The long-anticipated reclamation of Gilneas in the upcoming Dragonflight patch 10.2.5: Seeds of Renewal is an appropriate time to revisit the Worgen race. Even a few additional customization options or a small racial ability buff can boost a race’s player numbers. Increasing the variety of characters would not only contribute to more intricate ‘metas’ in competitive content but would also generally revitalize the game.
Below are a few ideas that I think would make Worgen more enticing for more players, my selection of a few prominent examples complied from suggestions throughout the years and the many threads on this topic:
In the Customization department:
Optional tail customizations - perhaps the most controversial and difficult to implement, this purely cosmetic idea world serve to more accurately align the Worgen fantasy with both its fantastical sources and earlier artistic depictions. It would require, but also could open up an interesting lore refresh.
Optional upright posture for male Worgen - similar to the Orc precedent.
Optional Worgen Form Hairstyles - In my opinion, the biggest wasted opportunity as the early Cataclysm models were swapped for the release version ones. A simple search for “Cata alpha Worgen hairstyles”, especially for the female models, showcases the great variety of hair styles and colours, also often depicted in early development as well as in subsequent Blizzard universe artworks. Having the option to use these humanoid hairstyles would also help match between the Worgen and human forms each player customizes for themselves.
New Old Face options for female Worgen - Once again, harkening back to the Cata testing models - I was very much dissapointed these did not make into the live version. Worgen originally sported distinct iris glows, unlike the currently blank glowing ones, with more gently humanoid and vicious wolf-like face shapes (less squared, smaller-eyed), and higher (as opposed to bat-like) ear positions that were highly requested ever since these models were scrapped for the release ones updated in Shadowlands.
In the Racials department:
Viciousness could be buffed - e.g. by adding 1% Leech to its 1% Crit chance passive.
Darkflight - could be buffed to a 50% movement speed increase, or swapped for a pseudo-port e.g. “Activate your true form and leap to the targeted location within 20 yds”, perhaps with an immobility removal, a 5% Haste buff for a few seconds, or even a 1 sec protection tradeoff for a cooldown increased to 2.5 min.
A small caveat - I preferred the previous activation sound for Running Wild. Regardless, I think its running animation should be slightly slower, as the mount speed upgrades and buffs cause Worgen to run more like Rabbits instead of Werewolves…
Of course, these are all merely my subjective ideas and suggestions, compiling and adding to the recurring ones I’ve found to have the most potential. I would be happy to read more ideas as to how Worgen could be treated. Now that Gilneas is restored, the time is ripe to implement long-requested changes and to expand upon the fantasy of Azeroth’s vicious and loyal werewolves
For Gilneas, for the Alliance - and have a great day
I like the idea of Darkflight being a leap that was brought up in the other thread too, and had an idea for something truly unique to us that we’ve seen in cutscenes and various NPCs that no one else is physically capable of thanks to our long claws: Clinging to walls to hang there.
A racial ability to, if we’re near a wall, stop all movement for a moment on a long cooldown and just hang on that wall would be flavorful and could be impactful if it’s able to be active in bgs and certain exploration areas, especially if it’s generous enough on how close is ‘near a wall’. Make the cooldown long enough and/or the duration low enough that it can’t be abused to prevent point captures ad infinitum or something dumb, and it becomes a way to get a better perspective and prevent or mitigate fall damage indoors.
Thank you, for your intriguing suggestions. The first is rather common and should undoubtedly be implemented. As for 2-4,if you are referring to Druids of the Pack customizations - while I like these in concept, I’m not sure they’d fit with the playable Worgen being Gilnean humans bitten by the Feral Worgen summoned by Archmage Arugal. Perhaps these could be additional options for Druids, perhaps an allied race, or indeed given as wider options following a lore setup. I’ve heard many a time the idea that a story event empowering the Worgen connection to Goldrinn would be an appropriate lore opportunity to introduce tail options. I think that would also be where the Lunar/Elven connection enhancements would make the most sense
This is absolutely incredible, thank you for sharing the image, and well, I don’t see a reason as to why these shouldn’t be implemented. I personally think that the Worgen theme would be greatly enhanced if our human forms indeed looked more feral and lycan, and our Worgen forms looked… well, a bit more like their alpha versions. As far as our release models stand, being a regular WoW human and then a Worgen can feel slightly disconnected. Even small details that would mesh the models a little bit, or even allow for more personalized customization that carries over between the two forms could go a long way towards making the playable race more immersive, lore accurate, and in line with both the original designs and depictions by Blizzard artists - e.g. Worgen with humanoid hair reminiscent of the Alpha models. More Victorian Gothic and/or classical Werewolf inspired options would certainly appease many Worgen fans, and perhaps even entice others to try it out
I would like to remind everyone reading that this thread is, of course, not to ask for a remake of the present models as that could cause quite the uproar… Hah, I made a joke… But, rather, to advocate for and discuss what further options be added to the race to allow for more flexibility and expression befitting with both the fantasy and original design intentions for the Worgen appearances (hence, De+Modernizing the Worgen models - reintroducing the old and unimplemented options with the current graphical fidelity of ‘modern WoW’).
An interesting suggestion from you, as always… though I am not sure if wall-hanging is something that could technically be implemented to WoW… and how it would work in PvP or M+ could, or could not, situationally either break the game, create unfair advantages or just be underwhelming and lead to the user’s demise
Wolves are pretty notable for their inability to climb. Come to think of it, why are claws even part of the general werewolf fantasy? Unlike most other carnivorans wolf claws are basically track cleats. They’re not particularly long or sharp and aren’t much use beyond traction and stability while running. Running wild and dark-flight are pretty apt for a wolf-creature. They’re endurance runners and pursuit predators.
Bear claws are basically a biological equivalent of a backhoe. They’re huge and excellent for digging. And much like the noble backhoe, they can also be used to tear open your car door.
It’s the kitties that have the murder mittens. They’re excellent for climbing but tailor made for grappling prey. Unless you’re a cheetah, then we’re back to track cleats.
If you are not already, I suggest you unironically make a career as a comedian immediately. I mean this as a compliment through and through. You WILL be extremely successful.
On topic though, Ephram’s wall-hanging suggestion is interesting, perhaps not entirely fitting as you explain, but the biggest obstacle to it as far as I can see is the engine and technical design of WoW.
The Skyscale mount - Guild Wars 2’s prototype of Dragonriding - can cling onto walls, but our mounts are as of 2023 still incapable of this Azerothian reality-defying feat. Perhaps the Old Gods possess the power to achieve such immense display of strength and might. As it still stands, leaning against any slope in WoW will cause you to roll over until you hit a vertical plain. The only way we’ve been able to cling to walls so far is in the Rock Climbing world quests introduced with Dragonflight… so perhaps there’s a chance that could happen mechanically… but what do I know about game design?
Pack behavior should really be the focus of any kind of worgen racial revisit. Wolf pack behavior is their most iconic feature. What a cooperative hunting racial would look like, and how to make that work beyond some kind of boring % stat buff in the company of other worgen is the question.
A very interesting suggestion. I think going by current mechanics, Viciousness could become: “Increases critical strike chance by 1%, and by an additional 1% for every party member within X yds” so, max +5% for Worgen in the party 4% for others, but I agree with you that would be boring. Maybe something with Darkflight after all… maybe a slightly bigger speed increase, again - a leap, or maybe some other small party buff ability altogether
Maybe some kind of bonus based on who theyre in a party with. Like a basic bonus for other races, but something extra if theyre with other worgen or a druid. And some extra affinity for hunters with their pets.
That probably works very well. Maybe add extra 1% nature or physical damage, or pet damage to Viciousness… I fear people might complain about this, even though there are far better racials and its beta version was just a flat 1% damage increase.
I have and always will disagree with this idea. Worgen have never had tails in this game, many depictions of them in mythology/fantasy don’t have tails and I feel that tails just make them even less ferocious and dilutes them.
I personally would probably not use it if it were implemented, but we cannot deny it’s an extremely popular request so it would have been silly of me not to include it. Anyhow, there certainly is Blizzard art depiction Worgen with tails, both before and long after they were introduced. I actually tend to agree with you that they might not fully fit the models we have now… but I’ve seen images of the Cata-Alpha female model photoshopped to have tails, and I thought they looked twice as ferocious as either the models we got with Cata or their Shadowlands update. I think male Worgen looks pretty great nowadays but could use a more upright posture option.
