Do you change your characters' appearances/backstories?

[Nikrosnil]

This may be in the wrong forum, but oh well...

So I was wondering, when you create WoW-based or Original characters, do you ever change their appearances at all? Some I know consider it a sin, whilst others change their characters' hairstyles, hair colours, outfits, and even race. Also, do you deviate from in game character design?

The reason I am wondering is because I have had art commissioned of characters such as my Gobbie Pirate, and I like to adapt my characters. I find the in-game appliance options very limiting and therefore prefer to create my own variations on details such as hair, without deviating from the in game character design too much. At the moment i'm in the process of creating the designs for my Night Elf Druid, my Blood Elf Warlock, and my Goblin Hunter, and i'm very tempted to completely change the designs for their hair and details such as horns for my warlock.

P.S. My warlock's appearance is closer to that of an incubus, with hooves, horns and a tail. Which background would fit in with WoW's lore most appropriately? 1. He is half Sin'dorei, Half Sayaad, born to a Succubus and fathered by a male warlock. 2. He is a warlock, so consumed by the fel-energy he has used that he has transformed into something resembling a male sayaad. 3. He is half Satyr, Half Sin'dorei, born to a female warlock fathered by a male satyr.

[Lupis]

I do every now and then! I have a Forsaken warlock, for example, that I imagine as basically pure bones at this point- and missmatched ones at that. All in-game flesh is ignored. My tauren characters are also far less bulky (or more bulky, for females) and my trolls frequently are based off of Ice or Forest trolls- so I imagine them bulkier than the Darkspear model they have in-game.

As for your warlock, I suggest option 2. Half-demons are geeeenerally pretty iffy lore wise- very very uncommon and they'd be killed as soon as they entered a city or town. But a warlock that just went too far? That's a lot more reasonable, a lot less likely to be killed (though people would probably not be okay with him) and a lot more likely. Plus you can play with all sorts of motivations- why did he go that far? Did he know the risks? Why did he need that power? Did he need it at all?

[Castile]

These aren't RP toons so to speak but i do "grow up" toons once they hit max lvl. For example my druid had a short half pony hair style while she leveled but when she hit max lvl I gave her long hair as a sign she'd matured (if that makes sense). same with my Pally. She had a pony tail until she hit max lvl then i gave her the shoulder length hair on her shoulders. Probably sounds pretty insignificant to some but thats what I do

I agree with Lupis too - half demons are abit iffy from what i understand. Go with option 2!

[Azunara]

I'll occasionally switch 'em around and make 'em look different depending on the circumstances and the character, but usually it's still fairly basic stuff. Like Lupis, I do have an ice troll who's probably bulkier (and through shapeshiftery mishaps, is probably toothy and has a tail whoops). Sometimes I'll change up appearance as a sort of way to try and give them a fresh start as a character.

Like the others, I do agree that option 2 is the best. Half-demons tend to be a bit shaky lore-wise. Demons would kill half-demons, mortals would kill half-demons, it'd just be ugly all around.

[Niabi]

While I don't change any of my character's appearance much in game, I will express certain freedoms when it comes to writing their backstories and cosmetic attributes.

The best example would be my blood elf Auroryn, who isn't actually a blood elf at all, but due to the game limitations on race selection, is presented in the game as so. She's a half elf: the product of a high elf (maternal) and human (paternal) union. I'm still deciphering whether she'd be first or second generation since the conception happens shortly after the Troll Wars and Auroryn is only a few hundred years old (24-25ish in appearance and physicality). Due to her mixed heritage, she's more curvaceous than normal blood elves. She also has no addictive desire for arcane magic. Most of her young life has been spent in hiding from the Alliance and Horde due to the old prejudices bestowed on those of impure bloodlines. Her ears are shorter than most blood elves' and she possesses heterochromia iridis. Her right eye is a soft green while her left eye is a bluish lavender.

As others have already advised, I'd go with option 2.

[Aweena]

i use the barbers shop frequently to change hair for my toon she likes having it neat and cant always braid it her self as for your warlock i have seen a half demon in my new home on argent dawn who plays as a human (i think he is human not sure) he hasn't told anyone ic but our guild chat is ooc so he had to think of a nightmare for his toon and went with being purged by light as he is half demon it is doable as far as i can read on guides but not something you should do as a beginner the need to look demonic could just be he has sprouted horns cause he played with fel magic he has to stay somewhat "normal" if people aren't going to to kill him as a demon

am a beginner my self so this is just my view after reading guides like mad the past 3 days.

[Makoes]

2nd option seems far more acceptable in the RP community, Lupis summed it up pretty well.

Makoes, my BM hunter is a bit different then the in-game options allow. For one, she's far more savage in appearance. Her fangs are stronger and more pronounced, her nails are more claw-like, her ears aren't so floppy, but are thicker/sturdier. She doesn't have the soft voice the characters have, but has an undertone of growl in it. Her expression either says "I will help you kill shit" or "I think I'll rip your throat out for fun."
Like-wise her armor (tallgrass Guerilla set) is more primal, having more furs covering it, and the claw-designs are actual claws.
atm she has purple hair only because the red is strictly available on the NE DK...else her hair would be as red as Nanaki's fur.
And Nanaki (red hyena) Still carries his head up, is bulkier (more muscular), has a perma grin, laughs as he rips things apart, and is fiercely loyal to Makoes. He has a number or scars, and nicked ears.

[zedxrgal]

I don't RP (I did vote for your option 2 because it sounded the better of the RP stories to me) but I do change my WoW toons looks fairly often. Especially my alliance main who. I may not RP but they've all got their stories. My female toon's look changes depending on my own real life look. I cut my hair they get theirs cut. I let it grow theirs grows. So to speak. Only a few times have I actually change their overall appearance cause it can get pricey.

Which. This reminds me. I need to change the hair on a few of my girls again.

[Nikrosnil]

Thanks for all the replies guys! I'll definitely be picking option number two, since everyone seems to agree unanimously that it is the most acceptable of the three! After your advice, I think i'm also going to follow my gut and change my characters a bit.

If anyone's interested, here's a blurry image of a rought sketch of the hairstyle i've decided upon for my night elf girlie.

[Niabi]

I like the alterations you made with her hair! She looks a bit like Daenerys Targaryen in that sketch.

[Moonlost]

Agh, this is a late response and I'm probably making myself look uncool by responding, but I did feel the need to add in my thoughts on the matter.

I am 100% behind the idea of deviating from the stock standard options Blizzard has given for us in-game, especially as there are so relatively few options for us to pick from. While it's not necessary to create a character that you love to deviate away from the stock standard, I love seeing what other people come up with. And, well, it helps to make a character that feels uniquely yours, in a way.
A lot of my Warcraft-based characters were designed outside the game world, and I think my best example (and favouritist character of all time <_<) is my Draenei mage, Zaruuk. I love the draenei as a species, but the males are superbly bulky looking in any outfit. I wanted a character who looked like he spent most of his time hidden away in a room studying the powers arcane, rather than hitting the inter-dimensional gym, along with giving him little traits here and there that alluded to the eredar blood in his veins.

The downside, of course is the further one deviates away from the WoW base, the harder it is to substitute that image you have of them into the game. To use my earlier example, I cannot create Zaruuk in-game, just because the best result I'm able to make is still leagues away completely different from what he looks like. That might well be my own mental blockage though, I've heard tales of plenty of in-game roleplayers who happy play as Arakkoa, half-elves, dragons and all manner of critters while still using the default models.

As for your fellow, I agree 100% with everyone else and their pick of number 2.
And I love the look of your Night Elf's hair, very classy and something I could easily see being worn in that society.

[Nikrosnil]

Thanks Niabi! Some of my earlier hair design choices were actually inspired by Daenerys Targaryen's hair in Game of Thrones.

Ahah not at all, Moonlost, i'm only glad that so many of you were willing to give me your views and advice!
I think I like deviating from the standard options because I like my characters to feel as though they are mine. When someone else's character looks exactly the same as yours, you feel as though you lose a little ownership, if that makes sense?

Zaruuk looks great! I can completely understand, sometimes I feel that Blizzard doesn't provide enough diversity in body type and skintone in the game.

Thank you very much for the compliment! I wanted to create a hairstyle that felt as though it belonged in Darnassus, without actually existing in the game. I actually went through about 20 variations of hairstyle before I settled on this one.