wow New Character Customization Options in the Shadowlands Expansion

[Stan 5,021]

Blizzard is adding a wide array of customization options allowing you to express yourself in the game through your character in the Shadowlands.

Check out our BlizzCon 2019 Content Hub for more news!

• Trolls will be able to pick tatoos, various skin tones, and eye color. It seems they're receiving an upright posture option too.
• Undead players will be able to remove bones from their characters. New skin tones are also available.
• Humans have more face options, giving the player the opportunity to create their real life avatar in the game.
• As a Dwarf player, you'll be able to create a Wildhammer Dwarf, and more.

You can learn more about what's coming in Shadowlands in our recap of the panel.

Blizzard (Source)

We’re adding even more options for you to be able to express yourself in game through your character. Each race will have their own unique options available to them whether it’s their tattoos, hairstyles, skin color, or even eye color. The undead will also be able to choose whether they show bones or not. There are a wide range of improvements coming for Shadowlands, and this is just the start of providing more options to your character creation.

[Valhalen 1,484]

WILDHAMMER DWARVES. 

[durdyenglish 298]

1 minute ago, Valhalen said:

WILDHAMMER DWARVES. 

FINALLY.

[Arcling 877]

They are a customisation option for normal dwarves, good thing they aren't making them into another "allied race". Makes sense anyway, considering how similar and close both clans are.

[Valhalen 1,484]

1 minute ago, Arcling said:

They are a customisation option for normal dwarves, good thing they aren't making them into another "allied race". Makes sense anyway, considering how similar and close both clans are.

I'd like Dwarves to also have a Frostborne customization. Plus Iron Dwarves as an Allied Race.

[Tsunderstar 2]

55 minutes ago, Valhalen said:

WILDHAMMER DWARVES. 

 

54 minutes ago, durdyenglish said:

FINALLY.

yeah and it only took them 15 years to get something besides between white humans and slightly tanned white humans

[Zamirot 0]

for once you can say that alliance goe the upper end in that one ! Wildhammer looking so dope ! Meanwhile horde got emo kid  undead

[Baharok 234]

I cant wait to see how they want to change something for taurens.

[darkgreenwax 410]

These customization options are probably the coolest QoL changes announced in quite some time. For how many years have Undead players wished bones weren't ripping out of their robes or plate armor? How many years did Trolls wish their armor wasn't distorted so heavily from their hunch? Man, that is so exciting: giving players even more ways to create connective ties to their personal character. I'm super stoked for that!!

[dartbodman 64]

There seems to be a disconnect in the staff between offshoot races as customization or as allied races

[dartbodman 64]

Also the black and Asian humans makes no sense. There is no Africa or Asia equivalent. The only other lands with humans were Lordaeron, which were white and went undead, Gilneas, which were white and went werewolf, and Kul Tiras, which were white and went fat.

[Valhalen 1,484]

Just now, dartbodman said:

Also the black and Asian humans makes no sense. There is no Africa or Asia equivalent. The only other lands with humans were Lordaeron, which were white and went undead, Gilneas, which were white and went werewolf, and Kul Tiras, which were white and went fat.

There are plenty of "dark skinned" humans in WoW, and they always just looked like sunburnt human. Giving them more defined face features is a great way to have more diversity in WoW and help players express themselves. Plus, this means more customization options; what is the problem there?

[dartbodman 64]

8 minutes ago, Valhalen said:

There are plenty of "dark skinned" humans in WoW, and they always just looked like sunburnt human. Giving them more defined face features is a great way to have more diversity in WoW and help players express themselves. Plus, this means more customization options; what is the problem there?

Yeah they looked like sunburnt humans which made sense, it was still the same genetic makeup, just more tanned from environment. All of the races have had very similar features as other members of the race, barring things such as hairstyles, paint/makeup, things like that. The new customization options for humans are more distinct from existing humans than some allied races are from their main race.

 

I mean if they want to retcon in some lore to explain such a vast new distinction, so be it. But just throwing them in feels really weird.

Edited November 2, 2019 by dartbodman

[Renart 2]

1 hour ago, dartbodman said:

Yeah they looked like sunburnt humans which made sense, it was still the same genetic makeup, just more tanned from environment. All of the races have had very similar features as other members of the race, barring things such as hairstyles, paint/makeup, things like that. The new customization options for humans are more distinct from existing humans than some allied races are from their main race.

 

I mean if they want to retcon in some lore to explain such a vast new distinction, so be it. But just throwing them in feels really weird.

So you're butthurt because now there is more customisation options? Plus there was already a possibility to make black humans in vanilla, which was taken out because some decided it would be funny to create a black toon and call it n-word something. 

Seriously just get over it. In a time when everyone just want to identify more to their toons, more option is good. 

[Brutalis 165]

6 hours ago, Renart said:

more option is good. 

I'd rather we had lore consistent options instead of extra things which don't make sense. Not a single character in the Warcraft universe has ever been depicted as Asian or African. There has never been separate races of humans, and humans are only a few thousand years of evolution away from the Vrykul so there's no way they could have evolved and diverged like this in that space of time. We had light skin, and dark skin, and I hadn't heard a single complaint about the lack of Asian or African humans in WoW in the years I've played this game. It's just pandering to a culture that demands diversity.

[eliot22 2]

OMG female undead has an Elvira look! Race changing all my toons.

[Valhalen 1,484]

2 hours ago, eliot22 said:

OMG female undead has an Elvira look! Race changing all my toons.

Holy crap, I just noticed it now. That's awesome.

[thurk 52]

12 hours ago, dartbodman said:

There is no Africa or Asia equivalent. 

There's no European equivalent either.  There's no equivalency and there doesn't have to be.  The idea that "humans" are caucasian and everyone else is a variation (and requires an explanation) is a misunderstanding of genetics, demographics, and of human history itself. 

There doesn't need to be an explanation (or a "retcon") to explain racial diversity.  If you don't want to play as a black person, then don't.  If you don't want to play a game where other people can play as black people, then don't.  We won't miss you.

[durdyenglish 298]

6 hours ago, Brutalis said:

I'd rather we had lore consistent options instead of extra things which don't make sense. Not a single character in the Warcraft universe has ever been depicted as Asian or African. There has never been separate races of humans, and humans are only a few thousand years of evolution away from the Vrykul so there's no way they could have evolved and diverged like this in that space of time. We had light skin, and dark skin, and I hadn't heard a single complaint about the lack of Asian or African humans in WoW in the years I've played this game. It's just pandering to a culture that demands diversity.

I think many people play humans because it's easier to identify with them as an avatar compared to many other races. The lack of options really limits that type of immersion. Blizzard probably wishes they had gone this route from the start and given that they retcon things all the time, I'm not seeing the big deal. Getting up in arms over this might not be a good look, it puts you in a pretty bad light. Whether you are or not, it's pretty easy to interpret your position as racist.

Allied races (and industry competition) basically force Blizzard to add full range of customization options. All the other races have distinct variation within themselves, why would it ever realistically make sense for humans to be any different? The fact that they were all white bread from the gate is the weird part. 

Allied races are going to get rolled up into customization options for the base races. This is just Blizzard adding depth to the humans. Deal with it. 

[Brutalis 165]

1 hour ago, durdyenglish said:

Getting up in arms over this might not be a good look, it puts you in a pretty bad light. Whether you are or not, it's pretty easy to interpret your position as racist.

... What? Stop being so sensitive. This isn't a racial issue in the least and I won't retract my statement because it has a chance to offend someone that is overly concerned with race. Azeroth is a fictional world, with a fictional version of humanity. Are people mad there's no option to make Kratos from God of War Asian? No. Because Kratos is how the designers designed the character. Similarly, humans on Azeroth have been designed as entirely Caucasian for over a decade. Changing this all of a sudden is clearly forsaking artistic integrity in favour of being politically correct.

[durdyenglish 298]

55 minutes ago, Brutalis said:

... What? Stop being so sensitive. This isn't a racial issue in the least and I won't retract my statement because it has a chance to offend someone that is overly concerned with race. Azeroth is a fictional world, with a fictional version of humanity. Are people mad there's no option to make Kratos from God of War Asian? No. Because Kratos is how the designers designed the character. Similarly, humans on Azeroth have been designed as entirely Caucasian for over a decade. Changing this all of a sudden is clearly forsaking artistic integrity in favour of being politically correct.

Seems like a shaky leg to try and stand on, but by all means - you're entitled to your opinion.

[CaperfinWoW 21]

On 11/1/2019 at 6:54 PM, durdyenglish said:

FINALLY.

AMEN

[Vxn 4]

12 hours ago, Brutalis said:

... What? Stop being so sensitive. This isn't a racial issue in the least and I won't retract my statement because it has a chance to offend someone that is overly concerned with race. Azeroth is a fictional world, with a fictional version of humanity. Are people mad there's no option to make Kratos from God of War Asian? No. Because Kratos is how the designers designed the character. Similarly, humans on Azeroth have been designed as entirely Caucasian for over a decade. Changing this all of a sudden is clearly forsaking artistic integrity in favour of being politically correct.

They got it wrong a decade ago though. Ten years ago media, hollywood, and the genre of fantasy in all it’s forms was incredibly white-washed, but why? Why are all of these supposedly imaginative fictional worlds dominated by white people? White privilege, the fact that many of the WoW devs are white and our society historically white washes fantasy. I think this is because of euro-centric beauty ideals as well as white men dominating media production. 

Representation matters and the fact that you see no problem in an all white world and actually feel as though an all white world is normative and natural says you have a lot of work to do in unlearning your own racial privileges and/or internalized racism. 

[nadiayorc 1]

Customisations for druid forms such as fur patterns and other accessories would be amazing in addition to the new customisations for all races as you won’t actually see a single one of these customisations as a druid which is quite unfortunate unless the customisations you make to your character will also apply to the druid forms similar to how worgen works when you are in “human form”. That would probably be the best way to make everyone happy.

Entirely new styled druid form models aren't required, just good customisation of the existing ones. The older race forms are just so boring in comparison to zandalar, kul tiran etc. All night elves get is slightly longer ears and worgen just get some sharp teeth. In-depth customisations for the druid forms of all the races would be a very nice addition. The only issue is that kul tiran and zandalar forms are so vastly different from every other races that it may be a bit hard to do that and then theres the other new allied races to worry about too.

I really do hope they give it some serious thought. It probably won’t happen but we can hope.

 

^{also please change the glyph of stars astral form so you can actually see your character thanks}

Edited November 3, 2019 by nadiayorc

[CaperfinWoW 21]

22 hours ago, eliot22 said:

OMG female undead has an Elvira look! Race changing all my toons.

What's Elvira?