The debate about playable High Elves has been as old as World of Warcraft itself. With Shadowlands, there is finally the possibility of creating High Elves – just not quite as players had wished.
How do the High Elves come in Shadowlands? With the upcoming expansion Shadowlands there will be a number of new customization options for player characters. Including for the Blood Elves of the Horde.
So far, these options cannot be tested in the Alpha of Shadowlands, but the data miners from wowhead have already found the new customizations. One of them is blue eyes for the Blood Elves:
In addition to the eye options, wowhead also found body jewelry for female Blood Elves, which is still unconfirmed:
The problem with the “High Elves”
Are they really High Elves? That is a difficult question because ultimately, High Elves and Blood Elves are the same people, differing primarily only in eye color. The Blood Elves have green eyes because they are addicted to Fel magic.
In that sense: Yes, they are indeed High Elves. They would just need to be played out as such for role-playing purposes. For players who are not interested in the lore, they are simply Blood Elves with blue eyes, just like those with golden eyes existed before.
This could lead to trouble: High Elves have been a long-standing demand from players. In a poll we conducted back in 2017, High Elves were the most desired race by MeinMMO readers.
However, according to the story, they belong to the Alliance – not the Horde, as is currently the case. Since they gained popularity in Warcraft 3, they have been allies of the Humans and only after their expulsion did they join the Horde as Blood Elves.
As early as 2018, Game Director Ion Hazzikostas said: Anyone who wants to play High Elves should go to the Horde. This already caused trouble back then, and the new decision has sparked the debate once again. Shortly after the discovery by wowhead, many threads emerged in the official forum, some of which had more than 786 responses.
Players cannot understand why the developers do not simply introduce High Elves as a playable race for the Alliance despite the strong demand. Similar frustration occurred with the introduction of Void Elves as an allied race in WoW: Legion.
The sentiment is already heated, as the new possibility to give Blood Elves a darker skin tone has also led to disputes. It remains to be seen whether the anger will dissipate or escalate.
