New Zandalari Troll model in 5.2

[Xyonai]

Seems they have the nelf idol animations and the Vrykul movement animations.

[TheDangerZone]

Loving these models, and I think that the hunchless back makes sense. They are supposed to be proud and arrogant, and standing so upright helps look other races down. I think the rest of the trolls are so hunchback because their lifestyle has been much more primal for milennia; they are more used swinging from trees and whatnot, much more savage.

So I like that we see this difference between Zandalari and Darkspear/other trolls. And the proportions are hot as hell too. If they end up basing the new troll model in these, I do hope that the standing/walking animations have the hunch, the females too,even if its just in one idle animation.

[Sylar Hao]

Well, mogus are reskinned male draenei, that lizard-humanoid creature whose name I can't recall is a reskinned male worgen, jinyus are reskinned male night elves... I won't even mention yaungols...

[Deleted]

0:28, thats when I was sure it was a nelf. They do that exact same animation if I'm not mistaken.

[Deleted]

reskinned nightelfs?

if the horde trolls had a posture like that with the body structure like dat, would b pretty damn awesome.

[lordjust]

YES!!! that's what I got from it. Mogu are flesh-shapers, right? They put some Zandalari working with them, what they ought to make? Put the Troll servants on par with their own Mogu servants. We have seen Zandalari trolls a lot of time through the game. Dang, we even faced them on Kun-Lai, and they don't look at all as those.

This is clearly a new troll race, engineered by the Mogu. Clearly why? Because the updated Vol'jin don't look like those at all.

Just because they didn't use a unique model back then doesn't mean that's the way they were supposed to look like. Remember how Sylvanas looked like in classic and BC? Just reskinned Nightelf. Or the highelfs in the second half of the Bloodelf starting zone? Just reskinned Nightelfs. Today Sylvanas uses an unique model and the highelfs use a Bloodelf model with blue eyes instead of green. Or the forest trolls in hinterlands? Up until Zul'Aman they used the normal troll model and since Zul'Aman they use the new forest troll model.

That being said it could still be possible that these new models show altered versions from the Zandalari trolls or from another tribe. Remeber the introduction video from patch 4.1. All troll tribes except the Darkspears united with the Zandalari to reconquer the world because a lot of Trolls lost their home because of the cataclysm. In the patch preview (from MMO-Champion) we have already seen new forrest troll models and a model that could be a sand troll and a slightly different model what could be an ice troll.

Maybe this new model is a Zandalari or a new Troll tribe created by the Mogu out of all other tribes.

Seeing this and the other updated models from 5.2 I'm excited to see how the new player models will look like. I can imagine that Blizzard uses patch 5.2 to see what people like. I like all new troll models but I'd prefer a new player model that's more like the one from Vol'jin or the supposed new sand troll model seen here http://media.mmo-champion.com/images...del_07_1_1.jpg. Don't know if it's just a reskin but it looks a lot better than the player models.

[Kaleredar]

Semi off topic, but I see the word "reskin" flying around a lot in this thread.

A "reskin" is when you take a model and apply a different texture to it. Case in point, these trolls are not "reskins" of night elves. If they were, you would be able to freely swap the two dimensional skins that wrap around night elves and these trolls with one another, and have no graphical hitches. This, obviously, is not the case.

These trolls utilize the skeleton, or animation rigging, of a male night elf. At the same time however, these trolls use a completely new and unique model.

Please don't make me take out the examples.


Now, why am I being so uptight about this? Well, you see, the fun thing in recent times seems to be to accuse Blizzard of becoming more lazy because people perceive that they do something as banal as "reskinning" things for every new mob/armor set/mount/etc that they release. While I could also break out the list of old BC and vanilla raid bosses that are nothing but TRUE reskins (if that) of other enemies, I think you'll all take my word for it when I say this isn't the case. So please, don't give the misinformed complainers another reason to whine; Blizzard does indeed reuse wireframes, as they have been doing for a long, long time. They are doing the same thing here. They are not, however, re-skinning. In fact, none of the new bosses from 4.2 appear to be reskins of already existing enemies.


You may commence with your conversation.

[LilSaihah]

Well, mogus are reskinned male draenei, that lizard-humanoid creature whose name I can't recall is a reskinned male worgen, jinyus are reskinned male night elves... I won't even mention yaungols...

Well, Yaungol are the most recent racial split, other than High Elves. At least it makes sense there.

[Boogums]

These models are terrible.

For one they don't look like Trolls at all. They look like elves with a Troll Mask. The posture is too "upright". The walk is too much like a standard human or elf walk. This ends up removing the most distinctive feature that all trolls shared and made them unique: the hunchback and the dangling arms gait and walk.

'Cause orcs, undead, and tauren don't have hunched backs.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

I love these, I can't believe how much work Blizz put into doing new models for this raid. I hope this is the beginning of a new shift in that regard.

I think it's silly people resist the night elf/troll connection considering the book in Tanaris that's been sitting there since 2004 basically confirmed it. Clinging to the idea that Blizzard would have planted that information as possibly dubious seems like someone is just being stubborn to me because they want to make up their own version of Blizzard's lore. They created WOW and Warcraft 3 together, it's not like this was some retcon Blizzard put into the game after years of knowing the Night Elves as something else.

I just personally think it makes the lore weaker IMO. I don't hate Blizzard for it I just don't think it's a good thing. I liked Night Elves more as a unique race then Dark Trolls etc etc.

[Boogums]

Semi off topic, but I see the word "reskin" flying around a lot in this thread.

A "reskin" is when you take a model and apply a different texture to it. Case in point, these trolls are not "reskins" of night elves. If they were, you would be able to freely swap the two dimensional skins that wrap around night elves and these trolls with one another, and have no graphical hitches. This, obviously, is not the case.

These trolls utilize the skeleton, or animation rigging, of a male night elf. At the same time however, these trolls use a completely new and unique model.

Please don't make me take out the examples.


Now, why am I being so uptight about this? Well, you see, the fun thing in recent times seems to be to accuse Blizzard of becoming more lazy because people perceive that they do something as banal as "reskinning" things for every new mob/armor set/mount/etc that they release. While I could also break out the list of old BC and vanilla raid bosses that are nothing but TRUE reskins (if that) of other enemies, I think you'll all take my word for it when I say this isn't the case. So please, don't give the misinformed complainers another reason to whine; Blizzard does indeed reuse wireframes, as they have been doing for a long, long time. They are doing the same thing here. They are not, however, re-skinning. In fact, none of the new bosses from 4.2 appear to be reskins of already existing enemies.


You may commence with your conversation.

Re-quoting for visibility.

---------- Post added 2013-01-02 at 01:40 AM ----------

I just personally think it makes the lore weaker IMO. I don't hate Blizzard for it I just don't think it's a good thing. I liked Night Elves more as a unique race then Dark Trolls etc etc.

How does it make the lore weaker?

[Highlord Hanibuhl]

I don't like it. They don't look enough like Trolls - the faces, the perfect posture, even the tusks - they look like a totally new race. And what's up with the glowing eyes?

I understand Blizzard want them to look more 'advanced' and powerful, to make them distinct from other trolls but they've gone too far.

They look exactly like trolls. Like the ones from WC1 and WC2... not those sloughed skinny ones from WoW

[Aeluron Lightsong]

How does it make the lore weaker?

Races having different origins made it seem better IMO Humans shouldn't and Dwarves to IMO be related to Old God crap. Night Elves being Dark Trolls. I just feel it's..really homogenizes it. It's just a conceptual disagreement.

[Golden Yak]

Really wasn't expecting another troll-heavy raid, but I think this could be the greatest one yet. Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman were just offshoots - these are the original trolls, the real deal. And they look awesome.

Never been the biggest troll fan, but I like these zandalari.

[Sky High]

awesome looking. i love how even though they used the NE skeleton they still manage to look very different. makes me even more eager to see those new models for the playable races.

[foxHeart]

Looks pretty bad. Let's hope it's not a sign of things to come for new character models.

[Boogums]

Races having different origins made it seem better IMO Humans shouldn't and Dwarves to IMO be related to Old God crap. Night Elves being Dark Trolls. I just feel it's..really homogenizes it. It's just a conceptual disagreement.

So by taking one thing, and splitting it into two completely different things, this is homogenization? I don't think saying "Night Elves were once Trolls" takes away from their lore and stories. Look at the lore and stories instead of a tidbit that they originated from the same thing.

Funfact: All life on Earth started from the same thing, yet you wouldn't look at a human and a bull and be like "these things aren't unique and different because they came from the same source."

Yes, elves evolved from trolls, and Humans evolved from Vrykul that were iron constructs created by the Titans, but that doesn't mean Humans and Night Elves don't have enough lore where the "beginning" matters too much.

My advice, don't focus on the origins so much and focus more on their stories after they became who they were.

---------- Post added 2013-01-02 at 01:59 AM ----------

Looks pretty bad. Let's hope it's not a sign of things to come for new character models.

Looks pretty amazing. Let's hope it's a sign of things to come for new character models.

[Highlord Hanibuhl]

Also, can all the graphical un-informed idiots stop calling it "reskinned"....?

As many people have pointed out and I'm gonna point out again: It's a DIFFERENT model and a DIFFERENT skin/texture, using the Rig (skeleton) of a pre-existing model.

[foxHeart]

Looks pretty amazing. Let's hope it's a sign of things to come for new character models.

Absolutely nothing remarkable whatsoever about those models. Their clothes are fancier, but they are otherwise completely plain, soul-less trolls that do nothing different other than standing up straight (which btw looks totally alien for them). Please watch in HD before making comments. ty

[Boogums]

Absolutely nothing remarkable whatsoever about those models. Their clothes are fancier, but they are otherwise completely plain, soul-less trolls that do nothing different other than standing up straight (which btw looks totally alien for them). Please watch in HD before making comments. ty

The fact that you state your opinion as fact lets me know that I should take everything you say with a grain of salt. Also, I watched it in HD and I love them.