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 