GameSpy.com Previews World of Warcraft after getting to check out Blizzard's just-announced (story) MMORPG at ECTS. Here's a bit from the first-hand impressions they've posted after a private demonstration of the game:

A keyword for the development team right now is "individually cool" and this means that they're only adding new races and character customizations if they're different enough from what's already there for you to think, "yeah, that cool".

Blizzard seems to be heading in the right direction with this plan as rather than create a plethora of races all very similar they are going to create several vibrant races easily distinguishable, not just by appearance but also by characteristics. While you customize the look of your online character a fully rotatable 3D image of the character dynamically changing with each choice you make so you can see the effects your customization is making until you're satisfied your hair looks right and your beard is just trimmed to the mage look for this season. This customization is all done with modelled 3D deformations to the character rather than just a change of skin textures like in some other games. Of course you'll probably not want your online self to look exactly like yourself (especially if you're playing as an Orc) so the styles available are all vibrant and individual. The developers explained to us that they weren't going for the ultra-realistic look with World of Warcraft as the Blizzard style has always been slightly towards the squat figures of comics. Once your character is tailored to your own personal tastes its time to go online and battle the evil foe.