Blizz bulks up beta build Blood Elves
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 23rd 2006 at 9:56PM
When the Blood Elves were first released, it was pretty clear that Blizzard was trying to give the Horde a "pretty" race. Not that they need it (Horde FTW), but one reason for the imbalances on some servers between Horde and Alliance populations is the lack of a race on Horde side that can not only kill stuff fast, but look good doing it. Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it's true that the Blood Elves were the first Horde race to, err, look a little less than rugged. I wouldn't say this myself, but some fans even called the coming of the Blood Elves "the Flaming Crusade."
Blizzard has apparently put a stop to that. In the latest build of the beta, which WoW Guru says is Build 5866, the Blood Elves have been bulked up (males are the only shots we have, but the difference is clear). The males are no longer wiry ballet dancers-- they're not quite as bulky as, say, Orcs, but they've got a little more heft to them.
Of course, given the "beholder" thing, fans are split (aren't they always?). A large number of players aren't real thrilled with the loss of the leaner, meaner Blood Elves-- not only did the thinner frame give them more of the "evil magic" look (I'm sure the voiceovers helped with this as well), but apparently some female players think the bulky Blood Elves look less--let me make sure I get this right-- "sexy." Some ladies even say the change represents a lack of female artists in the Blizzard ranks.
Now, it is important to remember that the Burning Crusade is still changing, so this might not be the final form of the Belfs. But they sure do look... different. I'll leave it up to you: good different or bad different? Two more comparison shots, courtesy of Ephraim on the forums, after the jump.
Filed under: Virtual selves, Blizzard, News items, Expansions, Blood Elves
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Sonic Oct 23rd 2006 11:04PM
Lame.
Warbleflit Oct 23rd 2006 11:03PM
Honestly? I thought the males were fine before... Now the females on the other hand, they looked like if they landed wrong from one of their twirly jumps, they'd break an ankle. Any word on if they've changed those character models? Cause that will be the only way I play one. BE Males are all I'm going to make if they don't. I don't really fancy the stick look.
Xal Oct 23rd 2006 11:19PM
Lame indeed, they were fine the way they were before, hope this isn't the final form. I liked the thinner leaner look better.
Baskerville Oct 23rd 2006 11:23PM
I prefer the skinny looking models... they were different from the rest of the bulky humanoids like Orcs, Humans, and Tauren, and to their benefit. I don't want to play an American Gladiator, all-beef patty . I want to play an Edward Norton from Fight Club carved-from-stone backstabber.
Kyle Oct 23rd 2006 11:29PM
Ugh. The male doesn't look too different from a Human now. I liked the thinner look. I hate characters (with the exception of Tauren and Orcs) with really thick arms like that.
Jakob Oct 23rd 2006 11:32PM
All the other races, except trolls, have bulky males... (gnomes too maybe... though it's hard to say) so it would make sense for blood elves to be bulky too... That said, I think they looked better before, and since they can't be warriors, I think they should have remained smaller. I always thought priests and mages looked ridiculous being all buff on humans/dwarves...
Shrimpkebab Oct 24th 2006 12:39AM
Anyone got a comparison screen of the female?
Mastgrr Oct 24th 2006 3:13PM
This sucks. Homogenization for the lose. I loved the diversity that the old model gave to the game. It was original also.
Roseroyce04 Oct 24th 2006 1:06AM
Whoever made this decision should go ahead and DIAF.
Elüna Oct 24th 2006 2:47AM
Don't you guys understand what happened? Some executive at Vivendi came storming into the Blizzard Office screaming that his fat little kid thought the blood elves where gay, and he would be damned if his kid where "to play any faggot belf".
I find this change a step down, they should have kept the magic starved scrawny look. Hell, the belf don't even have Warriors. Now they look like humans with pointy ears. Blood Elf my ass, more like Blood Human.
I'm really disappointed with this change, and I will /bug them to hell in the beta. -.-'
oomu Oct 24th 2006 3:23AM
the same here.
thinner elve were more "elfan" but now, it's more and more your typical videogame teenager-character _AGAIN_. what all the fuss about Elf and their magical nature if they big and ugly as your human bodyguard ?
as many, I complain about the only one bulk size for everyone.
(I do not like the stuff about "his kid where "to play any faggot belf". ", I do really hope you americans are not all like that)
Charlie Taylor Oct 24th 2006 3:40AM
looking at the in-game shots, they still are substantially skinnier than the humans and Night Elves.
dubIdub Oct 24th 2006 5:16AM
I love the change! If you want to play pretty elves roll a Night Elf. For the Horde!
Kahdrill Oct 24th 2006 6:27AM
Ehm "If you want to play pretty elves roll a Night Elf." Night elves are NOT pretty! They look horrific! The blood elves looked a lot more elflike before they got bulked. Now they are not special in any way. Looks like a cross over between orcs and elves with some human in there. Yuck! I just lost my apetite!
Gog Oct 24th 2006 7:28AM
Very dumb decision. I was pretty excited about rolling one too... I still will of course but I think it worked better for their character for them to be thin. Their thin look is the look of an emaciated addict. Beefing them up downplays their lore, IMO.
@ #11
Nah, most Americans don't talk like that, just the ones you don't want to waste your time with. At least #10 was using it it ironically to poke fun at a possible reason why Blizzard made such a silly decision. Do we even know if #10 is American? There's no need to fight ignorance with ignorance. Those fat little kids that Eluna mentioned are all on my server, BTW.
B Oct 24th 2006 8:31AM
I'm very dissapointed... they do look just like the humans now, as has been said, so a little of their uniqueness has been lost. The thinness just seemed perfectly appropriate to the race.
Lacroixe Oct 24th 2006 9:50AM
I prefer the thinner one. It's way hotter. The bulky thing is stupid - not everyone has a body like that! And plus, it's way more natural to be fit, and strong but not a massive muscle-building beef machine. Yuck. I want the hot Belf males back!
Buruko Oct 24th 2006 9:55AM
Maybe with the change we'll have less 'kidz' come from the Alliance side to the Horde side just to play pretty elves.
I could care less bout the change, blood elves are pretty much like the Undead, as in they aren't part of the horde but lumped in cause for the time being it suits their purposes. I mean you have shamanistic and druid races grouped with black magic and plague brewers... yeah that's a good match.
Theadrick Oct 24th 2006 11:37AM
I don't think they look all that much different now, but still... I don't see why they felt they needed to change it.
Will Oct 24th 2006 12:32PM
Jakob has a good point -- bulky priests and mages look completely ridiculous. There's *no* reason we should have the same character models for Warriors as for Mages, just because they happen to be the same race.
Blizzard should really make race *and class* specific models. It's not like we pick our class later and require a general model at char creation -- we pick our class at the very beginning, so there's no reason Blizzard couldn't set the character model at that time to match the race *and* class. Nothing other than laziness. :(