Could you have considered night elves "isolationist"?
Hey,
Had a dispute with someone on r/wow... just now, actually. I want to hear your guys' thoughts. In Warcraft lore, could you consider the night elves as isolationist? Not necessarily now, what with being part of the Alliance for decades -- but what about pre-Third War? Would calling them "isolationist" be wrong?
I know what my opinion is, but I just want to present the question neutrally so people can give unjaded responses first.
TL;DR: Question: Are/were night elves isolationist?
Posted Dec 3, 2017, 7:49 PM UTC
21
Night elves absolutely were isolationist if you want to call it that.
Considering that the night elves for 10,000 years stayed away from nearly everything that wasn't Wild God or Elune related (things embedded into their culture), they fit the bill pretty easily.
The only times they really engaged with much else were the significant Wars of the Satyr and the Shifting Sands. The former was mostly self-contained against satyr, and the latter included the dragonflights after the aqir pushed against them in the Caverns of Time. The War of the Satyr started by a surprise demonic offensive and the War of the Shifting Sands started by the Cenarion Circle's efforts going a little wrong.
Beyond these events, they've had very, very little to do with the rest of the world between the War of the Ancients and the Third War. Their duties at these times were likely to themselves and to Nordrassil, the first World Tree.
Whether their isolationism is good or bad is anyone's guess. But yes, they fit the definition of "isolationist" so saying that "'Night elves were isolationist' is incorrect" is itself incorrect.
It's worth noting though that whether this policy was enforced or whether it was through inaction (that is, the night elves' lack of expansion throughout Kalimdor or the rest of Azeroth) is not well known. If anyone has any details regarding that, I'd be interested to know.
TL;DR: Night elves can be called isolationist; that is not incorrect. Whether their isolationism was enforced or not is unknown.