wow Game Director Ion Hazzikostas on Blood/Void Elf Blue Eyes

[Stan 5,240]

Game Director Ion Hazzikostas tweeted about why Blizzard ended up allowing Blood/Void Elves to have blue eyes, even though he said they were only intended for NPCs in the Zoltan Interview a while back.

Earlier this week, we looked at new Blood Elf/Void Elf customization options coming in the Shadowlands expansion, and much to our surprise, they included new blue eye color options, allowing players to technically become High Elves in the game.

Game Director Ion Hazzikostas replied in a tweet that they had a conversation with the team about new customization options and the recent blog is what they ended up with.

(Source)

I think @WatcherDev honestly knew for a while about the eye change options coming and still said it was NPCs only just to get a bit more of a laugh about it. I can say Id for sure do the same thing. Good that player agency is a priority again though.

Honestly that was the plan at the time, but the game is vast, so specific questions often go unexamined while attention is elsewhere. After that interview, the team spun up a fresh conversation about BElf/VElf customization options, and the recent blog lays out where we ended up.

[durdyenglish 298]

At this point, Elves are one race and each individual type of Elf more accurately represents a individual sect or unique culture.

The only discerning factor between all Elven races (aside from culture) is their font of power. This seems to be the single biggest driver in appearance and ability.

Here's your basic Elf Power math:

• Trolls + Well of Eternity = Night Elves
• Night Elves + Well of Eternity = Highborne
• Highborne - Well of Eternity = High Elves
• High Elves + Fel/Light = Blood Elves
• (Blood Elves - Fel/Light) + Void = Void Elves
• High Elves + Void = Void Elves
• (Highborne - Well of Eternity) + Nightwell = Nightborne

 

[Arcling 898]

Makes sense, with Sunwell restored several years ago, Blood Elves are more light/arcane (hence having options of blue and yellow eyes), with only some practicing fel, similarly to other races. Void Elves have been transformed by the Void energies, but they also use other schools like arcane, fel, and even some light.

[Migol 433]

I'll note that the lore is getting pretty mangled here.     Void Elfs were already kind of a looney tunes subject.    At this point we have same species x2 who can't communicate (pandaren+elves), two slightly different elves who are directly related but diffferent wells (Night Elves/Nightborne), Blood Elves asa whole who got semi-corrupted by fel and still suffer from it to a degree, but absolutely couldn't abide some of their people being semi corrupted by void magic...but Shadow priests and warlocks are still ok, probably?

[Monlyth 75]

3 hours ago, Migol said:

I'll note that the lore is getting pretty mangled here.     Void Elfs were already kind of a looney tunes subject.    At this point we have same species x2 who can't communicate (pandaren+elves), two slightly different elves who are directly related but diffferent wells (Night Elves/Nightborne), Blood Elves asa whole who got semi-corrupted by fel and still suffer from it to a degree, but absolutely couldn't abide some of their people being semi corrupted by void magic...but Shadow priests and warlocks are still ok, probably?

I think the main issue is that the Alliance and Horde are still at war and hate each other when it makes no sense story-wise. They've been at war for decades now; any rational nations would have tired of the constant bloodshed a long time ago, and sued for peace.

[Arcling 898]

7 hours ago, Migol said:

Void Elfs were already kind of a looney tunes subject.    At this point we have same species x2 who can't communicate (pandaren+elves), 

Those elves were saved by Alleria, so they know how to control their powers. They actually can communicate, due to sharing secondary languages. Same with demon hunters.

Edited May 31, 2020 by Arcling

[Desumetal 3]

Correction - void and blood elves can definitely communicate with their secondary languages.  Same with pandaren.

[Yevhen 18]

On 5/30/2020 at 5:03 PM, durdyenglish said:

 

• Night Elves + Well of Eternity = Highborne
• Highborne - Well of Eternity = High Elves
•  

 

The nerd in me goes: Night Elves = High Elves

[Yridaa 490]

On 5/30/2020 at 10:08 PM, Monlyth said:

I think the main issue is that the Alliance and Horde are still at war and hate each other when it makes no sense story-wise. They've been at war for decades now; any rational nations would have tired of the constant bloodshed a long time ago, and sued for peace.

1. The human race IRL =/= "would have tired of the constant bloodshed" (i.e. Certain Orc clans certainly thrive on battles/brawls/bloodshed)

2. There were times when they sued for peace and were close to it too (I.e. "The Siege of Undercity" in WotLK; Isle of Thunder in MoP (Both led to true truces for example))

3. Just because you can't stand each other doesn't mean you're at constant war with one another. There were a whole slew of encounters that weren't war towards each other. (Legion start, Draenor start, Cataclysm end to name a few)

Crises evolve very quickly in the WoW lore so things change much more often unlike IRL. You don't suddenly get a new race joining your alliance or Death Knights you have to sign deals with or Demon Hunters coming back.

 

Rapid change causes friction and new leadership happens often on both sides and they're both being put under extreme duress from outside sources. You can't compare this to real life "rational nations".

[Monlyth 75]

7 hours ago, Yridaa said:

1. The human race IRL =/= "would have tired of the constant bloodshed" (i.e. Certain Orc clans certainly thrive on battles/brawls/bloodshed)

2. There were times when they sued for peace and were close to it too (I.e. "The Siege of Undercity" in WotLK; Isle of Thunder in MoP (Both led to true truces for example))

3. Just because you can't stand each other doesn't mean you're at constant war with one another. There were a whole slew of encounters that weren't war towards each other. (Legion start, Draenor start, Cataclysm end to name a few)

Crises evolve very quickly in the WoW lore so things change much more often unlike IRL. You don't suddenly get a new race joining your alliance or Death Knights you have to sign deals with or Demon Hunters coming back.

 

Rapid change causes friction and new leadership happens often on both sides and they're both being put under extreme duress from outside sources. You can't compare this to real life "rational nations".

1. Both the Alliance and the Horde are tired of the bloodshed. From the beginning, the Alliance didn't want to go to war again in BFA. And virtually every Horde race except Orcs and maybe Forsaken are now tired of fighting. But even the Orcs are growing tired of the war, if Saurfang's behavior is anything to go by. And since the Horde is now governed by a council, the other Horde races would easily outvote the Orcs and Forsaken in a vote to make peace. The Alliance and the Horde have nothing to gain by continuing the fight; time and again, they've proven to be evenly matched and neither side can gain the upper hand for long. Both sides have traded enormous losses of life for pitifully small gains. It's a wonder that the Alliance and the Horde have the manpower to continue the fight, let alone the motivation or economic power to keep the conflict going, after so many husbands and wives have gone off to war and never returned. Germany, by the end of World War 2, no longer had the manpower to keep their war machine going. So how do the Alliance and Horde, after decades of being at war, still have so many able-bodied, willing soldiers available to send into the fray?

2. And yet the truce didn't last. The truce was broken within a few months. After decades of being in a state of war, that simply makes no sense.

3. The Alliance and Horde cooperated by necessity, and there is a historical precedent for warring sides to establish a temporary truce to fight a common enemy, but in this case, it simply doesn't make any sense for both sides to resume fighting every time the threat is defeated. Throughout every expansion, Alliance and Horde players still had the ability to kill each other on sight with no repercussions, so yes, I'd say both sides were still at war during every expansion. But both sides should have grown exhausted from the constant fighting a long time ago. This is a global war that has been going on for decades; it's simply not sustainable, and the massive loss of life would have shaken the resolve of any leader who acts in the best interests of their people. No responsible leader would allow thousands upon thousands of their people to die in pointless battles in an unwinnable war.

Not to mention that it doesn't take much for warring sides to resolve their disputes and old grudges in the world of Warcraft; the Bronzebeards and Wildhammers chose to end their feud with the Dark Irons after just a few displays of loyalty from them. And yet those same leaders, for some reason, can't find a way to resolve their petty grudges with the opposing faction?

Crises evolve very quickly in WoW, which is all the more reason why it makes no sense for the Alliance and Horde to still be at war. Why would their leaders choose to continue the war when one rapid crisis after another threatens to destroy them? If they use their limited resources to squabble with the opposing faction instead of preparing for and addressing the constant crises, it could easily spell doom for them and their people. The Alliance the Horde have nothing to gain, but everything to lose by going to war with each other.

[Yridaa 490]

On 6/2/2020 at 11:02 PM, Monlyth said:

Snip

While I don't necessarily agree or disagree one way or the other, there are parts of certain races that do it just for the hell of it. The battles/wars are reason they or their clans exist or make them feel alive. Either they have to be suppressed or wiped out to be able to have stability.

Aside from that, there are (or were... thanks BFA...) very strong reasons/motivators to go to war. Raising the dead used to be a resolute "no" for the alliance (And a whole lot of the horde, too). That was enough reason to go to war, with quite literally no matter the cost. Until Blizzard puked out BFA stories with Anduin raising the dead, and now with Shadowlands both factions allowing Death Knights to be risen.

We could both get into this very seriously, but at this point Blizzard is really ruining the lore with every expansion "Because we think it's fun".

 

Don't even get me started on Lothraxion.