[Hayley Bristow]

Well, the results are in. Most fans want the http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1102977-the-ultimate-imperial-thread/page__p__16136185__fromsearch__1&#entry16136185 to remain unchanged.

I'm kind of sad no one liked my idea to turn Cyrodil into a sea and make them forsaken fish people. But there you go.

On to the Dunmer, the most popular race in the game.

Why? Because they're elves and they're also dark. And that's just sixy. Not my personal favorite, but I will admit that they're the only elves I can stand to talk to, in-game.

Now, for facial features, when I say exaggerated chins, I mean they are either very thin and pointed, or very huge. The cheekbones are always very high, and tilted at a weird angle sometimes. This changes in Oblivion, possibly because of the experimental face-generator. Or maybe it was a conscious, artistic decision. I don't know; you tell me.

One exception, though, from the older games is this http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v620/thelobo/Picture1-1.png?t=1280517315 from Arena, who could almost pass for a blue human, if it weren't for that ridiculous hat.

The miscellaneous features I list are features that I noticed while browsing through each character generator before posting this topic. For clothing and accessories, I mean only in chargen, this time around. So, if you'd like them buyable in-game, but not choose-able in chargen, don't vote for them. You may mention in your post, if you'd like those things purchasable.

And be nice when you vote on the voice. The poll has been programmed to smite all those of evil intent.

[Frank Firefly]

I liked the Oblivion ones besides the voices, but I didn't really like the Morrowind voices either because I couldn't really understand what they were saying sometimes, and they were a little too over-exaggeratedly raspy. But I would have liked them to have lower voices. I just like their faces a little better in Oblivion 'cause they're a little easier to relate to when they look a little more human, I'm not saying "no alien features", of course. It's always nice to have in-game races to look original.

They could use a little more "artistic freedom" concerning their appearance though.

[Aliish Sheldonn]

I feel that the Dunmer should go back to how they were in Morrowind. Oblivion's were okay, but I missed the mean, sarcastic, grey, and gravely Dunmer of Morrowind.

[Jennie Skeletons]

Divayth Fyr for Prez '12!

Seriously though, they should do Morrowind Dunmer with updated graphics.

[Lew.p]

I voted for a low and raspy voice, but I thin that should only be the males. The females, while sounding slightly harsher than human females, should be more... soothing (slightly). XD

[ShOrty]

My votes:

Facial Structure - High, angular cheekbones are a hallmark of all Meric races and should be retained. FYI, such a character could be crafted in Oblivion if you felt up to it.

Skin Tone - Very grey, please. I find it quite appealing.

Eyes - Red cornea with black pupil will be fine.

Misc. Features - I tagged everything but the skin ridges.

Voices - The natural-sounding, varied voices. The idea that all Dunmer need to talk a specific way is absurd.

...

Ultimately, though, when I play Meric I go for Altmer. Dunmer are one of my least-favored races.

[Ella Loapaga]

Facial Structure - High, angular cheekbones are a hallmark of all Meric races and should be retained. FYI, such a character could be crafted in Oblivion if you felt up to it.

I debated whether or not to mention it in my OP, so I will since you brought it up.

Oblivion's face generator allowed you to make any character look like anything.

So, when I talk about the Oblivion characters, I refer mainly to the pre-generated faces, but also the NPCs.

[Chris Cross Cabaret Man]

I'd like to see the Morrowind features (face, eyes, skin colour, other features) of Dunmer return, however, I think there may be different racial abilities. If the rumour is true, the Dunmer will have lived in Solstheim (which I propose be renamed as New Resdayn) for about 200 years. They might have 25% frost resistance and 50% fire resistance as result.

I would like to see different voiceovers from Oblivion because I really don't like when multiple races have the same voice. It makes it harder to attempt to sneak attack an Orc with a frost spell because he sounds like a Nord. A new Dunmer voice or the Morrowind one would be best. I'd prefer the Morrowind one, but a new one could work.

[Steve Bates]

Go back to the MW look but have a variety of voices, although the low raspy voice should defnitely be the most common voice IMO.

[Enie van Bied]

Morrowind got race design perfect, imo. I want to see something similar.

Perhaps, for those who like the facepalm worthy excuse of living away from Vvardenfell makes voices awful that they used in Oblivion, perhaps a toned down Morrowind esque voice could be used. I want the Dunmer to sound arrogant in thier voices, no matter what. As long as they aren't Happy Rainbow Elves again, I'll be fine.

[Pixie]

The faces dont really matter to me, but I'll choose Oblivion style. Face shape doesnt matter to me though... actually now that I am thinking about it, maybe they could be slightly thicker or more muscular after alot of them living in the colder Solstheim climate for however long they are there by the time the next game comes along?

The skin tone should cover the whole spectrum from greys to blues, no reason why every race shouldnt have skin tones instead of humans only.

I dont have any particular preference for types of eyes for Dunmer since they are all similiar anyways, I'll chose the first choice though

For misc features I like the first 4 options, ridges I'm not too into on elves. Ponytails should just be a hair option for all races except Argonians. Also I would really like to see the new influences of Nordic culture in their clothing if possible,

The voices should be sorta high pitched but definitely unlike Oblivion, because hopefully each race will have their own voice. It could be fairly deep but not as deep as in Morrowind even if they did sound cool in that game. They can sound a different kind of cool now. Plus I like the theory that the reason why the Dunmer on Vvardenfell had such deep voices was because of the ash blight.

[Marine x]

Morrowind got race design perfect, imo. I want to see something similar.

Perhaps, for those who like the facepalm worthy excuse of living away from Vvardenfell makes voices awful that they used in Oblivion, perhaps a toned down Morrowind esque voice could be used. I want the Dunmer to sound arrogant in thier voices, no matter what. As long as they aren't Happy Rainbow Elves again, I'll be fine.

So Dunmer are arrogant douches by inclination, to the last? This quality must be completely inalienable? I don't like the idea that an entire race should fulfill a specific archetype. What if I want to roleplay a Happy Rainbow Elf?

If the Dunmer spend any time in Solstheim or Skyrim, hopefully they'll have a bit of their arrogance beaten out of them by the Nords. Serves 'em right!

[Richard Dixon]

If the Dunmer spend any time in Solstheim or Skyrim, hopefully they'll have a bit of their arrogance beaten out of them by the Nords. Serves 'em right!

Yes, yes they do indeed deserve it.

[jessica sonny]

Trannigan, the Dunmer are rightfully entitled to their arrogance. Because it's not ego that supports it, it's fact!

[leni]

In order:

Angular faces-- Something like http://www.dreamingthepyramid.net/TNR-Dunmer.html for Oblivion is probably fairly close to what we'll see in Skyrim, barring any dramatic changes to the facegen system.

Range of skin tones-- Diversity is a good thing.

Pure red eyes-- Though there wasn't an option, I would prefer a variety of eye types, like in Morrowind, ranging from pure red, to red with a pupil, to white with red irises. See comment for skin tones.

Misc. stuff-- All of the above. I think I know what you mean by "Klingon-esque skin ridges," but if it literally means making their forehead look like a mountain range, I'm going to have to withdraw my vote. :nono:

Elfy voices unlike Oblivion-- I'd like their voices to be deeper than their Oblivion incarnation, somewhere closer, perhaps, to Dagoth Ur's voice (since he's technically a Chimer as well). While Hircine may facepalm for my saying it, not living near constant smoke and ash should mean that they don't sound like their lungs are full of smoke and ash.

[Lloyd Muldowney]

So Dunmer are arrogant douches by inclination, to the last? This quality must be completely inalienable? I don't like the idea that an entire race should fulfill a specific archetype. What if I want to roleplay a Happy Rainbow Elf?

If the Dunmer spend any time in Solstheim or Skyrim, hopefully they'll have a bit of their arrogance beaten out of them by the Nords. Serves 'em right!

The arrogant feel is a racial trait. You don't see Nords that don't have a scottish accent, do you? Yet, not all of them are stereotypically viking-ey. Just because a Dunmer doesn't act like an Ignorant Xenophobe, doesn't mean he should be sapped of all culture and uniqueness.

Elfy voices unlike Oblivion-- I'd like their voices to be deeper than their Oblivion incarnation, somewhere closer, perhaps, to Dagoth Ur's voice (since he's technically a Chimer as well). While Hircine may facepalm for my saying it, not living near constant smoke and ash should mean that they don't sound like their lungs are full of smoke and ash.

You do realise that before the voices where cut to save space, that the Dunmer sounded pretty much the same as they did in Morrowind, don't you? The way they sound is a part of the curse that made them dark and red eyed. Not because of ash storms. If that was the reason, why did those who had been in Morrowind for a long time, of another race, not have a similar voice to the Dunmer? And don't give me the crap about them not being there long. 40 years is a long time. some NPC's would have lived there thier whole lives. A lot would have been there so long that the ash would have affected them. More people would have Dunmer-ey voices than anything else. (Not that I'm aganst everyone having unique voices)

[Kate Schofield]

not living near constant smoke and ash should mean that they don't sound like their lungs are full of smoke and ash.

Then why don't the female Dunmer sound raspy? Also, Jiub sounds raspy, and he's not from Morrowind. I don't mean to offend if I am, it's just I don't think that argument makes much sense. Really though, no two Dunmer should sound alike. I don't think they should all sound high-pitched like in Oblivion, but they shouldn't all sound gravely either. I think that there should be a variety of voices for the Dunmer, and every race, varying in pitch and gravelyness.

[chirsty aggas]

As far as their voices go, I would like to see a variety of accents and multiple voice actors that sound different and distinct, but still sounding raspy, some more obvious than others. The male Mer voice used in Oblivion was actually pretty good IMO except for of course "By Azura, By Azura, By Azura!", but its just not Dunmer-ish enough to me and should be used by the Altmer or Bosmer.

And I much prefer the Morrowind look over the Oblivion look, except for a select few faces that looked like they were suffering some terrible facial disorder. And I hope that the chargen in TESV will provide a few template faces for each race which can further be customized. I would also hope that Beth adds some form of method of changing your character's appearance after the initial creation (not some kind of plastic surgeon/mage, but small services like hairdressers and facepaint/tatoos/and piercings don't seem that far-fetched for Nirn.

[No Name]

Morrowind got the dunmer race right IMO so in TESV i would like to see:
Very high, angular cheekbones and exaggerated chins, greyish blue or very grey, all the eye types and the voice low and raspy.
Also more dunmer specific hair styles.

[Tiffany Castillo]

Like in DF and MW. Just 'cause they are humanoid doesn't mean they have to look like humans with pointy ears and colored contact lenses.

[Karine laverre]

I'd sorta like faces kinda like http://tesnexus.com/downloads/images/1422-1-1192829397.jpg.

With more red in the eyes though, they just wouldn't be the same without red eyes.

I'm sure no matter what happens in TES:V, we'll be happy with it, they're just an in-game race. Yeah, they're an amazing in-game race, but it's not like somebody's reaching up and morphing your face to how they make them in TES:V. People will more likely than not make a mod for it if they become even more like "humans with pointy ears and red eyes", so I don't think too many people will freak out...

Except the kind of people that will never be pleased. :shrug:

[Kortniie Dumont]

Facial Structure: High cheekbones and strong facial structures. The Dunmer are a stalwart people, and their imposing and exotic culture reflected that. Considering how the distinctions between Bretons, Nords, and Imperials seem to be blurring, I'd like to maintain what racial diversity we still have left.

Skin Tone: I'd like to say a spectrum to some extent, but not as sickeningly blue as some of Oblivion's Dunmer were. I'd like to see grey, ashen-skinned Dunmer, but in some instances Dunmer with a slightly blue tinted skin could work as well.

Eyes: I'm a bit spoiled by Better Heads, wherein their pupils are red but their eyes are otherwise the same as everybody else's. I'm voting for the red cornea, black pupil incarnation though.

Misc. Features: All of them, possibly sans ridges. Ideally, every race should have some degree of facial customization by TES V, but it's particularly important for Dunmer and Nords in my opinion. Bring back badasses like http://www.imperial-library.info/sites/default/files/pge01_morrowind_art_01.jpg.

Voice: Morrowind. The male voice may have to be slightly less raspy to be bearable should TES V pursue fully voiced dialog (which I'm hoping it isn't as it'll just limit Bethesda's creativity and create awkward silence in modded NPCs), but I found Morrowind's female voice perfect.

[SaVino GοΜ]

I loved the alien Dunmeri culture in Morrowind, it made the Dunmer very unrelatable to the player, which--in my opinion--makes them very interesting. I love the pronounced and angular facial features that Dunmer had in the first three games, it makes them somewhat exotic and further distanced from humans. The low and raspy voice from Morrowind is a must have, the high-pitched voice from Oblivion made Dunmer far too human than their strange nature allows. I want my Dark Elves to be, well... dark! Just like Morrowind and the Pocket Guide make them seem. I loved the description in the Infernal City where

Spoiler

during Sul's dramatic entrance he is described as "a fiend." Attrebus' kidnappers are dumbstruck and afraid, as this inhuman devil radiates an unapproachable aura of intimidation.

This could be attributed to the fact that he is simply badass, independent of the fact that he's a Dunmer, but as a reader the image was amplified significantly by his race.

On the subject of eyes, my favorite is by far the entirely red eye, with no visible cornea or pupil, but I do like in Morrowind how there were many different styles of eye, suggesting genetic differences between Dunmer populations.

[Liv Brown]

On the subject of eyes, my favorite is by far the entirely red eye, with no visible cornea or pupil, but I do like in Morrowind how there were many different styles of eye, suggesting genetic differences between Dunmer populations.

You've got that right. This was the biggest fault with Oblivion's NPCs. Horrendously mutilated Facegen heads aside (thank God for TNR), there was no actual variety in hairstyles nor facial features to really imply some level of cultural and genetic diversity. I, too, liked how the Dunmer in Morrowind had multiple types of eyes. Most of the Bosmer had pitch black eyes, but a http://uesp.net/wiki/File:TR-npc-Gaenor.jpg had distinct cornea and pupils. Remember the occasional Nord with the radical tatoo on his face or braided ponytail? Let's not even get started on the Argonian and Khajiit heads.

Point is, there was so much customization (albeit tied to face and hairstyle) about the NPCs in Morrowind - even with the limited preset hair and face meshes, every NPC looked far more unique to me than Oblivion's plastic Facegen drones ever did, although that was mostly just laziness on Bethesda's part (I seriously think everybody unrelated to the Main Quest had their face generated via the Randomize button).

[Mélida Brunet]

I like high cheekbones on an elf, so keep that.

So:
High, sixy cheekbones
Male-sound like Sean Connery
Female-sound like a female Dark Elf
Eyes-Morrowind eyes
Other-tattoos