Changes to your Character for the good of the "Lore"

So do game background enforced changes to characters bother you? I have decided I don’t really know. First I saw that was in TBC when (night?)elves were not allowed to be elves in the caverns of time, durnholde specifically. Everyone was made to look like a human, with a strong jaw and the fine hulking figure that first turned me away from playing a paladin.

Of course… back then I was a dwarf, and dwarves are easy to overlook until they bite your ankle, so I got away without an enforced cosmetic change (err… Illusion). Now that the mechanics are in, apparently the use of “Illusions” became more widespread. Culling of Stratholme? Same again: *Poof* no more elfies.
Of course there is a “fake history” reason for all this: elves weren’t known to man back then and certainly would not have been present – although how this could not be covered up with a dark hood or wearing your underwear over your pants and removing the glasses is beyond me. Come on … most level 74 armour looks like that anyway.

There is another example as well. One that has me carefully balanced on the edge between amusement and being disturbed. The lengthy questline in Stormpeaks that leads to the amazing Sons of Hodir faction (grind). Pretty soon into the quest (Starting with “They’ve got our men” in K3 – Stormpeaks) the player will work for the Brunhildar clan. Amazon women, fierce in battle with flowing red blue manes and of a size that makes anything but a kodo or proto-drake look completely ridiculous. They can chain me up in a cage all day long, seeing as there are no mens-folk around.

…

What I meant to say: to gain their trust and work for them, the player will be disguised as one of the mighty warrior maidens. Gaining trust is done by the usual – beating them up in a fair duel, again and again and again. Oh yes… and stealing some of their dragons back and freeing more girls. That sort of thing.
Once enough trust is gained and the evil witch disposed of, the player leaves the area to pursue some new friends even bigger – you know, Titanic Watchers, Giants, that sort of thing. And every time the player flies over the village inhabited by the fierce warrior women (in blue, with chains, *glassy eyed stare*) the illusion is turned back on.

Or so I thought.

Until an innocent little title change caught my eye:



And now I wonder … is it really just an illusion, or is there a short snip and a lengthy scream whenever a male character flies over Brunhildar village.

At least in the caverns of time players can always pretend they just wanted a strong jaw and a fine hulking figure.