Why Forever's new elves are Skyborne, not high elves

Blizzard spent part of the September 17 live Q&A on the Skyborne, Forever’s new elven race. They ended up in Skywall, the elemental plane of air, and with no Sunwell to sustain them they have steeped themselves in elemental magic instead.

Asked why the new race is not the high elves of Quel’Thalas, the developers answered that players can expect both in time. The team’s plans for Quel’Thalas were too large for a low-level zone and the timing at launch was wrong, and a high elf start in Northshire Abbey was considered and dropped because it did not feel right. The Skyborne also open class pairings elves have rarely had, with druids given as the example.

On character models: the HD set exists to welcome players who are not Classic die-hards, the SD set serves those who are, and both use the same skeletons. Running, casting and other animations were updated in a Classic style so the toggle works either way.

Why it matters: Blizzard says Quel’Thalas comes later as its own addition; the Skyborne do not replace it.

Tracked on everything we know.