, here. I mean, Sylvanas is gone.
(Commentary): So you think High Elves should ignore the past all the way up to and including the most recent war and it’s atrocities? You think they shouldn’t look at what happened to the Night Elves, see the blatant parallels to the fall of Quel’Thalas during the Third War, and question how the Blood Elves could’ve ever been a part of it in good conscious? You think that because a council of leaders has stepped up that the High Elves should think it’s now safe to abandon their allies, their families and friends, and go to Quel’Thalas to… be in Quel’Thalas again?
(Commentary): Don’t get me wrong. I think on some level the High Elves do want to return to their homeland in some capacity. Just not when it’s a part of the Horde. When Alleria returned to Azeroth she didn’t immediately go to Quel’Thalas to join it. She instead sought to bring it back to the Alliance. She wasn’t willing to give up her family and fight by the monsters who slaughtered them and continued to threaten them.
(Query): Why would any High Elf do differently than Alleria?
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We tried and were told no. Repeatedly. Every excuse under the sun was given to the community as to why High Elves couldn’t be implemented - then they went and brought in Void Elves, which absolutely negated every single argument that had been tossed in about scarcity or appearance.
Folks who wanted High Elves were understandably frustrated. Folks who wanted literally anything but another elf race were understandably frustrated. Folks who were tired of seeing reskins of races were understandably frustrated.
Blizzard did themselves and the players dirty by not just going with High Elves, but I’m also someone would would have traded just about every single one of the AR’s for Silvermoon and the Exodar to have gotten updated with new assets.
In a lot of ways, Blizzard pitches a really neat concept and then massively drops the ball on the release - Nightborne are a huge example of it, and are suffering far more than either VE’s or BE’s in customization.
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Sylvanas is not part of the Horde.
Practicality and degrading of morale over time of just being in some remote hellhole. It’s easier than ever for them to do it, especially after this peace. Only people like Alleria have real drama due to direct family issues, you know, her sister being a zombie and her not being able to interact with a well, causing a whole complex to bring a nation to her side. Something that the void whispers keep telling her to do, too.
Anymore… not part of the Horde anymore you mean.
But she was the warchief who said “BURN IT!” when they committed genocide against the Night Elves.
(Observation): Sylvanas was not alone in burning Teldrassil. Nor was she alone in the defiling of Darkshore. In the cinematic you see a Blood Knight. Well, before Malfurion kills her.
(Commentary): You’re assuming the High Elves’ living conditions are a, ‘Hell Hole.’ I’d like to see evidence of that. From what we’ve seen they’re quite comfortable. Rangers get to be in lodges in the woods they love, Mages get to stay in cities with their towers, etc…
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That wasn’t the plan, and there are rare moments in history where masses of people decided to just disobey orders like you want to happen.
Any alliance would have done the same thing born and raised in a culture where you obey the warchief. Actually, they did it with the Defias.
I was primarily thinking of Alleria Stronghold and Shattrath. Dalaran elves have it good, yes.