Has WoW gotten "too" family friendly?

[Soikona]

Will never understand this whole obsession with getting off to violence, WoW has always been a bit cartoonish...everything doesn't need to be made dark and gritty because it's the flavor of the month...isn't the real world dark and gritty enough?

BFA literally had children crying over their parents corpses...do you just sit there and think...what was that line from the rock? "I'm not into soft ass shit" when you look at something like that?

WoW has never been a hyper violent game, stop trying to make it into one

For me it is childish cause the story feels more like a marvel/Disney film more so than warcraft.

[NineSpine]

Its no more goofy than its ever been. The only real issue is the eyes are bigger rather than having the small beady eyes of before. Ya'll keep posting this like it speaks for itself when it really doesn't. Its more in line with the art style of Warcraft which had this cartoony vibe. The overly stylistic cartoonish look is more or less what defined and set Warcraft apart.

Of course they both look sort of goofy. They are dumb hyena people. But you are being willfully ignorant when you act like the style is the same. The newer gnoll looks like the friendly, goofy sidekick in a Pixar movie. Nobody is saying the old one is realistic or some grim dark adults only thing, but the style is very clearly different. The proportions are very different. it isn't just the size of the eyes. Look at the size of the mouth compared to the rest of the head, the number of visible teeth of uneven lengths, the close together eyes, the uneven mane compared to the very uniform and clean mane of the new one, etc..

I swear to god, some of you would argue that if they overhauled the graphics to look exactly like the Simpsons "iT WaS AlWaYs CaRtOoNy AnYwAy."

[Powerogue]

Yes, but that's not exactly relevant because all of the problems with the new model are still there. However, I will admit that the adaptation of the armor is pretty good.

I dig the angry eyebrows. I think it really captures the "I dismember raids of level 1 gnomes for fun. >:-D" mystique of the character.

Bro really look like he smiling for his school photo and you gunna pretend this aint goofy as shit.

It really just comes from trying to adapt that stylized look of "we don't have nearly enough polygons to render an actual working face, so we painted something that looks something like a snarl on a flat texture and hope it looks good from a distance" into an actual face that emotes.

I really think we only really noticed when a lot of player character faces went from that "built in scowl" to "neutral, scowl only activates when in combat" (orcs and tauren in particular) that people started saying this, and for NPCs like gnolls that don't need that nuance of expressions ("MEAT! KILL PUNY GNOME! CHOP SLASH MEAT! being most of the thoughts that go through their heads.) so gnolls just maintain that manic grin, but we still look for that to complain about just out of habit at that point.

[FelPlague]

Of course they both look sort of goofy. They are dumb hyena people. But you are being willfully ignorant when you act like the style is the same. The newer gnoll looks like the friendly, goofy sidekick in a Pixar movie. Nobody is saying the old one is realistic or some grim dark adults only thing, but the style is very clearly different. The proportions are very different. it isn't just the size of the eyes. Look at the size of the mouth compared to the rest of the head, the number of visible teeth of uneven lengths, the close together eyes, the uneven mane compared to the very uniform and clean mane of the new one, etc..

I swear to god, some of you would argue that if they overhauled the graphics to look exactly like the Simpsons "iT WaS AlWaYs CaRtOoNy AnYwAy."

In what movie is THIS the goofy sidekick?

bro is the villian full on lion king scar.

also "uneven mane of the old one" the old mane was a fucking flat image, it wasnt uneven it was EXTREMLY even, because it was literally a flat image, when viewed straight on it literally dissapeared. same with the "uneven teeth"

[Powerogue]

In what movie is THIS the goofy sidekick?
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/xw074mY.png[IMG]
bro is the villian full on lion king scar.

also "uneven mane of the old one" the old mane was a fucking flat image, it wasnt uneven it was EXTREMLY even, because it was literally a flat image, when viewed straight on it literally dissapeared. same with the "uneven teeth"

Dang it now you're making me want a questline where we have a gnoll as our Chaotic Evil sidekick. Or actually another questline because this made me remember that bit in Azure Span with the Gnoll Monarch.

Caged Gnoll #1: MEAT! KILL YOU! * kills the gnoll *
Caged Gnoll #2: EAT EAT EAT! * kills that gnoll too *
Player: ....Are you going to try to eat me when I free you?
Caged Gnoll #3: Probably!
Gnoll Monarch: Maybe this was bad idea.

[chrisisvacant]

That's your opinion. Your welcome to it. Just as this fellow I was debating with has his. I admit I tend to be a bit wordy at times because I feel like I have a lot to say.
My opinion that demons in the warcraft universe have changed in the way they feel since early games hasn't changed. I actually read an article about this years ago where they mentioned how Blizzard did this intentionally to separate their IP's a bit more. Warcraft/Diablo.

The point is that you're putting a metric fuckton of effort writing this gigantic post that 1) most people won't read, 2) is so long it's damn near disrespectful to whatever conversation you're trying to have. It's not an argument in good faith if you can't learn to make more effective use of language.

[AtomR]

Not at all. As they force more and more woke garbage in the game, I would be less and less likely to want to expose a child to it. Using a shovel to smash the heads of screaming people who are buried to their neck in mud is one thing, but helping arrange a gay horse marriage, well that crosses some lines.

Yes because darkeness, slaughter, destruction, war and violence is fine for children but you draw the line at "woke garbage" which is basically treat people with the respect you expect to be treated. That says a lot of what this discussion is really about.

[NineSpine]

In what movie is THIS the goofy sidekick?

bro is the villian full on lion king scar.

also "uneven mane of the old one" the old mane was a fucking flat image, it wasnt uneven it was EXTREMLY even, because it was literally a flat image, when viewed straight on it literally dissapeared. same with the "uneven teeth"

Thank you for conceding that they moved to a more American cartoon style, like the lion king.

[Orby]

I don't know about family friendly and while the game has moved to a more higher fantasy with lighter tones. There are some deep, adult storytelling, like the old Dragonmaw orc short quest, and the Stay A While quest.

The over arching (main) plot feels very Saturday morning cartoony its true. But then again I have always liked WoW's side quests more than their main story for as far back as Vanilla. there are some nice titbits of themes and messages that I appreciate.

I just think the theme of this expansion kind of lends itself to more light hearted storytelling. Not necessarily that WoW has become more light hearted. We'll see in the coming expansions. This expansion feels like a more holiday expansion and a chance to relish in a more laid back theme, after all the shit we went through before. If this expansion is a soft reboot then its only to build upon a bigger story over the next coming expansions. Just a theory of course.

[Soulfighter101]

There's definitely some pixar level stuff where X saves the day at the last minute and no one is hurt (or random unnamed npc's die). But people are forgetting Ruby Life Pools where a bunch of dragon babies are twisted then slaughtered (by us), or that Alexstrasza hints at Iridikron becoming a Galakrond 2.0 that aims to devour all life, or visiting the black empire (on top of several void tentacles/flowers being found around the isle, hinting that void lords haven't given up yet), OR the centaur child that witnessed his entire village be brutally massacred and has PTSD as a result (or centaur coup) OR Nozdormu staring down the barrel of his mortality.

TL;DR Yeah it's lighter overall compared to the realm of death and genocidal global war, but that doesn't negate the grim storylines in place and the darker story looming on the horizon.

[FelPlague]

Thank you for conceding that they moved to a more American cartoon style, like the lion king.

The game has always had a cartoon villian style. the old gnoll looks like the hyena henchmen of lion king!

[Chapel]

It could be fixed slowly by making the Dragons actually be permitted to ruin player's gameplay in for example, taking their vengeance out on Death Knights.

"Hero, go seek out the Queen of Dragons, do keep your head down, they are not happy with previous actions of your kind".
*Random chance to be torched by Alexstrasza*

I'd play in this version of WoW.

[Bladesyphon]

There's definitely some pixar level stuff where X saves the day at the last minute and no one is hurt (or random unnamed npc's die). But people are forgetting Ruby Life Pools where a bunch of dragon babies are twisted then slaughtered (by us), or that Alexstrasza hints at Iridikron becoming a Galakrond 2.0 that aims to devour all life, or visiting the black empire (on top of several void tentacles/flowers being found around the isle, hinting that void lords haven't given up yet), OR the centaur child that witnessed his entire village be brutally massacred and has PTSD as a result (or centaur coup) OR Nozdormu staring down the barrel of his mortality.

TL;DR Yeah it's lighter overall compared to the realm of death and genocidal global war, but that doesn't negate the grim storylines in place and the darker story looming on the horizon.

But no one is being viciously maimed and having their insides melted and seeping out of every orifice! Mature story telling isn't METAL! It has to be METAL man, METAL!

On a more serious note - I had no idea about the Void Flower and Tentacle thing, that's actually kind of interesting, and something I kind of want to look into, especially with the vibe I get with the four sleeping Djardin Elders that the crazy old Djardin story teller mentions.

[Karreck]

I really don't understand this argument. WoW has always been cartoony and family friendly. In the early days of WoW, players of other MMOs refered to WoW as Disneyland. The devs sprinkle bits of all fantasy sub genres in the game, including grimdark, because they want to appeal to the largest audience they can. WoW was never for mature, adult audiences only.

[NineSpine]

The game has always had a cartoon villian style. the old gnoll looks like the hyena henchmen of lion king!

No, that's what the new gnoll looks like, and the new hyena for that matter.

[Clone]

Its no more goofy than its ever been. The only real issue is the eyes are bigger rather than having the small beady eyes of before. Ya'll keep posting this like it speaks for itself when it really doesn't. Its more in line with the art style of Warcraft which had this cartoony vibe. The overly stylistic cartoonish look is more or less what defined and set Warcraft apart.

Yes just as fucking goofy as the original, look at that fucking face and tell me that aint goofy as shit.

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Bro really look like he smiling for his school photo and you gunna pretend this aint goofy as shit.

The crazy smile present in the old model is not the same as the one in the new model. And if you actually look, the old model and art have more teeth, wider jaws, and the eyes are side facing instead of forward facing. These are departures from the old design, and not "the same it's always been."

[FelPlague]

The crazy smile present in the old model is not the same as the one in the new model. And if you actually look, the old model and art have more teeth, wider jaws, and the eyes are side facing instead of forward facing. These are departures from the old design, and not "the same it's always been."

They were not side facing... they are forward facing...
do you even know how eyes work?

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No, that's what the new gnoll looks like, and the new hyena for that matter.

Lol what?

[Kithelle]

For me it is childish cause the story feels more like a marvel/Disney film more so than warcraft.

But the thing is, it isn't unheard of for WoW...people loved their kung fu panda references back in mists

[Clone]

They were not side facing... they are forward facing...
do you even know how eyes work?

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Lol what?

Clearly side facing, common in lots of animals. Why do you insist on coming up with shit takes?

[Le Conceptuel]

Here's an edited Hogger model which looks much better (ignore the outdated Hogger model used for comparison in this particular image and superimpose the current one over it in your mind). Obviously, it wouldn't look exactly like this if rendered in three dimensions, but it's very different on a design level. I can't immerse myself in this conversation as much as I'd like to as I've sworn off, among other things, flaming on the internet for Lent, but this may foster some discussion and hopefully make a strong statement that, yes, the Gnoll model can look much better and much less silly.