Updated Player Character Models Arrive in World of Warcraft's Next Patch

[Steven Bogos]

Updated Player Character Models Arrive in World of Warcraft's Next Patch

Character models for the Dwarf, Gnome, Human, Night Elf, Orc, Tauren, Troll, Undead, and Draenei races have been completely overhauled.

Remember those races [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/129494-Check-Out-World-of-Warcrafts-Updated-Player-Models] that were promised with the Warlords of Dreanor expansion pack? Well, good news everyone! We'll be getting them a little early, and they will be made available to all World of Warcraft players, not just the ones who buy the expansion.

The upcoming 6.0.2 [http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/16296588/patch-602-the-iron-tide-crashes-into-azeroth-october-14-10-9-2014] patch will introduce completely revamped character models for the Dwarf, Gnome, Human, Night Elf, Orc, Tauren, Troll, Undead, and Draenei races, as well as a host of other new features and content. It is the "pre-expansion" patch, so it will also be implementing a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff to get the game ready for when Warlords of Dreanor launches next month.

The full changelog is absolutely massive [http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/15682579/602-ptr-patch-notes-sep-18-9-18-2014], but a quick rundown of the most major features include:


A special world event at The Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands.
A specially revamped five-player version of the Upper Blackrock Spire dungeon.
Substantial stat changes, including the removal of hit and expertise.
Substantial class changes, including the removal of many redundant spells.
Dozens of quality-of-life improvements, including inventory management.

There's essentially something there for every single class, and every kind of player. It's a pretty big patch, and the fact that it's free for everyone instead of being including in the expansion is a nice gesture.

Source: Blizzard [http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/16296588/patch-602-the-iron-tide-crashes-into-azeroth-october-14-10-9-2014]

Permalink

 

[Baldr]

So... Tuesday then, the patch comes out next Tuesday.

 

[Xerosch]

Hmm... so Blizzard isn't overhauling every race? I was waiting for a new Blood Elf model since it used to be my main character when I was still playing. Well, maybe I'll take a look once the Addon has been released.

Curiously, the thing that draws me in the most at this point is the Molten Corgi pet. Will it still be available for anyone with a subscription during November? I would hate to miss that one.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

I can't wait for my Troll Shaman to have his shiny new model.

Also, nice to see another old dungeon get revamped. I wish they would have revamped Blackrock Depths, though. I love that place.

 

[major_chaos]

Little bit disappointed to see Worgen and Blood Elf (the races of my two highest level toons) aren't on the revamp list for now, but hopefully they get in later. The looking at the notes I really like most of the gameplay changes on paper, so I can't wait to try them out for real.

 

[elvor0]

Little bit disappointed to see Worgen and Blood Elf (the races of my two highest level toons) aren't on the revamp list for now, but hopefully they get in later. The looking at the notes I really like most of the gameplay changes on paper, so I can't wait to try them out for real.

I'm assuming the Worgen and Goblin don't have any plans to be upgraded. They're pretty much in line with the quality of the new models, I mean I'm sure it'd be nice if they did, but it's likely they're not even on a list of priorities, let alone low down.

A bit dissapointed about belfs though, considering my main is one. I just hope they fix their posture and those damn wonky shoulders, it's irked me since BC.

 

[Alfador_VII]

Oh goody New player models... look how lovely they look... now lets hurry up and cover themwith absurdlly clashing armour

That's what Transmogrification is for, you can make your armour and weapons look how you want

 

[Charli]

Oh goody New player models... look how lovely they look... now lets hurry up and cover themwith absurdlly clashing armour

That's what Transmogrification is for, you can make your armour and weapons look how you want

And it sorta shows Blizzard's Laziness. Their approach to the .. our stystem is so simple everyone winds up with the same armour set... is to give them the ability to reskin the armor ...

Also doesn't change the fact that the new player models are gonna be covered up 98% of the time..

The NPCs are just as important to the aesthetic of the world and are being revamped too. Also have you seen the cutscenes in game now? They're great. And with better control over player skeletons they can now create much better scripted events. This is a huge deal yet everyone keeps banging on about 'graffix'. When it's far more thought than that.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

our stystem is so simple everyone winds up with the same armour set... is to give them the ability to reskin the armor ...

I'm trying to wrap my head around your strange statement. By same armor set you mean that each class per-endgame tier level gets their own armor set? And at this period in the game there are tons of armor sets one can transmog per armor type (some are class dependent). Its not a limited or lazy feature. If one has collected different armor sets (and weapons, except for legendaries) one can spend hours customizing the look of a character.
I don't get what you mean by "simple" at all or that everyone winds up with the same armor set. I'd also like to know if you have a system in mind that is "complex" enough for you, or you're just hating on WoW. I mean you have total rights to hate WoW, but right now you sound as though you've no clue what you're talking about.

 

[anthony87]

Also doesn't change the fact that the new player models are gonna be covered up 98% of the time..

Even wearing armor there's a clear distinction between the old models and the new. It's not just looks either, all the animations are new too.

 

[DrOswald]

Oh goody New player models... look how lovely they look... now lets hurry up and cover themwith absurdlly clashing armour

That's what Transmogrification is for, you can make your armour and weapons look how you want

And it sorta shows Blizzard's Laziness. Their approach to the .. our stystem is so simple everyone winds up with the same armour set... is to give them the ability to reskin the armor ...

Also doesn't change the fact that the new player models are gonna be covered up 98% of the time..

Wait, I don't understand. The transmog system shows Blizzards laziness? How do you come up with that one?

 

[gamegod25]

Hmm... so Blizzard isn't overhauling every race? I was waiting for a new Blood Elf model since it used to be my main character when I was still playing. Well, maybe I'll take a look once the Addon has been released.

Curiously, the thing that draws me in the most at this point is the Molten Corgi pet. Will it still be available for anyone with a subscription during November? I would hate to miss that one.

IIRC blood elves got delayed for some reason. I just forgot what said reason was. Draenei however figures prominently in this expansion so they had to do them regardless of the circumstances.

I heard something about the new model got corrupted (or something to that effect) so it would be delayed a while longer. Heard it secondhand from a friend so not sure about the details.

 

[michael87cn]

was excited until i learned they kept the old horrible animations. why revamp the looks if you're not going to fix animations made in 2001?

 

[JSoup]

Hmm... so Blizzard isn't overhauling every race? I was waiting for a new Blood Elf model since it used to be my main character when I was still playing. Well, maybe I'll take a look once the Addon has been released.

Curiously, the thing that draws me in the most at this point is the Molten Corgi pet. Will it still be available for anyone with a subscription during November? I would hate to miss that one.

From what I can gather the Molten Corgi, and the other things related to the 10th anniversary, are all going from November to the beginning of January, with the only pre-requisite being to log in during that time. So if you've got subscription carrying through or are renewing in the middle of it, it *should* give it to you.

Unless they've changed it with how they did the previous anniversary events.

You get the Corgi for running the Molten Core instance, which (along with the event battleground) requires a character to be level capped (level 100, that is). So we'll have about a week of leveling before the events start, and then two months to finish them. Renewing in the middle of it will work if you actually play. People who take forever to level are kinda screwed.

 

[Charli]

was excited until i learned they kept the old horrible animations. why revamp the looks if you're not going to fix animations made in 2001?

They DID fix them. Christ the misinformation in this topic is off the charts. Every animation was 're-rigged' from the ground up. They all flow much better now, less clipping more expressive. Just check the comparison videos on YouTube.