Casually Classic: Does cosmetic transmog belong in WoW Classic?

What the report says


 
 
 
 
 
 Originally I was going to tackle this rumor swirling about Classic Plus being a complete rework of the game — a “World of Warcraft 2.0″ as it’s being called. But this is a pretty unsubstantiated rumor at this point with little logic to it, and I’m also ready to take a break from the unrelenting speculation about BlizzCon’s announcement for the WoW Classic side of the game.So let’s push rumors and speculation off to the side and talk about something that might be just as controversial, depending on whom you ask.

The question for the day is simple: Does transmog deserve to be part of the WoW Classic experience, whether it be era, Classic Plus, or progression? And why are people so divided on this subject?The truth about transmogBefore World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, your look was your gear, period. Especially in the vanilla era, the joke was that we all looked like thrift store clowns bumbling about in the world wearing whatever would give us better stats — even if that meant a Paladin equipping a cloth hat because it helped her build. Yeah, I said “her.” There was a girl Paladin that one time.

I saw it in all the news feeds.But this changed with Cataclysm’s Patch 4.3, when transmog became a thing. This was a trend spreading through the MMORPG genre around that time of the early 2010s, and World of Warcraft couldn’t afford to be left out of what proved to be a highly popular feature with gamers. So from Patch 4.3 onward, players could change their appearances to other similar types of gear that they collected in previously.Now, everyone had the ability to look cool and put together. Normal, even. Of course, this quickly escalated into the fun fashion wars that plagues every MMO with cosmetics.

Key details

Transmog was the most visual expression of personalization and customization available, and you best believe that a lot of people cared about how they looked.For the WoW Classic run, transmog has only popped into the game only a single time: with the original 2019 servers when they progressed to Cataclysm. Apart from those realms, it hasn’t made an appearance elsewhere in the Classic space. But could it? Should it?The division of transmogWith the expected reveal of the next evolution of WoW Classic coming soon at BlizzCon, one of the (many many) questions that the community has concerns the possibility that transmog might be added to a new evolution of the MMO.Several months ago, a community-led project called the Classic Plus Project polled a whole lot of WoW Classic fans and players with 57 questions revolving around proposed features and decisions for Classic Plus.

This wasn’t a Blizzard-led effort in any way, but the project leaders hoped that the survey results might help guide the development of this game.Question 34 is the one that asked about adding transmog to Classic Plus, and the results were strongly against. A (slim) majority of 51% said that this would be a bad idea, while 28% were for it and the rest didn’t care much either way.So why are so many community members against transmog? There’s no one answer here, although a good portion might be ascribed to a protectiveness around Classic that seeks to keep anything from making it feel modern.

Goofy gear visuals were Classic, not coordinated outfits. That sort of thinking.It also is related to elite gatekeeping — raiders and high-level players grinding for those coordinated dungeon outfits who don’t want to be outshined by someone equipping some good-looking low-level visuals (“It diminishes raiding’s importance” is a phrase I’ve seen a few times). Other arguments I’ve read against transmog in Classic is that it devalues the gear you actually acquire (since you’re modifying the appearance), steals some of the subjective “vibes” of Classic, makes it more difficult for PvPers to visually assess targets, visual progression of gear is important for some reason, and — a refreshingly honest opinion — the ego of a grumpy community stuck in the past.The right to transmogThe more I read the arguments against transmog, the more I get a headache from pretty flimsy arguments that are, when you come down to it, nothing more than geeks gatekeeping.Transmog affects not one whit of player ability or power; it’s a for-fun system that allows players to equip the visuals of gear they own.