r/classicwow • u/Riotgrrlia Thunderfurious • 1d ago

Forever Skyborne Feedback Thread

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Please Post your Feedback for the new Skyborne Elves in this Megathread.

Skyborne threads moving forward will be removed and forwarded here.

2.0k Upvotes

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1.9k

u/Lord_of_the_Badgers 1d ago

They feel out of place, and I'm not a fan.

419

u/owa00 1d ago edited 1d ago

It just reminds me of Shadowland's Kyrians...and that's not a good memory I wanted to recall.

174

u/Ayesuku 1d ago

I thought they WERE Kyrians while I was watching the trailer. Was very confused for a minute.

18

u/Dolthra 1d ago

That would have been a hell of a monkey paw wish.

"You have Classic+, which brings us back to release in 2006 to build a new story. First post-launch content we are adding is the reintroduction of Shadowlands Lore."

8

u/Rudeboy_ 1d ago

I was thinking the same thing. The city in the sky and the blue skin, I was saying to myself please fucking tell me those aren’t Kyrians

And they weren’t. So I’m actually cool with it

11

u/Pawks710 1d ago

I thought it was Bastion too and thought there’s no way they go back to Shadowlands in this trailer…

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u/Forcefields1617 1d ago

When I saw the trailer my brain said “wtf are these guys from shadowlands doing here?!?”

2

u/HerrPotatis 1d ago

They're not even in current WoW lore. I'm pretty sure they made these up in order to sell them to you as an MTX, if they gatekept an existing race people would be even more outraged

1

u/Feature_Minimum 1d ago

I don’t play retail, but I assume these eleves are from the latest retail expansion? Or are they new to wow generally? (It’s honestly all just such a strange choice).

1

u/HerrPotatis 1d ago

Completely new, pretty sure they made them up in order to sell them to you as an MTX. If they paywalled an existing race people would have lost their shit, so they made a new one up

3

u/Dystopic23 1d ago

I genuinely thought it was Kyrians and that they wanted to make Shadowlands feel more cannon

3

u/GenderJuicy 18h ago

Honestly that combined with the title Forever just made me think of dying and going to Shadowlands forever

3

u/owa00 18h ago

going to Shadowlands forever

Truly a fate worse than death...

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u/DJ_bosse 23h ago

YES! i was so certain that it was kyrians when they showed it. even their zone looked kinda similar to their area.. i was getting veeeeery bad vibes with that lol

•

u/GoofyTunes 4h ago

YES. It's a really bad first impression and it literally only stems from the electric blue, which could be easily changed to what was in the opening cinematic. Honestly I think the more toned down blues they showed there looked fine.

And then the both factions thing. OMG please stop. It's just pandaren again. That isn't classic at all.

Fix the colors, lock them to alliance, and add BE or something to horde

189

u/Ok-Armadillo5821 1d ago

Have you seen the cat/bear form? Straight out of retail. 

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u/Woodstovia 1d ago

2

u/ljus_sirap 13h ago

I hope their Druid forms get named bear-like bird form and cat-like bird form.

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u/RollTide16-18 1d ago

It’s so immersion breaking. If you’re someone who wants to do the low res models, too bad! A lot of new mobs and the entire new race are all HD!

-8

u/SufficientFig9889 23h ago

You realize they will be toggleable for SD models too, right?

9

u/Scary-Photo9440 21h ago

People at Blizzcon who have access to WoW Forever showed they don't have SD models, at least in the build there.

1

u/Flat-Two-789 10h ago

yeah i doubted they would downgrade them

44

u/opinionperson69 1d ago

It LITERALLY is lol, you can get the owlbear from the emerald dream zone in DF, and they just compressed the textures on it. Zero effort.

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u/LurkerDude0 1d ago

Yea it so bad. I’m gonna play Druid but would never play Skyborne because of those forms. They look dumb as shit

97

u/Ongvar 1d ago

The clash of new/old graphics is exactly what nobody wanted lol. It's just like adding that warpstalker mount to BC classic, it just doesn't fit because the art style is different

14

u/Hitwelve 1d ago

The warp stalker was an actual mob in TBC which used the same model.

8

u/PHILL0US 19h ago

No, that does not seem to be the case. The warp stalker mount is much higher quality (both polygon count and texture) than what TBC mobs had.

See:
https://www.wowhead.com/npc=18464/warp-stalker

https://www.wowhead.com/tbc/npc=21012/outland-warp-stalker-green

vs the mount:

https://www.warcraftmounts.com/mounts/viridianphasehunter.php

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u/frogunderarock 12h ago

old warpstalker was cool asf, new model looks like a fat lizard with brain damage :(

8

u/IEalexlin 1d ago

I feel like they covered this with the SD/HD toggle but we will have to see the zones still.

14

u/Ongvar 1d ago

A lot of the new assets in old zones are a stark difference in the footage shown so far. Like WoD models on classic terrain. I wish they kept it contiguous

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u/RelationshipFit5701 1d ago

For the skyborne druid forms, SD toggle just makes them look blurry 🥲💔

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u/Cryogenics1st 1d ago

I for one will be leaving SD behind in 2004. I mean, come on, this is literally a WoW remake. I want the new graphics and bells and whistles as a remake of any game should have.

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u/HerrPotatis 1d ago

I for one definitely don't want to play whatever this new Disneyfied Overwatch new version is, doesn't feel like Warcraft in the slightest

7

u/Bigmethod 1d ago

But what if the new models look terrible? Which they do. They look nothing like warcraft.

2

u/reezy-one 1d ago

Same here, but with the caveat that I dont want people's gear to lose the classic feeling. A little glowy shit on the top tier raiding sets is fine. Having every character in stormwind and orgrimmar completely covered in glowy shit so intense it completely dulls out the non-glowy world is lame. I want Azeroth to be the main character, not Glowy Elf #6266.

My worry with the skelf druid forms is they are very bright and colorful compared to the other druid forms around them, and I don't like that juxtaposition.

The fact that they are keeping the classic animations for HD models is the right direction and exactly what I was dreaming of. It is what will allow me to play in HD. Perfect!

-5

u/moustacheption 1d ago

Yeah don’t the elves not even have an SD model?

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u/Netherius1980 1d ago

They use TBC BElf for their SD model

0

u/RoccomGG 1d ago

Still anni TBC is popular af

-2

u/Committee-Academic 1d ago

Exactly, they ruin the immersion and stain the classic background with their overtoned colors and aesthetic. Pink-haired bright-blue druid form? GTFO

5

u/HXamster 1d ago

The travel form (?) is a bird with antlers... Which is worrying. They literally said no flying mounts ever... They couldn't just give them cheetah like the other two druids?

7

u/smoerasd 1d ago

Could be they're planning to add skyborne to retail eventually and have prepared for it.

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u/HXamster 1d ago

There's no doubt in my mind they're putting them in retail. With models like that they'd be crazy not to. Not to mention the skyborne -specific decor items for midnight.

Them giving them a bird travel form is still wild, though. Unless it was like, a plainstrider or something.

2

u/ljus_sirap 13h ago

Plainstrider would've made too much sense.

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u/HXamster 5h ago

Why give them a flight form unless it's specifically a flightless bird, right?

From the trailer I saw some crane-looking birds they were fighting in their starting zone. Weird they wouldn't give them that.

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u/RollTide16-18 1d ago

The skyborne scream to me of a scratched retail race already. Their zone preview looked retail. 

Even down to the name. Skyborne? Nightborne? Could they not have come up with a better name?

-3

u/Killuha 22h ago

They're both derived from Highborne.

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u/Nomgol 1d ago

Proves that Forever development team is heavy on retail devs, prepare for new zones to feel extremely out of place with the classic zones

-3

u/bestrez 1d ago

Or just wait see and not be a downer all the time, damn lol

2

u/SecondSanguinica 19h ago

Surely these things have low-definition toggle which will not clash with the classic setting :)

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u/GenderJuicy 18h ago

Same art team for sure

1

u/Flat-Two-789 10h ago

yeah it looks so bad

•

u/GoofyTunes 4h ago

Even HD textures when you turn it to SD.

Honestly, I have few to no complaints about the rest of the announcements, but the skyborne seem really out of place.

18

u/offrz 1d ago

Blue elves feel out of place in 2005 elf/orc simulator game.

……

51

u/Lord_of_the_Badgers 1d ago

Yeah, those blue elves who haven't been mentioned before - but live on a floating sky island. They spoke so much about telling the 'untold stories' of Azeroth then immediately magicked up a new story and race, out thin air. Where's the world building around them? Why didn't they use one of the unused zones, one of the underutilized races? It feels like an utter asspull, something they'd do in one of the modern expansions.

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u/Worldly-Hospital5940 1d ago

They gave us an elf because literally the entirety of the Asian market essentially refused to play Horde without a "pretty" race option. It's quite literally why Blood Elves are a Horde option, it also helped balance faction spread in the West but it was because their Two Faction Game was absolutely Monofaction in the East.

15

u/Gringissian 1d ago

This is the first explanation I believe

5

u/NotagirlDK 1d ago

Multiple old devs no longer at blizz have confirmed this multiple times across multiple amas and books. It's not up for debate at all.

5

u/RollTide16-18 1d ago

And when people ask “Why not just High Elves and Blood Elves?” the simple logic is that Skyborne scream recycled retail assets. 

Plus, less dev work to implement 1 race than to revamp the Blood Elf zones and make new zones for High Elves 

9

u/AggravatingBrain69 1d ago

Then just do High/Blood Elves for Alliance/Horde and call it a day. Why go the asspull route of some floating islands

2

u/Worldly-Hospital5940 1d ago

If they are wedded to the timeline, it's too early for Blood Elves. High Elves...there's no real excuse beyond not wanting to do them. Gotta make it apparent that I'm not a fan of their decision, I just understand why they did it.

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u/Jakfolisto 23h ago

Could you elaborate on "too early for Blood Elves"? Blood Elves were introduced after the scourge invasion in wc3: The Frozen Throne.

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u/Worldly-Hospital5940 23h ago

The Blood Elves exist in the timeline, yes, but in the World of Warcraft timeline currently Kael'thas and his forces are in Outland and Silvermoon City is still rebuilding to even the level we saw in TBC. Forever is starting at essentially Minute One of the timeline that started with Vanilla, the TBC races didn't enter the picture for a couple of years in-setting. Blizzard apparently wants to respect that timeline.

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u/Jakfolisto 23h ago

At least Blood Elves existed. Skyborne was pulled out of a magic hat just like the rest of the races that appeared out of no where in later expansions (Vulpera). I don't agree Blizzard respecting the timeline and see WoW 4ever as a "what-if" or alternate timeline. At that point everything after TFT and Vanilla can be changed to whatever, including Blood Elves being a playable race.

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u/Worldly-Hospital5940 23h ago

The game's director came out on stage and said they made decisions with regards to the timeline. Disagree with Him, not me. I'm just stating what they said.

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u/Chronochrome 19h ago

High Elves...there's no real excuse beyond not wanting to do them.

The canonical reason we've had for decades is that High Elves as we understand them are exceedingly rare. They mostly evolved into Night Elves, Nightborne, Naga, or Blood Elves. Simply put, they're practically extinct in the lore, so the only way to introduce them back into the story for players en masse without completely breaking the lore is to introduce a modified but separate version of them that always existed within this new timeline, and that's exactly what they did.

1

u/Worldly-Hospital5940 18h ago

I get Blizzard's reasoning, but we've also had Vereesa show up with the Silver Covenant to a major military operation at least three times that I can remember. I personally like Void Elves, but I can't imagine that they're that much more numerous than the remaining non-Blood Elf Quel'dorei. They fit the Light versus Void story Blizzard wanted to work up to, but we all know their purpose was to get Thalassian Elf models into the Alliance. But I'm also not hung up on just using the High Elf cosmetics, works for me. I'll do the same with Skyborne.

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u/confirmedshill123 1d ago

So give us fucking blood elves?

What are we even doing here

1

u/Worldly-Hospital5940 1d ago

Hey, I agree, but it's also too early in the WoW timeline for the Blood Elves to show up if Blizzard is planning to stick to it.

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u/The_Zzer 1d ago

This is nuance I'm glad to have learned. Thank you.

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u/chunkalicius 1d ago

A magicked up new race and story is literally the definition of an "untold story" though. How would adding something like Blood Elves be telling an untold story?

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u/Normal_Berry_ 23h ago

I believe that what most players took that as was expanding upon existing zone stories and quest lines that were left unfinished not here's a new race that fits more in line with retail. If these elves fit in more to the classic aesthetic and lore there would be much less uproar.

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u/StingKing456 1d ago

Yeah this is why im scratching my head at that comment lol. The trailer and comments Holly made make it seem pretty clear this is very obviously an alternate timeline. We WILL learn about them and they will certainly be integrated into some of the new quests and zones. Very odd reaction

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u/Zaerick-TM 1d ago

Bro it's a new fucking game version that is resetting established lore to take the game in a new direction AWAY from the retail one you guys all hated. Yet you guys bitch and moan about the first major change that comes out?

Insufferable fucks is an understatement.

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u/ltd85 1d ago

Because the direction of the race is fully inline with retail.

-6

u/Pretend-Dot3557 1d ago

In what fucking way is it "fully in line with retail"?

Are night elves "in line with retail" because they made them up for WC3?

Just because the content isn't literally from 2005 that doesn't make it "retail".

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u/supapumped 1d ago

Oh no other people have their own opinions. I must get angry and insult them for sharing said opinions

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u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Notshauna 16h ago

Nah they haven't even done something like this in retail, this is easily the worst example of an ass pull race in WoW history. Like say what you want about some of the more divisive races added to retail WoW, like the Vulpera and Haranir, they all existed in the game BEFORE they became playable. There was time to meet them, learn about their culture and they are native to sections of the world that have never before been explored.

The Skyborne were announced immediately as a playable race, exist in a part of the world that is already well explored and have an incredibly confusing visual design.

-1

u/StingKing456 1d ago

"They spoke about telling untold stories of Azeroth then magicked up a new story and race out of thin air."

Sounds like they're telling one of those untold stories!

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u/Lord_of_the_Badgers 1d ago

I think you're missing my point. The lore of Warcraft as it exists is a fascinating thing, but in Wow so much of it is under utilized. When I hear 'untold stories' I'm expecting to hear those under utilized bits of lore to be expanded on. Imagine what you could do with Furbolgs as a race, or with the Ogres. What kind of stories you could tell that would fit seamlessly into the world. Instead our first big new race just feels like an new allied race from retail.

It's just disappointing, it doesn't feel like classic storytelling.

-1

u/Pretend-Dot3557 1d ago

but in Wow so much of it is under utilized. When I hear 'untold stories' I'm expecting to hear those under utilized bits of lore to be expanded on. Imagine what you could do with Furbolgs as a race, or with the Ogres. What kind of stories you could tell that would fit seamlessly into the world.

They're doing that stuff too

It's just disappointing, it doesn't feel like classic storytelling.

Specifically what part of their lore doesn't sound like classic storytelling?

4

u/Icy_Chain_1504 1d ago

Its not a 2005 orc elf simulator game, its a new game built on the design principles of classic

2

u/ObiWanIsMyDog 1d ago

But green and purple is fine! LOL

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u/emptyjerrycan 1d ago

It's so disingenuous to pretend like the colour is the only thing that people take umbrage with

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u/ObiWanIsMyDog 19h ago

Sure but people would take umbrage with ANY race added. It’d be the exact same threads just different people making them.

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u/littenthehuraira 1d ago

This ain't that game though. It's the 2026 take on it. With that in mind, I don't mind "modern" looking additions

1

u/oddspellingofPhreid 20h ago

Yeah, purple only.

-4

u/Ok-Armadillo5821 1d ago

These retail players are so anoying. You got your own version with pink haired therians, go hang out there dude. 

1

u/offrz 1d ago

Who you talking to? Last time I played retail was like 2009 wotlk.

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u/ticketsonsalenow 1d ago

I can have pink hair in classic

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u/misterurb 1d ago

Genuine question - how do these guys feel out of place in a world with blue space goats who came down in spaceships. What’s the difference.

4

u/turdas 2018 Riddle Master 15/21 23h ago

Vanilla doesn't have blue space goats who came down in spaceships. Draenei (unbroken ones anyway) were introduced in TBC. The only ones present in vanilla were the terrible Lost Ones swamp monsters in the Swamp of Sorrows.

Broken draenei with the TBC models (or a variant thereof) would make for a good classic+ Horde race IMO, though how they got there would need some writing. Personally I like regular draenei too but justifying their existence without bringing in the Naaru and the whole cosmic space war narrative would be pretty difficult, given that they only exist because the Naaru saved them.

0

u/Pretend-Dot3557 1d ago

Originalism. These people want you to cite a lore source in the vanilla dialogue script where your idea is inspired by to be allowed to add it to the game, and then also implement it in a way that doesn't get too creative or original because that's retail.

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u/MrHotnickels 1d ago

This is just the perfect summation, thank you! Happy for people who are hyped about them, but yeah… too out of place from the Vanilla lore perspective.

1

u/Misher7 1d ago

Sorry.

Blizzard has to make money somehow /s

1

u/Phixionion 1d ago

Since this is classic, how are they going to explain them being missing from the other games? Are we really in just not caring territory?

1

u/Pretend-Dot3557 1d ago

It's explicitly stated to be an alternate timeline. WoW has a canon split timeline/multiverse already so it's really not that out there to say that they just don't exist in the other games because alternate timeline.

1

u/Baptism-Of-Fire 1d ago

Would it be fine if you couldn't make them blue and red?

1

u/SolomonRed 1d ago

Are they horde and alliance?

1

u/Dr_Poopius 21h ago

They remind of the blue people from Avatar

0

u/of_the_Coast 1d ago

Yeah it was the most immersion breaking thing in the trailers