Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsNew character models are in the works
by Allison Robert 
Oct 22nd 2011 at 7:00PM
Players have been asking for updates to older races as a result, and developers have confirmed that they are in the works and being actively designed by the character artists. However, they don't want to put something in the game that feels like a betrayal to a character that you've had for years, so they're proceeding carefully. There's no word yet on when we can expect to see them, but it's good news for everyone who'd like their older toons to look as good as their newer ones!
Edit: Zarhym has just posted on the forums clarifying the information given at BlizzCon, although there's no new information to share.
The news is out -- we'll be playing Mists of Pandaria! Find out what's in store with an all-new talent system, peek over our shoulder at our Pandaren hands-on, and get ready to battle your companion pets against others. It's all here right at WoW Insider!Filed under: BlizzCon
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 5)
Brian! Oct 23rd 2011 12:26AM
Blizzard could have redone these models if they wanted. It is a pretty simple option of spending the money to have it done.
Anyone with knowledge of 3D modeling and animation will know that WoW, just like any video game, works within a set limitation of polygons, textures, and animations. Over the years, those limitations are less than they were. Just look at Battlefield 3, then go back 10 years and see what FPS looked like before - HUGE difference.
There is a lot that could be done to all the avatar models in the game by allowing an artist to rebuild, re-texture and re-animate them. They don't even have to change the proportions in any huge way - a troll can still look like a troll, it can just be given more polygons, texture maps and new animations.
Don't start me on the druid forms. If you are going to shove an avatar into a bear, cat, or owlbeast for the majority of the play and not make them change with gear changes - then at least make the models as good as they possibly can be. When a mount is more expressive than a bear tank, one just as to feel a bit sorry for the player.
Of course, I complain more because of WoW's success. If we were talking about a game with a couple hundred thousand subscribers or less, I'd completely understand the resource issue. But by my guess, it would take less than a week's worth of income to fund a half dozen artists to get this work done.
Lemons Oct 23rd 2011 1:51AM
Having a bunch of money doesn't magically solve everything, this is a time issue. Making a model that millions of people will be staring at for thousands of hours means that pretty much everything about that model needs to be perfect. They need their top artists on such a project, but their top artists are no doubt busy with all kinds of crap, all the time, every day.
In other words money doesn't help this problem. About the only thing money could do is be used to hire new artists, but you wouldn't want to stick a new artist on such a project.
Brian! Oct 23rd 2011 11:54AM
I think there has been plenty of time, years in fact.
I run an FX production house and we know that you have three factors: Time, quality, and budget. The three balance one another. Take one away and you affect the other. Blizzard has the money. They have had plenty of time. And there are lots of very talented artists that can take the time and money to produce great models.
In fact, without even searching ahead of time, I bet some fan who is also a 3D artist has already created better versions of the race models that could be used right away. Low poly modeling is a skill, but one that is hardly so rare that Blizzard can only manage to have a handful.
Again, WoW has netted millions and millions of dollars from their customers. they had the resources, they have just chosen not to spend the money. That's all it is.
Revrant Oct 23rd 2011 1:10AM
I can't accurately express my emotions in this limited format, but thankfully someone at MMO Champ gave me the opportunity!
http://tinyurl.com/6hlnzxq
Thomas Higgins Oct 23rd 2011 1:18PM
Oh, nice link. Mine would be:
"Many Of Horror" by Biffy Clyro.
"'Cause you said love was letting us go against what
Our future is for many of horror
Our future's for many of horror"
Exactly what this expansion pack will be.
Revrant Oct 23rd 2011 1:49PM
So you were okay with retconned Religious Fanatic Arabic accented Space Goat Squids who fly around in Crystalline Space Ships that house their Crystalline Space Gods, but pandas, as you are apparently extremely bitter over their very existence, are a bridge too far?
I'm not sure what's the real joke here, the Pandaren or your misguided anger.
GoonieBird Oct 24th 2011 9:45PM
Check Thomas Higgin's other posts, he's insane with rage about the panda for... some reason that makes sense to him, I'm sure. Something about "proper predators" and "my country spends millions of dollars on them" and other such nonsense. If he could redirect that madness to something positive he could likely solve world hunger or find a cure of cancer.
Lemons Oct 23rd 2011 1:40AM
I don't think anyone will miss the shitty old character models, but they'll still want them to look like their character. I've been very protective of my character's look. I think I actually achieved something because he's one of the few male humans I've seen who doesn't look like a complete chode. I've grown used to seeing that exact face and that exact hairstyle. Hell, I've never even taken him to the barber because I feel like hairstyle is as much an identifying feature of my character as his face. Changing it would be like playing a completely different character.
To basically see my characer, but updated, would be awesome, but if his look get completely lost somewhere in that update I'm going to be very angry. That's why I think it's a hard process for Blizz to make new character models. Maybe others don't feel so strongly about preserving their characters' look, but to me my character's looks are part of his identity. Change those and I'm not playing MY character anymore.
Hurbster Oct 23rd 2011 3:25AM
Excellent, not seen any of my human character faces for years.
viciouspen Oct 23rd 2011 7:00AM
Totally called it.
And thank frig.
Just get on it blizz, people will bitch one way or the other, just hand out a free appearance mod when you do it go for it.
Man I am looking forward to this.
katrina.senti Oct 23rd 2011 8:18AM
Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes!!!
milka.hanhela Oct 23rd 2011 8:21AM
Thank you, Blizzard. Thank you. I think I'm going for the 12-month subscription now.
Fossless Oct 23rd 2011 9:01AM
This is great news, but this has to happen sooner than later for me. Im really tired of hearing "soon" or "working on it" this should be at launch
David Oct 23rd 2011 10:26AM
Not sure if this has been highlighted already but I don't think it is overly optimistic to expect them at MoP's release.
That might sound crazy but look at it this way: we've seen Pandaren animation for the Monk class. Thing is, apart from Goblins and Worgen every other race can be a Monk. Spinning kick, dive roll etc... these are not existing animations for current races, but they will need animations for those abilities for when MoP launches. I get the feeling that they'd rather implement a new swathe of cool animations for the flagship class of MoP along with new, shiny models too.
Spinster Oct 23rd 2011 10:44AM
CHANGE? I am afraid of change! I want my character models to stay the same!! I am still upset that Nintendo smoothed out the edges of Mario and Link for the SNES. What was wrong with the character models in "Pool of Radiance" for the Commodore 64? A FEW PIXELS IS ALL YOU NEED! :-P
Ewok Oct 23rd 2011 11:33AM
Oh hell yes. I am so tired of the vanilla character models. I'm sure people will complain, but I will be happy so long as I can keep my purple mohawk on my orc :D