Video of new Night Elf Druid forms in 3.2
by Allison Robert 
Jun 30th 2009 at 9:00AM
And here are the Night Elf forms! I think I've avoided some of the annoying audio issues from the video on the 3.2 Tauren Druid forms, and I've also included an extended shot of the NE cat form's run animation, as it's one of the things that really distinguishes the bigger, sleeker cat model from its live counterpart. Unfortunately, they haven't fixed the bug where one of the bear models (the one linked to the NE's green hair) is unavailable (you'll get the black bear form instead), so only 4 of the 5 new bear colors could be included here.
If you're unable to play this with audio, the pertinent commentary is that: a). I tried to keep the camera as close as possible to help people appreciate the detail, mostly because: b). A lot of the subtler color distinctions just don't come across very well on the capture, and I think I spent too much time trying to get every angle as a result: c). The forms are really gorgeous, and the NE cat in motion is lovely, and: d). I'm still a dork.
UPDATE: A new PTR build went live late last night after the video was completed and uploaded, and Blizzard fixed the bug where one of the Night Elf bear forms was unavailable. I've included pictures past the cut.
This will be one of the more visually interesting bear forms available to Night Elves, and it's the option available with green hair.
Other highlights of the new PTR build include the continuing bug with visible weapons in Tauren Cat form (very funny, but the video I've shot of it is too dark to be usable, so I'll try to get a picture today) and a wonderful (albeit equally funny) bug where Improved Leader of the Pack procs off every crit in bear and cat form with what appears to be no cooldown. Swiping a trash pull and instantly healing yourself for 3-5K+ health each time is the sort of thing you could get used to alarmingly fast, so it was with great reluctance and much wailing and gnashing of teeth that a bug report was submitted.
I'm working on cutting the NE forms video to a YouTube (read: < 10 minutes) format but have run into some technical difficulties of the PEBKAC variety. Stay tuned!
Filed under: Druid, Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Machinima, Features
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Driuzt Jun 30th 2009 9:07AM
They look awesome. Any plans to re-skin boomkin form? Fed up of collecting awesome armour sets and the changing into a fatass generic owl! Balance wants some love too, please.
Driuzt
Ametrine Jun 30th 2009 9:34AM
from what I understand of it, the Moonkin and Tree form changes will be addressed later - since, statistically, the feral forms are used most often (not merely endgame but also leveling) they got the makeover first.
kabshiel Jul 1st 2009 2:53AM
My only complaint about the NE forms is that none of them really match the bluish purple coloration of their flight form.
Mep Jun 30th 2009 9:13AM
Thanks for the vid, they look great!
Chris M Jun 30th 2009 9:15AM
While I do not main a druid (priests ftw), I would like to take this opportunity to thank Allison for her attention to detail and dedication to blogging on her class. It's quite obvious how passionate you are about this coverage and even as someone not playing that class I appreciate it so very much. Rock on! :D
Radiophonic Jun 30th 2009 9:18AM
lol that first one looks like a bear skunk
Xman Jun 30th 2009 12:23PM
Skunky bear! (skunky beer?) That was exactly my first thought upon seeing this form. It looks a little less skunk-like when seen in the lighter colors.
Zuckerdachs Jun 30th 2009 4:32PM
I want that one - not because it's black, but because it looks like a badger. My toon's name is the Latin word for "badger." :)
Jack Spicer Jun 30th 2009 9:23AM
Wait, where was the Sailor Moon Cosplay Cat and the Scene Kidd Cat forms?
Sev Jun 30th 2009 9:25AM
May I give some slight citique on the videos?
I lvoe how much effort you put into these videos, very nice job. But theres 2 thigns that seem to bug me. One being your voice is soft and I have to turn my volume up a lot to hear it, no biggie but it bugs me a little bit.
The other being that video seems to be very low quaility, it may just be me but I dont think it is. It seems very pixelated and reminds me of Youtube before they added HD.
Other than that, you do a very nice job of the videos and I thank you for them :)
Allison Robert Jun 30th 2009 9:34AM
It's a completely fair criticism! I think the reason that my voice is relatively soft is that I don't have a headset and use my laptop's built-in mic, so the audio isn't ideal; I'll invest in a good headset.
I have to confess that the picture issue still has me stumped, because I'm losing an insane amount of quality even going from the finished product on my comp to the Viddler upload. This problem does not seem to exist, or at least doesn't exist to the same extent, with the YouTube upload, which is why I'm trying to get the NE one up at YouTube as well. So I don't know if it's Viddler or something else, but the video capture I have here is a million times cleaner than the one that actually makes it online, and this is pretty frustrating.
mernieinc Jun 30th 2009 10:12AM
I agree with both, but I turned volume up and you DID warn us about the quality so I wasn't going to complain.. I know what color hair my NED has and I'll be playing with the forms to get a better view.. Great video, very helpful..
One suggestion about the forms.. is it possible to have a 'barber shop' for them? Let the NED's at a certain lvl or heck, make a quest for it, and let them design their own forms, with colors, trinkets, jewelry etc??
badjoke Jun 30th 2009 12:13PM
Try uploading to Vimeo. They support high quality video.
Sev Jun 30th 2009 12:27PM
I dont even understand why I got downvoted, for posting a comment about the video? I was merely critquing and was hoping to help improve the author, yet I still get downvoted. Bah.
Anyways, Allison I think the low quality is indeed because of Viddler. I've seen before across the Joystiq network, and yet when they post Youtube videos, or anything else toher than Viddler the quality seems to be much better. I would recomend changing to another video uploader.
Anyways, still a great video, hope to see more :)
Gath Jun 30th 2009 9:34AM
Lol, Ally, yer such an awesome dork tho...nice job...too bad humar/pitch ..could not be a druid form, I, as a male player in Wow, love the all blk/wht male patriarchs, mostly for me, it's the mane I love. hence my own humar was renamed RazrMane lol ..E= I'm a dork
Aztorm
StormWindWarLords
Anetheron
Ureii Jun 30th 2009 9:43AM
I think one of the main reasons mentioned for druid Moonkin and Tree forms being updated in a later patch was that they were created much later than the Bear and Cat forms, so they already have skins that are 'updated' comparted to Bear and Cat. They need much less work, so they're rolling out the big changes first. As a dual-specced balance/resto druid, I can't wait for that, but at the same time, I love seeing the new Cat and Bear forms, and I especially love that they no longer have the 'pointy elbow mouth-breathing look' the most. The different colors are just a bonus, albeit a fun bonus I honestly never would have expected from Blizz. So here's hoping that Tree and Moonkin end up looking half as cool in the future, but until then I'll just drool over that fan-produced video that came out a couple months ago. XD
Cantor Jun 30th 2009 9:37AM
Thanks Allison - as always, a nice bit of quality reporting on a class that we're all very passionate about. I play a Tauren Druid myself, and have done since the game went live over here in the EU, but it's nice to see that you're paying equal attention to the Nelves as you are to the race that you play.
Thanks from everyone in the Druid community, nice work.
Agerath Jun 30th 2009 10:00AM
To me, at least, it doesn't look like they changed the animations at all.
I see no difference there.
Tri Jun 30th 2009 3:36PM
The animations look a lot better and more lifelike (like real felines). Look on the shoulders for example. Or the way they move their paws..
Mep Jun 30th 2009 10:00AM
One comment, you left something very important out...
You rolled a Nelf, and didn't show yourself dancing naked on a mailbox...
My only gripe about the vid ;)
For the horde!