World of Warcraft’s upcoming Patch 9.1.5 for itsShadowlandsexpansion has been rolling out big announcements on its Public Test Realm, between quality-of-life updates, alt-friendly system updates, and a slew of new character customization options. The latest announcement confirms the nightbourne allied race will have the option to have the translucent glowing hand effect that many of the nightbourne non-player characters had when they were first introduced during theLegionexpansion in 2016.
With the release ofShadowlands,World of Warcraftintroduced a huge amount of character customization options, from hairstyles, tattoos, and scars to skin colors and ear lengths and shapes. Before this update, most of these customization options were unavailable, and those that were found themselves tied together on a single face option. Players were ecstatic to find that they could further shape their characters into more unique forms, and with better representation.
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However, players who play theallied races unlockable characteroptions introduced inLegionand continued in theBattle for Azerothexpansion were largely disappointed. Only a few allied races got customizations, and most, like the nightbourne, got nothing at all. That, on top of the fact that the existing nightbourne character options were lackluster when compared to the magnificent and unique NPC nightbourne models, left a sour taste in their mouths.
To make matters worse,World of Warcraftannounced during BlizzConline in February that it had no intention of adding more character customization options for the remainder of theShadowlandsexpansion. Players, especially fans of the allied races, were understandably upset by this announcement, but earlier this month,World of Warcraftreversed its statement, announcing that several of theallied races that were previously neglectedwould be getting some love, with plans to eventually update all of them. For nightbourne players, their characters can finally start taking on some of those awesome, iconic traits that made the Suramar zone and its denizens so memorable.
This announcement was pretty big.Blizzard has a history of being tone-deafwhen it comes to player feedback, so this complete reversal based on player feedback is an awesome change of pace. That, in conjunction with implementing several quality-of-life updates players have been asking for since the launch ofShadowlands, could be the start of a positive paradigm shift thatWorld of Warcraftsorely needs in light of recent bad press and hemorrhaging subscription numbers.
Many players cannot help but see a correlation between the sudden change of heartWorld of Warcraftseems to be experiencing with Patch 9.1.5 and thelawsuits that have been filed against Activision Blizzard–and for good reason. Those on the outside can’t know for sure if there is a direct link between the two events, but it isn’t hard to see a connection between them.
It is possible, of course, that the introduction of these customizations and other changes could be Blizzard’s attempt at turning over a new leaf and trying to listen to its players and developers. If that is the case, then it will need to take this trend and run with it ifWorld of Warcraftand Blizzard plan to regain the good faith of their audience.
