Shamans have been begging Blizzard to add new Ascendance forms for years, but they should be careful what they wish for. Blizzard is finally adding new Ascendance models in WoW’s 20th-anniversary update, and judging by the community’s reaction, they’re in dire need of a makeover.
In a Sept. 4 Reddit thread, players bemoaned the new Ascendance form models Blizzard teased earlier that day. “God damn that’s one hell of a monkey’s paw,” the top comment reads, which at the time of writing has over 1,700 upvotes. “These are the goofiest things I’ve ever seen,” one user replied, while another lamented: “15 years I waited.”
Responding to community feedback is one thing, but actually giving fans what they want is another—something that seems to have flown over the developer’s head in this instance. “Sometimes it’s hard to understand Blizzard. So many elemental models that they could choose from, and they make us look like a fucking scarecrow on crack. Unbelievable,” another user wrote.
Blizzard first added Ascendance form for Shamans in 2012’s Mists of Pandaria. Players have been criticizing the models since they launched for looking “ugly,” “evil,” and not in line with Shaman’s class fantasy. Understandably, Shaman players are desperate for change, but judging by the community’s overwhelmingly negative reactions, the new Ascendance form models totally miss the mark.
In the Reddit thread, players are suggesting anything and everything in the hope that Blizzard notices—and makes last-minute changes before the 11.0.5 update drops. “Legitimately just let us turn into the default elemental models. It’s that easy,” one player suggested, while another less-optimistic user said, “They could’ve just deleted the ability.”
One Redditor chimed in with the suggestion that Blizzard should add a glyph that lets Shamans keep their default character model while in Ascendance form, like Moonkin Druids. It’s an easy solution, but I doubt Blizzard will take this route since the studio’s hard work on the new models would go to waste.
We’ll have to wait and see if Blizzard responds to the feedback and changes the new Ascendance forms before they go live. WoW’s vice president and executive producer Holly Longdale recently said she thinks Blizzard “should have listened more to the playerbase,” and fixing these Ascendence form models would be a perfect way to demonstrate this new ethos.
