I’m having multiple issues with the decision to make next expansion’s gladiator mount models use the proto-drake skeleton.
The first issue I have is that I just don’t see how proto-drakes fit the general theme of the midnight expansion. Gladiator mounts used to be tied to the general theme of the expansion and would often be armored mount models of new mounts introduced in the expansion:
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in TBC they introduced netherwing drakes → the gladiator mount was an armored version of it.
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in WotLK they introduced the skeleton dragons → glad mount was a colour variation (they did do gladiators in wotlk dirty by giving armored skeleton dragons as ICC meta raid achievement rewards).
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in Cataclysm the first discrepancy happened when they made twilight drakes be the glad mount for the expansion when twilight drakes themselves got introduced in WotLK, but they were so on point for the general theme of the expansion that it was too good of a fit to pass up on.
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in MoP they introduced cloud serpents → glad mount was an armored version of it.
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in WoD they introduced gronnlings → glad mount was an armored version of it.
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in Legion they introduced storm drakes → glad mount was an armored version of it.
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all of a sudden in BfA they decide to make the glad mount a damn proto-drake (which if it were to ever be a fitting glad mount would have been in WotLK) that does not fit with the theme of the expansion whatsoever. In the expansion itself they released plenty other mount models that would have been a way better fit such as Pterrordaxes (personally not my favourite mount model in the game but at least I would be more understanding of making this the glad mount for the expansion since it actually fits the general theme), brutosaurs or since the expansion was so heavily focused on the war between horde and alliance they could have made the glad mount be faction based with the new updated gryphon model for alliance players and new updated wyvern model for horde players.
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in Shadowlands Blizzard went back to their roots and made the new introduced soul eater model the gladiator mount that also perfectly fit the general theme of the expansion.
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in DF Blizzard used 2 of the newly introduced dragonriding mount models for the gladiator mount that also perfectly fit the theme of the expansion.
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in TWW we randomly get bats that have nothing to do with the expansion as the model for gladiator mounts. Not only did these bats not fit the general theme of the expansion at all but on top of that had the most bland and uninspiring colour palattes imaginable. Luckily Blizzard listened to feedback from the community and designed a new look for the season 3 bat that looks really nice and added a cool design/particle effect on the wings on top of it, but the original model they were looking to use for TWW S3 was also a complete letdown. Blizzard could have used for example the “OC91 Chariot” or “Machine Defense Unit 1-11” mount as model for gladiator mounts that would have fit the theme of the expansion way better and this is just me taking literally 2 minutes skimming through the mounts they released this expansion.
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now in the upcoming expansion for the first time ever Blizzard is going to re-use a mount model to use as the gladiator mount AND OUT OF ALL THE EXISTING GLAD MOUNT MODELS IT WILL BE A PROTO-DRAKE.
Surely there will be plenty of new mounts added in the new expansion but Blizzard is taking the easy and lazy way out by reusing a model that has already been the glad mount in a previous expansion. It is a huge disappointment because we all know that Blizzard CAN do better, their art team has made some truly amazing looking stuff. It just doesn’t make sense how they can put this much work and effort into changing so many core mechanical aspects of PvP in the next expansion on one hand but then on the other hand display such a lack of care and neglect the pinnacle reward of WoW PvP when in reality it really wouldn’t take that long and be that hard to make the glad mount for the next expansion be something new and unique that would actually fit the general theme of the expansion as well.
I already know some people will probably say “WhO cAReS aBoUt tHe ReWArDs tHaT thE SaMe 10 PeoPLe wHO sTilL pLAy PvP in WoW WiLl gET anD WhAT tHeY loOK LikE.” to which I can only say that I hope that WoW is the only aspect of your life where you have this L mentality. 10 to 15 years ago when people saw someone on a glad mount walk by would go “damn that mount looks sick, i really want one too so i better get good.” and tried to actively improve and get better at the game. These people may have ended up never achieving a glad but at least they tried whereas nowadays the general mindset of players seems to have moved to instead of wanting to get better they just want the rewards to become easier.
For reference of what the new glad mount in midnight will be scroll down to the bottom of the official Blizzard forum post: FEEDBACK: PvP Changes in Midnight