Jacob: I want to create a character named Acme, get him the Core Marksman Rifle pattern,
just so I can sell Core Rifles that say "Made by Acme".

"Less. Is. More." by Jacob - 05-31-06

These are words that Blizzard's artists need to hear and have bored into their psyches. There are plenty of good-looking weapon and armor models in the game. All low-level, all from before the first patch. Beyond that, it's like Gil Hibben took over the weapon design department. Everything's oversized, sprouting multiple spikes, and is glowing like it's radioactive.

Blackwing Lair was the climax of their attempts to make World of Warcraft look like the unholy child of D&D and Sesame Street. I mean, once you've stuck a flintlock pistol in a rubber dragon puppet and slapped the Eye of Sauron on top, your path to the Dark Side is pretty much complete.

The worst part about it is every new giant model and every new glowing particle effect they add means one more solid object your computer has to download and render, further contributing to the lag and performance problems that are becoming an increasingly serious problem in the game. I've dreamed of an "Enforce Racial Stereotypes" option that would render each character of the same race the same way, regardless of what they had equipped. Better yet, the removal of all dropped loot and replacing it with crafted items in the style of the race that crafted it. I doubt the goobers will care at all, as long as it still has the purple name, insane stats, and takes ninety-six consecutive play hours to acquire.

I just want to be able to play the game without worrying if the next weapon I equip is going to look like a Kit Rae reject being sold on late-night QVC. Is that really so much to ask?

"Coloring flux!" by Anya - 05-31-06

As you can tell, the coloring style is still in flux until I find something that I can live with (Read: Can do without it taking 24-7 to color and ending up with me pulling my hair out). I want to put the effort into it so it will look nice, but I don't want it to be such a time sink that we never update - Ah, the ever-present balancing act of the web-artist!

Diary of a Planeswalker is a fantasy comic created and owned by Anya Talisan and Jacob Matthew,
based in the worlds of Norrath and Azeroth, and copyright their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.
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