PSA: All Allied Races use One Skeleton.

[Yarathir]

I want to reach out to thank Inico and Yarathir for correcting some of my misunderstandings, here.

I think Inico's info might be a bit more reliable. I do 3D modeling, mostly, so I kind of grasp it from a technical perspective, but I haven't ever interpreted Blizzard's work the way he probably does on a daily basis. Since their engine is also custom, their way of going about it might be entirely different from what I know, too.

Still, you're welcome. Always nice to see people who appreciate or enjoy that knowledge.

[Beloren]

Yeah, but since they just copy paste everything THEY ARE being lazy. What do I need new races for if they all look and move the same anyways.
What a waste of time.

Exactly part of the beauty of wow is how unique each race looks and feels so unique. The animation and skeleton. Is important part of what draws us to wow. Most other games don’t make you feel pride in the race as they all have the same animations, no unique feel or look, no unique architecture. They don’t seem alive and their lore is not as deep although they have lore.

[Ningjinq]

Most other games though have different “races” but are really just Human mutant version X.

In WoW, even if you play a human or elf, you are surrounded by so many different races (and Druids) that you can really stand out more than other games.

[Thage]

So, this means it's actually reasonably easy for Void Elves to have a different idle pose to distinguish them from Blood Elves?

If so, they need to do it. It looks incredibly cheap as it stands.

From what I understand, they plan to give the Allied races that use existing base models (i.e., every one but Zandalari) unique poses and animations to help differentiate them in PvP/out in the world. It might not make it in until 8.0, though, depending on how this PTR cycle goes.

[elaina]

It would explain why the Priest Hover was changed to allow for hovering characters to jump while hovering just before Nighthold. Since that spell is the basis of all hover effects in the game, mechanically speaking.

They did that because the slightest elevation would utterly halt your forward movement. Ask any death knight how frustrating wraithwalk was as a speed enhancer that would regularly snag itself on rocks and room thresholds.

Great op btw, thanks for that. Hoping to see this method flourish into a wellspring of new ideas.

[Deleted]

I wonder if they'll someday allow us to mix and match animations, if do I'm replacing all Night Elf male ones immediately.

[Sparklelord]

This the best thread on MMO Champ right now. Thanks OP

[Slakkers]

Interesting and informative thread!

[Razion]

It would be nice if all races could use all animations eventually. Then we can have the real animation [dance] studio dream of changing all our attack, idle, and emote animations to whatever race's we want!

[rda]

All Player Character Races use one skeleton. Allied Races included. ... And if that's not the coolest shit coming out of WoW, lately, I dunno what is.

I am not sure why do you think this is so big. Yes, allowing 3d objects to share various parts of their definition (textures, skeletons, animations or parts of them, etc) is good. No, that's not the "coolest shit" coming out of WoW by far (well, maybe "coolest shit lately", although perhaps not even that). It's completely mundane stuff.

You seem interested in the details of how it all functions. If so, you will get many, many more of these details, all organized into a big comprehensive picture, by reading some books / getting some classes (I think some are available online, there are tons of classes available online now, for free).

I don't mean to say anything bad, but really, what is going on in this thread is the equivalent of someone who doesn't know math suddenly discovering that the order of terms in a multiplication does not matter. That's kind of cute, but you'd get a lot more knowledge in a lot more ordered form if you stop discovering game dev from random bits of data obtained by reverse engineering a single game and just go get a book.

[Dugna]

so basically like almost every other mmo now, FF14 has this stuff in spades, all classes have their own animations no matter the race or size only with slight differences from lalfell to Roegydan but its slight. I wouldn't actually mind a sorta /cpose for wow so we can change how our characters idle and walk and all sorta of other things.

[Super Kami Dende]

It's almost as if bipedal creatures in real life have similar movement sequences as well.

[princeofthawest]

As someone mentioned beforehand, it's actually smart work over hard work. Plus, it kind of adds a lot more than it takes.

[SkyTides]

Most other games though have different “races” but are really just Human mutant version X.

In WoW, even if you play a human or elf, you are surrounded by so many different races (and Druids) that you can really stand out more than other games.

This, one of the best things about Wow

Also very cool post OP and you are making me REALLY want to play as Sethrak

[Blamblam41]

Which should have never happened... Races need their unique combat animations back... Some of them still have theirs on a filler spell here and there, but others don't and it really sucks... Male and Female Humans for example both no longer have their race specific 2H special attack animations, they now share a generic animation with like 9 other race/gender combos, which I really, really hate because MHuman's 2H Special attack animation was the entire reason I picked them for my Warrior and Paladin.

What I don't understand is why they would remove unique animations from only some races... Why screw them out of their unique animations but let everyone else keep theirs?

This is an RPG, they shouldn't be changing something about a player's character without their consent or without providing an option to change it back.

LOLOLOL K. I want flying back permanently, it's an integral part of my character.

Seriously though, race specific animations are kind of pointless when you have 13 unique classes and 35 unique specs. That's way more 'unique' and rpg flavour than anyone could ever ask for and is a much larger variety than 'derp nelfmales all cast exactly the same retarded way with their hands in front of their face".

- - - Updated - - -

I am not sure why do you think this is so big. Yes, allowing 3d objects to share various parts of their definition (textures, skeletons, animations or parts of them, etc) is good. No, that's not the "coolest shit" coming out of WoW by far (well, maybe "coolest shit lately", although perhaps not even that). It's completely mundane stuff.

You seem interested in the details of how it all functions. If so, you will get many, many more of these details, all organized into a big comprehensive picture, by reading some books / getting some classes (I think some are available online, there are tons of classes available online now, for free).

I don't mean to say anything bad, but really, what is going on in this thread is the equivalent of someone who doesn't know math suddenly discovering that the order of terms in a multiplication does not matter. That's kind of cute, but you'd get a lot more knowledge in a lot more ordered form if you stop discovering game dev from random bits of data obtained by reverse engineering a single game and just go get a book.

And this comment is the equivalent of someone coming into that thread about orders of terms in a multiplication not mattering and mocking the OP while not providing and solid or succinct reason why the OP is wrong or has any incorrect presumptions.

You literally sound like a dipshit conservative telling a millennial to read a book with a phone in their hand and in the same breath call the phone 'a mundane piece of technology'.

[rda]

And this comment is the equivalent of someone coming into that thread about orders of terms in a multiplication not mattering and mocking the OP while not providing and solid or succinct reason why the OP is wrong or has any incorrect presumptions.

The OP is not wrong. It's just that the thing discussed is nothing terribly big, there are tens and hundreds of changes of similar scale each expansion.

[Steampunkette]

I am not sure why do you think this is so big. Yes, allowing 3d objects to share various parts of their definition (textures, skeletons, animations or parts of them, etc) is good. No, that's not the "coolest shit" coming out of WoW by far (well, maybe "coolest shit lately", although perhaps not even that). It's completely mundane stuff.

You seem interested in the details of how it all functions. If so, you will get many, many more of these details, all organized into a big comprehensive picture, by reading some books / getting some classes (I think some are available online, there are tons of classes available online now, for free).

I don't mean to say anything bad, but really, what is going on in this thread is the equivalent of someone who doesn't know math suddenly discovering that the order of terms in a multiplication does not matter. That's kind of cute, but you'd get a lot more knowledge in a lot more ordered form if you stop discovering game dev from random bits of data obtained by reverse engineering a single game and just go get a book.

Because this game is old as fuck, and such a drastic mechanical change should've been heralded with at least -some- fanfare from the developers.

And fuck off with that "Maybe you should just read a book" bullshit. That's condescending pretentious presumptiousness and it's annoying as hell, to boot.

[rda]

Because this game is old as fuck, and such a drastic mechanical change should've been heralded with at least -some- fanfare from the developers.

And fuck off with that "Maybe you should just read a book" bullshit. That's condescending pretentious presumptiousness and it's annoying as hell, to boot.

Well, if you don't want to read a book or take a class and would rather continue being amazed by trivialities which managed to reach your view, no matter how mundane they really are, I am not going to stop you.

Just so you know, your first sentence is completely bogus (the game is old, so what? the change isn't big either, it's routine, they are doing a hundred of things of that scale per expansion). But you can continue your beautiful discoveries. Maybe one day you will stumble onto something that will show you why it is bogus.

[FriendOrTraitor]

You must be fun at parties.

[rda]

You must be fun at parties.

I am. :-)

(I am only that way on forums for WoW and that's because I think Blizzard are making the game that I used to love worse, killing it bit by bit with every expansion. If I liked the changes, I'd have been different.)