Blizzard Defends WoW: Forever's Skyborne Race, Citing Faction Balance

The addition has drawn criticism for several reasons. Some fans question why a new elf race is needed when High Elves and Blood Elves already exist in the setting. Others object that some Skyborne character models, particularly druid forms, are more high-fidelity than the classic game's older models. The race is also locked behind a $30 add-on.

Blizzard explained it chose Skyborne because it had a "great story" to tell and could use a culture kit rarely seen in WoW: Air Elemental architecture and environments. A starter zone, Zephras Isle, was a good way to introduce the race because players will not spend enormous time there. They do the quests, experience the zone, and within four to six hours return to terrestrial Azeroth, where most of the game takes place. That also influenced why the team chose these elves over, for example, the Quel'dorei elves from Quel'thalas.

The studio said it has "bigger plans" for that region and wants to signal that it may occasionally make a bold choice. The team is excited to showcase the "checklist" items many people have for Classic+, but it has a "long, long roadmap of content stretching out several years" and is "playing the long game" with how it rolls out content. Blizzard added that the Skyborne has been well received in the beta, especially once players complete the starter zone and see the effort put into their story.

On faction access, Blizzard said the decision was not specifically for Horde or Alliance but mostly to avoid a potentially avoidable population swing. It explained that Blood Elves and races using the high elf model are the most popular in WoW "bar none." When Blood Elves were introduced in The Burning Crusade, in part to give the Horde a less "monstrous" race, the population swung massively, almost 40 percent, from 60/40 Alliance/Horde to 60/40 Horde/Alliance.

"We knew going into it that we wanted to do a high elf-like race, but we also knew if we only gave it to one faction, that could have long-term population balance impact, so that was something we were leery of," Blizzard said. It also had to make a tough choice about starter zones for a new race because of the scope of what it could produce for launch.

During development, Blizzard said it could either make two new starter zones and only one large questing zone, or make one starter zone and gain an extra level-up zone. The team opted for the second leveling zone, which became the Riverglades. Blizzard said once players visit the Riverglades and fully experience it, it thinks they will agree with the decision.

Editor's Summary Blizzard is defending the dual-faction Skyborne race in World of Warcraft: Forever as a way to avoid the population imbalance that followed Blood Elves in The Burning Crusade. The new elf race arrives with Zephras Isle and is paywalled behind a $30 add-on, drawing fan criticism over its place in the setting and its higher-fidelity models. Blizzard says it chose one starter zone to add an extra leveling zone, Riverglades, and is taking a long-term approach to content.