How I Would Fix Drakthyr

[artam]

Once I saw it, I can´t unseen it.

[Teriz]

Androgynous, maybe, for a creature that could be either sex. And sure, maybe that was the intent, but I agree that it would be way better if they just had way more options - base body types for male and female sexes, and options for bulkier or slender builds.

TBF, Blizzard said the race/class is going to be customizable as hell, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t offer a bulkier body.

[ercarp]

TBF, Blizzard said the race/class is going to be customizable as hell, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t offer a bulkier body.

Would have been good to show that off at literally any point in the hour-long preview.

I hope you're right though, but just hoping that's the case isn't gonna be enough, unfortunately. We need to make sure Blizzard knows that the playerbase isn't super happy with how the new race looks.

[Edoll]

For me the most important things are:

1. Let the dragon body wear armor, at least shoulders, chest, and belt.

2. Let us pick any race for the mortal form even if we don’t get special customizations.
2a. If we can’t pick the mortal form, have custom animations and stances so it’s not a straight human or blood elf with different hair.

3. Open Drakthyr to other classes. Seriously, why is it even restricted??

[Supertoster]

The more I look at this race/class the more I am disappointed. Just look how lazy are Blizz.

1) "Human" form of Drakthyr uses Belf male and Human female rigs, not new ones.
2) Dragon form uses WORGEN FEMALE rig, not new one.
3) Dragon form uses the same model for both male and female.
4) Dragon form does not show armor
5) Evoker has only 2 specs (dps - red and blue dragonflights, heal - green and bronze). Where is a Black dragonflight? Why it is not used for tank spec?

I am okay with allied races to use base models and rigs of older races. But even some of them (Zandalari and Kul Tiran) have new and original models and animations.
But it is not okay for a new race, which is also limited to only 1 class.

What should be done:
1) "Human" form should have way more options. At least azerothian races should be available as an option.
2) Dragon form should show at least some slots of armor. Maybe without cloaks and helms. The Druid problem should not be repeated.
3) Dragon from should have a way more body types. This slender "deviant art furry lizard" form is okay for some people, but not for all. Class, limited to only one race and forced to use shapeshift during combat, should have a way more options than normal.

You may say: "but this will require way more work!"
And I will answer: "so what?"
Blizz did new customization for ALL races to add DKs. They did entirely new animations for ALL races to add Monks. There is no problem, there is a precedent.
And come one, Acti-Blizzard is a rich company, and art department is the most easily scalable department in gamedev. They can do it. And we, players, have all right to demand more, because now, when MMO market has better competition, we can vote with our money.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

THey really should've used the Male Draenei as a base for this. That's the size I'd want for this. The swole Dracthyr is perfect, and I'd totally play that.

IMO I think the Stoneborn/Gargoyle would have been *perfect* since it already has flight animations and it would only require adding/tweaking. But yeah Draenei proportions would have been far more appealing for me too.

[cone of cold]

I'd rather play one of those stone dudes. They look like Roegadyn.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

The more I look at this race/class the more I am disappointed. Just look how lazy are Blizz.

1) "Human" form of Drakthyr uses Belf male and Human female rigs, not new ones.
2) Dragon form uses WORGEN FEMALE rig, not new one.
3) Dragon form uses the same model for both male and female.
4) Dragon form does not show armor
5) Evoker has only 2 specs (dps - red and blue dragonflights, heal - green and bronze). Where is a Black dragonflight? Why it is not used for tank spec?

I am okay with allied races to use base models and rigs of older races. But even some of them (Zandalari and Kul Tiran) have new and original models and animations.
But it is not okay for a new race, which is also limited to only 1 class.

What should be done:
1) "Human" form should have way more options. At least azerothian races should be available as an option.
2) Dragon form should show at least some slots of armor. Maybe without cloaks and helms. The Druid problem should not be repeated.
3) Dragon from should have a way more body types. This slender "deviant art furry lizard" form is okay for some people, but not for all. Class, limited to only one race and forced to use shapeshift during combat, should have a way more options than normal.

You may say: "but this will require way more work!"
And I will answer: "so what?"
Blizz did new customization for ALL races to add DKs. They did entirely new animations for ALL races to add Monks. There is no problem, there is a precedent.
And come one, Acti-Blizzard is a rich company, and art department is the most easily scalable department in gamedev. They can do it. And we, players, have all right to demand more, because now, when MMO market has better competition, we can vote with our money.

That's the thing for me, even adding one of these would make them feel more complete as a race, but so far they are just underwhelming.

[Darsyek]

They wont change shit, live with it.

The new "race" its a done deal, that dev train already departed.

Maybe, if the cry is high, and participation is low enough, they´ll give us something in a patch, like worgen (chihuahua) females.

Expansion is literally in pre-alpha right now, it is absolutely not a "done deal" and the "dev train" certainly has not "already departed." The more feedback they get and the earlier they get it, the more likely changes can happen. Cataclysm alpha female worgens are a prime example of that, for better or worse.

[Dead Moose Fandango]

Yea, sorry. I just can't get hyped when the new race can only be one class. And the new class? Locked to just the new race. Honestly, it's something I'd expect from HOTS, with the different genders just being different skins.

[ChairmanKaga]

I like What they are already doing. Hope they add some bulkier body types for those here who want them.

[Teriz]

Would have been good to show that off at literally any point in the hour-long preview.

I hope you're right though, but just hoping that's the case isn't gonna be enough, unfortunately. We need to make sure Blizzard knows that the playerbase isn't super happy with how the new race looks.

Well, we don't know what the general consensus is. I've already seen people say they would hate the bulkier option, and I've seen people love what they're doing.

I personally believe that they should DEFINITELY offer different body sizes, but beyond that, I think the Dracthyr Evoker is just fine as is.

- - - Updated - - -

Yea, sorry. I just can't get hyped when the new race can only be one class. And the new class? Locked to just the new race. Honestly, it's something I'd expect from HOTS, with the different genders just being different skins.

Not surprising, since the class concept largely came from HotS.

- - - Updated - - -

I don't understand why Blizzard didn't just give us Drakkonoids or Dragonspawn. They fit the WoW aesthetic.

I don't like the look of the Drakthyr at all. Tweaking their proportions won't salvage the race for me.

Because this is largely a dragon class first and a new race a distant second.

Largely, the only way the class works is if the character is a dragon, thus to facilitate that, Blizzard allowed you to play as a dragon. The character is in humanoid form for gameplay and performance considerations.

A Drakonoid or a Dragonspawn couldn't emulate the draconic concepts/abilities from HotS.

[ercarp]

Yea, sorry. I just can't get hyped when the new race can only be one class. And the new class? Locked to just the new race. Honestly, it's something I'd expect from HOTS, with the different genders just being different skins.

Admittedly I am a bit upset about this decision as well. I wouldn't mind Evoker being locked to Dracthyr too much if the Dracthyr at least had more classes to play as.

I don't understand Blizzard's reasoning that other classes don't make sense for them "because they're dragons". Sure, mages might not make sense because "dragon magic" is unique and different, but I see no reason why they shouldn't be able to at least play as Warriors, Rogues, and Hunters in addition to Evokers.

[loras]

The current iteration of the Dracthyr dragon form looks more like a generic lizard or snake rather than an actual dragon. The slender build, tiny head, and long neck give them a Jar Jar Binks kind of feel. They look goofy. And goofy is okay for some races (like Pandaren), but I think there's a fairly large disconnect here between the body types of the Dracthyr and the "I'm a badass dragon" faces they're pulling in the preview images.

To fix this, I would apply the following changes.

1. Separate the race into two body types: Slender and Bulky.
Note: Having a genderless race isn't inherently bad, but it means we lose out on additional body types. And more variety and options is always better when it comes to character customization!

2. Make their heads slightly larger and shorten their neck for the Slender build. This, in my opinion, makes them look a bit sturdier and more balanced.

3. For the Bulky build, widen their neck, chest, shoulders, and waist.

4. Let us equip armor in our draconic form! What's the point in adding a new race at all if the only genuinely new part—which is the dragon form—isn't able to equip any armor?

5. Finally, allow us to choose from more races than just Blood Elf Males and Human Females as our humanoid form! I think the new customization options have the potential to look amazing when applied to races like Orcs, Trolls, Gnomes, Night Elves, etc. Only Dracthyr can access the new Evoker race, so why limit our options to just the two you've chosen? Especially since as you said at the beginning of the presentation, dragons can transform into anything.

I can see what you mean, they look more than a little weird.
My first thought was "oh hey scalies will like that".

[Dead Moose Fandango]

Admittedly I am a bit upset about this decision as well. I wouldn't mind Evoker being locked to Dracthyr too much if the Dracthyr at least had more classes to play as.

I don't understand Blizzard's reasoning that other classes don't make sense for them "because they're dragons". Sure, mages might not make sense because "dragon magic" is unique and different, but I see no reason why they shouldn't be able to at least play as Warriors, Rogues, and Hunters in addition to Evokers.

And hell. If someone doesn't like the class? Sucks for them, no new race either. Really lame.

[Deadmines]

Oh, if the dragon form has no transmog opportunities that's a big yikes from me. Only way I saw myself accepting the wimpy frame was if I could mog it to look a bit bulkier...

I couldn't agree more.

[Diaphin]

Would have been good to show that off at literally any point in the hour-long preview.

If they would really care about the community, they wouldn't have had a hour-long preview, they would have immediately uploaded the finished product on the servers for free.

[wowrefugee]

And hell. If someone doesn't like the class? Sucks for them, no new race either. Really lame.

Right? There's barely any announced features as is, and they're going to lock people out of the new race? Bad decision.

[Dead Moose Fandango]

Expansion is literally in pre-alpha right now, it is absolutely not a "done deal" and the "dev train" certainly has not "already departed." The more feedback they get and the earlier they get it, the more likely changes can happen. Cataclysm alpha female worgens are a prime example of that, for better or worse.

You say that now. But looking back over the past two expansions and the lack of listening and not changing/fixing something despite the "public outcry" telling Blizz something was wrong... I don't have high hopes here.

- - - Updated - - -

Right? There's barely any announced features as is, and they're going to lock people out of the new race? Bad decision.

As someone who prefers to play melee classes, this just screams "Well, screw this new race. I probably won't be using it."

Edit - I totally meant to say race in the last sentence, not class.

[Eosia]

Good try.

None of the aspects are orcs or gnomes(even thou Chromie is a dragon). It clashes with the lore. It doesn't take that much to figure that out.

But we have had Tauren (Ebonhorn), Goblin (Rheastraza), and Draenei (Custodian of Time).