r/classicwow • u/Seeker_of_Arcane • 5d ago
Forever Beta Feedback Feedback: Faction exclusive customization for skyborne will help tremendously in making them feel like they belong.
So i believe the biggest problem with this race is the fact that they aren't visually distinct. It blurs the line of faction identity and that breaks immersion, which i think is one of classics biggest selling points. As you guys mentioned you want the world to be the main character. Making sure the races fit within the faction they represent goes a long way with building the world and making it richer more immersive.
With just a few tweaks i think this could work out really well as all the lore that has been written in is all around pretty good i think it just needs to be tightened up to represent a more coherent visual identity behind the 2 factions of Shen'dorei.
- High Order : These elves are the ones who want to remain independent and in control of their own destiny, which is already how you present them in the game. Ultimately they want to find a new source of magic rather than rely on untrustworthy benefactors. Their culture and aesthetic are also closely aligned with the traditional High Elf identity, making them a natural fit to help bolster the severely diminished High Elf population. This also fills in the long-standing desire to have the more traditional LotR style elves within the Alliance.
- Skin tone: should range from fair to dark skinned to reflect that they only partake in the magic of Skywall to sustain themselves much like the High elves did with the Sunwell.
-Eye color: For High order it should be a range of blue to white. Blue just makes sense that the magic in Skywall would give that kind of color. White is also a good color as some elves in warcraft 3 had those eyes and i think its awesome to finally be in the game.
- Windshapers : Currently, the blue skin is essentially a mysterious blessing that appeared seemingly out of nowhere. It initially affected only a small number of elves before gradually becoming more common. I think it would be much more interesting if the origin of this transformation were tied directly to the Windshapers' story. Instead, I would have the Windshapers swear allegiance to a mysterious, rogue wind elemental lord who openly defies Al'Akir. This would create an interesting parallel to the existing conflict with the elemental cults. Both elven factions already oppose the forces that serve Al'Akir, but rather than simply fighting the elementals, the Windshapers would ultimately make the radical decision to ally themselves with one.
It could almost be an Anakin Skywalker moment for the Windshapers: in their attempt to defeat a greater threat, they make a choice that fundamentally changes who they are. They believe this rogue elemental lord offers them the power necessary to oppose Al'Akir and continue their way of life which is one of the driving forces behind this decision, but in doing so they cross a line that permanently separates them from the High Order. That would also give the blue skin a much stronger narrative purpose. Rather than being a random blessing that slowly spreads through the population, it would be a physical manifestation of the Windshapers' allegiance to their elemental patron.
This would also help establish the Windshapers as something more distinct than simply another group of elves. They would effectively become an elemental elven race, which could fit particularly well with the Horde and give them a much stronger visual and thematic identity.
Finally, their relationship with an elemental lord could naturally explain adding the Priest class.
-Skin tone: So similarly to how the Dark iron dwarves skin tone was affected by Ragnoros magic. The Windshapers were blessed by this rogue elemental lord and that is what changed the skin to different shades of blue. I would also add in some gray skin tone as a way to softly give horde player something similar to darkfallen but still distinct enough to where darkfallen customization options could be added in the future.
-Eye color: Same reason as above the blessing gave them golden/orange/purple colored eyes. The cinematic showed blue skin with gold eyes and I think it would be good to stay true that. Purple eyes can be for the electric side of air magic.
- Race Name :I feel the names should be altered so that the races themselves have a cool, streamlined nickname rather than being named after the faction or subfaction they belong to. As it stands, the character creation screen feels unnecessarily messy. For example, we don't call the Night Elves “Kaldorei” or “Sentinels.” Those names still exist, but they serve as lore and backdrop that enrich the Night Elves' identity.
I think the same approach would work better here. The High Order elves could simply be called Sky Elves or even just High Elves, while the Windshapers could be Wild Elves, Elemental Elves, Primal Elves, or something along those lines. There are probably even better names someone could come up with.
The important part is the distinction: the races should have a streamlined name that fits alongside the other playable races, while the High Order, Windshapers, remain as organizations within the lore. That would make the character creation screen much cleaner while also giving the world more depth, rather than making the faction names do double duty as both racial and organizational identities.
- Skyborne Race Select Portrait: This needs some work right now the male skyborn portrait is really really rough and its just not appealing to click on lol.
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u/Calamyt1 5d ago
So from the screenshots i can see that you just want to turn alliance skyborne into high elves because you like them better and want to turn horde skyborne into smurfs only.
No bias at all. 😂
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u/Aldarc 5d ago
Yep. Nothing new to see here. Alliance player wants to turn Skyborne into pale high elves that Horde don't get.
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u/GideonAI 5d ago edited 4d ago
There are a few Horde-only quests for a High Elf pirate fleet in Vanilla. With the Horde-aligned Skyborne I get to RP as one of them (the Thalo'dan Privateers) which is neat.
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u/Silverbacks 5d ago
Well the Horde Skyborne are supposed to be the ones that want to keep air elemental influence as their power source. While the Alliance ones want to use arcane and be like the Highborne/High Elves of old.
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u/Seeker_of_Arcane 1d ago
Thank you for reading the post and comprehending it and the established lore. Seriously thank you.
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u/inokentii 5d ago
Yup zero days without alliance being a bunch of white suprematists
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u/Bad_Doto_Playa 5d ago
TBH I don't get that from the screenshots and think both look fine. My biggest issue with skyborne is that they essentially share most of their animations with blood elves. They should have made them completely unique.
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u/h0lymaccar0ni 5d ago
Umm this example image looks like a copy of alleria before she got her void arc thing going. Which is what prime high elf ranger represents. Horde can have the blue Smurf version of it tho with the midlife crisis cheeky bob hairstyle resembling no elf in fiction ever.
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u/Bad_Doto_Playa 5d ago
I know, I'm saying not really a big point of contention for me and I think he just used the picture as a concept rather than a concrete look. Overall I'm good with the direction of skyborne because blood elves are already a thing from TBC onward. Unless they retcon high elf lore, are people just asking blizzard to put a High elf/Blood elf split faction into Classic?
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u/h0lymaccar0ni 5d ago
I’ve read that numerous times so I guess yeah there’s a percentage of people who want this.
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u/Seeker_of_Arcane 1d ago
Whats this assumption? I literally have a blue sky elf on the alliance? I think blue is really cool. I play both sides but the blue wild elemental skin tone just objectivly matches the horde better end of story
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u/Riavan 5d ago
Nah u take the more blue ones. You guys are blue
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u/Quarz_34 5d ago
Alliance player number 22211122 trying to get high elves on alliance
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u/Sazbadashie 4d ago
which is okay... again i'm hoping they do high elves / Dark fallen idea out of all the compromises the community has come up with that's the coolest one that I think would make most people happy
like skyborne and highelves can exist at the same time
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u/LooterK1ng 5d ago
All alliance players „gOoD iDeA“
If anything horde got blood elves first. So keep your blue smurfs for yourself.
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u/Silverbacks 5d ago
Well with the lore that they gave, the Alliance ones have turned away from the elementals and towards the arcane. So they should look different from each other. They could still look blue as Queen Azhsara was blue and a magic user. But there should be some difference between them.
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u/Few_Somewhere1503 5d ago
Blood elves were added to bring a certain demographic to Horde, not because of a thematical fit. Id be happy to swap them out for a more natural race
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u/PastAnalysis 4d ago
Blood Elves made the most sense going Horde. Learn Warcraft 3 lore.
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u/Few_Somewhere1503 4d ago edited 4d ago
You haven't played wc2 nor wc3. Blood elves have nothing to do with thralls horde whatsoever nublizzard fan. They were an active enemy of the orcs in wc2 and have no historical or thematic ties to thralls horde from wc3. And no, their ties to the forsaken don't count since the forsaken themselves were added to the horde for pragmatic reasons due to blizzard only wanting 2 factions (forsaken have the same issue as blood elves in this regard). Actually play the games instead of watching videos or twitch streams. Its fine you weren't around when these games came out, just don't be so confidently incorrect!
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u/PastAnalysis 4d ago
Tell me you don’t understand what I was saying without telling me you don’t understand what I was saying.
Quel’thalas left the Alliance specifically because of what it did in Warcraft 3. Garithos. Have you heard of him? You know that he imprisoned Kael’Thas and Blood Elf royal forces, setting them for execution, right??? You understand that Sylvanas Windrunner was their Ranger General during the Scourge Invasion, right???? And yes, this connection then leveraged them into joining the Horde. Cry about it.
Frankly put, you don’t know what it means to be on the Horde. I’ve been playing Warcraft games since WC3, unlike you who stopped playing after WC2. The Horde is about its values. The Ogres and Amani were added in WC2 for the Orcs survival. The Darkspear and Tauren were added in WC3 for their own survival. None of it had to do with looks, ya filthy racist.
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u/Few_Somewhere1503 4d ago edited 4d ago
You are clueless and uneducated. Actually play the games and don't copy your opinion from youtubers. The only weak arguments you have put forth so far is why the blood elves are fond of the Forsaken specifically. The forsaken themselves also had nothing to do with thralls horde. They were purely put into the horde because during WoWs development blizzard needed to compress the 4 playable wc3 races into 2 factions. There was no story like that of the tauren or trolls in wc3 justifying or explaining them joining the horde. They were just shoehorned in there by Blizzard for gameplay reasons. Neither the forsaken nor the blood elves share the same history, kinship or values as that of the orcs, trolls or tauren of thralls horde.
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u/PastAnalysis 4d ago
As I said, I’ve been playing Warcraft games since WC3. This also includes WoW Vanilla. Like it or not (and you hate it) the Forsaken joined the Horde. Because Thrall takes into account races that are similarly in a bad state in need of assistance to survive. He’s not a racist like you who just wants races that look monstrous to be on the Horde.
The Tauren and Troll joined because they too have a shared value towards survival. It’s not about some lengthy history. If you had played WC3, you’d know the campaigns that got the Trolls and Tauren were actually fairly short. Play WC3 and Vanilla WoW and then we can actually talk about what races fit on the Horde. Take your racism and shove it up your ass.
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u/Few_Somewhere1503 4d ago
Thralls didn't give a rats ass about the Forsaken. Nowhere in lore is it stated they were added due to any kinship or shared values. That is adding your shifty headcanon. Also most of your arguments are strawman, like the claim that you need to be a monster to be in the Horde, which i never claimed. Are you mentally deficient or just illiterate? Also starting in wc3 means you are a newbie and have no right to speak. Unless you played wc2, wc3 when they released and wow vanilla back in 2004/2005 like me then your opinion holds no value. Cope and seethe.
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u/Rasakka 5d ago
I will never get, why its better that Horde has only "uGlY" races. People wants to force others to play undead instead of belf?
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u/Defiant_Coat_2491 5d ago
What's so ugly about Darkfallen Elves? Isn't that one of if not the "hottest" archetype in fantasy most people find "pretty"?
Why do you think Sylvanas is one of the most if not the most popular Warcraft character? Even for folks who have never played Warcraft or WoW know Sylvanas and thinks shes "hot".
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u/AppleMelon95 5d ago
Yeah, its basically goth elves, and I'm pretty sure the sole sound of that would attract a lot of players.
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u/Defiant_Coat_2491 5d ago
I mean it's bound to happen eventually that they will be a playable race for the Horde in Forever, they might even come with a faction exclusive class with them but my only lingering question is why couldn't Blizzard start with this?
Alliance players have asked for High Elves consistently for decades now, and Darkfallen Elves would most certainly be a popular pick for a lot of people, they really didn't even need Skelfs for people to pay $30 for this version of the game as long as folks get what they were promised with WoWF being a true "Classic+" experience like what they constantly said it would be
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u/AppleMelon95 5d ago
Trust me bro I've asked myself this question for 2 weeks now, they had a guaranteed slam dunk and still managed to snatch a defeat from the jaws of victory.
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u/Stun_the_Pink 5d ago
I mean.. I find Alliance races boring as f. Do I want to play a fantasy game as a human, short fat human or shorter human? No thanks.
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u/Few_Somewhere1503 5d ago edited 5d ago
Horse started as a confederation of primal tribalists. Theyre not necessarily "ugly", just less refined. Neither undead nor (blood) elves fit the original DNA.
The undead and blood elves were added mainly due to pragmatism. That's the hard truth, no matter how much elf lovers want it to be otherwise.
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u/SnooPickles5265 5d ago
#1. F that, Horde doesn't need to get stuck with blue-skin only elves. This is a stupid ass take.
#2. Don't need any other points.
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u/frosthowler 5d ago
Trolls have the same skin color
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u/CD-Call 5d ago
Quel'thalas is part of the Horde.
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u/frosthowler 5d ago
This is a new timeline, with TBC+ retconned.
Meaning several things:
Quel'thalas is actually a Scourge stronghold and completely ruined. That's the reason Kael'thas was in Lordaeron and not Quel'thalas.
The Blood Elves, besides a few you could count on a hand maybe, are not on Azeroth, and are all with Kael in Outland.
The High Elves do not exist officially anymore. Unofficially, there should be plenty of pockets of high elves who never made contact with Kael and would not even know the term blood elf.
So obviously, "Quel'thalas is part of the Horde" is patently false. Quel'thalas is part of the Scourge, and the Blood Elves are part of Illidan's faction.
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u/CD-Call 5d ago
Cool fanfiction. In reality the Blood Elves had already retaken Quel'thalas quite some time ago, and the majority of them are still in Quel'thalas. It's not a Scourge Stronghold, and is still being held by the Blood Elves. Kael did not in fact take all of his people through the Dark Portal.
So accelerating one plotline of very early TBC (the Blood Elf starting zone canonically takes place a few months before the opening of the Dark Portal) to make Quel'thalas join the Horde faster would be a lot more practical than bending over and snapping your spine to justify the Alliance getting them instead.
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u/PastAnalysis 4d ago
THANK YOU!! Fucking yes. So many stupid Alliance fans don’t understand this most basic lore.
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u/Dr_Chris_Turk 5d ago
I might just be a stupid idiot, but I’m pretty sure everything you mentioned here has been retconned by the “divergent timeline” of classic+/forever.
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u/Pencildragon 5d ago
They haven't retconned anything involving the Blood Elves yet. And they could possibly never. I know they said they wanted to do Quel'Thalas at some point, but if they just... Didn't. We could possibly never know if this timeline plays out exactly the same as TBC or incredibly differently.
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u/Dr_Chris_Turk 4d ago
Makes sense.
Maybe retconned isn’t the right word, but more “doesn’t exist yet in classic+/forever”. If it’s anything like OSRS, the OG wow lore is, at most, only potentially representative of what is to come. So any lore pulled from the OG timeline (post WC3) is effectively fan theory until confirmed to be different or the same.
I just don’t think appealing to lore from a different timeline/universe (OG wow) is any more legitimate than recognizing brand new lore that is actively being introduced by the devs.
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u/Seeker_of_Arcane 1d ago
I also said add grey skin tone to the blue elemental elves. Which would give players a way to look similar to sylvanas...
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u/MadeDoubleM 5d ago
There's certainly a link between the overuse of AI, playing Alliance on Classic & Forever and following certain content creators online... However I just can't quite put my finger on what it is
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u/Anacreon5 5d ago
I bet they also play Black Templars and Death Korps of Krieg în warhammer 40k too
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u/VerdammtesAutomat 5d ago
Hey we in the black templars community reject weird, fashy tourists, who think they're not because they have 2k points of unprimed or shittily painted models.
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u/Seeker_of_Arcane 1d ago
playing undead paladin and blue elf rogue
I made use of AI as a visual aid because images are more interesting then just text.
Then you want to go down this rabbit hole of assumptions which is weird. There is something to this but I can't quite put my finger on it.
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u/Internal_Demand6860 5d ago
I don't think OP used any kind of AI. He even has typos... No need to jump to conclusions.
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u/Live-Habit-6115 5d ago
He's talking about the images not the text.
You know AI can make images right?
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u/SolidestCereal 5d ago
You accidentally switched the two versions. The magical ones are Alliance and the nature ones are Horde.
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u/TheGrimMelvin 5d ago
I like the idea of making them distinct in some way based on faction.
But I'm not a fan of locking skin / hair colors behind a race. In the pov of the character, it would feel like "you are blue-skinned, therefore you can't join the alliance and must be horde". Or "your hair is blonde, therefore you must join the alliance".
There would be no reason as to why the elves would split based on skin color and not their beliefs. There would have to be a justification for it other than "Alliance doesn't accept red-haired elves I guess".
Like... Idk... The faction of skyborn who joined the Horde is much more aligned with the untamed side of the elements, therefore closer to the elements, therefore skin is colored bluish. (Since we already know elves absord magic they're exposed to and change based on it). Whereas the faction who choose alliance are more controlled and keep a distance from the elements, therefore their exposure isn't as strong and they didn't change as much, so their skin isn't blue.
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u/UniversalFarrago 5d ago
This is a good point. I think a better approach, then, might be to add exclusive and mandatory body markings, hairstyles/accessories, and different animations that show a difference in attitude.
Allow colors to be fully unlocked for both.
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u/TheGrimMelvin 4d ago
It would be cool to maybe see different accessories, such as earrings or necklaces or markings, yeah.
It could be based on the faction they joined, so eg. Windshapers would try to adapt some Horde-like styles, such as boney and spikey accessories. The High Order (is that their name...?) would adopt more sleek, night-elfy accessories.
Alternatively, the distinction could come from their differences before they join different factions, rather than adapting to Horde or Alliance. Especially since we are told that the animosity between them is actually really serious.
The main difference is that one faction wants to still pursue connection with the elements (horde + shaman) and the other believes they need to return to their highborne origins and embrace magic again (alliance + mage).
The Horde faction is closer to the elements and is actively seeking them out. They could have the more blue-ish skin tones and hair, tattoos and accessories that have to do with Horde + elements.
The alliance faction is distancing themselves from the elements and going to back to classical "mage" magic. Their skin tones and heir colors could be more human-/bloodelf-like, accessories resemble human and night elf designs.
Edit : and keep one skin and hair color shared between both, so there is one more neutral option at least. Such as vaguely blue skin and dark/black/gray hair.
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u/Seeker_of_Arcane 1d ago
I mean this literally was what my post was about... grey to blue skin tones for the elementally infused horde elves lol? did you read the post?
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u/Large-Magazine-6873 5d ago
There is MUCH more to discuss besides appearence. 99% the racial customization are shadowed by the gear you use, we've known that for some time now. And they simply WON'T make different gear sets for each faction the skyborne goes.
Let's talk about a Race that is so simple that everything related to them is wind related... And thats it. There is no more development. Color? Blue and white. Druid forms? Bear with a beak, panther with a Beak. That's just uncreative.
Along side that, the Wind is an element, and which class deals with elements? Shaman. But Alliance Skyborne can't be Shamans for SOME REASON. It would be best for all of then to be able to be mages and Shamans, but only Alliance to be Paladins and Horde to be Druids.
I can't with this race. Even If they were released in Retail they would be bad and uncreative.
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u/_PointyEnd_ 5d ago
Fully agree apart from the classes. Alliance should get shaman and then horde could get pally, or just give both to both.
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u/Large-Magazine-6873 5d ago
Also, as I Said in the First comment, Shamans should be for both factions. It Just make Sense.
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u/Large-Magazine-6873 5d ago
I thought of this. But this would be another Blood Elf Mirror as they were the First Horde Race to be able to roll as Paladins, originally though.
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u/TopCarrot1944 5d ago
Ok the comments are actually making me angry. So people actually don’t wanna play “ugly” races, and ugly here apparently mean blue hot elves(??). How is this post alliance favoritism
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u/Cormentia 5d ago
Most of the horde races have always been "ugly". Personally, I dislike the blue elves because they remind me of the Draenei. And I've played horde way too long to want to have anything Draenei-looking with us.
I would've loved it if Blizzard would've given us something like the drow.
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u/Seeker_of_Arcane 1d ago
yes in my post I said give the blue elves some grey skin options to choose from which reflects drow...seriously do people not read the whole post on reddit.
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u/Cormentia 1d ago
How did you even get to that conclusion? I read your post - long as it was. I also expressed an opinion in a reply to a comment. Both can be simultaneously true.
Imo drow should have black skin, not grey.
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u/Pencildragon 5d ago
Not that I have an opinion really one way or the other, but tell Alliance they only get the blue skin tones and see what the reaction is. I'm betting it's going to be incredibly similar to the comments here...
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u/PastAnalysis 4d ago
They want to give the Blood Elf aesthetic just to the Alliance. How is that not Alliance favoritism??
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u/CoverGlobal8352 2d ago
Its crazy because horde already have blue elves in retail. The nightbourne. Arguably the best race on horde in terms of aesthetics and architecture
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u/LoneSpectre96 5d ago
Ya’ll do know the blue skin is a biological response they’re enduring because of the extended time in Skywall, right? And that only 3 in 10 of them actually have blue skin? Personally, I feel like the only justification is that maybe the tattoos are a Windshaper thing but even that isn’t accurate since High Order NPCs have them.
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u/Joggyogg 5d ago
And you do realise that the wow story writers could come up with any reason for the skin colour right? Like none of this is real, it's all made up
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u/LoneSpectre96 5d ago
Yeah. I’m just saying that if you don’t want blue skin, there’s already a built in lore reason to not have it. Live your life, bro. Make your elf whatever color you want.
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u/Seeker_of_Arcane 1d ago
did you read my post? i explained all that
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u/LoneSpectre96 1d ago
I did. I’m just wondering why it bothers you so much that the skyborne can be blue.
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u/Seeker_of_Arcane 1d ago
It doesn't bother me at all that they can be blue, I'm playing a blue sky elf rogue. It bothers me that it blurs the line between horde and alliance having a race that can look the exact same on both sides. Its just bad presentation and brings in the worst part of retail which were the mop neutral race thing I always felt that was really lazy and unpopular thing to do.
Also elves that are essentially elementals because they are blessed by an elemental lord like the dark iron dwarves is just really damn cool and having blue skin to reflect that is awesome.
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u/Wrosgar 4d ago
I fully agree that I wish alliance & horde skyelves were visually distinct.
Although despite the lore contradiction, I'd go with horde getting the prettier one. I believe part of the reason they wanted to was faction balance, similar to original TBC where draenei were the visually less appealing one. The same problem space probably still exists today, so I don't mind the visual split of the more appealing to the average player leaning in Horde's favour
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u/Seeker_of_Arcane 1d ago
they added draenei instead of pandarens because the draenei were the prettier race and they wanted pretty for both sides.
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u/kopecm13 5d ago
Horde and alliance races looking visually different is an essential core element of the the game and something that makes wow so great. That's sense of allegiance and in group feeling will be eroded if they don't make exclusive customization options
Keep the fight brother. We need these post everyday to make them realize that it was a mistake to give both horde and allinace a race that looks exactly the same
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u/PastAnalysis 4d ago
The Horde vs Alliance is about values. Simple as that. Your racist leaning will never win out.
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u/Seeker_of_Arcane 1d ago
Calling someone racist in a discussion about a fictional world just shows how emotionally stunted you are. Learn to separate fantasy from reality.
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u/Kameho88v2 5d ago
Tbh i really dont get why they need to make elf race #2462.
When they could have just stuck with Blood and High elves???
Quel'Thalas is already split between the former high elf order into 2 seperate factions.
Let the horde have the blood elves and let alliance get High elves!? Problem solved.
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u/ModsSwallowCum 5d ago
I like the idea of Air elemental elves, like Dark Iron Dwarves
Id just rather the Blood Elves and High elves first. Forsaken Elves would be good idea too.
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u/PastAnalysis 4d ago
No. Quel’Thalas after the Scourge Invasion only has Elves that identify as “Blood Elves.” There is no mention in the lore of any of them retaining the identity. This retcon you High Elves want will never happen.
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u/shadow_of_m0il 5d ago
Nah. Elves don't belong in the horde, period. Horde's been dead since 2007.
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u/Wadarkhu 5d ago
Let's just use chromie and go back way back in time to fuck something up and make what the people really want, World Of ElfCraft.
Alliance
- Wood Elf (Human)
- Night Elf (Night Elf)
- Deep Elf (Dwarf, bc basically elder scrolls dwemer)
- Pixie (Gn*me)
- High Elf (High Order Skyborne Shen'dorei)
Horde
- Forest Troll (Orc, bc Trolls are proto elves or w.e)
- Troll (Troll)
- Feral Elf (Tauren)
- Wretched (Forsaken, bc belf magic addict)
- Wind Elf (Wind Shaper Skyborne Shen'dorei)
/jk
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u/Silverbacks 5d ago
That’s not a terrible idea, except every race should be trolls.
Well dwarves can still be dwarves, and then they bring back the “I smoke two dwarves” troll joke.
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u/whateverwhatis 5d ago
Everybody in these goes "and horde can have the ugly bright blue skins no one likes! K bai!!!!" I hate the blue skins. Please no.
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u/Ok-Armadillo5821 5d ago
You are asking to much of Blizzard. They are the ones that come up with these dumb made up blue elves, they are not going to fix them because that would be admitting they don't know what the playerbase wants.
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u/ModsSwallowCum 5d ago
I think the colors should be swapped. Pale/blue skin and Blue eyes for Horde,
Dark skin and Pink hair for Alliance,
They both can get the yellow eyes nbd
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u/KEN_KAI0 5d ago
The skin differences are a bit too controversial. I think what should separate H from A Skyborne are things like…
1) Tattoos/marking patterns in distinct faction-only colors
2) Eye color
3) Idle, walk/run/at-the-ready and attack animations (A retain current ones, H get new ones that imply a bit more physicality)
4) faction-exclusive facial hair and jewelry/accessories that symbolize their respective cultures/beliefs
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u/Seeker_of_Arcane 1d ago
how exactly are skin differences controversial? High order are seperating from the elementals and the windshapers are aligning with them its a perfect reason for skin differences. Though I do agree voice actor, tattoos, hairstyle animations should be there as well.
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u/RedBreadRetention 5d ago
How about the Alliance get the blue skin instead? You folks are the blue faction, after all. And you already had Draenei in the past.
Real talk, no. The blue skin is one of the major points of contention. Condemning Horde to be locked to that is just cruel and unfair.
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u/Hawkwise83 5d ago
Always thought it was weird the base races are locked to factions, but some randos decide to join the horde or alliance and they're on both sides.
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u/Sovery_Simple 4d ago
If the blue elves looked like the blue elf lady on the right then I'd really be interested in playing one. I love the feathers mixed in and the windy flow to their outfit.
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u/ziboo7890 4d ago
Did you read the lore books in the Nightclaw Druid dens? It mentions how only the most recent few generations started developing - feathers, blue skin, etc., and it seemed to be increasing.
So there is actual - hey we don't know why after all this time we're morphing too.
In retail we have other 'neutral' races - Pandas and Dracthyr - they didn't need racially distinct looks and the Skyborne don't either.
Personally I could have skipped the blue angels and went with just Highborne. Morph the Night Elf model as would be more appropriate or steal the Nightborne from retail and modify that look.
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u/abyss_sith 4d ago
girl that horde skyborne looks straight out of guild wars 2. had to check the sub i was on for real.
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u/MutedMasterpiece357 5d ago
Alliance is blue, horde is red. The skin color palettes should swap
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u/eulersheep 5d ago
What about trolls? How are they blue if horde is red?
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u/Staggz93 5d ago
Cya guys this shit is getting fucking exhausting. https://careers.blizzard.com/global/en/search-results?rk=l-game-design&sortBy=Most%20relevant
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u/Defiant_Coat_2491 5d ago edited 5d ago
It's too late, the damage is done. All we can do now is just pretend they don't exist and suck it up. Blizzard knew they could have just made High Elves for Alliance and Darkfallen Elves for Horde, but they still went with this idea anyway, who ever pitched this idea clearly has authority or convinced a higher up about the numbers it will bring, and we all know CFO's, Board of Directors, and Shareholders only want the numbers, they couldn't care any less about the product it self only that it brings them the $$ in the end.
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u/CD-Call 5d ago
I have a better idea: The Horde gets Blood Elf customizations, and the Alliance can fucking cry about it.
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u/Seeker_of_Arcane 1d ago
honestly judging by all the responses it seems the horde is doing all of the crying.
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u/dxtboxer 5d ago
Skyborne are there to get the retail players (and their money) who can’t stomach vanilla models to play Forever, so sticking out as a blatantly modern retail asset in classic is in fact the point.
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u/HalLundy 5d ago
good idea.
they already said that they are not a neutral race.
so maybe make the alliance ones just white with blue eyes.
and maybe make the horde ones massive, fat and with two heads.
and to hammer it home, change the names too, to High Elves and Ogres.
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u/NeverScream 5d ago
nah nah nah, alliance the BLUE faction can have the blue elves, we horde have had the pale-red skin elves for 20 years. NICE TRY
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u/cleopatra48bc 4d ago
I think both factions already have a strong argument for joining each side. The divide between the two really felt believable and full of vitriol.
Not the biggest fan of how they look either but the lore they created is actually really good.
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u/fkit4ever 4d ago
Idk having played through the Skyborne starting zone I can't help but feel like the animosity/divide between the High Order and the Windshapers extremely forced/contrived. Like it's silly.
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u/DeuDimoni 4d ago
Just delete sky bleu elves and add High elves for the alliance based in the Hinterlands and Forsaken elves for the horde based in Lordaeron. Was that so hard Blizzard?
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u/PastAnalysis 4d ago
Fuck no. If High Elves are playable, then Blood Elves must be playable.
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u/DeuDimoni 4d ago
That works for me. Whichever race fits the classic vibe and the lore is fine. It would’ve been cool if Blizzard had given us edgy blood elves addicted to fel magic.
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u/PastAnalysis 4d ago
Yeah, I mean, Blood Elves had that edge in their starting zone and Forever likely isn’t going to Outlands with it permanently staying on Azeroth. So, it’s likely the Sunwell will never be restored since that relied on TBC plot points from Outlands.
Why did you suggest Forsaken Elves instead of Blood Elves though?
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u/DeuDimoni 3d ago
I guess because of the forsaken kingdom DLC and Blizzard said they wanna try something different from retail, so it’d be cool to see Forsaken elves with some undead and vampiric customization options.
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u/BuilderVisual1721 4d ago
I completely agree with this. Honestly give alliance high elves and give horde cool hot shaman elves and I’m down for it. I was skeptical at first but I think the Skyborne are actually a pretty cool idea.
Faction specific customizations would be huge, along with SD models. Get that going and I’m sold!
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u/PastAnalysis 4d ago
No. If the Alliance get High Elves, then Horde must get Blood Elves. Full stop.
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u/rbtgoodson 4d ago
Removing them from the game and replacing them would High Elves for the Alliance and Undead Elves for the Horde would be even better.
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u/Internal_Demand6860 5d ago
You gonna get downvoted a lot but I really like this idea.
I feel that stronger Faction identity and further separation of Horde Skyborne (Windshapers) and Alliance Skyborne (High Order) when it comes to lore & aesthetics would be beneficial to their presence in the game.
Sadly It won't happen cause Blizzard already established what they established when it comes to the Skyborne, but your idea still remains good.
Only one thing I would change about your idea is regarding the shades of blue for the Windshapers... I would say the blue should be way less intense, almost grey or beige, with a tiny hint of blue...
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u/PastAnalysis 4d ago
It’s an awful idea. There’s no reason behind it other than a cringe idea of robbing the Horde of the Blood Elf aesthetic.
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u/Seeker_of_Arcane 1d ago
appreciate it, and yes I also agreed that the blue needs to be tone downed and grey skin tones should be added to give some dark elf options.
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u/Stun_the_Pink 5d ago edited 5d ago
I like these ideas. I don't know why everyone in the comments is being negative. The ideas make tons of sense but they won't be implemented, unfortunately. I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
EDIT - After you downvote me, can you please explain? I haven't been in the beta, so maybe I'm missing something.
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u/Seeker_of_Arcane 1d ago
There are few people spamming this thread crying about horde getting "stuck" with blue elves and downvoting. I like the blue ones as I have a blue version of the sky elf lol.
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u/Shower_Floaties 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yo Blizz, hire this guy
Embrace the elements -> Blue -> Horde
Reject them -> Default -> Alliance
It's a good way to keep the faction identity and fit them into the lore better
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u/dreadmoneyman 5d ago
Aren't visually distinct, Are we playing the same game
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u/SevenExtra 5d ago
Is there currently a difference in the appearance of The High Order Skyborne and The Windshaper Skyborne?
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u/RevolutionaryText749 5d ago
It makes maximum sense. If we can’t have forsaken elves then at least make it so these horde variant is the blue colour as shamans draw their connection directly from the spirits and make the alliance one high elves as they are using arcana and have been basically looking the same until this idiotic decision
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u/MadKingOni 5d ago
I just want them to look better like less goofy and make the blues more natural instead of glowing, also make it so horde can have warlock skyborne look corrupted and dark
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u/Freazerr 5d ago
How about this, The alliance get the blue skin and we will see how you guys react to that one.