WoW Shadowlands: Better character customization? There is still much more possible!

How far we've come! That's what we thought during the Shadowlands beta when we looked at the new character customization options. But we're not talking about important class changes, crafting options, or gameplay bonuses for certain races. Instead, we're concerned with completely superficial aspects that are actually more reminiscent of mean school cliques. After all, the upcoming WoW expansion doesn't let our heroes take any new steps in the cosmetic area, but rather leaps! Hairstyles, faces, jewelry - so much new. But still, a nagging voice remains in the back of your mind: "Yes, all well and good, but what about ...? "

And we make this voice heard in our article! We take a look at construction sites where there is definitely still potential or even a need for the developers to catch up. So if you're not interested in small dreams, long wish lists and never-ending cosmetic greed, you're in the wrong place. In this article, we want to tell you about character customizations that the community has been wanting for a long time, but which have not yet found their way into the game despite the many new possibilities Shadowlands offers. Let's rewind a bit at this point: What will change with the upcoming expansion in terms of character creation and customization? And why is this so important to some players anyway?

Table of Contents

1. 1Finallyupdates for our heroes instead of allied races
2. 2Eye colors, yay - how about even eye shapes?
3. 3Straightbacks would definitely delight us
4. 4Afascinating case: The Forsaken in WoW
5. 5Pubertalhair loss among orcs in WoW?
6. 6Differentbody shapes - the great potential
7. 7Whatis mere reverie? What is possible in WoW?

Finally updates for our heroes instead of allied races

The visual design of our heroes turns out to be pretty meager in WoW, especially compared to other MMORPGs. Of course, this is also due to the age of the game, but that doesn't count as an eternal reason. Because with the release of the Allied Races in Battle for Azeroth, we've been able to see some examples that show that Azeroth's adventurers can look much more varied. Dark Iron Dwarves and Zandalari Trolls, for example, have stolen the show from standard dwarves and trolls, thanks to new hairstyles, tattoos, and trinkets. At this point, at the latest, many players wondered why there had to be allied races for such features. The developers have finally understood that. There will probably not be any other allied races for the time being, but the "basic races" in particular will get some new customization options, some of which they have been waiting for for many years. Among other things, this is done with the help of a lot of color.

Eye colors, yay - how about even eye shapes?

Each race can look forward to a mountain of new possibilities, such as more hairstyles and hair colors, tattoos, scars or war paint. A striking feature is that, for the first time, eye colors and faces can be selected separately. So if you want green eyes, for example, you don't have to settle for a visage that simply doesn't suit your taste in the worst case. In the same move, there are even new eye colors on top of that. But still, more is possible: Players have sometimes wished that Worgen characters should be able to let something of their wild side shine through in their human form. For example, by means of glowing eyes like in wolf form. This way the curse would shine through, which not only looks cool, but could also set these characters apart from humans. Honey-colored pupils are possible, but they lack the blazing glow.

The Nightborn are worse in comparison: the Allied People are a severe case of "not what it says on the box." That's because while the Nightborn NPCs from the Legion expansion look delightfully arrogant and calculating with their eyes narrowed to slits, the player Nightborn have almost trusty googly eyes. Here, however, the problems of the Legion people do not end, for they have simply been given the models of the rather fierce Night Elves and look accordingly ... inappropriate and rather thrown together in a hurry. The right shape for the eyes would go a long way there and be a good first step. Especially since other genre representatives with options for iris sizes, eyelid positions, and eye angles are by now felt decades ahead.

Straight backs would definitely delight us

Why do some people play Alliance? For one simple reason: they just didn't feel like all those hunchbacked creatures in the past, but wanted a game character with an exemplary spine. And who can blame them? Orcs, trolls, tauren and undead always looked as if they had suffered a bad case of lumbago. Fortunately, that has changed for one and a half of these races: Orcs are now allowed to strut with their heads held high, after characters like Thrall, Garrosh & Co. led the way. And trolls are allowed to walk upright, so to speak. For the allied race of Zandalari trolls walk upright, which fits in with the often condescending view of all other inhabitants of Azeroth. In that respect, though, it's really bizarre that we don't get to choose whether our trolls, who have been played for years, also walk upright. The technology is 100% already there thanks to the inhabitants of Zandalar, we would just have to make it available to the standard trolls. Compared to the upright Zandalari (pictured), normal trolls in WoW look primitive. Source: buffed Curiously, this problem also only affects the male representatives of the trolls and orcs, while women have always been able to do it. Female trolls also had the crooked stance in a very early version of WoW Alpha. But that was adjusted due to negative feedback. Why this is apparently okay for the guys with the tusks, on the other hand, will probably remain a "mystery" forever .

A fascinating case: The Forsaken in WoW

Actually, in this article we mostly refer to specific traits or character customizations to then address respective races. But the Forsaken are a topic in themselves, because their changes are extensive in Shadowlands, while much more is still possible. Indeed, much has improved: after years of begging and pleading, players get undead without ugly bones protruding from the body. Instead, the areas on the spine, knees and elbows are now covered with skin. If you want, because fans of the zombie look will still get to save the world as a walking corpse. But even with their jaws set, fabulous skin and new mane on their heads, the Forsaken are still pretty monstrous. Especially the guys suffer from a crooked back, but the ladies also have a hunchback. Although datamining on BfA hinted at a new posture, only NPC guards got it so far. On top of that, shoes get shredded even with the boneless body shape: Ancient graphic toes poke through even the most magnificent boots.
The back is crooked, but in Shadowlands undead can look much more intact if desired. Source: buffed This is especially frustrating for those players who don't want to play a zombie so much as simply an undead character. They point indignantly at characters like Sylvanas Windrunner, Nathanos Plaguecaller, and more recently, Calia Menethil. The sister of Arthas is an undead infused with light, who also has nothing in common with the reanimated figures players are allowed to embody. "If you really want a pretty humanoid, don't play a Forsaken," probably echoes from somewhere at this point. Yet it's all about options: Just as orcs get to choose their stance, so should undead. As is the case with their outstanding skeleton. Decades underwater? Still, Derek looks better than any player's undead hero in WoW: Battle for Azeroth. Source: Blizzard

Pubertal hair loss among orcs in WoW?

Some people might be surprised, but orcs in the game don't have eyebrows. Even though you might think it off the top of your head, look closely. Because while orc ladies have eyebrows, guys have to do without them. Well, not all guys. As is so often the case, the NPC characters have something ahead of our game characters. For example, if we take a look at "Green Jesus" Thrall, we quickly recognize the bushy bristles above his glacier-blue eyes. And even the promo material often features orcs with eyebrows, such as the cover of BfA, which juxtaposes Alliance and Horde soldiers. Things get bizarre when we look at young orcs during Children's Week in WoW (buy now €14.99 ). Even the little rascals have eyebrows. So is this a pre-pubescent trait that orc males normally lose? Is Thrall a genetic anomaly and a freak? Or are the developers just not consistent? We lean towards the latter and think that optional eyebrows are a must. After all, as of Shadowlands, night elves are allowed to have eyebrows regardless of a beard. And even choose from different types! Gnomes and human ladies can also choose from eyebrow variants in Shadowlands. Battle for Azeroth promo material shows orcs with eyebrows, although we can't have them in WoW. Source: Blizzard

Different body shapes - the great potential

For all the problems that are more likely to be found in details and body postures, however, there is one aspect that sets WoW apart from many other MMORPGs: the body shapes themselves. Because whether we as humans are wielding a warhammer with an armored paladin or hurling lightning from afar with a mage, the look is always that of a bodybuilder! The same problem plagues the representatives of the Draenei. In contrast to characters like Prophet Velen, male Draenei stomp around like a walking refrigerator. The opposite is true for trolls and night elves, as there are definitely stronger and more muscular representatives of these races in the Warcraft canon. However, we only have access to lanky trolls or elves, who, despite their powerful upper body, look as if they could be bent at the hip like a matchstick. Many players would like to see slimmer Draenei body types in WoW - like Velen's (center). Source: Blizzard But the allied people of the Kul Tirans take the whole thing to the extreme. Only stocky islanders are available to the player, which in itself is simply a matter of taste. However, visiting Kul Tiras reveals that the inhabitants are much more diverse. Some look like the typical human characters we can play. Others even have a new body shape that is probably based on undead from their "skeleton," or basic model. That's why these Kul Tirans look scrawny and wiry, which would fit perfectly with warlock, mage, rogue or even monk. Admittedly, the presumed reason that body shapes are not in the game to make it clear in PvP whether you can see an enemy keeps coming up. But let's face it: since the introduction of pandaren on both sides, the argument has actually come to naught. Bodybuilder forest troll Zul'jin in Heroes of the Storm. This is the body type that many a troll player dreams of in WoW. Source: Blizzard Speaking of which, we once again can't avoid the topic and bottomless pit called undead! For while the original Forsaken represented the dead inhabitants of Lordaeron, it is by no means the case that only humans can be undead. As a good example, we only need to look at the ranks of the Death Knights, which now even feature Pandaren, Vulpera, Mechagnome & Co. In this respect, it would be an interesting idea to be able to choose other races and body forms as undead. However, the question is whether this would be too much of a development effort, which would also give undead players an "advantage". After all, they would then have a kind of wild card for all possible looks with their race. And so we also come to an important point of these musings. Which ones will remain pipe dreams?

What is just pipe dreams? What is well possible in WoW?

If we let our gaze wander over the discussed desired features, it quickly becomes clear that we cannot generally say: "Hey, everything is feasible." Of course, there are aspects that are basically absolute no-brainers. For example, the luminous eye colors for Worgen in their human form mentioned at the beginning. Or the upright posture for trolls, which already exists for the allied Zandalari people. The fact that we have to keep clamoring for eyebrows for orcs seems practically absurd. We'd love to be wrong with this article and get the feature for the release of Shadowlands after all. After

these obvious candidates, there are more difficult cases: for example, new hairstyles, beards for trolls and undead, or even mustaches for orcs while we're

There is definitely more work in these design options, since they have to be made from scratch. Whereas there are already many hairstyles available now across races. So adapting existing beards for trolls and undead wouldn't be absurd.

But what about body shapes? No one should hold their breath because of them. Because when it comes to customizing models and countless animations, the developers are probably waving the white flag. But we never want to say never: A few years ago, upright orcs were also a dream ... the new features of Shadowlands are definitely a great leap forward, but unfortunately not everything is possible at once. That's why we keep on dreaming a little bit.

What feature would you most like to see in WoW for your characters? What new feature of Shadowlands are you already looking forward to? Tell us in the comments section!

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