Blue Tracker » Male And Female Characters

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Mjjf <Player> 09-30-2009, 08:26:48 AM PDT - (View Original Post)
So I've been wondering, maybe we haven't seen a male wizard or a female monk because the idea of two genders per class has been dropped or is being debated as being dropped? From a development standpoint, if gender has no effect on gameplay, all it really does is require twice the work per item/class/skill/etc. Maybe blizzard got tired.

Mjjf <Player>
09-30-2009, 08:26:48 AM PDT - (View Original Post)

So I've been wondering, maybe we haven't seen a male wizard or a female monk because the idea of two genders per class has been dropped or is being debated as being dropped?

From a development standpoint, if gender has no effect on gameplay, all it really does is require twice the work per item/class/skill/etc.

Maybe blizzard got tired.

Bashiok <Blizzard Rep> 09-30-2009, 10:20:48 AM PDT - (View Original Post)
not really, its just another model they need to add, they don't need to add new skills items etc.. Weeeeell... It requires a new model and new texture. And our class models/textures are very carefully crafted. It requires a new rigging and all new animations. Everything from idle animations to a complex skill to how they hold a sword. It requires custom armor sets and alterations to fit weapons and other item types. Skills may be the same in general appearance but all of them have to be altered or customized in some way to fit each gender. Sometimes dramatically. Every gender requires it's own voice actor and full dialogue recording. Those could potentially sound trivial until you realize that any one of those things would be weeks to months of work. In some cases the work never stops on ensuring things adapt to fit all classes, and then separately each gender. To answer the OP, the only big question I think we ever had on creating genders for all classes was how to best handle the female monk. And that's been solved. [ post edited by Bashiok ]

Bashiok <Blizzard Rep>
09-30-2009, 10:20:48 AM PDT - (View Original Post)

not really, its just another model they need to add, they don't need to add new skills items etc..

Weeeeell...

It requires a new model and new texture. And our class models/textures are very carefully crafted.
It requires a new rigging and all new animations. Everything from idle animations to a complex skill to how they hold a sword.
It requires custom armor sets and alterations to fit weapons and other item types.
Skills may be the same in general appearance but all of them have to be altered or customized in some way to fit each gender. Sometimes dramatically.
Every gender requires it's own voice actor and full dialogue recording.

Those could potentially sound trivial until you realize that any one of those things would be weeks to months of work. In some cases the work never stops on ensuring things adapt to fit all classes, and then separately each gender.

To answer the OP, the only big question I think we ever had on creating genders for all classes was how to best handle the female monk. And that's been solved.

[ post edited by Bashiok ]