This is a hot topic and something I need to really to express my thoughts on.
First and foremost, the Haranir are phenomenal! I love them so much, so much I am actually having inner turmoil about race changing this character. Just to give context, this is a HUGE deal for me as I am an advocate for worgen and have been vocal about customizations since the Cata alpha.
This actually has made me quite emotional, as nerdy as this may sound. My passion and history with worgen goes beyond Warcraft. Werewolves and wolves in general are one of the biggest loves I have had since my childhood. Worgen, while only based on werewolves, has been part of my essential desire to play Warcraft these days. I love their lore, I love what they are, I love the role play stories I’ve created with several worgen, and I am very, very invested in them.
As Haranir came around, I started playing with the customization options and I was overwhelmed. They are gorgeous. I love them so much! You guys absolutely nailed it on this race! So what’s the problem? While I have alt-itis, I still have my “mains” in which I do content on. This druid here has been my main since vanilla. As much as I absolutely LOVE the Haranir, I feel torn. My love for worgen is far surpassed the Haranir however, given the love and attention the Haranir has received for their customization, I feel a sense of jadedness, envy, jealousy, and absolute anger despite Blizzard doing a fantastic job with them.
This isn’t me ranting and raving about Worgen in particular like I’ve been known for. This is me being vocal about the older races in general. Over the years I have seen many, many threads with players who are passionate about the respective races that voice what sort of things they would love to see for -their favorite- characters. I have seen people collect different threads and consolidate them into one to make them more visible in one place. Many threads asking for the same things for their races, some asking for a variety of different things, most of it goes unanswered.
In the case of worgen, I know I’ve personally have poured my heart and soul into giving feedback. Look at the Haranir and then look at Worgen, or Undead, or even Blood Elves. It makes me sad and angry. Again, not hating on Haranir here but these other races are from the very core of the game’s universe. From an outside perspective, you would think that older races would have just as many, if not MORE options. When Shadowlands hit, it was clear what races were favored and what was left in the dust.
Old screenshot but this definitely shows the disparity:
I don’t think Blizzard realizes how detrimental this feels to players, especially those of the role play community. Appearances are practically -everything- for a role player. Appearances are also very important for people who aren’t role players too. I know there and those who don’t really care but this is a core factor to this game. It’s a form of expression to some, it is how we see ourselves in Azeroth.
What bothers me is how little has been done since Shadowlands. When the community asks about future customization, we are met with the excuse of “there will be more when the time for it is right.” This has actually been said NUMEROUS times and now it feels like a defacto/scapegoat of an answer.
So, with that, I must ask, “When IS the time right?” Over the years, there hasn’t been a single answer to this question and those interested and invested in their characters are put on the backburner. It almost feels like they don’t want to communicate or address this topic unless there is a spotlight but even then, they shift to the same answer as before… In fact, this just recently happened in Midnight’s Q&A thus why it has prompted me to make this thread. To make it a bigger deal because for over a decade, a DECADE, people have asked for the littlest things. It’s ok to say no, it won’t happen, but stop stringing us along and giving a sense of false hope. At least -communicate-.
"We want to roll out extra customizations, hairstyles, you name it, for the existing races, to continue to bring them up to parity with the very newest options. It’s not something we’re able to do all at once, but particularly where it makes sense and fits the story; we’re excited to keep adding them. Our long-term goal is to get to a place where, every race — whether brand new or one of the original ones — has roughly the same number of options."
— Ion Hazzikostas, Midnight Q&A
So I must ask the following questions:
“Particularly where it makes sense and fits the story” Why were no new customizations offered to worgen during the Gilneas Reclamation patch, the Emerald Dream patch, or even the awful Heritage Armor questline?
Goldrinn was very present in the Emerald Dream and for those who don’t know, the original worgen were Night Elves and Malfurion had banished the Night Elf worgen into the Emerald Dream. Night Elf worgen also exist in current WoW via Val’sharah and Felwood. Why couldn’t Blizzard give a quest to unlock the ability to be able to have a night elf form rather than a human form? You didn’t even need to create new assets for that! (Also keep in mind, night elf form and human form customizations are NOT worgen customizations but alas, I have always wanted to have my worgen be able to become a night elf - perhaps make new druid forms that are wolf forms for feral/guardian to give a nod to Pack Form)
I mean, we got Man’ari completely out of the blue now that I think about it. There wasn’t anything at all story related when this was added. It was added 10.1.7 and this featured the Dreamsurges along with Night Elf/Undead heritage armor quest chains. There was absolutely NOTHING related to draenei, Argus, or any of that. So, why was this given when it doesn’t meet your criteria of “Particularly where it makes sense and fits the story?”
Darkfallen customizations made more sense so no gripes about that other than void elves getting them but it’s fine. Their characters, they do them!
Night Warrior stuff was really good and I am glad I can now use the Night Warrior eye colors separate from the skin color.
Anyways, “Particularly where it makes sense and fits the story” Why weren’t troll beards added in the troll heritage questline? I personally am not a troll player but I know there have been a ton of requests for them.
Upright Undead/Worgen - Again, opportunity knocks, no response. Plenty of opportunity where the story fits to give it to them.
Blood Elf Hair Options for Void Elves/Void Elf Hairstyles for Blood Elves - Do I need to get into this one?
This all doesn’t just affect Character Customization, it affects future Class/Race combinations too because of the aesthetics. Again, we are met with excuses.
Please refer to this thread to see what I am talking about when it comes to this in more depth: Future Race and Class Combinations
“Particularly where it makes sense and fits the story” So why didn’t we get new paladin races introduced with the Tyr’s Guard? Why haven’t the Night Elves in particular gotten access to paladins? Know what doesn’t make sense? Man’ari paladins. Lightforged Shadow Priests, etc etc.
I know paladins, shamans, and druids all have class aesthetics via mount/animal forms/totems thus needing their own unique models to match.
When it comes to new stuff like mounts, totems, animal forms, etc etc, I completely understand these are a huge undertaking. It takes time and it takes money to make these things come to life in Azeroth. There are deadlines and there are things that take precedent over these sort of aesthetics. Many models share rigs though making new models and animating them are huge. New stuff, especially races brings amazing things to the game but it also brings a sense of sorrow when you look at your favorite thing become completely neglected. There isn’t a lack of feedback either nor a lack of visual references of what the people want.
What if you dedicated people to character customization and only character customization? Doesn’t have to be a whole squad. Could be like 2-3 people. Players are very devoted to their characters, some devoted to lore and all that. Think of how many people would race change simply because of new customizations that lets them create the character they have always wanted. In the case of worgen, I know many, -many- people who have told me they would play worgen if they had a tail option. It could only be a temporary thing until “the long term goal of having all races have the same amount of customizations” is met.
Communication is key here and after crusading for worgen for over 10 years, I can’t stand the feeling of neglect anymore. I’m not saying it has to be -right now- but please give us answers instead of “Particularly where it makes sense and fits the story” and “when the time is right.” That answer is no longer acceptable in my eyes. We are way past that now.