New customization options for blood elves and void elves

Community General Discussion
885

I think giving Void Elves the fair skin tones of the Blood Elf is a clear mistake, and an unfair one. It is seemingly inconsistent with existing lore and it negates the reason for coming up with Void Elves in the first place, i.e. a clear variant of a blood elf that is still a high elf. And it’s unfair because it pretty much allows alliance players nearly full access to the aesthetics of a core horde race.

Now maybe there is a sting in the tail we aren’t aware of yet. Perhaps what the developers intend to implement is an Alleria style system where a ‘normal’ elf form can be maintained outside of combat but while in combat, you revert to a real void elf body.
Or maybe not all the skin tones Blood Elves have will be given to Void Elves. Still possible, though pretty unlikely. So based on the assumption that Void Elves really are getting all the skin tones of an existing race, then what differences are left should be ringfenced.

You wouldn’t normally think hair colour would be a point of argument but when it’s one of the few unique points Blood Elves have left, it is worth arguing that Void Elves shouldn’t have those colours for the sake of the difference they confer alone.

886

Incorrect…

The reason for the Void Elves appearance is because of Nether-Prince Durzaan.
He trapped Umbric and his followers, then tried to perform a ritual in which he would transform them into beings of the Void.

But the ritual was interrupted halfway through by Alleria Windrunner and the player character.
Hence the blue Void Elves.
Their creation was a fluke, a mistake.

And they are few. Less than a hundred most likely.
So it was a plothole regarding how Void Elves would create more of themselves.
They took combat casualties like everyone else, as you can see when you’re fighting invasions as a Horde character, you’re killing Void Elves left and right.

And we know for a fact that studying the Void conventionally (without having a Void Ethereal trap and try to transform you) does not alter your appearance.
Alleria studied the Void under Locus-Walker long before she consumed a darkened Naaru.

So now these “normal skinned” Void Elves plug this plothole, as they are the “2nd generation”, the ones who came after to the Telogrus Rift and studied the Void under Alleria, Locus-Walker and Umbric and his “1st generation”.

Very unlikely, as that would make the existence of the “Void form” racial redundant.
Would you become even Voidier whenever that procced then?

I disagree that there needs to exist a difference.

But the hair colors don’t matter much to me. I wouldn’t use the blondes, browns or reds available to the Blood Elves anyway.
One can argue that extended stay in the Telogrus Rift, studying the Void alters you to a lesser extent.
That only your eyes and hair change, not your entire body.
Eyes because of the Void Energies you now rely on, and the hair because of the passive “Void Radiation” or whatever you wanna call it.
Draining the “vibrant colors” the Blood/High Elves have.

I’d like to see a jet-black hair color though and a snow-white one, they are cool and fit the Void Elf theme.
Black because “Void”.
And white because of the “draining nature” of the Void. Maybe draining color from your hair during your “studies”.
Blood Elves don’t have the black and white I’m talking about. Their black is more a lighter shade of “blue-black” while their white is just “platinum-blonde”.

That Alleria keeps her “shiny blonde” could be explained with her not spending as much time in the Telogrus Rift as the new students.
Who knows where she was when he studied.
It’s weak, but it works.

887

None of what you said at the start is supported by lore however. That’s simply a rationalisation that fits the facts as you see them. It is far more likely that the void elves were always able to turn other elves into void elves, given the disparity between the initial small group of mage/warlock researchers and the end result of a functioning ‘crack squad’ consisting of seven/eight classes.

The skin tones provided need as much rationalisation as the new skin tones given to Humans or Blood Elves or Dwarves. They simply are.

In regards to the idea of a ‘void form’ making you even voidier, why would that be redundant? I could point Shadow Priests work on similar lines, normal form, shadow form in combat, void form proc.
The datamining of the ‘Secondary skin’ option could be laying the basis of a Worgen/Alleria type approach for Void Elves wherein the blood elf skin tones are part of an ‘off-form’, in combat you’d switch to the blue skin tones currently available (and would be able to leave them on OOC if you wished) and entropic embrace on top of that would turn you bright purple for a few seconds. Is this possible? Yes. Is it likely? Probably not. We should know the answer to what the secondary skin option for datamining means sooner rather than later. After all, it could also be a toggle for entropic embrace.

Whilst you disagree there needs to be a difference, that has been a long point of contention. The existence of Blood Elves has meant high elves were playable for the past thirteen years. Whilst those who sought some form of high elves on the Alliance may be convinced of the nobility or purity of their goal and their long argument, those opposed have seen a group of players coveting the most popular race on the horde and refusing to play that race because they were horde. Since the Allied race system was introduced, the unique position of the Blood Elves has been degraded, first with the model being given to the Alliance and then, after an unprecedented two year campaign of non stop complaining, getting the skin tone differences that were the major differentiating factor between Blood Elves and Void Elves removed.

With little enough left to separate the two, we see yet more demands for what is left of the Blood Elf aesthetic. So it maybe a small thing, it may even already be a lost thing, but if it’s the last thing left to defend for Blood Elves to have something void elves don’t, then that is worth defending for the principle alone.

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888

The Horde has way too many belf-players anyway, just let the underdogs have it.

889

Now who’s rationalizing facts as they see them?
It is not far more likely they always knew how to create more Void Elves.
That demands an answer to the following questions:
A. WHY do the Void Elves turn new members blue? What is the reason? They are perfectly capable of learning the powers without turning blue. Otherwise Alleria would be blue, she learned the powers long before she absorbed a darkened Naaru.
B. HOW do they know? The only one we’ve seen that can turn a Thalassian Elf into a blue Void Elf is Nether-Prince Durzaan and he’s dead. Locus-Walker has not come forward with anything about this ritual as far as we know.
And the change wasn’t even intended, it was a fluke. They only look like they do because the ritual was interrupted.

There’s nothing that supports your statement that Void Elves can create more of themselves.
The only reason shown in-lore as to the why they look blue is precisely because of what Nether-Prince Durzaan did.
No other explanation.
If there were, why did 100% of Umbric’s followers turn blue?

That’s one class with their own special ability, which again is limited to one spec.
Not an entire race.
They had their shadow form since long before the Void Elves became a thing, and yes it seems a bit redundant to have a “double Void form”, but how else were they supposed to work?

Now you’re reaching for straws my friend. They won’t break your fall.

Because no matter their appearance, Alliance Thalassian Elves will be Void Elves, not Blood Elves.

Sure, some can roleplay as a High Elf, but that is their choice.

Principles are well and fine, depending on what it is.
The principle of the value of human life is a good thing for example.

But when it’s used in this case it seems more like you using it as a shield to defend what is ultimately nothing more than your opinion.

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890

Not to mention gravitating the focus of Velf customisations on them being closer to Helf, than velf arguably engages in a wierd form of changing the race into something it isn’t, yet formally identifying it as that race anyway. It’s odd. I would be more comforted if I saw additional void customisations alongside helfish ones. My fear is the direction of Velf is being pushed towards “helf, but they use the void” and that the OG thematics will largely be forgotten because 1) they can be explained away as being specific to the nether prince incident and 2) the furore surrounding velf being a snub to Helf fans.

So I guess I’m afraid velf are going to be transformed into helf in all but name, which is not the way forward. It won’t make Helf fans happy because they’re still not “proper”, and for those who like the velf unique void angle, it may be getting abandoned in favour of other customisations. It just doesn’t seem plausible that blizzard will invest in giving velf so much customisation that allows them to be be as varied a “Helf” and as varied a “velf” as another of the other races have in their baseline.

I may be wrong, but this “nobody wins” situation is what I see happening. At this point I’d actually change my stance from prior, remove Helf customisations from Velf, double down on their void stuff completely and throw In helf as an AR with a different skeleton/model, even if it’s only posture or such. Turning velf into Helf-but-not-helf is no solution and is basically an admission of wrongdoing.

Plus it’s never a good thing to take things away from people who have them. Many people probably rolled velf because they’re Helf lite. Some will have done it for their void angle and abandoning developing that further, in terms of appearence, when other ARs will be getting their updates, to push it in a very different direction is not good.

I hope I’m wrong and blizz service both camps.the alliance is often said to need more morally dubious stuff for nuance. Keeping the void elves principally voidy is a good way to do that. Having them appear as Helf but casts mind flay just facilitates bringing us more of the rather boring take on everything the Void could be for the alliance; a la Umbric being totally 100% good guy, nothing questionable, just happens to use void. It’s lame.

891

That’s actually a terrible reason for it.

892

That’s because their appearance is only because of Nether-Prince Durzaan.
With how they’ve written the story it would need a slight retcon for it to make sense that they create more blue Void Elves.

Specifically the “How” and “Why”.
How do they know? Does Locus-Walker know? How does he know how to turn Thalassian Elves into blue Void Elves when the end result was only because the ritual was interrupted? We don’t know what the planned end result was in Durzaan’s mind. Ethereal like beings? Flesh-blobs with tentacles and eyes everywhere?
Why do they do it? Why do they change new recruits into blue Void Elves? Why is that necessary when Alleria is definite proof that a High/Blood Elf doesn’t need to be blue in order to have Void powers?

That’s definitely what’s going to happen.

The Void Elves will be “good guys using Void powers”…

They’re even changing the Forsaken into “good guys” with their new introduction being how they’re “shunned by the living but always striving to protect them”.

We’re all just “good guys”. Whether we like it or not.

893

The answer is pretty easy I’ll just drop this here:

"The void elves are not recruiting, but they are open to those who share similar interests. Their research has attracted other elves to Telogrus, with both Silvermoon scholars and high elven wayfarers arriving to study the ways of the Void. They are trying to find out if they can reproduce the original process that transformed the void elves."
(Source: https://wow.gamepedia.com/Void_elf)

Regarding the last part there’s a reasonable chance that they (VE’s) managed to reproduce a slightly modified transformation ritual, without that huge risk of turning their “recruits” into void creatures, aka lesser exposure to void energies or something.
=> bright skin and maybe also some brighter hair colors

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894

That’s one way they can go about it…

That’s the “How”.

Still doesn’t explain the “Why”.
Why do they need to make blue people when they can utilize the powers without being blue?
Alleria was perfectly capable of opening and closing Void portals without being blue, and long before she absorbed the darkened Naaru.
She could even kill with her powers.

895

Maybe the effect of the ritual differs depending on the recruits and also there personal affinity/resistance, leading to different shades of void influenced bodies.
Alleria’s ability to open portals doesn’t really matter because she wasn’t able to transform into void form before she absorbed the darkened Naaru. All VE’s will still have access to a more chaotical, uncontrolled void form with entropic embrace which implies the necessity of exposure(maybe absorbtion) to higher amounts of void energy.

896

Possible…

I would imagine that an extended visit to the Telogrus Rift itself could be dangerous, as it’s infested with the Void.

But we still need to see definite proof that they can recreate the ritual, and an explanation as to why they’d need to.

I actually wrote something long ago on these forums regarding a possible future for the Void Elves, regarding their numbers.
One was this scenario, where “normal skinned” Void Elves could theoretically be a “2nd Generation” of Void Elves.
The other was something along the lines of the ritual protecting their minds from insanity, because they would be “part of the Void”.
So they’d need to turn recruits blue in order to teach them anything.
In this scenario Alleria would also be turned blue because her mind wouldn’t be able to withstand it forever.

Well it matters, because it proves that one doesn’t need to be blue in order to wield the Void.
Hence my suggestion of one of the two scenarios I wrote long ago.

Both would tackle the issue of Alleria being “normal”.
One would give us “normal skin tones” while the other would turn her blue.

897

They are both rationalisations. However, the argument void elves could turn other elves into void elves has been around since void elves were introduced. It has only been embraced by the helf side of the argument since the skin tones reveal which is something I find hypocritical. High elves definitely weren’t playable so long as Void Elves could only be blue and they definitely couldn’t turn any other elf into a void elf…suddenly there has been a 180 degree turn embracing the idea void elves can change other elves.

As for evidence supporting this is something that has been going on for a while, well, there’s plenty of that. Void Elves can convert other creatures into void based variants such as ravasaurs and hawkstriders.
Void Elf numbers in BFA didn’t match the small group of researchers present in the initial transformation. There were even enough for a suicide mission.
Only Mages and Warlocks were present in the initial ritual you keep citing. You can redo the scenario yourself or watch it on youtube, but every elf present is some kind of spellcaster. Yet Void Elves could be five other classes from the very day of their release, many of whom would not have been present at the initial transformation.
The high elf wayfarers and silvermoon scholars have also been there since the first day. The same ones used now to prove that void elves can turn other elves into void elves. That was true two years ago.
And of course, an interview Moorgard gave to forbes where they asked him where void elf numbers are coming from and he flat out said other elves are seeking them out to undergo a similar process.

So while both maybe rationalisations, ONE rationalisation is consistent with the game as it has been for the past two years whereas the other is an attempt to argue that the blue skin is an aberration reserved only for the very first transformees. I find that stance disingenuous.

898

As things stand, the void elf fantasy is heavily compromised. It is clear the intent behind the desire for these new skins is not to expand void elf customisation, but is a desire to deny you are playing a void elf at all.

So what is currently happening is weakening two races within the game, by sharing previously unique blood elf options (an indignity no other race in the game will face) and by forcing void elf customisations to abrogate their own fantasy.

We still have to see however exactly HOW they are implementing these new tones on Void Elves and we have to see what futher customisations they add in response.

It maybe that every option after this doubles down on that void aesthetic, so that only the blandest, most boring selection of options by a void elf player can help them deny they are a void elf.

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899

It’ll definitely affect them, because we already know that elves are like sponges regarding different types of magic. :wink:
The question is how these effects will look like.

The “why” is simple. If they wanna increase or refill their ranks it is necessary and a logical step for their scholars if they wanna intensify their void studies.

Was already proven in BC, where you could already find void-using BE’s.
No one stated that it was necessary shadows also turn blue even if they use void energies. :slight_smile:
The only point that really matters is entropic embrace, as long as they keep that racial in place.

There’s also another possibility:
The effect of the ritual slowly wears off as they start to master the powers of the void or because the ritual wasn’t finished.^^
I’d personally woudl despise this route but it’s possible.
My favorite is modified ritual to create new VE’s out of the HE & BE scholars.

900

I understand the incident is the cause, what I mean is blizz use that reasoning as an excuse to not develop any velf cusomisation that references that, ie all velf cusomisation is aimed at making them look helf or belf like. So no new “odd” hair colours or styles, no new discoloured skins, no new tattoos or stuff that references the fact they’re void users…

…despite the fact I predict blizz will insist on continually calling them void elves. So they’ll be it in name only and when the plot demands it.

Which means both the purist helf camps and velf camps end up being short changed. The only camp that ends up happy is the one that likes the void thematic but without the physical appearence, and I’d imagine that’s the smallest camp of the two. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say most helf fans would be happier if they had a nametag and fitting racials and most velf elf fans who like the void lore also embrace the fact their appearence is somewhat unique.

Nobody wins.

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901

It’s fine lorewise as longs as the NPC’s keep the blue-ish skin color.
I’d personally prefer to keep the VE-theme aswell, for example keeping an “Alleria-like” entropic embrace, but I guess it’s also fine to let player RP as HE.

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902

That’s definitely correct but I guess it would be a good compromise to add some void-themed customization options later and also some brighter hair colors and maybe a glyph to reduce the visual effect of entropic embrace, while not changing it’s magic element (they’re void elves no light elves/arcane elves/nature elves). Subrace tag is just nonsense as long as you keep entropic embrace.

903

At this point I’ll flat out say my stance on the debate has changed the more I’ve thought about it. I’m now in the position where I think adding helf as a distinct AR with a unique model/rigging (or some alterations that make them look slightly different to belf, a la posture change for nightborne) would be the best option.

Adding helf “in the back door” through velf cusomisation only dilutes the unique Velf aesthetic and harms potential of further development in this area, which small as the dedicated fan group may be, isn’t great for velf players who rolled them totally happy with what they’ve been given. Similarly due to the shared model with belf, it robs them of uniqueness as Helf looking customisation on the same model inevitably ends up making them look identical to belf. So both of these groups lose their niche to implement a half baked appeasement to a group that won’t be satisfied with it.

Therefore giving helf a distinct model in some way (how to do this without completely screwing the idea they’re meant to be similar to belf is the question) so they don’t tread on Belf toes at the Velfs expense is the most sensible solution now to me.
Doing so also allows blizzard to engage is total freedom with the potential macabre nature of void transformations as a “pretty arcane elf” option will remain on alliance despite this, which allows them to use velf to introduce more semi-monstrosity into the Alliance, which it really does need.

So I never thought I’d say this, but yeah I can support a Helf AR, but pretty much because I actually quite like the Velf lore angle and don’t want it to be abandoned and forgotten/half-done In the failed attempt to appease a group who will take the offer largely with a degree of dissatisfaction.

904

It will be interesting to see if Blizzard makes use of the blood elf tones on any Void Elf npcs they deploy in future.

As for roleplay, Void elves already are high elves. Sure, they are high elves in the same way Dark Iron Dwarves are dwarves, but that’s still a high elf. The new skin tones they are getting were never needed to roleplay as a high elf. As such, these new tones don’t actually do what some people want to do, which is to play a void elf in such a way that you can deny you are in fact a void elf.

Entropic embrace will still proc, you’ll still be a void elf under /who and your eye colours will reflect the void. Even the blue eyes the void elves are getting is a darker shade of blue, likely due to the presence of the void.