Feedback: Nightborne Customization
As a fan of the Nightborne and someone that has lobbied for improvements to the Nightborne model over the years, I am incredibly disappointed by the lack of quality and care that went into the 9.1.5 customizations, and that no work was done to revise the lackluster customization options the Nightborne launched with.
It is incredibly evident that the constant feedback provided on the forums to improve the Nightborne was completely disregarded. All you needed to implement to win Nightborne players over was: youthful faces, elegant hairstyles with youthful hairlines, and NPC accurate eyes. You only managed to fulfill one of those requests.
Below, I’ve compiled a list of just a few of the developer’s shortcomings with images.
Female Nightborne
Regal Bun - Hair missing on the side, whereas the “High Bun” has a fuller hairline.
When viewed from the top, the bangs are literally paper thin.
High Bun - The base hairstyle for the “Regal Bun” hairstyle, but features a fuller hairline. Why go through the trouble of making the “Regal Bun” hairstyle look worse when this perfectly fine base exists?
Topknot
This hairline needs to be lowered and filled in with hair on the side.
Regal
Chunky, blocky, barely resembles hair. If you told me this hairstyle was designed back in 2004 when the game was first released, I’d fully believe you.
Vim
Another hairstyle option with a receded hairline.
Highborn
This hairline is just awful. Is it NPC accurate? Partially. (See below.)
As you can see here, the NPC version has added bits of hair on the side to cover up the weirdly patchy hairline.
Shaggy
I’m at a loss for words as to what’s going on in the back of this hairstyle. It doesn’t even look like hair.
Pigtails
How does this in any way inform the identity of the Nightborne? This should actually be deleted and I’m not exaggerating. The Nightborne are meant to be elegant, even more so than Blood Elves. A utilitarian hairstyle like pigtails makes no sense for the image they’re meant to convey.
Legion Zone Overview: Suramar - With the Nightborne, there are no slums—there are just grades of “How elite are you?” They’ve all been in this bubble for 10,000 years, and they’re trained in hand-to-hand combat and spellcasting. They’re these consummate warriors, but they train as sort of a sport. Because for most of that time, there was no threat. They were closed off from the world. They worked on becoming as elegant as they could, and now you’ve got this arrogant, super-refined culture…
Eyelashes
The female Nightborne’s eyelashes are outer corner heavy, and without any added details to extend them closer to the inner eye for a natural look.
NPC Nightborne with Complete Eyelashes
Repurposed Headdress Option
The “Headdress” option they made available to female Nightborne was taken from the “Regal” hairstyle, where it was removed and then repurposed for every hairstyle. Would it have been too much to create something new?
Regal Hairstyle Prior to 9.1.5
9.1.5 Repurposed Headdress Option
Jewelry
Two of the female Nightborne jewelry options are quite clearly derived or are heavily inspired by a female Night Elf jewelry option. Would it have been too much to ask for unique options that look well done? To make matters worse, both the chain and pendant are considerably lower resolution.
Male Nightborne
Cascade
This hairstyle has the barest level of hair physics, and doesn’t even rest naturally in the back where the hair is longest.
Vigor
Flat, and without texture in the back.
Frontal view of Vigor hairstyle, where the scalp is visible.
Sidepart
Flat in the back, seemingly without texture. Appears identical to the back of the hair in the “Short” hairstyle. Two hairstyles featuring the same low quality texture work in the back.
Short
The back of this hairstyle looks unfinished.
Short Tail
Exposed scalp underneath the front of the hairstyle.
Underwhelming “Luminous Hands” option, as compared to the NPC Nightborne:
Player Version
NPC Version
Meanwhile, fans are able to implement customization directly from the NPC Nightborne that blows anything the developers have done out of the water.
