Go’el…click me like one of your peons 
2 Likes
Let me assure you…
I am that kind of orc 
1 Like
I’d love it if they added afros too, especially for the undead. Why not some skin tones for goblins and asian features for tauren? I personally don’t feel as if I am represented enough in this FANTASY universe
ahem
Agreed, that would be cool.
Agreed. Maybe some of the blues we have with gilblins. I think they’d work well with various shades of brown too. That would be cool.
I suppose that’s represented with the Yaungol, who are the Tauren progenitor and are meant to resemble yaks (which inhabit various regions in Asia). They would be a cool Allied Race.
Nice try 
8 Likes
Okay tho on topic!
Like; regardless of if you like the new skin tones or not, I think we can all agree it’s not being done in an annoying preachy/SJW kinda way?
It’s not as if Blizzard has suddenly declared all pale skinned races didn’t know how to bathe until the Moors taught them yes this is what SJWS on Twitter actually believe - it’s literally just a customisation option you can play if you want, but don’t have to? Which might be nice for those people who DO want to play with a character they can ‘identify’ with. Personally, it’s not something I’d do (but that’s because I refuse to play any race with a pulse; and let me assure you, I look nothing like any of my characters because none of them are dummy thicc enough to truly represent me).
I totally get why Elves are usually seen as ‘white’: most elves come from European folklore, and according to book “The Black Tudors”, late-Medieval England had maybe 400 black African people living in the whole country, out of a population of a few million? So we can hardly complain about traditional Euro folklore not being too diverse -hell, you don’t see many Mexicans in the tales of Ancient China, after all!
BUT; honestly, it’s just a thing for the OOCers on normal realms to play with - and I guess it’ll not be an issue to them, since to them it’s just a game, rather than RP? =) It might be nice to get some lore for the RP side of things; but if not, I suppose it’s not the biggest deal in the world!
Idk, I can settle with this as a “Live and let live” thing - like again, I’m not especially a leftie politically, but I honestly can’t see the need to make a huge fuss over it. Some folk might RP it weird; but then, people have been doing wrird RP since the dawn of time - don’t need darker skintones for that!
Again, as I’ve stated before - some lore might be nice, I’d support that. But I guess now it’s done, there’s bigger things to bash our keyboards over?!
3 Likes
I don’t think this is at all the case. I think Elenthas’s point is very valid.
While I am not particularly bothered by the additional skintones, I think that, undeniably, the change is done for the reasons as you very openly admit to subscribing to: Making a character more relatable. But if that’s done at an expense of narrative (with belves being, be it due to my own ignorance or perceptions, supposed to be very pale/white skinned), then that could seem a bit miffy. I don’t find it so, but I totally understand the point being made here.
You draw the line on “human” looking races- Well, that’s great and you have a reason as two why do you choose so- But another player might want to have a pink-ish orc, or a tauren with more humanoid/disney/fursuit features to make them more relatable to them. It’s not just about skin colour either, you see.
I think that fundamentally, representation as an argument underlying for the change is a bad one (potentially), and a flawed at that, as has been demonstrated. Rather, it should be done from the narrative point of view: And in this case, there’s no lore against the skin colour, so I am ok with it personally- Though I do admit that I do -generally- think most belves are supposed to be pale and white skinned, or that is at least how I picture them. And I have a feeling that’s how most people do as well. Whether that goes to the extent of opposing this change or not is another topic which I have already given my view on.
I also subscribe to this view.
Lore being subject to gameplay is an acceptable necessity- But the more exceptions you add, the dodgier it quickly becomes.
See: “Everything’s possible with magic”.
I think this is frankly quite a childish response to a perfectly valid critique of your argument. Rather than berating the man for his motivations of his argument, you could do the sensible thing and actually answer his point- Which, to me, looks like you don’t have an answer to.
Maybe it should be?
The n.1 complaint I hear from WOW lore is that it comes off as very bad, nonsensical and the actions don’t make any sense- Nor do they carry forward with meaningful consequences.
I personally dislike conforming to mediocrity: Blizzard can do good. Don’t let them get away with bad job. Give praise where it’s due, give feedback where it is also due.
4 Likes
My answer to “it breaks the lore” is the same as yours;
What I find unnecessary is claiming that a defining feature of the blood elf race is, of all things, their pink skin. My response may have been worded poorly but the point stands that I will not agree with, and will continue to argue against, anyone who claims blood elves must subscribe to Tolkien-esque European skin tones for the sake of tropes.
I agree the lore should be taken seriously, but I feel something as minor as a cosmetic skin tone on one race isn’t call for revisions or revelations; sometimes it’s best to just have it be.
2 Likes
I didn’t say it breaks the lore: In fact, I very specifically stated I think it -does not- break the lore.
Is it? Most (really, 99.99999999999%) belf art depicts elves as pink-ish, or outright pale- That’s in official fanart, load screens etc.
Now, that’s no evidence of absence, but you’d be making an intellectually dishonest argument if you claimed that belves, in general, aren’t seen as these fair, pale and graceful creatures in WoW by the general playerbase, up until this point.
I don’t think they -need- to subscribe to it either, but if the fantasy setting is clearly set with that aesthetic in mind (which it is) I can absolutely, 100% see why some players might dislike it. I personally am not that invested and a simple retcon would be totally OK with me, or rather an addition.
Here’s a thought on how 2 make explanations of skin tones for “Human esque” races make sense:
Titan constructs (Humans, gnomes, dwarves): Diffferent metal & mineral alloys. Bronze and earth constructs for e.g. darker skin, while things like limestone/marble and platinum/silver for paler skins, and so forth.
Elves: Magic, quite simply. Magic affects all elves significantly on their looks, so skintone is really just an addition. A tan from sun-related magic source seems perfectly according to lore to me.
Boom, skin colours made tastefully in one snap of a finger.
3 Likes
yeah i agree, was just being an epic jokester
I partly agree with that comment; because where do you draw the line? Lorewise Night Elves have been known to only have Silver or Amber eyes; now datamining suggests we get 6(?) different colors so far, should those be explained in lore to then?
Because they never explained Malfurion’s emerald eyes, while him gaining his amber eyes was such a big deal and what made him special (still hate he doesn’t have amber eyes anymore 
)
Edit: love your idea of explaining titanforged constructs skin color! Wtf so simple and yet it makes so much sense! 
2 Likes
Yeah, I think different uses of magic could be the case- As with other elf related stuff.
Just get rid of every racial option and let us build characters from scratch in a 3D revamped character studio. I’ve always wanted to look like a half-gorilla with dragon horns and a snake for a tail.
1 Like
You’re probably right… I suppose we could try and link them to certain magic sources! Also wanna bet we’ll datamine Dark Ranger skins for the Blood and Night Elves within the coming weeks? I swear I saw red eyes between the new eye colors!
Also can I still be jelly that Blizzard normalized Amber eyes on Night Elves? I liked it way more how it was described in earlier stories 
High Elves are going Horde, ez pz.
High Elf? More like Lok’tar!
2 Likes
But we’ve always really seen their eyes be a conduit for magic, as opposed to orcs and their skin. The only time we see elves change skin-tone is through drinking demon blood. And that got belves all different shades of red and gray.
Not that i particularly care about the sudden dosage of dark skinned elves.
It could be as simple as being just a rare eyecolour- Just like purple and red are for IRL humans. Though I’d personally wager for the use of some colour of magic.
I want their Undead version.
As in, Undead skin for Blood elf, namely to be used for Dark Ranger.
You’ll awaken the San’layn roleplayers that way.
Remember, 99% of San’layn are normal blood elves, using normal blood elf classes but with a undead skin
DK, especially Blood, would still fit them more either way, with their spells, aesthetics and even the mogs.
Having just one (1) Undead skin tone for them, working similar to how Night Warrior skin for Nelves does wouldn’t hurt either way.