Reasons why High Elves aren’t playable, untrue or totally false?
A collection of counter arguments made by the High Elven supporter Magnis
The population is too small
Yeah, we’re all gonna call cow poop on this one, as we’re handed a far smaller group with the Void Elves (among others, like the Gnomes or Darkspear, who are at times described as extremely small in number.)
They are playable… on the HORDE. They can’t be Alliance.
The argument that a race can only be on one faction held more merit, perhaps, before the Nightborne happened. As shown by the Nightborne, a sub-race or sister-race doesn’t have to align with its kind for Faction.
(See also: Pandaren.)
They’d just be Blood Elves with blue eyes!
As shown recently, a minor twist on appearance with tattoos, hairstyles, stances or a myriad of other tiny changes is considered good enough to differentiate an Allied Race (Highmountain Tauren, Light Forged Draenei, Void Elves.) There is absolutely no reason this couldn’t be the case with High Elves.
They don’t really exist, in lore or in-game.
Honestly, if anyone is arguing this, they haven’t been paying attention over the years. High Elves and the Silver Covenant have shown up with frequent regularity since World of Warcraft inception and all the way through Legion. They are present in almost every expansions major plot, at least in some representation. People asking for High Elves are asking to play part of the Alliance that already exists and is shown, regularly.
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Which brings me to….
Playable High Elves would break the population balance.
Developers have openly stated that Blood Elves were the answer to the Horde’s small population troubles, and a core Alliance race was given a story (a bit hamfisted at times...) that led it to be on the Horde.
And it worked! The Horde and Alliance have been relatively close in population for some time now, if the numbers we are given are correct. But the question becomes: are we still in the same situation? Would the Horde be too drastically reduced if High Elves were available on Alliance?
Honestly, I don’t think so. Between the Nightborne and upright Orcs, Zandalari and everything else, I really feel like the Horde is currently on a path to grow in number quite a bit. Further, Blood Elf loyalty among the race’s players has had over a decade to grow — I’d like to believe they wouldn’t jump ship in a mass exodus, simply because High Elves were allowed.
But here’s the thing… We don’t know! Blizzard does, and they opted to put Void Elves in instead, as sort of a “here, you asked for a juicy beef cheeseburger, so we gave you a turkey burger with sprouts and soy cheese! It’s even better!” compromise of sorts. They have decided they still need the Blood Elf population uncompromised, in any way… For now. But that can change.
So maybe it will happen in a year or so, as an Allied race, when Blizzard knows they can make a ton of $ and look like heroes for finally adding the High Elves - and also when Blizzard knows the Horde population has grown from its other recent additions to no longer need the Blood Elf population to remain as large or larger than any other in-game.
Authorship of this text by Magnis
