Racial Identity in 10.0

Community General Discussion
21

But that didn’t stop Blizzard from adding artifact weapon models and other rewards that could only be unlocked completing long rep farms and entire quest campaigns, and I don’t remember people being outraged by that?

Maybe I am mistaken, but I believe positive response to class and spec fantasy was so wide, that such issues were easily disregarded. Most people do not have more than a handful of max level characters anyway, and it is not feasible to imagine anyone would be completing all content on every single class.

On the other hand, the four covenants gave the IMPRESSION of being few enough to be farmed, and that’s exactly what has lead many to become frustrated over repetitive and grindy content that will quickly become irrelevant when a new expansion hits.

Again, just my own consideration, but if the choice is in between asking Blizzard to release less content in order not to stress the completionists or letting them do their best assuming from the start that getting everything is impossible, I’d go for the second.

And any race fantasy items, just like class fantasy ones, would be still loved and cherished by players when the specific expansion that saw them implemented is over.

Same here really, which is why I will never ever attempt to farm all mogs for all armor types in game, but I do farm older content for Draenei themed objects and outdated mage sets. :wink:

I take it as an in-character comment, yes?

The Shen’dralar existed in lore long before the Nightborne, and were reunited with the more nature loving rest of the Night Elven kin back in Cata, when they taught them to start training mages again.

Not saying they’re a majority, but there are a few of them, and they are in fact very elderly Highborne Night Elves. That hardly takes away anything from your own heritage. They’re just your old disgraced cousins who are now living with the hippies. :slight_smile:

22

this is great incentive to keep paying 25$ so you can see all the content. did a blizzard employee post this?

23

A side quest line for (Lightforged) Draenei to unlock red skin and Eredar eyes tied to a quest story about perhaps Eredar that betrayed the Burning Legion or seek redemption?

Would at least add 2 solutions to the “demon” appearance problem we RP players face.

2 Likes
24

Nightborne were literally the upper-class society of the Kaldorei, aka Highborne, before the world sundering happened. Ashamane, the wild god herself has helped us in this, which ended up Nightborne isolating themselves from the rest of the world, which ended up trapping the Highborne culture in time.

In the books of the WoW chronicles, the Nightborne are mentioned, but they never made an appearance in-game, until the Legion.

“War of the Ancients, and Chronicles volume 1 - the Nightborne are a specific group of night elves, the other half of the Suramar night elves that stayed in the city instead of marching on Zin’Azshari.”

The Highborne which joined the Kaldorei Resistance has nothing Highborne left in them, if you go deep in the lore of the Shen’dralar, they were more savage than the lowborn commoners.

The Highborne means, arrogant, high-class, and unnaturally intelligent begins. Blizzard has introduced to us the real Highborne, the ones who were arrogant enough to consider everyone else except for themselves a Lowborn.

Also, the “Shen’dralar” are forgotten for another 10,000 years, they were introduced to give access to the Night elven magi, nothing more, their lore, as well as their existence, is long gone ever since.

When we have got access to Zin’Azshari we have not seen any Shen’dralar there, but we saw Nightborne playing a big role from the Horde side, even Thalyssra having a side quest within the zone.

Let me introduce you to my friends, the True Highborne.

https://imgur.com/a/XFOAnil

If the race-specific cosmetics are needed, then the Nightelves should gain access to obtain antlers, and embrace the druidic side of their nation, leave the Highborne aesthetics for the Shal’dorei and the Sin’dorei, which they have banned for 10,000 years.

25

Watch your clever mouth! :smirk::smirk:

I remember the promise that they were to be added over the course of SL… :frowning: maybe next expansion!

What’s so bad about us? :sob::sob::sneezing_face: we are such a saint class most of the time!

It is an accurate point… wish it wasn’t the case.
If there was one single, but not picky way to separate the elitists and casuals, I’d gladly buy it. This is one tough nut to crack.

Nightbornes were originally night elves… :face_with_hand_over_mouth: but then Blood Elves were high elves originally which, if memory serves well, also originate from the Highborne? And we definitely aren’t savage :nail_care:

3 Likes
26

Oh… okay. Didn’t realize that the idea of another player getting a few more customizations on the base they they may like to play an elderly disgraced Night Elf mage could be such an issue for anyone. :upside_down_face:

In case you didn’t know or realize, however, the Shen’dralar weren’t invented in Cata ‘as an excuse to add mages to the Night Elves’. They already existed since Dire Maul, which is where they were assisted and freed by the player. The fact they couldn’t get back to Teldrassil until magic was allowed again doesn’t change their heritage.

In fact, I have always found it amusing that what has been labeled as the Shen’dralar symbol/flag is depicted on the floor of the temple in Teldrassil, if you are in a phase that sees the city still standing of course. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Anyway, I do love your idea about the antlers! Another nice bit could be green ‘emerald dream’ eyes to go with them! Druid-only of course.

But still, elderly Night Elf mages are also undeniably a thing, and since the disgraced Highborne are in fact the one and only reason why Night Elven mages exist, I can’t see any harm or theft coming from the addition a couple of a couple of nicer haircuts or tiaras for them. :woman_shrugging:t2:

As a matter of facts, one of the current Night Elven haircuts had been labeled ‘Highborne’ on PTR before release. So there’s hardly any way to deny that the Shen’dralar are now a part of Night Elven society, if little/minor.

27

I don’t think so. Sell the game on being itself - it’s really not that complicated at the end of the day. It’s that game that made the hardcores hardcore anyway.

28

But the upper-class version.

They still are, they just renamed their name from Quel’dorei to Sin’dorei to honour the fallen ones, after the genocide of Arthas.

We do have a haircut called a Highborn, we also had a tattoo called Magistrix, which was renamed after, I wonder why? Oh, wanna be Highborne night elves were not happy with it.

29

Okay just to be clear: As a player, I’d love to see them do something like this. Definitely if it involves actually delving deeper into the things that make a certain race stand out.

But… I just don’t see Blizzard doing this. The ‘return on investment’ just isn’t there, I’m afraid.

It would probably lead to many players being frustrated:

Some because they feel ‘forced’ to ‘farm it all’.
And some by a ‘lack of content’ because they have no interest in doing all the different racial content.

Both will just lead to more moaning and groaning.
I’m not sure the upsides are good enough to counter the downsides.

But again; I’d personally love to see racial content.

30

They are not wannabe Higborne. The Nightborne are not the only Highborne Night Elves in the world. They are not even the largest of the Highborne branches anymore, since both the Naga and the Blood Elves are likely larger in number. The Shen’dralar are the smallest Highborne branch, but they’re still Higborne like the other three.

I see no reason why both the Nightborne and the Night Elves couldn’t have Highborne customization, when both of them have Highborne in their ranks.

2 Likes
31

Shal´dorei Worgen to the Horde (nightborne worgen)

Kaldorei Worgen to the Alliance (night elf worgen)

32

They have done some of this with the Heritage Armour quest-lines. I’ve done the Dwarf, Blood Elf and Gnome ones.
But you’re right they could do more of this. Heritage weapons or other customisations. Rather than just add these to the Barber shop they could be added to quests as an unlock a bit like the Allied Races needed an unlock.

They could also do more with Profession quests. I liked these in Legion apart from being forced into Dungeons for some of them. This little blunder made Profession quests seem unpopular due to the forum backlash. Again they over-reacted and instead of just not doing Dungeon quests they stopped doing Profession quests all together.

I think an expansion should have:
A smallish main Campaign to tell th story.
Lots of Side Quests for world building and gives alternate questing paths for Alts.
Class quests (like the Order Hall campaign) again good for alts.
Race quests to unlock Heritage Armour / Weapons or customisations (Tattoos or hairstyles).
Profession Quests.
Factions with Daily quests available before max level.

Just lots of quests. This gives alts various things to do that isn’t repeating the same old campaign.

2 Likes
33

Although there are some surviving Highborne, they are not treated as nobility in modern night elf society, and the caste has been extinct for over ten millennia. The Shen’dralar, a holdout against the Burning Legion during the War of the Ancients, are one notable exception.

They were successful in defending Eldre’Thalas (today known as Dire Maul), but they were cut off from the rest of night elven society for the duration of the Long Vigil. Following the Cataclysm, the Shen’dralar, led by Archmage Mordent Evenshade, successfully negotiated to rejoin their Kaldorei brethren in Teldrassil.

The purpose of the negotiations was that the Mordent Evenshade, and his remaining Highborne magi will teach the young Kal’dorei magi the ways of the Arcane.

If there is no benefit, Tyrande would never allow them to enter the city. Just look how Tyrande talks about the Nightborne, ahead of even meeting them, yet you assume she welcomed those surviving Highborne with open hands?

https://imgur.com/a/232P2e1

The player mages are just the students of the couple surviving Highborne, not one of them.

You cannot just be a Highborne just by practicing arcane magic, look at Illidan for example, he was a great magi of Moon guard, even had his own army, he was adored by Azshara, even after all this, he was still considered a lowborn class.

Mage does not mean Highborne, the Highborne can be anything, it is a status that comes from the bloodline.

34

Hmmm… Did you actually read/know/care for the lore bits included my post?

So curious. It almost looks like you can’t acknowledge the actual lore of the game you claim to care so deeply about, because somehow you feel it threatens or takes something away from the purity of your own imaginary videogame bloodline…? :upside_down_face:

I… don’t get it. I don’t understand why another player rolling an elderly disgraced Shen’dralar mage as the lore states they can be can ruin your own tale of social status, purity and privilege. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

On the other hand, if the tale of the Night Elven Shen’dralar Highborne rejoining the Night Elves in Cata is so troublesome to you, and you find it an outrage that the Night Elf players could roll a mage and role play as such for years before the Nightborne allied race was even introduced, you could always write a petition for Blizzard to retcon/delete the questline from the game altogether, so that no annoying imaginary night elven cousin of yours who has been accepted to live with the imaginary forest loving elves can threaten your own real life experience of virtual unique awesomeness. :laughing:

Good luck?

35

Are you high or something? Where did I say I am not happy with the Night elf magi?

For a commoner to practice arcane was normal during the Kaldorei Empire, it is common right now too.

What I am saying is, they are the students of the surviving Highborne, not one of them.

The modern Kaldorei, has no connection to the Highborne, nor to arcane as it was 10,000 years ago. They have banished everything tied to the Highborne culture, and embraced the druidism and priesthood. What I am trying to say is, if they were to add race-specific quests, they should focus on the factors they have built the race on, not put something which does not affect their nature.

36

Just allow me to customise my characters build and I’m happy.

Yes I do want a buxom female Draenai!

1 Like
37

But why really? There are elderly skins in game, despite most quests defining the player as young.

There are Wildhammer dwarf tattoos in game, despite the starting quest being located in Ironforge.

It was openly stated by Blizzard when the new character customizations were introduced that the players should feel free to role play their characters as they see fit, without a need to be acknowledged by a specific starting experience. That THAT was the whole point of them adding more customizations. Because an allied race starting experiences still took too many resources.

So why exactly can’t a player claim to be an elderly Shen’dralar mage? A class master, rather than a student?

Personally I rolled this Draenei in BC only because back then the Night Elves couldn’t be mages, and as soon as Cata lifted the restriction I rolled a Night Elf mage alt which I have used to role play as a Shen’dralar.

I didn’t feel like anybody stole my identity or ruined my game when the Nightborne were added. Just different people with a different story, really.

Why do you feel otherwise? You’re the one who claims that a Night Elf fan asking for a little Highborne ‘treats’ (some extra jewelry, that’s all I ever asked, hardly game breaking or identity stealing) robs the Nightborne.

You’re the one who called all the Night Elves lowborne… which is why I thought you were writing in character first… and then brought up the lore you didn’t seem to acknowledge or care for…

I don’t want rob anyone. I am perfectly happy roleplaying a disgraced elderly cousin of yours, as stated above, since that has been allowed by the game lore ever since Cata. :upside_down_face:

Tldr: since the Shen’dralar are Highborne by lore established in Dire Maul and they rejoined Night Elven society as established by Cata lore, any player rolling a Night Elf mage has been free to claim Highborne heritage since Cata if they so desired, without a need to steal anything from the Nightborne who were yet to come.

But if we really want to start nitpicking, I believe that there also are a few Cata quests with former Shen’dralar NPCs stating they took up new jobs when rejoining their kin, meaning that a player could actually roleplay a Night Elf Highborne of another class without contradicting the lore. I am away from home now, but I will happily find you some links when I get home if you like.

38

You are aware that you can imagine your Night Elf mage as a Higborne, because there’s no real physical difference, yes? It’s all down to imagination.

1 Like
39

Can be molded to be almost anything these days, as the Jailer shows.
They molded the lore of the game to produce Void Elves. They make less sense than High Elves really.
If Ion wanted to give the Players High Elves he could have.
If he wanted to give us Sea-Tauren he could. Look beyong those Murlocs are some blue Taurens I wonder how they came about? Elune shone on some midnight swimmers and lo behold the Sea-Taurens of the Moon Isles. Disgruntlement on the forums for some and a meh from most.

40

Indeed they could. But in this case, they didn’t. So at least for now, we don’t need to care about sea-taurens. :slight_smile:

Your point, however, ain’t exactly clear. How does this relate to either the OP or the specific post you quoted? Would you care to elaborate? Because I really don’t have a clue.