The Bear Necessities... [important news for bear lovers]

[Wain]

As you probably know, the model of our beloved bears is changing in Legion. And regardless of whether you like the new model or not you'll most likely agree that it looks very different to the old one and that the forced change on an existing pet will be somewhat jarring. It's unusual for them to completely replace a model with one that looks so different, so I'm not sure why they chose to do it with a popular pet like this. But anyway, they are.

Fortunately, however, a very kind soul at Blizzard has offered a solution of sorts. Or at least a way of still getting the old appearances. Essentially a number of existing rare bears are being changed back to their original, retro looks, with a few new rares created to cover the rest. In cases where two current rare bears share the same look, one has the retro look and other seems to have the new look. So if your bear is already a rare tame (such as my beloved Bjarn) then you *may* be in luck and it may retain its appearance. Otherwise you may have to seek out an appropriate rare if you want to swap in the look.

Not all looks are covered so far.

All looks have now been discovered!

Rares that have been switched back to their retro appearance :

BearSkinBlack : Ursol'lok

BearSkinBrown : Mongress

BearSkinDrkBrown : Grizzled Ben

BearSkinWhite : Bjarn

BearSkinBlueDiseased : Mange

BearSkinBrownDiseased : Big Samras

BearSkinWhiteDiseased : Hibernus the Sleeper


Looks covered by new rares :

BearSkinBlue : Grimrot in Felwood. This version possibly only spawns during the day. At night it has been spotted using a different ID and appearance (below).

BearSkinBlackDiseased : Grimrot in Felwood. This version possibly only spawns at night. During the day it has been spotted using a different ID and appearance (above).

BearSkinDrkBrownDiseased : Ol' Muddle in The Hinterlands.


Existing rares that still use the new bear look:

Old Grizzlegut
Little Bjorn

[Quiv]

Wow a great compromise imo! They could update a lot of old mob families with this method.

[Vephriel]

Bless you kind Blizzard soul, I hope this will be possible for all of them eventually. I just cannot stand the new bear look at all. I'll be a bit sad to let go of my diseased black bear to retame (he was the original "Welcome Bear" mob pre-Cata, the beast I tamed technically doesn't even exist anymore so hanging onto him has been a nostalgia factor for sure), but if it means keeping his old look I think I'll do it because the new diseased "black" bear is atrocious and not remotely the same colour scheme. A very good compromise though, and I'm thankful to them.

[Wain]

(he was the original "Welcome Bear" mob pre-Cata, the beast I tamed technically doesn't even exist anymore so hanging onto him has been a nostalgia factor for sure)

Hmm, can you check his NPC ID? If it's no longer in the game, it may not have been changed in the first place. It's worth hoping anyway

[Vephriel]

(he was the original "Welcome Bear" mob pre-Cata, the beast I tamed technically doesn't even exist anymore so hanging onto him has been a nostalgia factor for sure)

Hmm, can you check his NPC ID? If it's no longer in the game, it may not have been changed in the first place. It's worth hoping anyway

Actually you know what, looking on Wowhead it seems it's the same ID for the diseased black bears that they used to have in the plaguelands. I'd assumed they'd shifted things around after the Cata revamp. Drat, that would have been nice if he had stayed the old model by being grandfathered.

Speaking of Wowhead, they have the new model shown there of course and I'm still not over how different these colours are. How is the new one "black"? :/

[Wain]

I know, the new black is nothing like the old. The colours weren't matched very well at all. And the old white was bright and shiny, while the new one looks like that sad polar bear in the zoo that had mould growing in its fur. Given that, and also the fact that the eye colour is just slopped around outside the actual eye ball like someone couldn't paint within the lines, makes me wonder if they put these together in 10 mins :/ Good black colours require more effort than regular colours and I dont think they wanted to bother. With the eyes... either they were very careless or maybe they were based on the druid skin and there's supposed to be a glow masking the sloppy colouring? I don't know.

[Vephriel]

Grumbles >(

[SpiritBinder]

The Black bear is one of my biggest grumbles too, they are not even a dark grey/grey, but rather bright maroon/brown. It's really perplexing. As an artist, you'd make the white white, the black black, and if you got the shades of brown a bit wrong, it's more forgivable. But not making a black bear black, What the..?!?

Also, if anyone else has Legion access and would like to support Wain's post regarding the Bear changes, please don't hesitate to write a little something if you feel the same. The more they realize the discrepancies and the impact it's having on bear lovers/owners, the better.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/20042844922#1

[Kalliope]

*weeps quietly* Thanks for the heads up, Wain! (And for all the related help.) I love this compromise! What a great idea, especially since rares are pretty popular as tames.

Sadly, my poor Ursa's model got changed even though he's no longer available within the game (1189 - Black Bear Patriarch; one of the old Loch Modan bears). He's been with me from the beginning, so I'm sticking with this specific bunch of pixels, no matter what happens. Maybe if things are still getting tweaked, we'll see the unavailable IDs grandfathered in too.

All the love to our kind-hearted dev benefactor regardless - I'm glad the option is there for anyone who comes in late.

[Wain]

I can reveal that we have a new Blizzard benefactor! I can't give any more details than that, but he was very kindly referred to us by Jeremy (who now has a whole team of designers to manage, not to mention a baby, and isn't really in a place to implement stuff anymore).

He isn't involved in general hunter stuff, just the taming stuff that we're all about here

So he's the one that went through (of his own initiative) to revert those rares to retro looks. If you see any special tames in Legion, they are probably his, too. He's been incredibly nice and helpful

[Kalliope]

Thank you, mysterious new lurker dev! <3 If you'd like a code name, you are more than entitled to one!

[pawprintedheart]

Awesome news for those who preferred the old bear models! I, for one, wish they'd do something similiar with the wolves...I'd give anything to be able to tame the newer draenor models earlier in game -wistful- The lower level wolves are so outdated it's painful. A system like this would let them upgrade some old models, while still keeping some.

[Quiv]

Cheers to the new dev lurker! We appreciate your care!!

[zedxrgal]

This is an excellent idea.

But. (yes I am going to be that girl)
I am kind of disappointed. I was REALLY REALLY hoping they would just fix the new bear model. Again this idea is AMAZING and thank you to our new lurker who made it possible. Like Kalliope none of my girls' bears are rares. Also like Kalliope they've had them for YEARS. My worgen I made when Cata first launched ran to Silverpine not even at level 10 (almost there) to tame a diseased black bear. She still has him and has used ONLY HIM since 2010. Sadly she will have to use him as the new swayback. Which for me is really ...................... disappointing. I am one of those weirdos where taming a new /old one isn't the same.
Again. The idea is great. It is. And I'm happy the rares will have their old selves. But just bummed that they didn't fix the new model.

I know it's super early in alpha though. So. I am still hopeful.

[SpiritBinder]

I can reveal that we have a new Blizzard benefactor! I can't give any more details than that, but he was very kindly referred to us by Jeremy (who now has a whole team of designers to manage, not to mention a baby, and isn't really in a place to implement stuff anymore).

He isn't involved in general hunter stuff, just the taming stuff that we're all about here

So he's the one that went through (of his own initiative) to revert those rares to retro looks. If you see any special tames in Legion, they are probably his, too. He's been incredibly nice and helpful

I would also like to say a MASSIVE thankyou to...

Shem, Son of Noah, Guardian of the Bears.

[Kalliope]

SB, I love you. xD Thank you for preserving the tradition!

Welcome, Shem!

[Bendak]

Nice compromise!

Thanks and welcome to our new lurker.

[Wain]

Update: In the latest build Grizzled Ben has indeed reverted to his original colour, bearskindrkbrown!

This leaves three original bear looks not covered by old rares. See the OP for details. If they're out there (maybe?) I hope someone will find them

[Vephriel]

*crosses fingers for original diseased black bear*

[Quiv]

My worgen waits nervously for the fate of BearSkinBlue, his first wild tame (named Raze).

Because if you break Raze's back...