Can we have Vanilla Elves back? (Or how 'Wyld Elf' invalidates the concept of 'Starting Race')

[Axillia]

So first off, i'm greatful that the Development of CoC2 started.

I could never get into TiTS. It's not so much that i don't like Sci-Fi, but it lacked a central 'Evil' that was the driving force behind corruption, like CoC had with Demons. A Zerg analog might have worked best, but it never came, so i just stopped following development.

I followed CoC2 since its apearance therefore very excitedly and like the idea of classical Fantasy Starting Races like Human, Elf, Orc (i think we can all agree 'Dwarf' was missing from that list). That Feline and Canine Starter Races are in there was totally fine as many Fantasy Settings have Beast Races, and those 2 always seem to be by far the most popular in the furry community.

Here is the problem tho, when Elves were Elves, they were an identifiable 'Race' it seemed to make sense you could start as for a normal uncorrupted individual in the World, even the option of starting Shemale seemed fine but the current options for creating "Wyld Elves" not only seem to take starting pre-corrupted too far, they seem to lack any racial cohesion and diminish a slew of distinctive TFs to work towards.

The 14 starting Mutations seem to basically diminish AT LEAST 10 individual possible TFs. Are those further along those pathes just MORE atuned Wyld Elves?

If you leave headcanon backstory of your character aside, the only thing that really made you visually identifiably an elf was the mention of your elven ears in the Apearance Screen. If you start with Dog or Bunny Ears, what makes you different from a transformed Human in the eyes of others who meet you for the first time? What prevents humans with transformed ears to get away with claiming they're Wyld Elves?

Why have Canine or Feline Traits at all if those TFs have Starter Races all of their own? Are Catfolk and Lupine just descendants of 'UBER-/fully atuned' Wyld Elves?

What if you personally did not commune with nature because you reject the way of your people?

Why isn't there at least a button to choose "None" for Mutations, when your Sexual Trait can be "None" or your Body Type can be "Average"?

Teasing being able to roll Elves just to take them away again and replace them with "Bag full of leftover TF potion chugging junkies" when you've had players spend entire evenings writing their character backstories for friggin Elves is just cruel.

 

[Pursang]

Am Iwrong in assumng that pale elves are closer to “vanilla elves” than wyld elves? I wonder if they can be made an option, as I recall they’re more reclusive than wyld elves. Perhaps as part of a new game + mode sometime in the future?

 

[Axillia]

@MistyBirb:
If there had never been any version of the game that had anything but Wyld Elves i don't think i would have ever had any objections, but fact is there had been at least 2 ("blue UI" and "Fantasy UI") where they were JUST called Elves and for all intents and purposes largely were JUST Elves as understood traditionally.

It's about having things taken away from you that were available before, and that you had built an emotional connection with, not about wanting to have something new added that isn't there. I meant what i said when talking about sitting down and coming up with a backstory to an OC you planned to play in the game while waiting for things outside the tutorial to become available.

Traditionally Elves are (self-)atributed as being more noble and pure compared to humans or other races, and daydreaming of being able to have a fall from the highest hights of innocence and purity as your character arc, just to learn your race has been snuffed out and replaced with a version that is clearly more tainted than even the lowest of humans honest to god feels like a gutpunch as severe as being denied to be recognised as the gender you are on a daily basis IRL. After you've found who you are, you're being told you can't be that, not possible, and have to accept it.

This is why i hate online only games, with downloadable games you can archive older versions you liked better after things get changed, or you can modify them (some more easily than others) to suit your needs, with online only ones they can just be majorly altered and you lose access to the versions you hold dear without any recourse, just like when Cataclysm destroyed Azeroth.

 

[Axillia]

Please explain to me how "Equine Anus" for example is a 'quirk' that does not indicate taint?

 

[BubbleLord]

Because having a horse anus doesn't make you corrupt.

Stop trying to nitpick to get stereotypically awful elves. A wyld elf doesn't NEED to take on their mark, last I checked. Being part fey just means you're more in-tune with nature. Wyld elves aren't "tainted" as much as simply tuned to nature.

 

[Malpha]

That's like saying a birthmark is a sign of taint. It's just how they naturally are.

 

[Pursang]

If we have “stereotypicaly awful” humans, and “steoretypicaly awful” orcs, I don’t think it’s a stretch for someone to wonder why you can't be a “stereotypicaly awful” elf. I wish we had a solid answer for you, OP, but I’m going to chalk this decision down to design intent.

 

[JDeko]

I was SO happy to be able to start out as a Half-Ausar in TiTS and trappy in CoC2. I wish there was a "Half-Ausar" analog in CoC2 but I'm very happy to at least be able to start out with pupper ears.

 

[Raindrops]

Please explain to me how "Equine Anus" for example is a 'quirk' that does not indicate taint?

You need to stop projecting your own headcannon onto CoC2. MistyBirb is part of the dev team and if he (she?) says that wyld elves are not tainted, then THEY ARE NOT FREAKING TAINTED, no matter what you say or think about it.

 

[Savin]

@MistyBirb:
If there had never been any version of the game that had anything but Wyld Elves i don't think i would have ever had any objections, but fact is there had been at least 2 ("blue UI" and "Fantasy UI") where they were JUST called Elves

You're factually incorrect. Wyld Elves have been called Wyld Elves since 2015 when I wrote the first design docs, and they were called Wyld Elves when the first April Fools build came out.

So, no, your entire argument is invalid.

And also no, Wyld Elves aren't tainted/corrupted. There is nothing to taint them, since the entire point of the story is Corruption first coming into this world via Kasyrra. Having animal features isn't a sign of corruption; in fact, going by CoC1 lore, it's pretty much the opposite since the furry races started out as "pure" versus the corruption-bearing humans.

edit:

Am Iwrong in assumng that pale elves are closer to “vanilla elves”

Not really. Pale Elves are big strong Scandinavian amazons with little fuckboy males, living in a giant blue glacier-city. Aside from (the females) being haughty and having a druidic affinity, they don't have much in common with Tolkien elves.