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Draenei and blood elf models now on list of planned updates
Draenei and blood elf players, it's time to get excited. According to a tweet made by Senior Art Director Chris Robinson, both sets of models are now also on the update list. While the Warlords of Draenor website has yet to mention this change, Robinson stated that the page simply needed to be updated to reflect the news. At BlizzCon, it was originally stated that the initial model updates would be for vanilla models only, and that blood elves and draenei would be addressed at some point after the new models were released for Warlords. While this is amazing news, please note that this isn't an indicator or confirmation that all the new models will be available when Warlords is released. However, according to another Twitter post by Robinson, a new character reveal with an updated model is on the way. The character reveal will likely be posted on the official Warlords of Draenor website sometime soon. With the amount of progress already made with new models, I'm pretty excited to see what they're going to reveal this time around -- maybe new human or night elf models? We'll have to wait and see.
WoW Source talks Warlords of Draenor, new female Forsaken models
In the latest episode of WoW Source, Morgan Webb sits down with Lead Encounter Designer Ion Hazzikostas, Senior Art Director Chris Robinson, and Game Director Tom Chilton to talk BlizzCon 2013 and the next expansion, Warlords of Draenor. Along with an overview of the various features of Warlords, there's an exclusive look at the new female Forsaken models. Although these are just stills of the character model in progress, they're gorgeous -- and I can't wait to see them in action and live. Check out the full video for insights and news about BlizzCon 2013, the development of Warlords of Draenor, and more. Those amazing new character models pop up at about thirteen minutes into the video, along with more footage of the other new character models already revealed at BlizzCon 2013.
Breakfast Topic: Do we need to re-customize our characters with the new models?
There have been some concerns from a few players about their character changing to the point where they will no longer recognize them. In short, they would like to have the option of a free re-customization with the new models so they can make sure their character's personality remains intact. In a BlizzCon interview, Tom Chilton mentioned that there are currently no plans to do this because it's their goal to make the models as true to the spirit of the originals as possible. Bashiok Again I think it's just way too early to make a determination, and Tom certainly didn't give a definite answer. Our artists are going to extreme lengths to ensure the new models and animations embody (kyuck knyuck?) what you know and love about your characters. Our hope (and Tom's point) is that you log in, go AWESOME, and enjoy playing your character that still looks and moves and acts like your character - just at a much higher fidelity. If it comes down to it and we just totally miss the mark I'm sure we'd at least seriously consider offering a chance to pick something else. But again, too early to say for sure. source
Breakfast Topic: What character will you be boosting to level 90?
In case you were living under a rock for the past few days, one of the biggest announcements to come out of BlizzCon was that everyone who purchases Warlords of Draenor will be able to boost one character to level 90 instantly. There are no restrictions -- you can even use this on a fresh level 1 character. After taking a gander at the newly revamped character models, I am pretty settled on using my boost with a level 1 female dwarf warlock. The new model they showed looks great, and it's such a unique class/race combination that I can't even remember seeing one before. I've already reserved her name and she's sitting in Dun Morogh, patiently awaiting the expansion. Have you decided who you'll be boosting to level 90?
BlizzCon 2013: Art panel featuring angry toucans, gronn-bone fortresses, spikes
Today's Art of Warcraft panel provided more than just an in-depth look at the new character models coming our way in Warlords of Draenor. We also glimpsed some of the exotic locations that we will visit once we cross through the new, rosier Dark Portal. One area features a fortress built in the skeletal remains of a massive gronn. With steaming fumaroles, gushing waterfalls, and vibrant flowering plants, Draenor appears to be a livelier place than much of Outland. Designs for the new garrison system displayed interiors for various additions, including what appears to be your future inn and smithy. Many of the new weapon, siege weapon, vehicle, and building designs were also shown. The visual look for the intimidating and aggressive Iron Horde has themes of metal, fire, and unabashed spikiness. Artwork of what appears to be a war barge could be Iron Horde in origin. The panel also showed some of the wild fauna that we will encounter through the Dark Portal. Included were a crazy armless rodent, a vicious sunflower-esque sprite, and one very angry toucan. Trippy whales appear to be the evolutionary ancestors of Zangarmarsh's fungal giants. Curiously, the whale artwork is labeled "Zangar Sea." Massive void giants appear to be the bigger, voidier versions of void walkers. Check out the full gallery of over 120 images below!
BlizzCon 2013: New character models in "Warlords of Draenor"
UPDATE: A lot of new pictures and animations were featured in the "Art of World of Warcraft" panel. I've updated the gallery with lots of screenshots of the new male orc, female gnome, male gnome, male dwarf, and quick glimpses of the female dwarf and male tauren! Blizzard also announced today that they are initially updating the character models of all the original races, and the dranei and blood elves. The worgen, goblin, and pandaren models will not be updated at the time. One of the most hotly-anticipated features in WoW has always been new character models for reasons that are probably obvious to all those of you not playing a pandaren. Not only have new models been confirmed for Warlords of Draenor, but samples of the new male orc, dwarf, and gnome models are now available on the new expansion pack's site. There's not a lot up yet, but you'll get a glimpse of their idle animations and screenshots of some emotes, and all of them look amazing. We've put together a gallery of pictures from the "World of Warcraft: What's Next" panel with Blizzard's own screenshots. According to Rob Pardo, the new models won't all be released at once, so it may be a while before we know what all of them will look like. However, they're also coming with a battery of new animations, and we caught a small sample of those for you too. I'm feeling a little full-circleish, seeing as I wrote the post confirming Blizzard's work on new character models at BlizzCon 2011. I hope my female tauren can keep her green eyes.
What race needs new character models the most?
Over the weekend at Gamescom, Game Director Tom Chilton and Lead Content Designer Cory Stockton revealed that new character models for the older races are currently in development and are about 25% done. Chilton also added that he wasn't sure if all the new models would be launched at the same time, or if Blizzard would opt to release them over several patches as they are completed. I'm in favor of the latter myself, though I can see that resulting in an unbearable amount of QQ from players whose characters didn't initially receive model updates. The whole thing makes me wonder which races are likely to get updated first. It's possible the developers will go after the most popular races first (humans and blood elves) since that will appease the largest number of people. It's also just as possible they'll work in order of which races need new models the most. That raises the question though, which race is in the most dire need of a character model update? If I had to pick one I'd probably go with dwarf, specifically the female dwarf because so few people play it. Granted, I don't think female dwarves necessarily suffer from the worst looking model, but they're somehow still one of the least popular choices among players. That alone makes me feel like the model needs some time and attention to not only update it, but to broaden its appeal somewhat. Mind you, female dwarves don't need to have the same appeal as blood elves or humans, but they certainly should have more than they currently do. Which race do you think needs a character model update the most? Tell us why.
The Queue: Morning, sunshine
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. My original introduction to today's Queue was written like so: "Today, we definitely do not talk about comics books." Immediately after writing that, I looked down at my first question of the day and realized I was a giant liar. ScottLeyes asked: Is anyone from WoW Insider covering (going to) Comic-Con?
The Queue: The old gods and the new
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Okay, that headline is a little misleading. Only Old Gods found within. The new have to wait their turn. JoshMcGee asked: Do you think there will ever be an "Old Gods" Expansion? Or is there lore too closely related to the Titans to have their own expansion away from the Titan one, or are we going to just keep getting one Old God per expansion until their story is up?
The Queue: Vicarious adventures
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. If you're the sort of person that likes mobile games, pick up Dungeon Village. Build and maintain a village to attract adventurers, who will spend their hard-earned gold pieces on your fine wines and steaks! It's fascinatingly fun in the same way that Recettear turned out to be. Patrick asked: So...why did Blizzard not have an April Foolz prank this year? Was it just a matter of focusing on their work? I'm actually totally fine with that, but it made me sad.
RuneScape behind-the-scenes video rebuilds Al-Kharid
Although players won't find bright orange construction cones littering the streets of Al-Kharid in RuneScape, developers are busy rebuilding the desert city. And lest you think "under construction" is just a euphemism for workers standing around, leaning on their shovels while enjoying some coffee, Jagex has released a behind-the-scenes video showing off the work in progress. In the video, the developers discuss how the rebuilding will bring the city to life; they want to portray a dynamic city with an undercurrent of menace. When the new and improved Al-Kharid goes live, players will find a larger population, a wider variety of character models, more cinematic elements, and a new questline to take advantage of all the changes. For a peek at some of the new character models and more, watch the video after the cut.
Darkfall teases character model upgrades and more
The devs at Aventurine apparently never sleep, as releasing a major expansion and graphics revamp was the tip of the iceberg as far as what's happening on Darkfall's horizon. The team has generated three separate news items in the last week, all of them pointing towards exciting things in store for the world of Agon. First up is a design blog posted on the official website. In it, community manager Laenih gives us an inside look at the process of converting a quick design sketch into a finished in-game model. Due to the small size of Aventurine's development team, this process often means that quest designers take up paper and pencil (or the digital equivalent) in order to present modelers with a clear idea of their vision. Next up are some screenshots previewing Darkfall's new character models. While the world of Agon is often praised for its size, detail, and beauty, the game's character models have thus far lagged a bit behind the current MMORPG visual standard. Not to worry though, as an upgrade is in the works, and you can view photos of some of the new models on Darkfall's Facebook page. Last but not least are the patch notes from this past week, which address a few niggling issues related to the Hellfreeze expansion. Read all about it on the official boards.
