A small visual change in the latest WoW Forever beta build has caught the attention of players, and some are already asking Blizzard to give them the option to change it back.
The transmog issue relates to where shields sit when they’re sheathed. In an earlier beta build, when the level cap was still set at 20, shields were positioned higher up on a character’s back, closer to the shoulders. The newer build has moved them further down towards the centre of the character’s back. This has caused major clipping issues when it comes to character models, in particular with capes.
Xarkin highlighted the change on the official Blizzard forums, pointing out that they preferred the higher shield position seen in the earlier build. They also suggested that Blizzard could simply add a toggle between the two positions, similar to the options already available for weapon placement. Additionally, another post on by Anardin on Reddit showed more examples of the change.
Could This Be A Bug?
Interestingly, the difference doesn’t appear to be equally noticeable across every race. According to the player who reported the issue, Dwarves seem to show the most obvious change, while the difference is much harder to spot on races such as Humans. That makes the issue particularly noticeable for anyone planning to roll a Dwarf Warrior or Paladin when Forever launches.
This change came with the new beta build for Forever, and the shield positioning changed between two recent builds without any indication that Blizzard deliberately wanted to move shields lower on characters’ backs. The only noted change in the new build was that the visual size of weapons have been adjusted across all races. It’s therefore possible that this is an issue with the latest build or a change that slipped through during development.
For now, there’s no indication that Blizzard plans to add a shield-position toggle. With the game still in beta, though, this is the feedback that will influence the final version we see on November 4th!