Less we forget, one of the reasons the High Elves were argued as an impossible race option to develop or add was that there were apparently too few of them to be considered as one.
Meanwhile… Void Elf starting zone and story…
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Well that’s hard to say. My opinions drastically changed from time to time when Blizzard admittedly crossed the line of their own lore because I hadn’t taken in the information at that time that we have now.
If in this sense, I can say that Vanilla was still good, but that they added Blood Elves to the Horde is the point where they crossed the line for me. Because we all know they did it to appease the Chinese market, and possibly at that time also our region. Because we know that the Horde was underplayed until TBC.
It doesn’t make sense that it were the Night Elves and the Dwarves that sent Ambassadors first hand, and not the Humans who they actually had a strong Alliance with before Garithos burned that bridge down. So Night Elves sabotaging the Blood Elves, and the Dwarves of all people doesn’t make sense to me. Because it would’ve been a Human standing there, and I do think that the Humans do not wish to see the Blood Elves run towards the Horde, or get annihilated. After all, the Silver Covenant is still allied with them.
And also, because TBC was THE time to add Ogres to the Horde. That’s right, we could’ve gotten them then. Fair and square and with the right introduction. Only the started zone would be a trouble to fit.
But don’t forget their retcon with the Draenei. I found Broken to be so unique. An ancient race forever changed and mutated. It added some depth and misery/danger to the World of Warcraft.
I do hate Legion aswell for retconning the entire Broken Isles. I find it hard to pick which expansion messed up the lore the most. They all have something in share.
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As I understand, TBC was quite the Golden Age of retcons and strange decisions. Not just the Blood Elves bit.
Wait, it was? I was made pretty aware of the Blood Elves being initially made to appease the popularity of the Horde bit, but I didn’t see anything about Ogres being also considered. I wanna know more!
Hm… really? I thought it was only the Draenei-Sargeras controversy.
Oldest context I can find on the WoWpedia speculations:
https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Retcon_speculation
Slightly more modern articles also describe the use of former slain bosses being retconned into being ‘alive but hidden/imprisoned/not released yet’.
To note, I speak of past tense because I started personally as a Wrathbaby.
I certainly get why a lot of Horde players dislike the Blood Elves. But… seeing as I play a Blood Elf I will have to say something to their defense.
I started playing at the start of TBC. I knew very little about the lore when I started playing as I had not played the RTS games (it has never been a genre that has appealed to me). I started playing with my best friend and we decided to go Horde, even though I personally didn’t like the aesthetic of the brutish races. So I, uh, played a Blood Elf. At first I approached the game by relying on fantasy stereotypes. Orcs = evil, undead = evil, and evil elves was not an uncommon trope in fantasy either. People who were well-versed in the lore had the right to be upset, but as someone coming into the game with no prior knowledge of the world, the Blood Elves didn’t really stand out that much. Not any more than the Undead.
Today I have a much better grasp of the world narrative, and I don’t really think that the lore itself is problematic. I think one can easily come up with legitimate reasons as to why the Blood Elves would join the Horde, and it doesn’t have to be far-fetched. The old human kingdoms lie in ruins and the Forsaken are perhaps the strongest power in the region, and the Blood Elves were severely weakened in the third war. The Forsaken is also led by Sylvanas (or at least was in better times) who was a High Elf. One of their own who broke free from the Lich King. Had the Blood Elves joined the Alliance what would that have meant for the politics within the region? Would the Alliance truly have the capacity to assist the elves? Against the Scourge, or the Amani or, indeed, against the Forsaken? There are many ways to make the Blood Elves’ entry into the Horde make sense.
The problem I have with Blood Elves is a somewhat hypocritical stance; the problem is that the race is simply too popular. According to the lore, 90% of their population was eradicated, yet the Blood Elves are the most popular race in the Horde by far. Rather than being a small part of the Horde the Blood Elves are instead the most dominant race within the faction. And at this point there isn’t really anything Blizzard can do about it. People like elves.
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I don’t dislike Blood Elves. I always liked Warcrafts Elves. I prefer the Trolls, true and seeing the Blood Elves in the Horde and not the Amani was really something I didn’t like, because it mean we will never get Forest Trolls.
I also would have liked to see Blood Elves as their own faction, like at the end of WC3 TfT. Perhaps in a Illidari faction, or something new.
I got used to them and I don’t mind too much. A bit from time to time, sure. We even have the Revantusk Forest Trolls in the Horde. But we can’t play them and the same goes for the Ogres. That’s the really sad part for me.
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I think that’s the meat of it honestly.
Yeah sure, it will never be forgotten that the Blood Elves had the initial mindset to be released for marketing purposes, but they’ve become far more than that throughout the expansions. They were given substance, purpose, exposition, reasoning and most of all progression.
They are popular now for the reason they were created in the first place, but that’s the fault of the community choosing to play one. I can think up of a number of other racial archetypes who were the definition of marketing that didn’t get as much passionate drive of development as the Blood Elves/Warcraft Elves in general did.
When BFA suddenly pivoted from Alliance vs Horde to naga. The story hasn’t made any sense since.
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I started to lose interest when things started to become “too convinient” or easy so to speak. Mostly after Wrath of the Lich King. I can even give an example.
Legion expansion on paper sounded -REALLY- cool. Idea of another legion invasion a proper one and return of the demon hunters etc. Gameplay wise, even the classic Ashenvale demonfall canyon quests are cooler, why?
In classic quest it is said that demons are preparing an invasion to a Horde camp, demons have been preparing for sometime, and been gathering their strength proper. (There were quests prior to this mentioning such.)
When I look at the Legion it is just…Portals and demonic buildings EVERYWHERE, and thats fine, it is supposed to be the biggest invasion but why the hell would you portray them appearing out of THIN air. Look at the Broken Shore intro questline, they literally WARP the buildings in, they create MASSIVE gateways out of thin air that can conjure hundreds of demons.
If things gets easy, if demons aren’t these scary monsters, but rather rabid animals in number, then it kinda loses it’s touch honestly 
Plus, SPACESHIPS…-I was against draenei having one but fine let them have it, but at least keep it as a one time deal, naaru tech, lost technology etc…Why the hell would you give legion spaceships…-Back in the day they felt like real demons with portals and invasions…Not space invaders.
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