Forum Post of the Day: Will Blood Elves be that bad?
by Elizabeth Harper 
Dec 25th 2006 at 5:09PM
Some people have predicted doom and gloom as the result of the introduction of the Blood Elves to the Horde side of the game. A "pretty" race will only bring the worst elements of the Alliance over to the Horde side, some argue. And the flood of rerollers -- Horde and Alliance alike -- will be social outcasts in Horde culture, which has in part defined itself in opposition to such conventional beauty. This poster ponders whether the Blood Elves will end up being something of a third faction, disliked by both Horde and Alliance. Me? I wouldn't be surprised to see some anti-Elf movements in the weeks following the release of the expansion -- but I will be surprised if it's not all but forgotten in a couple months' time.Filed under: Expansions, Blood Elves, Features
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Sylythn Dec 25th 2006 6:04PM
Well they've already become the night elves of the horde on the beta servers - "cuz ther hot!", but hopefully that'll quiet down after a while.
I'm rolling a BE pally - mostly because I want to play pally, but I am concerned there'll be a million of em in the first month (though I doubt many will stick with it).
I wish they looked like the original crack addict models we saw - but oh well...guess I'll have to go female to get the thin look.
Quaddw Dec 25th 2006 5:58PM
1) I like horde, won't play alliance
2) I like the way armor looks on character, tauren have weird boots, and trolls dont have any at all and undead have bones sticking out, and i just don't like the orc base or benefits :P
3) Squirrels, need I say more.
Blood Elf offers me a chance to play a Horde character that to me will look good in the items / armor and squirrels are somehow involved...
Oblitherax Dec 25th 2006 6:55PM
I think for the first little while it will probably be like that as the people who are not immediately starting the grind to 70 will undoutably make some sort of blood elf character.
I know I'll make one. Most likely a Paladin, as I've always wanted to give them a try, but will I stick with it? Who knows... probably not. I already have a well geared 60 and another alt whom I play regularily while not on my 60.
The first 2-3 weeks will likely be BE madness, and then it will cool down.
If anything, hopefully we'll get alot of rerolls from the alliance side whom decide to stick with it and it will help balance out the sides a bit. Hopefully it's not only the immature players from the alliance though.
Benjamin Dec 26th 2006 12:17AM
I'm sure it will depend on the server to some degree too... some communities are likely not to care at all while some who are more RP centric (like, say, Silver Hand as an example) might shun the idea of paladins a lot more.
I think as a whole though that there won't be much or any backlash at all and everyone will just be happy for some new choices at the character creation screen.
Vogen The D0rf Hunter Dec 26th 2006 1:32AM
The Blood Elves will definitely be Horde outcasts. They'll have each other (which will probably be larger than the rest of the Horde), but nothing else. Forsaken was a HUGE stretch as it was, they go completely against everything the Horde stands for. Blood Elves is pushing it a tad.
I rather dislike how Blizzard is trying to villainize the Horde, Blood Elves are a truly evil race. The original Horde (Trolls, Tauren, Orcs) was composed of multi-community races (tribes,clans) based on spiritualism and Shamanism with a deep hatred for anything that defied the elements. Blood Elves and Forsaken BOTH are the anti-nature. Forsaken are anti-nature simply by existing, and Blood Elves feed off of Demonic Magic in order to maintain their sanity (which is Kael's case is withering).
The Forsaken MAY welcome them, but it's hard to say. They definitely share more in common, culturally, than the rest of the Horde and culture/aesthetic is the main reason while people roll the tribal Horde races.
As for a third faction, it may be possible for Blood Elves to double-cross and become Illidan's cronies, or double agents. Hell, with Akama (Draenei Broken Seer), Draenei may even get the option to become Broken and join Illidan.
Knowing Blizzard, it can be hard to say. Such a huge change would be very uncconventional but then again, all you have to do is look at the Forsaken and Draenei and know they're willing to make changes every now and then.
-Vogen
rogue Dec 26th 2006 1:39PM
I believe you're write; it may be a fad but it will largely pass by after a while. It's not like the Horde doesn't have 12 year olds and stupid people; you may simply notice it more on Alliance because Alliance has more people period, hence more stupid people.
And ultimately... unless you're trying to role-play a hatred of the blood elf race as a member of the Horde, does it really matter? I wish people could just be calm and level-headed more often.
White Rabbit Dec 26th 2006 4:04AM
If it wasn't for the race unballance, I'd say the Forsaken and the Blood Elves should leave the Horde and make a third faction
Tim Engelbart Dec 26th 2006 4:15AM
It will cool down after a few weeks. WOW-players forget about everything of which they once complained after a while. Who still complains about the crossrealm battlefields, who still complains about Blizzard's decision to change the blood elf models and who still complains about the draenei having some weirdass lore?
Nobody still does. I'm confident it will work out this way with the blood elves as well; in a few weeks time, people will no longer be able to imagine what the horde had looked like before the introduction of the blood elves.
White Rabbit Dec 26th 2006 8:10AM
I never really noticed anything too strange about the Draenei lore. I still complain about the blood elf models though to my friends
Tiamazzo Dec 26th 2006 7:58AM
Well, my BE Paladin in the Beta lost a lot of appeal when they reduced their weapon size to toy weapons. My paladin is holding a Corpsemaker, and it looks like a one hander. =(
michael steel Dec 26th 2006 12:10PM
Well! I was seriously taken aback by the venom in some of theses comments. I'm new to the game and I love it - my first character is Forsaken, and is a beautiful tonic to the more MoR/stereotypical/cutesyfied feeling of some of the other races. If Blizzard wants to go out on a limb and mix things up a bit, that's fine by me - it doesn't seem there's really a lot you could do about it anyway!
I guess it's inevitable that people would want to big-up their own prejudices or resist such changes, but increasing the scope of the game is likely to increase rather than diminish it's appeal. I'll certainly play a BE at some time - as I will certainly give some of the Alliance races a go - this way I'll get to see as much of Azeroth as possible, and appreciate the huge effort that so many people go to to create the game in the first place (as well as getting the most value for MY money as possible).
It'll always be up to the individual how they play the game, and what they get out of it - so if you want to ignore Forsaken and Blood Elves or even Alliance, go for it. At the end of the day, such opinions aren't likely to put me off playing the game, so much as stop me visiting websites such as this one!!!
Apocolipto Dec 26th 2006 8:56AM
O come on. Beauty is always Evil. So it only makes good sence that there be a Horde that hates Everyone, wants to steal powers from the gods and what not. I mean what a good addition. And BTW. its a game.
Khouri Dec 30th 2006 9:19AM
What the heck does "its just a game" mean anyhow? do you know how protective people get of books series? tv shows? comics!? people place something of an emotional investment in this game and other things, to see something you've spent your evenings enjoying go to hell, that hurts dude.
Ps - i don't think the game is going to hell, i like the blood elves, and i'm intereste to see what they're take on paladins will be, i'm trying to avoid as much pre-content as possible to get a larger reaction from myself when i fianlly install and login ^^
Siedre Dec 26th 2006 3:04PM
That's silly. With the possible exception of the RP servers the Blood Elves will be welcome in every city, in every guild. The horde finally can turn the tables and bring Paladins out in pvp, and enjoy raid content with relative ease. I can't wait for the realizations to come pouring through the forums. Also, not only is the starting zone for Blood Elves beautiful and rich to look at, but the Elves themselves are fun and quirky to play. Their racial ability kicks ass. I could go on. It's something entirely new for us hordies.
Ok, so there's one reason I don't like the Blood Elves, but it has nothing to do with game play. It has everything to do with propagating stereotypes. You gotta love suggesting to every boy and girl that plays that beautiful, skinny women should be derisive and petty, while their male counterparts should be vain and racist. I know that *I know better*, but can we really say that things like this don't subliminally affect younger players? Sweet, Blizzard, way to go.
Arbuz Chokaro Dec 26th 2006 2:45PM
Personally, I'm gonna make a macro that spams "YOU ARE A SIN AGAINST GOD" and spam it to any belf I see.
Not really. Who cares about race at all even. When I roll a toon I pick class first, race second. If I'm making a Horde hunter, I would probably pick tauren, because I like seeing something other than a pretty-boy wierdo running across my screen.
Also, horde aren't ugly, they just make sense. (Undead rotting? Trolls blue? GOD FORBID!) Try to make everything equal and pretty and you get crap like Lineage 2.
Shawn Dec 27th 2006 12:21AM
There *may* be a difference in the collective Horde vs. Alliance mentality/maturity. But it ain't huge. I've suffered through plenty of immature, racist, rude, pornographic, inane, Chuck Norris-esque General Chat conversations on the Horde side.
If the Alliance are immature then the Horde suffer from the "I'm an ugly underdog and a better player than you" complex, which can be just as annoying. Some Horde players can be real elitist (no, not 1337ists).
On a tangent: How about an entry on how people respond to all the ignorant a**holes, who use the anonymity of WoW to broadcast overtly racist and derogatory jokes and comments on General chat?
Theadrick Dec 27th 2006 8:49AM
I have to echo the previous poster who said it will be a forgotten complaint in a few weeks time after release. There will be some fresh new fodder for the forums by that time.
Oldbear Dec 27th 2006 9:15PM
I look forward to a BE Pally - I played a dwarf Pally in EQ and in the WOW beta. Plus, I want to try both of the new races racial abilities. Oh... and I can not wait to Bubble-hearth against the Alliance for once. (Nerf Pallies... hehe)
Keystone Dec 28th 2006 2:03PM
I personally didn't like the character models of the Horde, and I liked the Paladin class better than the Shaman class when I started the game, so I rolled Alliance.
Now, after all this time, my Paladin is shelved and I wish I would have rolled Horde to begin with. I am leaving my 60 Mage / 60 Paladin to roll a Blood Elf Warlock. I feel this will help the horde as I am a good PvP'er with 10+ years of MMO experience; however, I know a lot of alliance players that are talking about rolling blood elves and I've seen them in PvP and I feel that the extra players, while this will help the imbalance, will hurt the horde by increasing their numbers in crappy PvP players.
Although, it will be nice to see all the skilled Horde PvP players using a Paladin to their full extent, ouch!
Those are my thoughts, take them with a grain of salt ^^
Nick Jan 3rd 2007 2:11AM
A nice guild will not turn away a nice Blood Elf player just because of the race. Get real and start to acknowledge the fact that horde is a family. looks dont matter and if it does, choose another game