Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsBreakfast Topic: Awesome Animations
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Mar 28th 2009 at 8:00AM
So hot on the heels of the best mob noise in game discussion, I thought I'd ask another question: What about the animations? We probably don't think about it too much, but the sounds and animations of PCs and NPCs alike probably end up making a lot of atmosphere we take for granted. It fills out the world and makes it feel more immersive, more real.With that in mind, the noise topic got me thinking of what animations I really like. There's a lot of them that at least deserve a mention, from the howling of Coyotes to the nervous skittering of the Silithid. In the new animations, we get stuff like Stinker's escapades and the wildlife of Grizzly Hills going on with their every day activities.
Beyond that, even PC animations can have their awesome looks, such as a Draenei twirling a Polearm to attack or a male Blood Elf dying with Shakespearean dramatics. Ethereals also have some pretty graceful moves overall, even in the way their bandages move and their energy pulses.
What animations and graphics have you encountered in WoW that have made you stop and say, "Hey, that's pretty neat?"
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 6)
Kylenne Mar 28th 2009 11:46AM
Anything and everything about trolls, both genders. I love the male idle--the crouch on the ground as if picking up the trail of their prey. So awesome. And the sassy way the females laugh. (I have Troll fever, can you tell?) Not to mention the dances. I also adore the female belf rogue stealth animation. Hell, Horde just have the best animations period.
Draenei casters get some bad ass animations too, though, and it's one of the very few things I miss from my Alliance days. Female Draenei mage evocation is the coolest one in the game besides the Undead.
Llothtank Mar 28th 2009 11:55AM
i gotta say, i love the new animations for the warlock drain soul spell. seeing the skulls and faces of nameless souls being pulled towards the lock is just epic. and i dont even play one! seeing a kitty druid leap through the air at a boss is also pretty damn awesome.
Furiursa Mar 28th 2009 12:43PM
You mean the "Kitty Boing" move (I really need to create a macro that has the kitty yell "NOM!" every time I use that move) :D
Sleutel Mar 28th 2009 11:57AM
Just a small thing, but I loved the Druid T5 shoulders. I would idle next to my pocket healer just to watch his armor bloom. :D
Lonewind Mar 28th 2009 12:00PM
Loken before we attack him, he really looks like he's just been sitting there for a millenia waiting for us to come for his sweet lewt.
dwgharris Mar 28th 2009 12:09PM
Agree with the tree elemental death animation, but I also love the ghoul spawn one where they drag themselves out of the ground :)
zulek Mar 28th 2009 12:10PM
the best one is the little gnomes that ride the 4 legged mechanical thingys in gnomeregan, when they day they pop right out, do some flips, and land on the scraps. it made me laugh every time i saw it.... stupid gnomes
kabshiel Mar 28th 2009 12:12PM
Goblin shredders are kind of similar: the goblin pops out and the shredder falls on top of them.
kabshiel Mar 28th 2009 12:15PM
My two favorite animations are the hawkstrider idle animation where it nuzzles its wing and the Black Stalker's drinking animation. Both are adorable.
Nando Mar 28th 2009 12:18PM
And the award for best death goes to: Murlocs! It takes like 5 minutes for them to actually lay down and die haha.
Close behind them are leper gnomes flying out of destroyed tanks in Gnomeragan...I dearly hope they do caverns of time for this instance I would never leave.
Tirrimas Mar 28th 2009 12:32PM
I think the Undead female's /bow is incredibly graceful and feminine. Ditto the Tauren female's.
The male Tauren /dance makes me smile every time.
The male Belf idle is amusing - not the looking side to side, but the less common one where he looks to his right, gets a hugely surprised look on his face, then looks away and shakes his head.
The female Belf /salute is so full of sass.
/agree about the treant death - I laughed so hard the first time I saw that.
My jaw hit the floor when I saw the polar bears in Dragonblight - the mama bears digging out a rabbit for the cub to chase and kill.
kalatash Mar 30th 2009 1:22AM
The thing about that second idle animation for male BElfs: It's set up so when you first load up the character in the equipment window or the fitting screen, it's the exact right angle so that if you don't rotate him around, he'll look at YOU and shake his head.
Furiursa Mar 28th 2009 12:45PM
I dunno, compared to most other MMOs, practically ALL of WoW's animations are so much more... organic than the rest.
My mom thinks stealthed druids who have the improved (faster) stealthing are hilarious cuz they just scurry across the landscape.
RetPallyJil Mar 28th 2009 12:46PM
Let's see:
The /cower animations are works of art.
The /shy is so cute :D
Ragnaros' death; tht hammer twirling down still makes me smile.
Male Blood Elf deaths make me feel bad :(
I also like the male BE's "no". That finger shake is so SASSY!
I like how fast we run when we're shrunk. Look at our little legs go!
Trippy Mar 28th 2009 12:46PM
I love how flying mounts soar through the sky. The flapping is annoying but every time my mount or druid in flightform strechtes it's wings and soars it feels like total peace.
Aryc Ogre Mar 28th 2009 12:59PM
I always liked how Remulos (and others sharing his model in smaller scale) will occasionally hold up their spiky fingered hand and poke at a fingertip with their non-spiky hand and retract quickly because it hurt.
Zhiva Mar 28th 2009 1:10PM
Did anyone mention Night Elf female /cower?
Beth Mar 28th 2009 1:32PM
i love the animations of the animals in Northrend.. bears catching fish, birds riding on rhino horns, a mama bear hunting for her cub & the various predator / prey scenarios... but my very favorites are the druids' shapeshifted dances & shamans wolfy dance
lilleas Mar 28th 2009 1:43PM
for some reason the void walker idle animation is neat to me, like it says I am all powerful rawr lol also the treant deaths are just pure win. the shammie doggie dance is awesome i die of cute every time i see it. also the female draenei and tauren male /flex animations are win too.
Sephie Mar 28th 2009 1:52PM
I'm surprised no one's mentioned the male undead's casting animation - y'know, the sideways conjuring of magic (you get it when healing in Noggenfogger Skelly form).
I think it makes healing feel faster and more fun. :)
Then there's the skeleton /cower animation. It's just so damn funny.