#0 - May 28, 2009, 6:03 a.m.
This has nothing to do with resources that can/can't be committed at this time. It's just horrible game design, pure and simple.
Could you imagine if you couldn't choose what color mount you wanted, but instead it was chosen for you by Blizzard depending on your hair or skin color?
This needs to be changed before they go live. It's nice that there are a variety of skins, but the horrible, horrible implementation of how you "choose" from that variety will leave the vast majority of players frustrated, and feeling as if there's no real choice at all.
I've prepared this diagram to show the point visually:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/daystar_eld/Forms.jpg
Please, please fix this Blizzard. Make it so that you enter the barbershop while in Bear/Cat and can choose your color there, for each one, independent of each other and your hair. I really love the effort you've put into the new forms, but I want to be able to fully enjoy them, and with the coming system, I will only able to enjoy 1/3 of what you offer us at a time, unless I'm very lucky.
Hell, even the glyph system was better than this.
Edit:
To clarify.
This is as if you went to the ice cream store and were told:
You can have vanilla if you have blonde hair.
You can have chocolate if you have black hair.
You can have strawberry if you have red hair.
If you don't like it, change your hair color.
While I am thankful that Blizzard made multiple form colors:
This is not "You can choose your form colors," which is what I'm arguing for.
This is "You have been assigned a form color," which I think is stupid.
The fact that we must change our hair color to change our form colors is an unnecessarily restrictive system, and I urge Blizzard to allow druids more customization.
Edit 2:
People seem to be having trouble with what do and do not constitute arguments. The following are not logical arguments.
-"Blizzard has decided this, so there's no point arguing about it."
Seriously? What do you think these forums are meant for, just venting? This same "argument" can be made about anything in the game at all. This is a dynamic game that changes constantly. There is no special, divine attribute to the status quo. Blizzard has stated time and again they value constructive criticism and feedback.
-"Why can't you just be happy with what we got?"
Because I'm not an abused housewife. This change has been four years in coming. Blizzard is the best game company in the world. We can have better. If you're happy with whatever hand life deals you, fine, but don't try to make me sound ungrateful for working to get something better for myself.
-"What does it matter what your hair color looks like? You're in forms 90% of the time anyway."
By this logic, Blizzard should stop making new graphics for our Tier sets. Why bother designing a whole new armor look for our class, when every spec of our class is going to be in forms 90% of the time anyway? People care about what their character looks like, even if they rarely get to see it. If you don't, that's fine, but there's no reason you should force your lack of preference on us, when our desired system would not limit you in any way, shape or form.
-"Why would I be able to turn into a white bear if I have green hair? That doesn't make sense."
Hello? How could you be able to turn into a bear at all? Magic! You really think it makes MORE SENSE that if you turn into a bear, at least that bear shares your hair color? It's absurd to think that a druid, with the power to turn themselves into a bear, cat, sea lion, bird, moonkin, tree, and another cat, would somehow be unable to change something as simple as their hair color. Tell me, how does the barbershop allowing you to change your fur color make any more sense? They dye your hair something different, and that dye bleeds through to your form colors? Why? It's not my natural hair. They dye your fur in both forms when they dye your hair? Couldn't I ask them to dye my forms a different color?
Edit 3:
Q u o t e:-Zarhym
Much in the way specific physical features (i.e. horns, eyes, facial shape, etc.) found on bear and cat forms resemble the races to which they are linked, we feel it makes sense to tie the color schemes of these forms to the most identifiable coloring options of their respective races: hair color for night elves, and skin tone for tauren.
/endthread
I respectfully would ask that Blizzard reconsiders the color portion of this policy, as I find it unnecessarily restrictive to personal customization for our characters, and would like to take full advantage of the new forms you've provided us.
Thank you for your time.
Edit 4:
Since this thread seems to keep going, I'm going to add another point that many people don't seem to understand.
My character is not just a Night Elf. My character is not just a Cat. My character is not just a Bear.
He is a Night Elf, a Cat, and a Bear.
Because all three of these forms hold equal value to me, giving up my preferred hair color in one form to gain the preferred hair color in another is not giving me new choices except in the purest sense of the word. For those of us who care more about one form than the other, we'll choose the color for that form that we like and ignore the fact that we dislike the color chosen for the others by extension.
For those of us who care about their appearance ALL the time, we want to be able to take advantage of Blizzard's gift of variable options. In our opinion, it is unfair to us that those of you who like each of your forms sharing the same color get to fully enjoy this coming change, but we who care about all three of our forms looking their best are unable to fully enjoy this coming change.
With my suggestion, we would get to enjoy the change fully, and so would you, because you will not be losing anything. You will still be able to have each of your forms match colors.