Ethereals could be an AR for Midnight what with their Void dealings. Naga are a lesser possibility, since they’d have to be given legs. I’m almost sure about Vrykul or some other similar titan adjacent race for TLT, possibly Taunka as well.
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The obvious answers?
High Elves in Midnight.
It’s a race the Devs have ample reason to believe both sides want, and it’d be about as easy to implement as possible. So easy, in fact, they could just combine Void Elves and Blood Elves into a single race on the character creation screen and be done with it. Alternatively, they could put in some actual effort and make the High Elves look different, using, say, the Nozdormu and Alexstraza visage form models.
Ethereals are an option, but given the expansion is about uniting the elves, and the popularity High Elves sparked on the forums, I don’t see Blizzard passing them up.
For War Within, Tuskarr are an option, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Vykrul became the neutral allied race. They’ve been in a lot of folks’ requests all along as well.
I feel like harpies should be higher on the list than naga.
- Already fully humanoid
- Flight as a special feature integrates well with WoW on multiple levels, unlike swimming
- Would not involve elf backstory part whatever
- Due to prevalence there implies doing something with Kalimdor
The question I have is if Blizzard would really have 3 playable races that could look exactly the same. After all having multiple race types is one thing (ex: 4 elves, 3 dwarves), but 3 playable races that can all look the same with the right customizations?
I’m not out dismissing the idea of Blizzard doing that, but I do think that people have to ask the question.
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We also know nothing of the additional patches for these expansions either. I’m hoping we finally get to see the Dark Troll Kingdom in War Within.
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Especially when we technically have high elf customization in both the Blood Elves and the Void Elves. I wouldnt object if they were added- Id say High Elves Alliance, Forest Trolls for Horde. But im not super confident in that happening.
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In Before the Dark Trolls decry Elves as the descendants of traitors who betrayed the loa and the world to embrace the transforming blessings of the alien moon goddess.
Hey now, don’t give them ideas.
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Instead of adding a new neutral race in midnight they could just add a ton of customization to blood elves and void elves.
This can just be wish fulfillment for elf fans that can cover further void/high elf for void elves and maybe san’layn and fel blood for blood elves.
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Wait, would general horde fans really want high elves? Blood elves have existed forever and there’s the blue eye option now. What would a renamed clone race really offer here?
If they did that they would most likely compress Void Blood and High elf into just “Thalassian Elf” and let both sides have all the customization. That would align with Metzen’s “unite the scattered elven tribes” plot point.
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Seems like one side is really getting a severely better deal out of this.
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Seems like their final solution, though. Put the high elf demands to bed at last.
Wouldn’t surprise me at this point. I’d been thinking, after the Eredar, that we were basically done with reskins of existing races, but then we got Earthen. That said, if they were to have High Elves use the Nozdormu and Alexstraza visage models, I think that would be sufficiently different enough for most players to be satisfied with the addition. We’d just need some reason why High Elves look different. Maybe Azeroth messes with them like she did by empowering the Aspects or something.
This harkens back years ago to the non-stop forum wars from BFA onwards regarding the High Elf request. While you had plenty of Alliance players wanting to play a race that had been given more relevance and time in the spotlight than some of the Alliance’s actually playable races, you also had Horde players saying Blood Elves were High Elves. Every suggestion for customization for High Elves was something these Horde players stated should be given to Blood Elves.
What that all culminated in, was Blood Elves getting blue eyes, and Void Elves getting natural skin tones and hair colors. In other words, Blizzard acknowledged how popular the request was on both sides of the fence.
Of course, that was something of a misreading of the room. Most of the Blood Elf players clamoring for blue eyes got salty real quick the moment Void Elves got natural skin tones. I can only remember one poster at the time who was genuinely happy for Blood Elves to get blue eyes.
Either way, the dialogue continues to this day, with Blood Elves stating they are High Elves, and Alliance players still asking for further options to help better immerse themselves as High Elves.
In other words, while normally I could see High Elves as an Alliance only Allied Race, paired with something like Amani Trolls for the Horde, it’s these efforts on the behalf of Blood Elf players which make it feel likely that High Elves would just be made a neutral race instead, since players on both sides continue to express a desire for them.
I did joke once that for Shadowlands Alliance would get Sylvar and Horde get Stoneborn.
They and ogres are long overdue
I really do think Satyr would be easy to do narratively, easy to manage asset wise, and totally unexpected—Typically an irresistible lure for Blizz.
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If blood elves absorb void elves to be playable by both factions will it be possible for night elves to absorb nightborne and be playable by both factions?
If we are reuniting the “elven tribes” surely we mean all of the elves.
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I don’t think they’re going to be merging any playable races. One, how would that work for racial abilities? And two, they’re just now introducing a third dwarf type. If the plan was to cut down the races they’d be smarter to make Earthen customizations, not a whole new race option.
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Man I don’t even want Earthen! But the trend, given that Dracthyr have sort of removed the argument of armor from the mix, would likely be Nerubian.
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I want this, but more. I want all elves in a seperate faction.
Tyrande can be all like “Y’know, ever since we’ve joined the Alliance, we’ve been punching bags. First the Warsong clan keeps trying to eat our trees STILL even after we all worked together at Nordrassil, and the Alliance did nothing. Then Garrosh sent more orcs to eat more trees, and the Alliance did nothing. Then after the absentee Alliance failed to provide any real help with Teldrassil, Anduin totally tried to gaslight me that if the Alliance helped reclaim Darkshore, we’d lose everywhere. So I just went there, we won back Darkshore, and oh look! The Alliance won everywhere else. Screw this. My fellow elves, what say you??”
Then Lor’themar can be all “y’know, like every couple years I think about leaving the Horde anyway, but we’re too pretty for the Alliance. Hanging out with other pretty elves? Sounds good, sign my people up.”
Umbric can say something like “yeah, like, you guys have all the lore and we have none of it. Maybe if I join you guys, my people can have lore too. I’m down.”
And then Thalyssra can be all “you guys all, every one of you, have better customization options and don’t have weird body rigging. If my people join, we too might see attention in the aesthetics department. I’m in.”
Finally, whoever leads the high elves this week can offer the following. “I literally have no choice in the matter because blood elves and void elves have joined, so by proxy I align my people with the Glorious Elven Empire.”
Then in unison they can like, warcry something universal to all elves. Something inspiring. Something that calls to elves’s primal nature.
“FOR THE MAILBOX DANCING!!!”
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