--Restore Rogues' Stealth Animations--

#0 - Dec. 5, 2006, 2:25 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Dear Blizzard,

I humbly request that you restore our stealth animations to their state before 2.0 and TBC.

The speed increase to the animations looks atrocious. Our formerly "sneaky" animations now appear exaggerated and comical - Night Elves duck waddle, Orcs look like they've had too many at the club, and Undead look like they need a bathroom break (if that were possible).

I know you reserve the right to change animations/art style if you wish. However, players grow attached to the way their characters look and move - it's a part of our personality.

Do you remember when the "Fugly Rug" (the distended, amorphous bedroll) was added to the back of the Nightsaber mount? The community outcry, especially from Frostsaber riders, was so great that you removed it. Since animations have little to do with game balance, why not eliminate a grossly unpopular change?

I hesitate to make an ad populum appeal, but the rogue community has been united against this change. I've seen no support (literally, not one positive voice) and much outcry against the animation change. For a class that spends as much time in stealth as we do, a change to our stealth animations significantly impacts the way we view our characters.

Thank you for your time, and for the otherwise excellent game you've created.

Sincerely,
-Xandyr

P.S. I'll include some references.

Here are videos showcasing some unpopular animations (read the comments below the clips too):

Night Elf: http://youtube.com/watch?v=yYWVARG3dcA
Dwarf + Orc: http://youtube.com/watch?v=qVq95PcQu64 (the dwarf one I'm indifferent to - but the orc is about to fall over)
Undead: http://youtube.com/watch?v=MHmU_hGoCnM

Here are some threads expressing player discontent:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=49445482&sid=1&pageNo=1
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html;jsessionid=75D600D709BC2247CD827BE55D61A23A?topicId=46968821&sid=1
http://beta.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html;jsessionid=843DE797347E8DFB4556C74864ED2E93?topicId=1441631&sid=1
#121 - Dec. 6, 2006, 5:06 a.m.
Blizzard Post
The animation speed increase is a known issue and is currently slated to be corrected in the next patch.

Until then though I recommend playing the Benny Hill music while stealthed, it's totally hilarious.
#134 - Dec. 6, 2006, 5:19 a.m.
Blizzard Post
Q u o t e:
This reminds me of my Everquest days. One patch they completely changed all the run animations, and everyone ran like a complete fairy. Everybody hated it and complained and the next day SOE changed back to the old models, claiming that there had been an error, and the wrong animations had been used. Of course, the "right" animations never were patched in and the old ones stuck until I quit at least over a year later, strange indeed...


In this case an issue was resolved that caused the character's feet to slide while stealthed, and this resulted in the current issue you see now. I'll level with you and say that I don't understand the whole of the problem right now, so I'll leave it at that.

Q u o t e:
Drysc you win the "Ichi Ban Smart Ass CM" award.


Aw, come on. :( I'm just having a little fun.