Quite the opposite, actually.
Yes, every quest involving Meerah has that ‘cutesy’ touch to it due to how her character is presented, and yes, that sticks out like a sore thumb to some.
But I’d argue that almost every other representation of vulpera in quests is the complete opposite - displaying them as resourceful, cunning, pragmatic and often times even quite ruthless.
Have you played the other side of these incursions? The vulpera are more than willing to fight back.
Nisha quite openly tell the player that “the Alliance gets the same treatment as the Sethrak”.
They were, and no one was happy with that change. That too speaks to the fact that Blizzard seemingly wants the Vulpera to be more innocent and precious than the other races of the Horde, which definitely adds to their alienation in common Horde discourse. It’s bad.
Yes, Nisha seems to be the one Vulpera depicted as the rest should have been, but they’re not. I’m not saying they are objectively worse or better, but the fact remains that seemingly, to most players, the vulpera stick out like a sore thumb and it’s not just because of their visuals.
Because unfortunately, most of the actually well portrayed vulpera NPCs are stuck behind side quests that most people skip out on, like Kenzou and his group.
Which is a damn shame.
That was Hoarder Jeni, not Meerah. Fair point regardless.
The wild scavengers that get things done (i.e nisha) aren’t iconic of the vulpera at any point or in any way. Hell, after the voldun intro i dont even recall a single moment where you see nisha in combat, she just assumes quest giver duty in/near the local quest cluster
Honestly I low key love that because unless you play a goblin or vulpera, this tiny three foot tall fox person is somehow able to reach the cheek of a seven foot tall (or more) elf, orc, or whatever absurd height zandalari trolls are able to reach.
That’s either one stretchy vulpine or she’s got some incredible jumping prowess.
That or Blizzard just didn’t think too much about the quest text, but clearly the intention was one of the first two.
Outside the Temple of Sethraliss in the final story chapter, if you can even count that. She just stands in one spot and fights a bunch of Sethrak for all eternity until you stumble over and kill them, at which point all she does is quip up with “those were my kills, I’m counting 'em”.
Oh, and the final battle against Emperor Korthek.
After that, though? Or inbetween? Nothing.
Obviously every taller race has to bend down to give Jeni whatever she asked for, thus putting your face in licking distance.
See, that’s a logical response. But then that implies that every character is performing the ‘How To Talk To Short People’ meme in order to talk to vulpera.
It would have been pretty cool to have the Vulpera be more like Fremen, ferocious desert dwellers that would slit your throat over a skin of water, alas Blizzard saw fit to damn them to Hearthstone levels of cutesy/jokesey territory in their initial presentation. Blizzard’s designers seemingly looked back to the process of the female worgen model and wanted a repeat so the alpha model was discarded and made more Disney-esque. One of the captains in Freehold retains the older version and it looks a lot better>
The vulpera children look like an absolute joke as well, like something you’d find in a toystore bargain bin.
oh yeah Vulpera children models are…freaking creepy and i am still a bit sad we didn’t get some colors for the heritage armor like Purple and Green as we have seen on npcs, or the hoodles version with the Collar.
Or the Black Hyena mount (Onyxhyena) which was even visible ingame as a mount for about a few weeks before patched out
Vulpera NPC Guards still ride them in Vol’dun.
The other models were almost entirely reskinned goblins. Even Eudora’s model is just missing a tail because of that, with permanently squinted eyes (and a sharper edges due to a lower fidelity model). They’re p much the same aside from that, just the models that players got are higher resolution. And, of course, NPC only armor, but that’s Blizz for you…
There are more slight yet incredibly devious changes from the alpha to the current model.
The skull is noticeably bigger, along with the eyes, their width and the irises which produce the same uncanny effect that barely being able to see the whites yields. Yet despite having larger heads they reduced the length of the fur on their cheeks to preserve a more round shape in line with the “cute” look. The shoulders and necks are wider to maintain a more fit and humanoid look that is more appropriate of a domestic animal rather than a feral one.
The alpha model’s smaller features and more angular tufts in comparison, despite being objectively lower resolution, present a more ratty look which looks a thousand times better and more befitting of a nomadic race of fennec foxes than the player model does. It’s a bit like the nightborne NPC:s which have a poly count that you could probably fit on the arm of the PC model but they look so, so much better because they adhere to a cooler style.
I did not expect to dismantle the design and implementation of vulpera today but here I am. Where did I go wrong?
I favor Eudora’s model too. Her arms may be a bit too long is all… And she poses exactly like the female Goblins. But her head and face and all look allot cooler.
Her snout looks a little bit sharp though.
Wonder what the male Alpha version looked like, If there ever was one
In less than 2 sentences explain why we can’t have playable Kul Tiran and Zandalari warlocks.
Bonus points if you don’t say “Because Blizzard said so” or “Their culture has nothing to do with evil spellcasters”, the latter of which we know is false.
The one argument Zandalari have is that they would be too prideful and see themselves above “petty” magics, but then again they did try and bind Hakkar to their will not long ago so that argument is flimsy.
Kul Tirans are not a race, they are just normal humans so there is no excuse.
Proof enough they would deal with demons and fel magic, no? Through priests they have shadow magic, mages arcane. Shamans the elements. So they don’t consider themselves above petty magics due to pride.
and i am still a bit sad we didn’t get some colors for the heritage armor like Purple and Green as we have seen on npcs, or the hoodles version with the Collar.
