Either there’s a typo or you’re not understanding what I’m saying. I’m saying that for Horde there was no second thought that needed to be done when thinking about bringing them in as a new race to play. Meanwhile Alliance has to be okay with a compromise with a race nobody really asked for.
High Elves and Blood Elves aren’t the same. And it would’ve been a great opportunity to expand and explore the lore about them. Now it’s just Void Elves who won’t get anything past their initial startup as a race in terms of lore.
Regardless, it would’ve been a slam dunk W for Blizzard if they brought in High Elves for Alliance just like it was a slam dunk W for them when they brought Zandalari for the Horde. Primarily because there was context and build up to when they were finally playable.
I kind of disagree. The most out of character thing is void elves being exiled for their research. Blood elf lore is kind of all over the place over the years because it’s split between the writers wanting to make them ends justify the means magic users and a society that supposedly likes the light now.
Because the Z-trolls were a mirror to the Kultirans.
Like the whole relationship those races had with the horde/alliance is in parallel.
You would have a better argument if you compared them to the Vulpera which I should add, were not well received by everyone either. A lot of Horde players disliked the cutsy race joining them.
I’d wager that it was the incessant “give me give me” spoiled brat attitude that the high Elf fans exube.
I know.
But what im saying is that those asking for normal high elves were asking for something they could never get without compromise. Because they exist already as blood elves on the horde.
It was compromise or nothing.
Those who wanted zandalari trolls asked for something that could actually be delivered.
99.9% the same.
Until like 20 years ago they were all 1 big happy family.
Theyre the same race. Physically identical to each other. Its just a political rift that seperates them.
Well…when it comes to the Vulpera if ya know, you umm…ahem know as to why they were added.
The thing is about the Vulpera though is that their idea is at least completely fresh. Not in terms of their skeletons they pretty much move the same way as Goblins but you know…furry. But if you think about it, there was 2 paths when looking at adding a new elf race to the Alliance and they went with the choice nobody asked for. So to address this point…
If you run a business/company and you have consumers telling you constantly what they want, doing a 180 is a great way to get your customers riled up. Now I’m not talking about bending over backwards for Karens. I’m talking about people who loved the game, played the game for years all the way back to the RTS, seeing High Elves in WC2 and 3, then hoping to eventually be able to play them only to be told no for arbitrary reasons.
If you want to give your consumers a different product then what they asked for, they needed to do a better job at showing why this is the better option instead of just saying deal with it.
As much as I hate to bring it up because it sends people into a frenzy, Classic WoW was a great example of how to get your consumers to hate you and make an entire meme around your response. Diablo Immortal is another great example of just not listening to your consumers, doing what you want and not even trying to show why it’s better than just giving people Diablo 4. Which people are super excited about
If we’re looking back at previous versions of high elves then it largely comes down to “what’s in it for me?” with them since they didn’t exactly care that much about humans as friends as temporary allies.
This is not exactly the foundation of some deep and abiding trust between the two so much as two neighbors who each mind their own business.
So are the Pandaren. But they were fine with doing that, exploring the lore of the race and was overall a net positive for the games lore. At least in my opinion I know there are people who weren’t too fond of Pandalands lore.
Also Void Elves brought the exact same percentage in terms of lore. It has not been explored and there’s really no reason to explore it. So literally it came down to aesthetic and making something completely new was a bad decision. If they wanted to branch to Void Elves down the line, I think that would’ve been cool. But that would’ve leaned into the idea of class skins which is an entirely different argument.
Yeah but with pandaren they were brought into the game with the intention of being neutral and given to each faction at the same time.
With the elves its different as blood elves are the hordes most popular race and it was over a decade later.
And to me, aesthetic and theme is the absolute top factor for what should or should not be a playable race.
A new playable race should be visually different from the other races.
Thats why playable kul tirans look so drastically different to normal playable humans. Because they couldnt just recycle the exact same race.
Horde players need to choose a hill to die on with bouncing back and forth between this.
However, there are fundamental differences between the Kaldorei, Sin’dorei, Quel’dorei, Rin’dorei, and the Shal’dorei.
All Elves originated from Kaldorei(Tyrande/Malfurion). Quel’dorei is a societal echelon who were hyper focused on magic (Aszhara). Many of the Quel’dorei associated with their lust for magic were banished and eventually founded Quel’thalas.
These elves then fragmented further into Sin’dorei. A majority of these elves make up those Quel’dorei who survived the 3rd War. The few remained with the Alliance such as the Quel’Danil lodge. These Elves swore off all magic.
All that being said, there’s a lot of major differences between all of the Elves now and at this point they are respectively those types of Elves for a variety of reasons.
Part of the issue with high elves and the one that gets pointedly ignored by the proponents of them is that they add nothing to the alliance. They’re a race of pretty people in a faction that has plenty of pretty people and nothing that actually distinguishes them as a people nor a niche that they fill that the alliance needed.
Like at least with the Velves (botched as their intro might have been) you got something unique and distinct that didn’t come across as the most generic fantasy race option possible.
Because people who tend to play BloodElves and want high elves generally also like nicer aesthetic things and are sick of the mud hut’s we’ve been dealing with for over 15 years.
Also, maybe some of us played WC3 and the blood mage was our favourite hero when we played as humans.
also also…
and? there’s even fewer Void Elves but they’re a playable race. Seriously their entire race fits into a single 1 room building…
I disagree. If you look at some of the Allied Races there aren’t much of a visual difference between the races.
The Tauren and the Highmountain Tauren pretty much look the same except different horns
The Dwaves and the Dark Iron Dwarves, pretty much look the same except one has more of a fiery flare
The Draenei and Lighborn Draenei, pretty much the same except one has light based visuals
It would’ve followed the same theme but pushed it slightly further with them being on opposite factions. Kul Tirans are definitely a net positive because they visually look different, you are correct. But I don’t feel like it’s the same argument because we can point to other races in the game that look VERY similar to each other. High Elves would’ve pretty much been Blood Elves with minor differences just like the ones I listed above.
But even in your own statement, it was botched. They did not present why going with Void Elves is a better option than sticking with High Elves. That’s a major issue.
So again as a business/company, is it good to deny your consumers what they want and compensate it with something they didn’t ask for without trying to showcase why their choice was the better option?
The issue you are ignoring is that the High elves are bland and add nothing to the alliance. There is no perspective, no depth no real story here other then them being an entire race of Waifu’s and Husbando’s for humanity.
Only the Troggs have less depth as a race then them.
