Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsWhat's the point of new hairstyles?
by Zach Yonzon 
Jun 10th 2008 at 11:30AM
One of the trumpeted features of Wrath of the Lich King are new dances and hairstyles. The new dances, I can understand. They're visually distinctive, fun at parties, and you can never dance enough on top of the mailbox. On the other hand, is there really a point to new hairstyles? I know Daniel has big plans for his characters, and my wife is excited at the prospect of finally being able to change what she disdainfully calls her 80's look. Personally, I've got half a mind to get one hairstyle change on one of my toons, but does anyone actually remember how your character's hair looks?I keep my helmet graphic off for PvP purposes, but most of the time, a lot characters have their heads all covered up. Even if they weren't, do you really remember if your Tauren buddy's horns are curved or straight? Or if your Troll guildie has green or orange hair? I'm willing to wager none of your friends remember what kind of haircut your Human Priest has, or what color it is. With few exceptions, even if players choose wacky, colorful hairstyles, most of us won't notice. I don't even really remember if my Rogue Arena teammate has a lower jaw. We simply don't pay enough attention to other people's characters for it to matter.
On the other hand, new hairstyles will probably make us happier with our toons. My wife's looking forward to playing her Priest again, after regretting a hair choice she'd made ages ago while Daniel is excited to get royal purple samurai hair. Even if other players won't really remember how you look, the important thing is being happy with the character you play. The paid name change, for example, is one character customization feature I'm still happy about, even though I have yet to take advantage of it (my customization budget tops off at $10). So while the dances will be something everyone can appreciate the next time someone plays a piccolo at the Auction House, new hairstyles will be something more personal. Even if you cover it up with a helmet, at least you know no one can mess with your new 'do.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Expansions, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Ametrine Jun 10th 2008 1:31PM
I'm pretty happy with the hairdos of my Troll mage and Undead warlock, so, unless they add new ones instead of just giving us the option to change, I probably won't use the feature.
I am, however, curious about the new dances - undead females should have the "Thriller" dance, like the Female Necromancers from "Guild Wars", not the trance-like "ooh, I have arms" wavy thing they do now.
Whateley Jun 10th 2008 1:36PM
Some people may not care about the new hairstyles, but us WoW players who are more shall we say visually oriented (ie vain) will love this new feature.
I personally hate my main character's hair and cannot remember for the life of me why I thought it would be cool for him to have pigtails. That's why I normally keep his helm shown at all times to obscure his hair. Unfortuneatly I can't show his helm now because it doesn't match with his new gear. So I have the choice of being a walking fashion faux paux or show off my school-girlish hairdo (either way makes it hard to instill terror in my enemies.)
With WoTLk I will never have to make such a decision again, therefore I am quite happy. Also this addresses one issue I have had with this game; that being the limited degree of character custimization.
ThorinII Jun 10th 2008 1:38PM
I like the way my main (dwarf hunter) looks. I doubt I'd change him at all. My 2nd toon is a human rogue named Bullethead. Yes, he's bald. I don't see changing his hairstyle either. However, I do have several other alts and would deffinately change a lot of them. Just as long as the cost is reasonable.
Jay Jun 10th 2008 2:04PM
Warrior pony tail ftl. From the front it looked like nice normal hair, then I noticed at level 10 there was something bouncing on the back of his head. Goatee with sideburns ftw though. I'd probably give my warrior a flat top or ... I dunno something new.
Phern Jun 10th 2008 2:33PM
I never have my helm visible. I don't like the way they look, most of the time. And my favorite alt is a NElf hunter, who when I created her, was sensible with a long, blue braid in the back. Who needs a big flowing hairstyle when you're shooting arrows? It's a recipe for tangles and mess. And now I hate it. It's so ugly and severe. I can't stand looking at it. So I will gladly take a new hairstyle if only to make her look more attractive. And that's about it. After I created her, and when I created my other alts, I took much more care in how the hair looks and totally threw out sensible rules. It's about looks after all.
bmiller Jun 11th 2008 9:17AM
The Nelf female braid on the front hair-do is very much a "business" look for hunters. Nothing flying around, low maintenance.
That said, it would be nice to let her "let her hair down" for festivals and the like
Daimon Jun 10th 2008 2:47PM
you ppl miss the point that wow is a war game, no time for beauty salon, but instead surviving the other faction raids to destroy your village or some monsters and demons attempting to destroy your city and wipe your race of existence. Stop trying to make a medieval epic game into a 21 century fashion event.
WTB a new NE dance different from the Creepy Jackson one :).
Super Guest Man 9000 Jun 10th 2008 5:50PM
Yes, how dare you people have fun and enjoy the game in a way that dosn't match what Daimon thinks is fun! HOW DARE YOU ALL!
Sean Riley Jun 10th 2008 6:12PM
Dahling, your tier 3 set is fabulous.
bmiller Jun 11th 2008 9:17AM
Jackson is creepy now (and for the past 10-5 years, really), but I tell you, back at the Motown party, or the grammys or what ever event it was in 83-4, that dance was the the coolest thing IN THE ENTIRE WORLD (if you were a pre-teen/teen at the time)
Blake Jansick Jun 10th 2008 2:49PM
my first rogue leveled to 60 (pre bc) with his helm visible. at 60, i chose to hide it, and unveiled a unibrow when i looked closely. now every time i'm at the character screen, i dread seeing those bushy eyebrows touching in the middle >.
kakabeckia Jun 10th 2008 3:37PM
2 reasons:
-I want to make my char more distinctive-different from the other 4.5 million female gnomes-more MINE. I am much less likely to want to give up something that I have made mine through customization. Yeah-Im all about the stats and Ive worn, wielded some hideous armor and weapons for the stats alone but tastes change. What looked great 8 months ago when I started needs a change now. And again whenever I feel like it. My goals and play style has changed-it should be trivial to change my hair.
-My old broken monitor lead me to believe my alt gnome rogue was an awesome red head. Imagine my chagrin and shame when upon getting a new monitor I discovered she had PINK hair?
-If you believe that looks don't matter at all-walk into any grocery store and lay eyes on the magazines-turn on a tv, or watch a movie. Look around you. It matters-a lot. Some want to look mainstream gorgeous-others just want to look different. Yeah my hair doesn't effect my stats but they do effect how I feel about my char-and how I feel definitely can effect how I play-my skill-how I mesh with others. It CAN impact your skill.
Siona Jun 10th 2008 4:28PM
If you're a roleplayer? Yes. Yes, you do care. I know all of my guildies not by their names but by the way they look. And quite frankly, if I'm gonna be staring at the back of a pixelated person from lvl 1 to 70, they better be pretty good-looking for me to stare at them that long. D:
Sylvyr Jun 10th 2008 5:33PM
another thing i'm glad blizz has stepped up and decided to fix. Grinding hard to get a nice helm only to turn the graphics off cuz ur gnome or trolls tusks or 'stache stick thru the damn thing? GJ blizz.. again..a little late.. but better than nothing. Can't wait to see this as I've never been able to wear a decent headpiece on both of my 70s...Whats the point in grinding for something that you can't even show off??!!
jet242 Jun 11th 2008 12:21AM
I for one think that the trolls and night elf males are in dire need of some new haircuts
Anaughtybear Jun 11th 2008 1:05AM
Blizzard is trying every little thing to distract us from the fact that WoW is getting boring and they don't care enough to fix the big issues. They figure a few little tweaks and recoloring some armor will be enough to keep their subscribers from jumping ship to play Warhammer or Conan. Well, Conan sucks balls, but I plan on quitting when Warhammer opens. All indications are that it will be a lot more fun than WoW, not simply an arena gear arms race or rep grind to eternity. If even half of what they promise is in the release, it will take a chunk out of WoW's market. Of course, there will be the die hard WoW fanatics that are too dumb/stubborn to make the switch, but I have always been a bigger fan of Warhammer lore than Warcraft. After a few months of being lvl 70, I can barely stand to log in and check my mail in WoW. No amount of minor enhancements can make up for the huge flaws in WoW.