what's the actual lore difference between high elves and wild elves in wow

wow doesn't really use 'wild elves', so I'm guessing you mean night elves vs high elves. short version: they were one people. the night elves who used arcane magic (the highborne) were the ones blamed for nearly ending the world in the war of the ancients, and after the sundering the rest of the night elves turned to druidism and banned arcane. a group of highborne wouldn't give it up, got exiled, sailed east and founded quel'thalas. living away from the moon and the well, and around the sunwell instead, they lost the purple skin and became the high elves. so the difference is basically one argument about magic, thousands of years old. blood elves are what most high elves became after the sunwell was destroyed.