Back when I used to post in the comments of WoW Insider a lot, the discussion used to come up that what we really wanted was for Blizzard to update the character models. There was always one commenter who vehemently disagreed with this conversation, stating that she absolutely did not want Blizzard to update the models, that she would be furious if they did because she was sure it would not look like her character anymore, and that she would want the option to keep her old model. I always thought she was crazy, especially since she played a human female, which I by and large thought looked like crap. I mean, any improvement is good right? Anything had to be better than the dated, pixelated mess that we’d been looking at for years. There was no way it could possibly be as bad as she was making it sound.
So. Today I’d like to say, “I’m sorry Ret Pally Jill.”
I no longer recognize my druid. She is not my character anymore. She’s tan instead of cream colored, her face is totally changed for the worse, her hair is brown instead of black, and her fur texture is so heavy handed that she looks quite masculine. Her nose doesn’t resemble a cow’s nose in the slightest, her mouth is open all the time, and her braids clip into her boobs when she breaths.
Where is my wise, intense druid?
Her body is quite beautiful and I think her animations are okay. I’m happy that her fingers are articulated instead of weird blocky sausages. The fanboys tell me I should be happy with this. I wish I could be. I wanted to love the character updates. They were hands down the thing about WoD that I was most excited for. In a time when very little about WoW has me excited, there was this. Finally, I would have the tauren I’d always imagined in my head, one that didn’t look like a rushed, uncared for mess with a squashed spider on her forehead.
Even after a long, thoughtful thread of feedback about tauren female, they still went live with issues that make me cringe. Blizzard didn’t respond to concerns about character models at all, so I’m not really sure why I’m surprised about this, but I am. There is so much about the model that I dislike, but to someone who doesn’t care about tauren, it apparently seems nitpicky. I will just say that the revisions done to female tauren reek of laziness and a lack of caring for the original model. How else can you explain why the unique spotted skin we used to have is now just a copy of the males’ “spotted” skin?
This is what this feels like to me. Suppose you have a cherished memento, something that a friend made for you, like a mug from when they took a ceramics class. It’s a little uneven and the paint job is messy, but you still love it because it reminds you of your friend. Then someone breaks the mug. They buy you a new one, a hand crafted thing that they found on Etsy. It’s sort of the same style, and the color is off because the person didn’t really look that carefully at the mug they broke. It is, however without a doubt, a far more beautiful mug. But it’s not your friend’s mug anymore.
I really never thought I’d be so bummed out about something like this. I’m a bit surprised that I am, to be honest. There are way more important things in the world to be upset about. But the fact is, I don’t really want to play this character anymore, and she’s been my main since I started playing WoW. I like the revisions to the troll females, so I could always race change her, but I hate feeling like I have to pay real money just to enjoy my character again. And no, I don’t think this is part of some evil plan by Blizzard to get more money out of us. Just stating that I don’t want to do it. And besides. I like the lore behind Tauren. Not that I dislike trolls, but that’s not the story I want for this character.
But really, there’s nothing I can do. It’s Blizzard’s game after all, and I have to live with their decisions. I still haven’t pre-ordered WoD, and I’m seriously considering not doing so, because I’m so unenthusiastic about it. But I miss my friends and I miss my guildies, and I want to play with them again.
I just don’t know if I’ll be doing so on my druid. And that sort of breaks my heart.
(To all of the femtaur’s from the feedback thread, I’d like to give a heartfelt /salute. I’ve enjoyed your comments over the past few months, and I hope you can find some happiness in your new character.)
The Dancing Tree 
I feel in a weird spot because I don’t consider myself a “fanboy” (fangirl?), I feel like I do care about the tauren, and I also like the new model much more than the old. Yes, say what you will about me because you know I don’t like the “furry” races as much as the others and I have never been all that attached to my tauren, but it’s weird because now I actually really want to play mine.
And it sucks because I understand how you feel, and how everyone on the forums feel. As an artist I can see the changes and the mistakes they made. The nose is nothing like the old one, and the proportions are off for the whole face, not to mention the lazy job they did on the colors and textures. So even though I love the new model, I support any changes they’d make to make them more like the old.
But I think that’s just the problem: you’ve got a whole group of loyal female tauren players who hate the new model, and then a much bigger group of players who didn’t really like female tauren until now. So to blizz it looks like the lovers win out, though truth be told if they made the requested updates, the bigger group would STILL like the new model. I just think it looks skewed to them in that way. The only change I really wouldn’t want them to fix is the part where they look more “masculine” (I don’t really agree with this… I think they look tougher, and I am loving the fact that there is finally… finally a race in this game that isn’t a sexual dimorphism bonanza).
In any case I’m on your side and I hope they eventually listen and make changes… just thought I’d rant a bit on the subject lol.
On the note of me thinking they look masculine, that has to do with the fur texture and some elements of the face, not the body itself.
I love the body, and I think they did an excellent job with that. She looks strong and awesome, and I love that.
I personally think they went too heavy handed on the texture on the forearms and legs. I know it’s a beast race, but the fur is so well defined that it looks like she has really hairy arms. Pandaren and worgen ladies don’t have this problem. If they had used the texture from the stomach, or maybe just something slightly more defined, I’d have less a problem with it.
As for the head, it’s pretty clear they based it off the male tauren heads, not the female, which explains why it’s angled down so much more and why she suddenly has a huge chin.
Someone did a really excellent edit showing what the changes we would like to see are, and you can see with it that the most minor of changes would take away most of the frustration long time tauren are feeling about this.
http://anemicshoe.tumblr.com/post/95562299354/now-that-we-can-screenshot-directly-from-beta-i
Like I said, not huge. Close the mouth. Get rid of the hair lip (which neither cows nor humans have). Reduce the chin. Take away the weird squinty eyes. Bring the nose pad down so that it looks like a cow, not a camel.
I don’t know. I think the frustration is coming from the fact that there are many people who aren’t happy about the new models (not just tauren) and tons of feedback was given to Blizzard throughout the beta and PTR, and the only response we ever saw was a snarky “aren’t you grateful?” (Or something)
Trust me, as a designer, I understand that “design by community” sucks and is almost never successful. But to completely ignore what your players are saying and just assume that you’re right and they’re wrong sucks too.
I’m also aware that in the end, my issue with my tauren is just that: my issue. It doesn’t affect anyone else, just me. I’m not picking up a pitchfork and demanding Blizzard change it because I’m unhappy. In honesty, I probably just won’t play my Druid anymore. I dislike the changes that much that I don’t want to look at them, or have her character expressed by them (because yes, I know I can turn the new models off).
Like I said, it just sucks. You know I had issues with the original tauren female and was never super happy about that either. I was excited about new models because I hoped they would address my issues (which it did) without creating a whole new set of issues. I feel like they missed the mark, and I don’t want to play this toon. That’s all.