Revamped Worgen and other things I want to see in patch 8.2.5

I’m not even kidding. It’s like all I can think about.

When the Worgen came out, I was generally pleased with them, except for a few weird things like the constant snuffling (which, to be fair, I don’t expect the model revamp to fix) and lady Worgen. Yeah, lady Worgen were and continue to be a problem. Why?

I’m glad you asked. Let’s take a look at why.

Worgen faces are just plain wrong, but they’re changing

Animals, especially wolves, do not snarl by lifting the back of their lips. If anything with a canine muzzle has the back of its lips up like that, then it is absolutely going to be baring all of its teeth — I’m not even sure that it’s a possibility but it’s certainly implausible at best. The purpose of a snarl is to reveal your threatening teeth. Not just the back ones, all of them. Go ahead and try and just lift the sides of your lips without parting the center parts around the philtrum and see how far you get, and how weird and unnatural it feels.

Heck, just google “wolf snarl” or “snarling wolf” and you’ll see what I mean. Canines don’t snarl this way. Even if you were to argue that female Worgen are patterned after foxes, foxes don’t do that either. This simply isn’t what anything with that kind of face does: it’s just bizarre. And worst of all, this is their default expression. This isn’t a special animation, it’s just how their faces look all the time, like they have massive carnassials jutting out of the sides of their muzzles and tiny canines up front. What predator has a dental structure like that?

This is why I’m so surprised and heartened by the redesign. This is far from a final version, but it manages to get that Worgen should be able to control their lips and not be stuck with that expression all the time. And when they do show their teeth, they show all of their teeth because that’s how canine faces work. It is miles ahead from the Worgen we have on live.

I mean, the fact that Worgen dudes and Goblins are getting a redesign is nice, but while they’re certainly behind the times they aren’t as awfully broken as lady Worgens have been ever since Cataclysm was in beta. So yeah, while I want those redesigns too, it’s Worgen women I’ve been so, so excited for.

Could we get a return to the starting zones?

Both Goblins and Worgen are getting their Heritage Armor in patch 8.2.5, and one thing I hope happens in their questlines is that we return to their starting areas. Those zones have been criminally underused, especially Gilneas — it’s time for some story advancement now that the Forsaken have been pushed out of Lordaeron. Have the Worgen reclaimed Gilneas? How does their past and the mistakes they made that led to so many of them being cursed changed them as a people? Who are the Worgen now, after having been not only driven from their homes in Gilneas, but then having their second home burned to the ground by the same person that drove them from Gilneas in the first place?

Seriously, all Worgen should hate Sylvanas. She’s driven them into exile twice.

Likewise, it’s been a long time since the Goblins of the Bilgewater Cartel left Kezan. Gallywix is still Trade Prince despite his having stolen all the wealth from his own people extorting them for an escape from the island when Deathwing was blowing it up. With N’Zoth out and about doing whatever and the Trade Prince firmly in Sylvanas’ camp, maybe it’s time to see if any Goblins feel like making a return to Kezan, where they once mined Kaja’mite freely and where the Azerite tip to Gallywix’s staff was originally found. Is there an ancient mine that leads to a huge vein of Azerite on Kezan? Is that why Deathwing destroyed it? Is N’Zoth going to bring Deathwing back from the dead? That last one, probably not.

I really want to see how Blizzard beefs up the history of these two races using the heritage armor quests. You’d think a Horde interested in holding on to Kalimdor would jump at the chance to get a new forward base for its navy in Kezan, and I definitely think it’s time for the Worgen to return to Gilneas.

Will we see new Allied Races?

I don’t expect we’ll get new Allied Races in patch 8.2.5, but if we did, there are two options that would make a lot of sense and which could be implemented in the heritage armor quests.

For Goblins, the Gilgoblins have been introduced to the Horde as part of the Unshackled, and I could see a questline that delved into the reason some Goblins became aquatic in the first place as part of the Heritage Armor quests. It’s a pretty big split and I’d like to see some discussion of why and how it happened. Did Hobart Grapplehammer actually create them? Or is he just taking credit for something else? Even if he did, if he got the idea from Kaja Cola, he may well have been doing the bidding of an Old God for all we know.

For Worgen, one idea I’ve had for a long time would be the original Night Elves who became Worgen and who were locked away under Daral’nir when they lost control of their rage during the war against the Satyr. One can pretty easily imagine Tyrande sanctioning an effort by Genn to find and recruit these ancient slumbering Druids to fight the Forsaken in Darkshore, bringing the Pack Form Worgen to the modern day. Slightly larger, with elven features like extended ears and lacking the ability to change back — at least, Alpha Prime/Ralaar Fangfire never displayed the ability, but maybe he just didn’t want to — these Worgen would be a more savage version of the current ones, and I’d love to see them.

We probably won’t get either, but while I’m dreaming, I’d love to see those two included as Allied Races. But just getting the model updates and Heritage Armor quests is good enough for me.