Breakfast Topic: When the model doesn't match the text
by Matthew Rossi 
Feb 4th 2010 at 8:00AM
Heck, I'm a warrior. I'm required to love gear. And even more than gear itself I love gear with something cool extra, something like Ash'kandi. Not only is Ash'kandi pretty freaking awesome, not only does it have one of the best models ever (even this far into WoW's life cycle few 2h weapons have even come close to rivaling Ash'kandi's model) but it has neat flavor text that helps establish the weapon's role in the game world. This is Anduin Lothar's sword. This is the sword of the Lion of freaking Azeroth! Possibly the greatest warrior ever to walk the land and here is his sword!
One of the things I love about the new ICC wing opening, in fact, is discovering that flavor text like that is back. Unfortunately, I also discover that sometimes, model and text do not match up so well. We're going to talk about Lich King loot behind the cut, so if you don't want to know don't go any further.
Take, for example, Glorenzelg, the High Blade of the Silver Hand. Does that in any way, shape or form look like the High Blade of the Silver Hand to you? It's one thing to speculate that the Black Dragonflight might have changed Lothar's sword when they got their hands on it. Ash'kandi's model is so epic you don't really care. But this sword, supposedly the epic blade of the Silver Hand, Azeroth's oldest extant order of paladins and the predecessor to the Argent Dawn and Crusade, looks nothing at all like the flavor text indicates. This isn't a 'Paragon of the Light' at all.
Similarly, I freaking love the flavor text on Mithrios. I want to tank with that weapon. However, it's the same model as the various tanking maces that drop in 10 man, and frankly, where does that paragraph of text fit on it? Where is "...cry with me in the unified voice that will resonate to the throne of the Lich King himself! FOR THE ALLIANCE AND FOR KHAZ MODAN!" exactly? Because I don't really see a place for it on that model.
Oathbinder, on the other hand, suits its model and text perfectly. This thing looks like it is described to look, and you can easily believe someone carved 'SUFFER' on it over and over again. At least I have no trouble believing that.
So now, how about you? Do you think the models work with the new flavor text? Or would you rather they'd avoided it?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Biub Feb 4th 2010 8:07AM
I was really hoping that those were just place-holder models. Are we now sure that that's what they look like?
Heilig Feb 4th 2010 11:06AM
They should change all the models to the old Grand Marshal/High Warlord PvP weapon models. Glorenze;g should be the sword Bolvar Fordragon carried around for 6 years.
NecDW4 Feb 4th 2010 6:01PM
Yeah i'm really unimpressed by those models. Heck the Rogue 1-h axe has the same model as Shadowmourne. Sure its slightly smaller, but seriously..... I still raid older instances as a weapon collector, always after the neatest looking gear i can get. What Incentive is there to raid ICC 25 HM if all the loot looks exactly like the regular 10 man stuff?
You have to be able to show off your trophies at least a LITTLE bit.
Chris M Feb 4th 2010 8:08AM
FOR THE ALLIANCE - AND FOR KHAZ MODAAAAAAAAN!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBXKJbau45w
Hal Feb 4th 2010 8:11AM
It feels cheap to make weapons with such great flavor text to them, only to just use the same models as the other weapons that drop in the instance. I realize that it's a bit wasteful of resources to design a model and then use it only once or twice, but c'mon . . . this is the loot of the Lich King we're talking about here! It seems like end-game content ought to warrant an exception, especially with such great flavor text on the gear.
WoWie Zowie Feb 4th 2010 8:57AM
^^
this is your reward for the entire wrath expansion. it should be unique.
i truthfully wasn't expecting arthas' loot to share models with other weapons in game already.
Knob Feb 4th 2010 9:20AM
What I hate is that they made the Windrunner weapon into a crossbow. I know, I know, there's already a bow in the earlier part of the instance and Blizzard generally doesn't want to make the uber-weapon into one which benefits a certain race due to racials, but it's still kinda depressing. Here's the ranged weapon of the previous elven Ranger-General of Quel'thalas and it's a crossbow, not a bow. :(
Niiru Feb 4th 2010 9:30AM
They can avoid the waste by making awesome, unique models, then reusing them for Cataclysm heirlooms or 'signature' levelling blues (i.e. the new Ring of Blood blues). That way we get awesome models now and awesome models later, when ICC is no longer relevant.
Maitri Feb 4th 2010 10:07AM
This whole expansion has been pretty disappointing in terms of armor and weapon models imo. Remember when you were leveling 70 - 80 all around Northrend, and there were maybe 2 or 3 models for each item? It took nearly until Naxx for me to get away from those god awful football pad looking shoulders they doled out to clothies. In fact, the only really awesome, imaginative gear I've seen has been from Alganon, the end-all, be-all Ulduar boss, who dropped weapons made out of friggin constellations...and NO ONE else drops them. If you're carrying around one of those weapons...everyone can see you downed Alganon. But for some reason, Arthas, the subject for this entire expansion we've all been pouring our lives into for over a year, drops gear that looks exactly like all his minion's drops in ICC. I feel this is pure laziness on Blizzard's part. You can't come up with ANYTHING new??? Hundreds of the best game developers and designers in the world and we get non-unique models for downing the LICH KING? Yeah, this might be close to QQ'ing, but for the hundreds of dollars we've paid to play this game to this point, and the time we've put into it, I feel Blizzard could have done a little better for effin ARTHAS. This is really starting to feel like a trend. For example, go back and watch the trailers for the original WoW, BC, and WotLK....they're amazing and beautiful. Now go watch the Cataclysm trailer....it's like a really cheesy advertisement and not at all as thrilling and exciting as the others. No, I'm not going to quit WoW over crappy Arthas drops, but come on Blizz! Maybe that's exactly what they know....none of us (or at least not enough to make a difference) are going to quit WoW anytime soon over gear models, and they can afford to be lazy about it. It's like Walmart...no matter how many times you go in there and bitch and wait in line for 30 minutes when there are 4 out of 30 registers open....they don't have to give a sh*t...they know you'll be back anyway, and you know it too.
Knob Feb 4th 2010 10:46AM
Actually, if you look at the "reveal" trailers of TBC and WotLK you'll see the Cataclysm one is at the same level. The reveal trailers are generally made with the in-game engine showing only a few new areas of the zones.
That being said, I hope Blizzard re-does the Lich King gear like they did the T2 set way back in Classic. Remember the original Bloodfang set and what it later became? I almost rolled a rogue just because of that set! That's the kind of effect the top-end gear must have on people.
Coldbear Feb 4th 2010 11:35AM
yep
ROB13 Feb 4th 2010 8:13AM
Some of these items sound really exciting, but sadly...none of them are white and are longer then your average cloak as they should promise...
Marcosius Feb 4th 2010 8:14AM
Roleplayers have known for a long time Blizzards devs don't really care about lore that much, it is a secondary afterthought at best. As you pointed out in the article, why do these relics, supposedly gathered from people who never set their foot on Northrend, have amazingly undead-themed staves, maces and bows? Right, I gather they'd get glossed over with ice in a few years but I really don't think Antonidas would have had a staff that looked like it belonged to a long dead Nerubian.
Kylenne Feb 4th 2010 8:38AM
Roleplayers have also known for a long time that many so-called "roleplayers" don't have the imagination the Light/Elune/puzzle piece space Jesus/insert divine entity of choice here gave them and are constantly QQing over nothing.
N-train Feb 4th 2010 9:47AM
If you read the article yesterday where the designers talked about the LK loot, they specifically mentioned that they wanted the players to have access to all the weapons Arthas has picked up and then corrupted during his life. So it makes sense he would have these neat weapons from The Silver Hand and Quel'thalas, seeing as he was once a prince and did a fair amount of conquering in his day.
The key word here is "corrupted". I imagine that even the holiest of weapons can only sit so long in the Lich King's company before it starts to become unholy, remember they've been sitting there for a good couple years now.
Possum Feb 4th 2010 4:03PM
Yep, they're supposed to be corrupted. Doesn't excuse the non epicness of their appearance but explains the 'Northrend' look to an extent.
rhorle Feb 4th 2010 8:15AM
You are complaining because a sword of "lore" does not match that of a statue? For that matter in the article you link to about "know your lore" the writer talks about how the likely outcome was the sword was shattered in the duel with doomhammer.
Also wowhead generated models are not accurate as is seen by the one that shows the shadow's edge model. Ghostcrawler confirmed that the model isn't shared and that even wowhead includes warnings that their image generation isn't always accurate for unseen weapons.
Not to mention it doesn't have any glows or other animated effects that weapons often have. I also find it odd you take some of the flavor text as literal inscriptions yet don't for others. Oathbinder what you says suits the text and model perfectly doesn't have a skull on top of the blade as the flavor text suggests. But the blade is on top of the skull.
rhorle Feb 4th 2010 8:18AM
Nevermind about lothar's sword I misread the comparison. But still a weapon in the hands of arthas that he took isn't really a great thing to expect to be a pristine shining example of a holy order.
rhorle Feb 4th 2010 8:33AM
If only there was an edit button. The relevant ghostcrawler post I mentioned which references the models being different then what data-mining shows
http://www.worldofraids.com/wow-blue-tracker/us-forums/22748802472-shadowmourne-the-1-hander.html
Brian Feb 4th 2010 8:18AM
I'm a little disappointed that Arthas' loot does not seem (so far) to have it's own graphics. I'd expect that the rarest of the items in the expansion should have some level of exotic look. Not that I'll wield them, of course.