Blizzard beefs up Blood Elves

Blizzard has admitted to beefing up the male Blood Elf character models in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, after "concerns" that they were a bit too feminine.

According to a post on the game's official forum, "after reviewing the model from a visual and conceptual standpoint, the decision was made to increase the body mass to give them a more substantial, masculine feel".

"It was also important that as members of the Horde that the Blood Elves gave the impression of strength and a more menacing presence," the Blizzard post noted.

It's fair to say that the response to the response has been quite fiery, with a number of people pointing out that the Blood Elves were meant to help shift the Horde away from burly brutish stereotypes anyway.

Blizzard does at least point out that as this is all part of the closed beta, everything's still subject to change.

WOW: The Burning Crusade will be released in January 2007, Blizzard said yesterday.