For the release of its most recent "World of Warcraft" expansion, Blizzard revamped the game's character models to reflect the ever-changing visuals of its venerable MMO. One race was noticeably absent from these visual upgrades so far: the Blood Elves. The changes for that race didn't arrive with "Warlords of Draenor" expansion earlier this month either. Today, we finally get a look at the revamped Blood Elf. Thanks to IGN for the heads up.
In a post on the official World of Warcraft site, Blizzard writes that it's working "diligently" to get the upgraded Blood Elf models into the game, which you can see below.
"We don't have an exact ETA for when you'll see these in-game, but we're happy with the direction of this update with regards to the model and textures," the developer says. "We're now focusing on model and texture variations, as well as rigging and animating. We've streamlined the process quite a bit, so hopefully (knock on wood) those things will go smoothly and we'll be able to roll these out quickly."
Senior artist Dusty Nolting explained: "For the female specifically, something we did often was move things around in small but deliberate increments, to make sure everything was just right. It's the delicate details like her nose shape or fingertips that represent the most challenging parts of upgrading the female."
For the male Blood Elf, senior artist Joe Keller said the developer focused on his "easily recognizable pose and stylish hair" while tweaking his hair, facial features and anatomy. He's also sports some snazzy underwear for sure.
