The Glyph System and Current Aesthetics

Not sure where to post this but given the system is currently tied to Inscription…I clearly went with “Profession”. It isn’t the /2 of the forums so maybe a mistake in terms of visibility.

Most of you are probably aware…you can use glyphs to change stuff about your character…aesthetics basically. I find it to be…lacking. That might be an understatement though.

In creating this topic…a handful of related topics come. Ill try and link those or at least their title.

Glyphs are pretty lack luster for me. I would suspect a lot of people feel that way whether they say so or not. I won’t lie and say I have looked at all of them for each class but speaking for Demonhunter and a couple of others, the number of options overall seems rather limited.

Looking at paladin glyphs it appears roughly half of the 10 that exist affect your Divine Steed. That’s fine! Don’t change it!!.

Demon Hunters. Several of them are for wings. Several for spectral sight. That’s fine! Don’t Change it!

What exists currently isn’t the issue.

I could probably wowhead the list of glyphs and keep going or we can assume a pattern here that multiple glyphs exist for 1 or 2 abilities and there are 1 or 2 left for other stuff.

I would really like to see Blizzard invest in this type of cosmetic stuff more and start implementing other glyphs that affect appearances for a class/spec.

More DH wing options. Other glyphs to infuse those wings with energy. Various color ranges for those to match tattoos or weapon/armorskins/themes. As other threads suggest…glyphs to changes the aesthetics of the color of an ability you use. Eyebeam color…as was mentioned in a smiliar thread. Chaos is green I get that but…it can still be at its core but just look different. Matching eyebeam colors to tattoos or Warglaives/armor is a great idea! Proc/chance based glyphs could be fun too. Occasionally when using X ability…Y happens. Occasionally a mini DH pops out and bites your targets ankles when you use eye beam, or something. It doesn’t do anything other than a visual thing of course. The little fella isnt doing any dps. That’s a crazy example but…that’s the provided example.

Paladins…I know this is heresy and anarchy for some but Blade of Justice…sigh. Paladins for me are hammer users. That’s what fits despite Ashbringer. How about a glyph that changes it from Blade of Justice to Gavel of Ideals or Gavel of (insert cool paladin themed word) and the animation is a hammer instead of a sword? I think it is either humans or dwarfs(pretty sure its humans) from Classic where they cast judgement and when they do they put their hand out instead of whatever it is they do now that I don’t like. A glyph for that animation. Even if that’s a human animation…How about something for Avenging Wrath for those Path of Ascension sets so it can match the transmog and players personal theme?

And on the note of animations…what about glyphs, or some other system, to change animations like the paladin example above? Different animations you can choose for spells. This becomes a massive topic as you consider the spells themselves across classes so I understand the significance of this…at a rudimentary level at least. Which abilities are subject to player choice? Etc. Etc. This is brainstorming =). I wouldnt say an Orc using a Human animation or Nelf but…just other options or even previously removed ones.

Something for alternative sounds? Like…guns that sound like guns? Not sure how that would work glyph wise. Older sounds for iconic abilities, at least imo, like Ambush or Mindblast. I assume those have all changed and don’t have that punchy sound I remember. (Insert Memberberry reference)

Something for the older animation for windfury procs…

I do realize that its much easier to suggest an idea than to implement that idea and no doubt quite a few incredible concepts have never been implemented in to the game due to the games architecture so I understand there are caveats and other political stuff outside of game architecture but player aesthetics are much more significant to players/experience than the current glyph system would suggest or the transmog system clearly does suggest. We changed up the weapon restrictions to a degree and I think ppl love that and they wanted it.

I would say that for every class there simply aren’t enough options that are interesting enough to use or that conflict with each other so they don’t get used. Player problem I guess but…I think glyphs on the whole would see a lot more relevance/use if there were more options. Whether its from the players who create topics in the forums or the ones who don’t say anything but would use them if they were compelling/interesting/engaging enough, I think there is a demand there as there always seems to be for player customization of your character.

This system as it currently exists would very clearly benefit Inscription. I do not advocate for the profession necessarily but would love to see that profession, alongside every other profession at this point, get a much needed pick me up but outside of inscription which is directly impacted with the current system, professions aren’t the topic at hand though implementing some of these ideas could come from them or other systems etc. Fun systems…not…those…other systems…

Finally…other threads…guess there’s only 4 I could find but…

The first thread. Wolves from is completely right from 2019 in the point he makes. I am not the only player looking for or having interest in this stuff and after writing all of this and reading/researching some of what they post my ideas aren’t really unique. Totally fine. I am glad though that I am not alone on this topic. There is plenty of room for the playerbase to brainstorm ideas. Not all ideas will make it in but the creative aspect/pool is logging in every day.

Looking over this and having ideas pop in my head alone there seems to be a substantial amount of missed opportunity with stuff like this. I hope its already on the discussion room tables but its also a trivial or side system so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was on a backburner for the first backburner but…maybe one day…

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