A real issue of making playable High Elves
The Horde player Shelldin@Zul’jin brings up the real problem of making High Elves playable, and the solution to it.
I ’m Horde through and through so the outcome is not directly relevant to me, but i definitely think that the alliance should get playable High Elves. It makes much more sense as far as lore goes and is something long desired by the alliance player base.
The only concern on Blizzard’s side that I find legit is the concern about confusing aesthetics. As is, the only difference between blood and high elves is eye color which is almost unnoticeable on other players. […] brings up Night elves vs Nightborne which is a fair point, however, it works better because Nightborne have different frames/body types (much thinner and bonier) and have different hair colors/styles, facial features etc. These things make it much less likely that an alliance would confuse a Nightborne for a “night elf on the horde.” If there were playable high elves Horde players would have a much harder time distinguishing Blood Elf from High Elf.
(Also to be clear I’m aware they share the same animations/skeletons)
“But Shelldin, I thought you said you supported alliance getting playable high elves?”
And you’re right I did and I do.
Get Legacy of Quel'thalas’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Now the problem of distinguishing between the two in game is an easily solved one. Given them new/different customization options that don’t overlap with blood elves.
Biggest one would be hair color. Blood elves have mostly Autumn hair colors (brown, auburn, redhead, etc). Give High elves brighter colors such as blue (think Tyrygosa elf form) and slightly less vibrant hues of some of the gnomes colors such as pink or purple. There’s a good chance that H elves would have to give up blonde/silver hair unless Blizzard could make a version that stood out from the blood elf versions, which is totally doable (think Lightforged white hair vs Blood Elf white hair).
Hair color would be the trickiest but most obvious imo. Hair styles would be much easier. I don’t feel like it would be overly difficult to create new styles that are distinct enough to not confuse with blood elf ones.
Other things that could help would be distinct jewelry/head accessories or special facial markings (two additional distinguishing features between Night Elves and Nightborne).
I have a great love for the troll tribes in World of Warcraft and have been waiting for playable Zandalari since I started playing. I can only imagine my disappointment and frustration if I got handed some watered down version instead. I hate the Alliance but I truly, truly hope the get some real high elves.
Good luck!
Authorship of this text by Shelldin@Zul’jin
