Would it be lore breaking to have a Snow Elf Race?

HydraShalimara

Hello everyone! So I’ve done my research on snow elves and I understand that this race is in hiding. If the race comes out of hiding, they’d try hiding their pale skin and what not because nords hate them for attacking Sarthel. However, this game doesn’t really have npc making racial comments like Skyrim did. So I’m just curious if having Snow elves as a race would be a cool idea for this game? I would say it’s safe to assume that they don’t pick an alliance mainly because if they come out of hiding they wouldn’t know about the war enough to pick sides.

MythicEmperor

No. The Snow Elves who evaded the fate of their brethren are so few in number that they could never constitute a playable race.

WhiteCoatSyndrome

As a player race, they probably wouldn't be workable. We could have a few as NPCs though, like they did with the Kothringi.

TheRimOfTheSky

Zenimax has actually considered putting Snow Elfs in game, as they said back in 2013 in the Ask us Anything Variety Pack:

ZOS wrote:

I'm a mer at heart, and my favorite race of Elves is the Falmer (Snow Elves). I was intrigued by their appearance in TES V: Dawnguard and would like to know: will we learn anything more about their race, history, or culture in ESO? – By Sean Ferrel-Wyman

In the Second Era, the Snow Elves are a near-forgotten legend, and the fact that they’ve degenerated underground into the feral Falmer of Skyrim is a deep secret. But secrets can be discovered, and the Falmer may make a future appearance in ESO.

VaranisArano

The fate of the Snow Elves is pretty well established by Skyrim. The vast majority of their race found themselves so persecuted by the Nords that they agreed to serve the Dwemer in return for refuge. The Dwemer promptly took advantage of them and began to change them into the Falmer. These Falmer overwhelmed most remaining Snow Elf settlements, including the chantry of Auri-El. http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Knight-Paladin_Gelebor

The most pertinent part of Knight-Paladin Gelebor's speech is this:
"Who were your people?
"We were once a wealthy and prosperous society that occupied a portion of Skyrim. Unfortunately, we were constantly at war with the Nords who claimed the land as their ancestral home. We had always maintained an uneasy alliance with the underground-dwelling dwarves, and when faced with extinction we turned to them for help. Surprisingly, they agreed to protect us but demanded a terrible price... the blinding of our race. There were splinter groups that resisted the agreement, and even some that sought alternate alliances. But when it was all said and done, those elves were either slaughtered, vanished or gave up and took the dwarves' bargain." Asking what turned them into the Betrayed he says "I've often asked myself that very same question. The blinding of my race was supposedly accomplished with a toxin. Certainly not enough to devolve them into the sad and twisted beings they've become. The Chantry is quite isolated, so it took some time for word of the dwarves' offer to reach us here. By the time the compact had been completed, it was too late for us to even attempt to intervene." If you ask if that's why he has retained his sight, he'll answer "Correct. We only numbered perhaps a hundred at a time, so our presence remained a secret to the dwarves and the Nords. Ironically, our undoing came at the hands of our own people." Asking if he is referring to the Betrayed, he will tell you of how they overran the Chantry and took control of the Arch-Curate: "Yes. They swarmed the Chantry in vast numbers until we were completely overrun. We never really stood a chance. I assume that the Arch-Curate was corrupted by them when they found a way to breach the Inner Sanctum." If you inquire about other snow elves he says: "Vyrthur and myself are the only two snow elves that remain."

If ESO does include them, it will either fall in line with Gelebor's statements in the Dawnguard DLC or ZOS will be making up lore to fit in a cool race, just like they did when they let our characters return to Skuldafn without a dragon to fly us there.

HydraShalimara

Ok cool. Thank you guys for the information!