New Worgen Models available on WoWhead : Thoughts?

[Fumu]

If you don't see a difference between the dopey face that gave off the vibe of a cheap Halloween mask and the shitty glitched animations of the old model, and the new one which, while not 100% wolfish, is WAY closer, then man you guys need to get your eyes checked.

WoWhead model viewer's dark background makes it a little harder to see the new model, but come on:

[Alkizon]

- snip -

Shoulders position is shifted not for better, however, as with all new models. By the way, it's somewhat inappropriate to talk about animations showing such screenshots, well, only if about posture (but it clearly doesn't speak in favor of new models "in front")... basic animation is where all new models lose to old ones in almost all places, even if only because it was “an important and essential element of perception, and therefore an untouchable part” in original idea.

[Cosmic Janitor]

The weirdly misaligned teeth of the males still irk me as do their way too thin upper arms. Overall I like them though, especially the female one was overdue 8 years.

[kattarina]

They look alot better. Especialy the females. I wish there was an option to use the guilnean voice clips- The fem worgen voice is horrendous. Worgen female npcs speak normaly, so I don't see why playable worgen sound the way they do.

[Fumu]

Shoulders position is shifted not for better, however, as with all new models. By the way, it's somewhat inappropriate to talk about animations showing such screenshots, well, only if about posture (but it clearly doesn't speak in favor of new models "in front")... basic animation is where all new models lose to old ones in almost all places, even if only because it was “an important and essential element of perception, and therefore an untouchable part” in original idea.

I’d post animated gifs if I knew how, but the female animations at least are VASTLY improved. Boot up wowhead yourself and compare it to live. Especially things like the Running Wild animation cycle.

That being said, I do agree on the shoulders.

[Flurryfang]

They look cool.


.....But this is as exciting as getting a new haircut for male trolls. I did not mind the old Worgen model and this really does not change my experience of the game at all. They could have secretly put in the new models months ago and i would not have noticed.

[Alkizon]

the female animations at least are VASTLY improved

It’s as if you didn’t really read me. There's no "improved" stuff, there is only "changed". Better/worse are opinions and basic animations are something that can only be changed during their formation as a fact - so shouldn't be ever changed after, since this is exactly perception. They made same mistake when they “improved” (and in fact “worsened” for many people) all previous models. Does that sound clearer?

...as for the pictures, I just joked a little about your statements that were too “loud”, which started with words: "look here!"; but in fact it didn't show anything.

[Fumu]

It’s as if you didn’t really read me. There's no "improved" stuff, there is only "changed". Better/worse are opinions and basic animations are something that can only be changed during their formation as a fact - so shouldn't be ever changed after, since this is exactly perception. They made same mistake when they “improved” (and in fact “worsened” for many people) all previous models. Does that sound clearer?

...as for the pictures, I just joked a little about your statements that were too “loud”, which started with words: "look here!"; but in fact it didn't show anything.

Honestly, what you're trying to communicate sounds kind of like word salad but I will try to parse it.

I would say that thinking that some of the changes weren't straight-up improvements is kind of facetious. For example, the launch female Troll didn't blink until the updates came through because her model was rushed (basically the alpha female Trolls got negative reception, they slapped together a new body at the last second, kind of similar the Cata Worgen female situation except the final product was less poorly done). The eyelids blinked INSIDE the female Troll's skull because they were still configured for the alpha skull, which was hunched and lanky like the Darkspear males. Saying that "the model didn't blink before, and now it does" is an objective improvement, because it's clear that the artists originally WANTED her to blink but screwed up the eyelid placement during the model transition.

That being said, of course some models would have looked better if they weren't redesigned a bit in the process and took more artistic inspiration from the original models. The new human females look through the Uncanny Valley into my soul. The new female Gnomes look strung-out. The new Nelf females lost a lot of personality and the soft glow of their eyes turned into high-powered flashlights. Also, I have no idea who thought it was a good idea to give Tauren females a :3 cleft lip like cats.

With that out of the way, I think the old to new female Worgen is more of a case of what happened to female Trolls than what happened to female humans/Gnomes/etc. Blizzard's artists originally had a vision (Alpha Worgen). The fanbase hated it (more accurately, a loud minority went REE FURRIES on the forums). Blizzard listened to the outcry, slapped together a final product and shipped it, clearly rushed at its launch with hilarious graphical glitches and far less quality than the other 3 models that came out in the same package (the male/female Goblins and male Worgen).

[cocomen2]

So all of you seems okay that worgens have velociraptor chicken legs (damn they have even 3 fingers instead of 4 ):


Instead of having WOLF like legs with normal proportion to their body:




And only god knows how 5 finger hand transforms in 4 finger Amputee.

And end to new worgen-model lays that they took nose not from wolf but from LION..... oh god they must think canine mammals have same noses with cats.

And this took them YEAR to make ......camon small indie studio you can do it better.(this shit was okay for 2011 but not for 2020+)

ATTENTION YOU APPROACH SARCASM SECTOR
Okay there always chance that worgens not half-WOLF , instead a Raptor alike species and while they transform their head getting bigger along with hands but legs left out and remain basic human size , so only Horde races would be big and beefy while worgens even after transformation still pretty small fly (with weak skinny hips).

[Wolfie407]

I am in between on the new worgen models, particularly the females. As you stated in your video, all they really did was just update the live version and fix some of the animations. Now I will admit, I LOVE the new glowing eye face however, Blizzard has ignored its community and what has been constantly requested since alpha.

In case you didn't know about the alpha models, here is a link to what they look like: imgur(.)com/a/IPRzO

When they announced this at BlizzCon, I personally voiced my concerns and had a strong following with people supporting the changes. You can actually see my thread here: us.forums.blizzard(.)com/en/wow/t/concerns-feedback-for-new-worgen-females/19686

For the TLDR, Blizz completely ignored complaints about the ears being too bat like (they should be on top of the ear rather than to the side, at least have the option), the ability to customize our humans separate, the eyes well... they are too furry. Then again, this is only the first build of the PTR so there could be more options.

I made various edits to demonstrate the things I spoke of in which you can see in this thread. There was another person who also did an edit to the BlizzCon model with a huge amount of praise and everything on that particular post was also blatantly ignored. That post is actually found here: reddit(.)com/r/wow/comments/9ud595/female_worgen_20_edits/

Another thing is that people are heavily requesting the OPTION for tails. It wouldn't hurt anyone in game for Blizzard to add them and in fact, the original concept art for female worgens did actually have tails. In the imgur link above, there is an artist who took the alpha model and edited a tail onto it and it looks fantastic! It's not about a furry agenda either, it's about customization.

I've also been seeing a huge demand for the option to have an upright worgen. Along with all this, why is the scar face there for only one face? IMO They should take the scars, add an entirely new section for features and let players have scars on whatever face they want rather than being pinned upon one face in particular. Blizzard just doesn't know wtf they are doing when it comes character customization options.

While I haven't been on the PTR just yet since servers always seem to be down, another highly demanded change is giving female worgen a more appealing voice instead of disgruntled Marge Simpson voice. If you may recall, Celestine the Harvester is a worgen in Val'Sharah and she speaks in the more elegant Gilnean tone. In fact, most female worgen NPC's do. I don't think this is too much to ask for.

Am I happy with the upgrade? Yes, but I am still HIGHLY disappointed Blizzard isn't listening to the players who have been faithful to this particular race throughout the years. I know I sound entitled af over this but I've been extremely passionate and fighting for worgen changes since alpha. In fact, I am the world's 1st 85 worgen. Sure it was alpha/beta but literally mod grinded all of bc/wotlk content and some vanilla because worgen weren't even flagged to receive quests. I'm that dedicated to this. After a 10 year wait, I expected much more than just an HD treatment given people were unhappy with these models since their first launch.

The Blizzard silent treatment on these particular concerns and requests is what is highly ticking me and other people who main worgen. Also, since I haven't posted much on here, in order to view the links, make sure you delete the () accordingly.

[Piesor]

I will never be able to take Worgen seriously .... worst race ingame.

[Fumu]

So all of you seems okay that worgens have velociraptor chicken legs (damn they have even 3 fingers instead of 4 ):


Instead of having WOLF like legs with normal proportion to their body:




And only god knows how 5 finger hand transforms in 4 finger Amputee.

I agree but we already know Blizzard wasn’t going to make changes that drastic at this point. Also Goldenwolf’s anatomy is on point. If she was a concept artist for Blizzard, neither gender of Worgen would be in this mess.

I could have REALLY done without seeing that furry bulge though, lol

[Alkizon]

Well, you caught the essence, though not completely. I repeat once again the most significant part of your message:

Fumu
I think

It doesn’t matter what you think, it doesn’t matter what I think, it matters: what was and what became. And if what you first spoke about are unaccounted flaws, let's call them conditionally "bugs", then base animation of running, using abilities, banal posture, character's behavior when it just stands still, and so on - was never a bug, but just distinguishing feature of specific race and gender... Therefore, replacement of posture, running and... well, you're understanding already, aren't you? Replacing all of these(EU-run) basic [key animations] is violation of original concept and no opinions in this case carry more weight. Characters had all features listed above (including animation, basic geometry and set of colors), and changing them is abuse of one’s position, elevation of one’s personal opinion over others. So, explain to me, how it was possible to get brown hair from "black with purple"? What degree of color blindness this should be to make such mistake. I think, there is no need to prove differences in animations, otherwise you won't be talking about some kind of "improvement". I'm absolutely sure that they were able to repeat old models' animations, but they changed them. And if they would slightly tensed, then also geometry would correspond to its original idea (and not so that: oval face was replaced - with a trapeze; correct posture was replaced - with crooked legs, broken back and dangling straightened arms and fingers, as if they never have heard about tendons, which in a relaxed position bends hands at elbows and fingers at phalanxes like it was on old models).

(Note: almost all pictures aren't mine, I used warlock's set, that was on EU-forum)

I have given particular examples now, but there were so many of them, that it can safely be said that there is complete discrepancy with original concepts. I spoke (in previous message) in generalized manner, not specifically considering worgens. Just basic approach to work, some principle. As for worgens, I didn’t have any of them, but judging by everything, at least even if taking just this topic - animations are different. What follows from this (as stated above)? There is nothing good in it = this is unauthorized replacement, but not an improvement (that Mortis' comment!.. just into my point).

cocomen2
And end to new worgen-model lays that they took nose not from wolf but from LION..... oh god they must think canine mammals have same noses with cats.

They already made this mistake earlier when they changed old wolves, which after replacing ceased to resemble those (from same pictures' set).

[Fumu]

I’m not liking the female Worgen’s eyes. They look too human and cutesy. They should look more like the males - wolf-like and bit sinister.

An eyeglow is coming, so the Disney princess gaze won’t really be noticeable. It only comes in yellow so far though, rip.

[3vyan]

At one point you got to appreciate what you get. Look at the female worgen on live and now look at the ptr one. The improvements are massive. Sure there could be more adjustments or more options. We realstically knew they had to to find a solution somewhere in the middle and this is beyond my expectations. They changed her more than any model but still stayed true to the concept even though I loved alpha ones, this is a masterpiece compared to what we had.

[Gaexion Ramza Beoulve]

Generally disappointed but specifically grateful?

[3vyan]

I’m not liking the female Worgen’s eyes. They look too human and cutesy. They should look more like the males - wolf-like and bit sinister.

A lot of people like this type of eyes (tauren, fem pandaren, ...). So giving the option is always best. I do not like angry menacing characters when idle. They need to be ferocious mid battle and the eye glow really shines then.

[schwank05]

Honestly I see no difference between the new and old models. Seems like a waste of time just like all the other model updates. All my characters wear armor so I never see them anyway so could care less.

[Fumu]

At one point you got to appreciate what you get. Look at the female worgen on live and now look at the ptr one. The imptovements are massive. Sure there could be more adjustments or more options. We realstically knew they had to to find a solution somewhere in the middle and this is beyond my expectations. They changed her more than any model but still stayed true to the concept even though I loved alpha ones, this is a masterpiece compared to what we had.

That’s how I feel. As an artist that specializes in animals there are changes I certainly would make if I could wave a magic wand, but given Blizzard’s track record, what we have is great.

I just hope we don’t get Cata 2.0 because the furry REEEE is already starting up again, all from people who wouldn’t roll one anyway.

[3vyan]

That’s how I feel. As an artist that specializes in animals there are changes I certainly would make if I could wave a magic wand, but given Blizzard’s track record, what we have is great.

I just hope we don’t get Cata 2.0 because the furry REEEE is already starting up again, all from people who wouldn’t roll one anyway.

Yeah, it's horrible.
It's the same for every animal inspired race with fur.

This is just madness.

I hope they realise the most perves just go for draenei/elves.
There is nothing you can do to get perves out of this game, they are here to stay.

That being said, playing a worgen/tauren/pandaren doesn't automatically make you a furry and playing a female blood elf/draenei doesn't make you a wanker.