The new character models will be the best thing to happen to WoW in years.

[Olrox]

I'm with melodramocracy on this. While I think that updating player models will be good for the longer term as far as bringing WoW closer to modern standards on how games and their principal characters should appear, it's difficult to see how anyone will much truly deeply care about it for more than half an hour. We gaze at their backs most of the time and then there's the business of armor and zooming out so we can see what's going on around us. Basically I believe it will be a one-day wonder for most people and then back to business.

It's not as much of a contradiction as one might think to say that updating the look is important to the game and no real big deal all at once.

Then of course, on top of all that will be the inevitable storms of outrage and temper tantrums about them when they do come to light.

I feel like from this bit, you're missing the most vital reason for updating the visuals of the old races.

The complaint was never really solely concerning the raw model/texture/basic appearance - the important thing is the appearance/silhouette viewing the character from behind and the way it looks when it does things.

The prevailing thought (I would hope) is that most people spend a lot of time spamming this spell or that, watching auto-attack swings and seeing your character run. All of those things need updating because it's a hell of a lot more satisfying to watch the newer races "do things" than it is to see the older ones use the same four animations for several hours a week.

So, if you were considering countering me by posing the question "would new skeletons and old models have been enough?"

The answer is yes. The skeleton/rig is the most important part - the poly count and texture doesn't matter as much - those things don't give as much "life" to the characters as the skeleton does and it doesn't matter from what angle you see your character, you still see what they're doing and how.

Do all things "get old" over time? Yes. Do Pandaren and the like have more amusing animation sets and even more white attack animations? Yes and they're better off for it.

Tl;dr - The big sell for updating the visuals is that the skeletons provide an enormous injection of "life" into the player characters and I think a lot of people value that - whether or not they appreciate the model/texture updates at all or for very long.

[ghrolt]

Couldn't care less about how my char looks tbh.

[Mrjhova]

I never got the big deal about people wanting Character Model updates. Sure your character is in front of you all the time, but does anybody ever actually look at it? I know I don't, I see almost everything around me, but my character.

Could really care less what I look like as long as the content is fun. i.e Epic ass raids with good lore

[Yarathir]

Couldn't care less about how my char looks tbh.

I never got the big deal about people wanting Character Model updates. Sure your character is in front of you all the time, but does anybody ever actually look at it? I know I don't, I see almost everything around me, but my character.

Could really care less what I look like as long as the content is fun. i.e Epic ass raids with good lore

Fine. Then you won't mind it if we turn your player models into checkered cubes, right?



If you don't want the new models or don't care for them, good for you, but there are people who actually do care. You guys get a raid every major content patch. How many times have the players who care about the new models gotten a model update?



.. Hm?

[Deleted]

I never got the big deal about people wanting Character Model updates. Sure your character is in front of you all the time, but does anybody ever actually look at it? I know I don't, I see almost everything around me, but my character.

Could really care less what I look like as long as the content is fun. i.e Epic ass raids with good lore

it changes EVERYTHING ffs, not only you but every other player, every npc, don't tell mne you don't notice them too.

[Deleted]

I too yearn for new models, so I can cover them in armor and zoom all the way out.

Same, they add some extra flavor but do not change the way I play, as opposed to certain other changes that have happened in the past years. To call it the best thing that ever happened to WoW is almost sheer idiocy, or a testament of how superficial people have become, no longer caring for actual gameplay improvements, but they'd rather have some prettier pixels they'll almost never look at except when they flaunt their stuff in Shrine.

Even animations aren't that visible when there's 24/9 other players around you, a/several bosses, add(s) and an amalgam of spell effects. I haven't heard anyone mention mid-raid that he's really sick of the way his Troll throws Fireballs.

Don't get me wrong, it's a nice potential change, but it's not a pivotal update that will change the way we look at this game, or the way we play this game.

[Deleted]

For someone who plays on an role play server, best change in the game, ever made.

[ro9ue]

Xmog/character building/quality art and aesthetics are really the only reasons I play the game. This would be huge for me.

[ignit3e]

How do you think they will handle the transition from old to new in terms of character customization? Each respective races character will be re customizable as they're released?

[lockedout]

Pretty sure Draenei, Blood Elves, and all the classic races are getting revamped. However it's not the best thing to happen to WoW, at least I personally don't think it is. Quite a feat if that's the highlight of an expansion.

Cata's highlight was revamped zones.
Could have cared less personally.

[Issalice]

How do you think they will handle the transition from old to new in terms of character customization? Each respective races character will be re customizable as they're released?

Either offer a customization option when they are implemented at the log in screen, or add more options in the barber shop. I really hope they add a nice amount of features like some of the newer MMO's on the market. Being able to customize the features fully would be amazing, eyes, nose, mouth, etc.

[Notos]

I disagree, I think transmogging was the best thing to happen to WoW, although I guess the new models would be in my top 5 on that list.

[Pancaspe]

I am afraid I have to disagree with you on new models.

I think it is going to cause more rage than anything ever seen on the Forums.

Simply, WOW players hate change, and they bitterly complain about change.

If given the ability to display the old char model, I expect over 50% of players would do so.

[Deleted]

I care a lot about my characters appearance, and for me the new models will be a big thing indeed, new animations, better body postures, I want it all. Hopefully Blizzard will deliver, and if they do - it's definitely going to be the best thing ever, at least for me. Last time I was so hyped about something was in 4.3 & transmogrification.

I am afraid I have to disagree with you on new models.

I think it is going to cause more rage than anything ever seen on the Forums.

Simply, WOW players hate change, and they bitterly complain about change.

If given the ability to display the old char model, I expect over 50% of players would do so.

Remember, they want the models to resemble the old ones. Just updated animations, textures etc. I believe that the majority will welcome the new models, and only a tiny portion (yet vocal) will rebel against them. I believe this is a good change overall, especially for newer players, the contrast between updated art, newer boss/creature models, animations etc. VS the vanilla models -- is just too big of a gap at the moment, and it's about time they filled it.

Anyway, I could be wrong with this prediction, guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Thimagryn]

I'm currently unsubbed. Just finished a 10-day trial of MoP though, and got my characters up to 85.99 and fully quested through Jade Forest and archaeology'd up to max.

While I wouldn't resub just for new character models, it's definitely something I'm willing to come back for to see, either through the free Starter edition a scroll of res. I'm really interested in what the new races will look like, and I really hope it comes in time of the next expansion at the very latest.

[Tastyfish]

Once we get them, the next half decade long QQ will be that they look too good for the terrain. You know, cause Vol'jin totally does not stick out in sen'jin village.

[Rukioish]

I might even roll a troll with those new models

[checking facts]

Cata's highlight was revamped zones.
Could have cared less personally.

the difference is that quests are temporary content. you do them once and that's it, unless you roll a new toon.

PC character models are permanent content. as long as you play, you'll see PC character models. the 10 years old or so orc models (WoW was in production a fdew years before it launched) make many would-be players go limp and look for another game.

[Yosef1015]

I will come back to wow when they do this

[MoanaLisa]

So, if you were considering countering me by posing the question "would new skeletons and old models have been enough?"

The answer is yes. The skeleton/rig is the most important part - the poly count and texture doesn't matter as much - those things don't give as much "life" to the characters as the skeleton does and it doesn't matter from what angle you see your character, you still see what they're doing and how.

Tl;dr - The big sell for updating the visuals is that the skeletons provide an enormous injection of "life" into the player characters and I think a lot of people value that - whether or not they appreciate the model/texture updates at all or for very long.

Actually, I can see and buy into that. I'm a bit distressed that some people picked apart my original post where I clearly indicated that I thought new character models were important for the game long-term, i.e. in what Zaelsino said about new players coming in for the first time or players coming back after a few years. The player characters from vanilla do look mostly...insufficient if not terrible. And a bit of it is reaction to the rather grandiose expectations in the thread title.

I quit agree that a lot of little subtleties can add up to more than the sum of the parts. So perhaps I overstated things a bit. That said though, I'm not convinced that the very tiny details that people are bringing up--fingers as one example--will be consequential. Time will tell.

Thanks for the response which actually made me think a little bit beyond my original boundaries.