Ask WoW Insider: The new look of Northrend
by Mike Schramm 
Dec 15th 2008 at 6:30PM
Most of the time here on Ask WoW Insider, we ask ethical questions of you, the readers, or sometimes we'll ask what you think of certain game mechanics. But this time, we've got an aesthetic question instead, from reader Lindelan.Let me say first that Wrath is awesome!! I LOVE it! One of my favorite things is the way they designed the new armor. That being said, one thing that has absolutely started to drive me crazy is the lack of diversity in armor! I can understand having the same models while leveling, however the fact that level 80 blues look just like the blues I got at 71 is just plain lazy! Has anyone else noticed this, and do you guys think Blizzard will step it up in the future?
Lindelan
This is an interesting issue -- Blizzard got some flak in Outland for the gear being a bit too colorful. "Clown" was a word that was used pretty often, thanks to all the glowing and neon extras that came on our gear last expansion. And in Northrend, we fortunately haven't had that problem: the gear looks a little more badass, made up of dark steel and leather with pointy and ragged spikes on it.
But have we gone too far the other way? Does all of the gear look the same now? Personally, I just miss my Hunter's mail kilt from the Argent Dawn world event rewards, but I think the gear has been much better looking in Northrend. I'm just happy none of it is pink, so if I have to choose between dark blue or straight black, that's a choice I'm happy to make. What do you think?
Previously on Ask WoW Insider...
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Kassius Dec 15th 2008 6:34PM
A lot of the blues in outland were recolored Vanilla sets, so yes the northrend sets are all the same, but at least they are new; and they look cool, so its good overall I think.
W Dec 15th 2008 7:59PM
They do look cooler, but that isn't an excuse for there being so few of them. It doesn't take 2 years to make 3 different plate looks for warriors (cobalt, saronite, and the other with the giant spikes).
Assuming blizzard has some of the best artists the game industry has to offer, it shouldn't take that long to make so few armor sets. I for one am not really upset but am pretty disappointed that the leading MMO would cut such an obvious corner by just color swapping instead of modeling out different looks.
Color swapping takes under 5 minutes in photoshop, and theres about 6 different color swaps on the three or so different models, so one just has to do the math. I love love love the new expansion but have to say that they were really lazy in this aspect of it. I shouldn't look the same at 80 as i did when i was 70...
WoWie Zowie Dec 16th 2008 7:36AM
as a blacksmith making the various sets for my paly, i was disappointed by the cobalt set looking just like the saronite set. at least make one have blue and the other have green or add spikes to the higher one or something.
and yes, in this game, looks do count. a lot.
Vlatch Dec 16th 2008 11:20AM
Unfortunately, unless they recycle a lot of the textures and armor sets, the game would just get too large (it's already quite large). I think the issue is the they need to get more creative with how they use the existing palettes as it pertains to armor.
They do a great job of using unique textures and maps for the game world and dungeons - and I believe that's necessary, but that translates into armor, a far more expansive resource. I think re-using textures, but finding new applications for them would go a long way to alleviating the "it all looks the same" argument.
Darkthunder Dec 15th 2008 6:37PM
The fact that all gear looks the same now, with only color variations to distinguish them, is quite a bit appauling, considering the vast amounts of economic wealth Blizzard accumulates each month.
Surely, they could afford a whole team of graphics artists, designing newer and more varied gear sets and pieces. Especially by making cloth items LOOK like cloth, and plate items LOOK like plate. Some of the leather gear i've seen could easily be mistaken for plate, and vice versa.
More variation ftw, but dont give us clown colors please.
Aigarius Dec 15th 2008 9:59PM
Guess what, they are hard at work making gear that people will actually keep for a significant time, like raid gear, Arena gear and even badge loot.
Yes, all common and uncommon items look alike, but I epics are rather varied and that is what really counts.
Impulse Dec 16th 2008 3:05AM
I realize WoW is extremely profitable for Blizzard, but throwing money at problems is often neither 1. profitable or 2. wise. You can hire all the artists you want to make armor designs for you, but it still takes technical ability and time to render those sketches into the game. Time is not an infinite resource, and I can't say making all the random leveling armor look distinct rates highly on what I'd consider good investments of time.
Darkthunder Dec 16th 2008 7:20AM
Where is this source of information regarding them making "unique looking" raid and arena gear? Cause from what i've seen, most of the raid gear looks identical to the leveling gear, with a simple change of color.
Zane Dec 16th 2008 10:14AM
At the beginning of expansions, gear is still being trickled out, but I do agree that the variations arent very exciting. My tank and DPS sets on my DK look almost exactly the same, and I have passed sooo many Warriors who are in their DPS sets and they look almost exactly as I do. I hope we get some other gear that makes things "exciting" again.
Naus Dec 15th 2008 6:38PM
It's not really good or bad, and that's the problem. Wearing clownwear was a drag but it heightened the excitement of finding something better that was cooler to wear, or at least different.
Here all the clothes match much more closely, and that's cause they're all one of three models. =) Stats wise it's still a game but looks wise there's not much to it.
I liked the outlandishness of outland, personally - but then, I'm a mage. =)
elvendude Dec 15th 2008 6:42PM
I think it is *way* too homogeneous. It's all browns and greys. There's no color to any of it. I would kill for a blue or a green here or there. Heck, there's not differentiation between the different types of armor. Mail looks just like plate, which could often double as cloth.
shyguysamurai Dec 15th 2008 6:45PM
I really like the looks of the equipment from Northrend but the lack of variation is disappointing.
I'm not looking for lots of colors... just more models. It feels like they took the lazy way out by just recoloring every model about 20 times.
havitech Dec 15th 2008 10:55PM
Not even. Each model only has about 2-4 different recolors. From what I've seen, any given armor type has 3 common models apart from the tier models.
Zamboni Dec 15th 2008 6:45PM
I think they're too dark. I didn't mind colorful, but I did want tp see more stuff that matched. When I hit Northrend, I had a full set of Frostsavage gear made and it was very...brown. Look at the Warlock T3 and T7 gear. The T3 is colorful, the T7 is urban camouflage. When running instances, it's much harder to keep track of people since everyone is wearing the same black-brown Northrend uniforms.
Thridlow Dec 15th 2008 6:47PM
The main problem with the lack of variety in the gear is that it's pretty hit-or-miss, model wise. If you got a shoulder piece in BC that you thought was fugly, you didn't care, because there would be a new and better looking one in a few quests. In WotLK, though, you find one upgrade that you think is ugly? Better get used to it, because all the gear for that slot from then on will look exactly the same.
Also, who looked at the S4 cloth helms and thought, "Yeah, that looks good, let's make that what ALL THE BASIC HELM ARMOR IN WotLK LOOKS LIKE?!
Kia Dec 15th 2008 6:49PM
I'm one of the few who hasn't been able to reach Northrend yet, but hearing this is really disappointing. One of the things I've loved about WoW is how much differentiation between armor pieces there is, and how you could have a pretty cool looking character even around 20 or so. This does not bode well, if you ask me. I am reminded of Final Fantasy XI, where dozens of cloaks look like the exact same thing.
JPN Dec 15th 2008 6:54PM
I really wish that for PvE you could display any piece of armor in any slot you've ever gotten, while having whatever you want equipped. That way you could put together a "look" without sacrificing gameplay.
Siaperas Dec 15th 2008 6:55PM
I'm torn. I like the new models, but again, the lack of variation is a little disappointing.
However, it's not nearly as disappointing as going into Outland the first time. When I first got there, I refused to use most of the quest gear just to avoid the clown look. To me, even if I could one-shot boss encounters with the stat improvement I'd still think to myself, "So what? You're still a clown."
If I have to take my upgrades not looking different versus renaming my character "Bobo," I'll take the lack of variety. (Though, now that I think about the upcoming title for the Winterviel achievement, "Bobo" could be fun....)
m1ke Dec 15th 2008 6:56PM
I loved the BC armormodels and are very dissapointed in how the wotlk models came out. Everything looks pretty much the same and it doesnt give a badass look at all. The ever returning mail shoulderpad looks like something you would expect to find around level 30.... But then, I don't agree to most of the things blizzard done to the game the past 6 months as it feels like its now targeted towards 10 year olds.... simplyfying this and removing every bit of challange there ever was... It was fun while it lasted...
Hurode Dec 15th 2008 6:58PM
Looking through all of the cloth chestpieces introduced in Wrath, all of them are just recolorings of the same 2 or 3 designs. I was looking forward to a bunch of new colorful robes for my Draenei Priestess to RP in, but no, it's all a bunch of bland dark crap that she wouldn't like and I wouldn't either. I understand the new approach, but could you at least have more designs than 3? Recolorings of the same 10 would make me sufficiently happy, at least for the chest and leg pieces that will stand out more.