My first, and continued, character is a Night Elf. Back in Vanilla, I picked a specific face because that face reflected a degree of, not simplicity, but a minimalist mindset. The character was always meant to be more about what must be done and she didn’t care how she looked. That face came with a smile though, that didn’t reflect my character’s somberness. But it was the best compromise of the options available, so up until WoD, Ata had, what I called “Joker face.”
When WoD happened, and we got the new character updates, I found that that smiling face didn’t work anymore, and I was glad that Blizzard put face optimizations in the game. Because it turns out the next face on the list, one that was too much “done up” for my tastes then, now reflects the somberness and sorrow that defines my character now.
I guess the point is that now that the faces have rigging, Blizzard shouldn’t be afraid of what the resting faces look like. The player will find a model that works for them.
There it is! Personally I think the “M-Shaped” unnatural mouth was always odd and just needed to be fixed, but I actually GREATLY appreciate the principle that you guys are “adding instead of replacing.” Very excited to see what they look like!
Honestly, I kinda love that look. Too bad it’s just not recreatable in game. The face shape is all wrong and instead of making the guys look tough, it just makes them look old.
My Demon Hunter does use this face, though, which I find works pretty well for him:
