“For the body, we wanted players to really define their physique. So, you can create an overweight character or a skinny character; you can adjust the height no matter what race you are,” explains art director Jared Carr in a video from ZeniMax Online that details the system (above).
“There’s lots of tattoo options for both body and the face, separately, and then, we even let you get really specific [by] adjusting the width of the shoulders, the thickness of the arms, the size of the hands, for example. We really wanted to give the players a lot to play with.”
Players’ mileage might vary on what ZeniMax and Bethesda call “skinny,” though.
Additional sliding scales now exist for “gut size,” “waist size,” and “posterior dimensions,” but the default options for body type seem to keep even the largest Nords and Orcs from completely letting themselves go.
Carr also noted that characters’ faces are decidedly less Runescape Powerleveling hideous this time around, with options letting you adjust “forehead slope,” “eye separation,” and other features.
These updates make sense. The Elder Scrolls Online is primarily a third-person-perspective adventure, so gamers will be far more aware of their warriors’ looks.
The Elder Scrolls Online should hit Mac, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One near the end of this year, and then, we can all fuss over our hairstyles together.