2.4 model changes: Good or bad?
by Alex Ziebart 
Mar 30th 2008 at 1:00PM
David Bowers touched on this just the other day, and the WoW community has mostly seen this change as a negative thing. Example: The original thread from the official forums.My favorite little change out of the various, random character model changes in patch 2.4 is actually the change to the human female eyes. Sure, it looks silly in some cases, but for my own characters it was an improvement. I could never find the perfect eye choice for them before, because they all looked either empty and sunken, or incredibly angry. I'm not sure exactly how to describe how the eyes look now, but there's some sparkle that wasn't there before. I like that! Yeah, there's some that look horrible, which is lame for the players with those particular eyes. Overall, though? I like it. Even if the iris seems a little over sized, they have character.
The outcry over this very minor detail drives home a point that Blizzard has made before, too. It's a very unfortunate one. The character models most likely will not receive any substantial overhaul in the future because there will be a lot of people very angry about it. I didn't really want to buy into that, because I really want updated character models, but it seems much less likely after this. Such a big deal over eyes is not a good sign when it comes to model upgrades.
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Bugs, Humor
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Nick S Mar 30th 2008 1:11PM
i don't know... after i read the first article on this topic i went "hmm... what does the front of my character look like again?"
to me, the character model is a placeholder for my interface to the game... merely a vessel for the output of frostbolts, if you will. i don't think of myself as my character, really. i mean, cool armor is great and all, but ultimately i don't place much value on my character's appearance.
i do like the new human female eyes better, though, just from the pics you posted. like any cartoon eyes, they work better when they're a bit exaggerated, especially because one very rarely sees them from up close.
epsilon343 Mar 30th 2008 1:20PM
I disagree. I think that part of the problem is that, as far as I know, these changes were made without people knowing about them beforehand and the noticeable change happens to look pretty creepy on most people. If they went ahead and said that they were changing the models and then posted progress reports so that people could see how their characters will change before logging in one morning and seeing some big changes and having a knee jerk reaction.
We've also got to keep in mind that forum goers and blog readers hardly represent the majority of WoW players. Sure, if the entire forum is in an uproar then I'd wager the rest of the player base probably isn't too happy either.
I personally would like to see some updates as well but the key is to keep them the same, if that makes any sense, lol.
James Hogan Mar 30th 2008 1:34PM
Perhaps if they made updated characters models optional for people to take...
Hoggersbud Mar 30th 2008 1:45PM
Better yet, let folks change their character's appearance.
Delilah Mar 30th 2008 1:53PM
I LIKED how angry my mage looked before. :( Now she has what I call the "subway" look - "Oh my, did someone just grab my ass? I can't turn around and look, I'll just stand here and ignore it...Oh my, it happened again!"
Killah Mar 30th 2008 4:20PM
Lol, screenshot of the face is required for this situation :D
Lori Mar 30th 2008 1:53PM
I don't notice any difference in their eyes on the character selection screen and I seldom look at their faces in game so I don't really care about the change.
Munky Mar 30th 2008 2:02PM
I particularly don't like it when a bunch of people whine about small things. I mean, most people didn't notice. And, I agree that they will think long and hard before trying to update the graphics again because a select few decide to cry about stupid stuff.
anonymoose Mar 30th 2008 2:32PM
LOL as a femal irl it's hard to avoid flaming the folks who *like* the changes to the eyes because quite honestly--they look completely artificial and in some cases disturbing. It's almost like Bliz assigned their least experienced/competent dev to handle the graphics change. I say this in part because *female dwarves* likewise had a change to the eyes. However, their change did nothing to improve the otherwise lumpy characters, and in fact resulted in the eyes looking far, far more artificial.
Some days I have to wonder about priorities when the female character's breasts seem to be the part that the most development time was spent on.
Killah Mar 30th 2008 4:21PM
It's funny, sad and true.
Razielwings Mar 31st 2008 7:03AM
There does seem to be an awful lot of effort put into the bounce animations of certain aspects of female anatomy in game...
Heleth Mar 30th 2008 2:41PM
The worst thing you can do to a customer is give them a way to customize their avatar and then change their choices out from underneath them.
Razorlution Mar 30th 2008 2:58PM
I have to say that the changes are so minor, that Blizzard shouldn't have to tell everyone about it. It may bug a few people, but they are going to play regardless.
I for one have noticed a few lighting changes that give the game a little more realistic touch, sun looks brighter then it used to, as well as night lamps in certain areas.
Nick S Mar 30th 2008 6:11PM
yeah... i'm way more annoyed that Whirlwind's sound has become a toilet flush or something. my character's eyes could change and i'd never notice.
Bootsanator Mar 30th 2008 3:33PM
A bit off topic, but on the subject of changes that don't affect gameplay issues, WTB Blizzard changing the sound to PW:Shield back to the old sound.
Sneakstar Mar 30th 2008 4:38PM
DAMN straight, what the HELL is that sound meant to be?
Sounds like Gnome exploding in a microwave wtf!
I have always played with in game sound and music turned on, as it is a game and i think that sound lends a VERY large part to the immersive atmosphere of playing WoW.
But that sound makes me want to tear my ears off and stuff them back into the holes in the side of my head. (maybe not quite that bad) but it DOES make me want to disable sound!
Bootsanator Mar 31st 2008 6:36AM
Haha, gnome exploding in a microwave. That's exactly it!
Ten points for that :P
Shofixti Mar 30th 2008 5:06PM
I just really like that the weapons on females are larger. But that could just be epeen talking.
Isa Mar 30th 2008 7:58PM
My Pally has the same hairstyle, face, and skin color as the 2nd picture posted! I haven't notice a change, but she still looks cute to me. And I am one of those people that obsess over how their character looks, even if we stare at their ass most of the time. My alt is a female Dwarf hunter, and she's adorable. I wouldn't want her any less lumpy!
kunukia Mar 30th 2008 11:15PM
Cheer! The Dwarf ladies are real folks, lumps and all, not stupid Barbie dolls!