Highlights
- A World of Warcraft fan suggests using class trainer NPCs to add new cosmetic options, giving them a purpose after their previous functionality was removed.
- The fan's idea is to turn class trainers into individual-class Barbershops, allowing players to customize the appearance of spells, abilities, and other cosmetic aspects of their characters.
- While it would require a lot of work, implementing this change would give players more control over their character customization and add flavor to the game.
A World of Warcraft fan suggested the idea of using class trainer NPCs to implement new cosmetic options into the game. This theoretical addition would finally give class trainers a purpose after World of Warcraft removed much of their previous functionality.
In early World of Warcraft, players had to visit class trainer NPCs to learn new abilities and upgrade existing ones, respec their talents and glyphs, and unlock dual specializations. However, much of this functionality was removed over the years: Mists of Pandaria changed it so abilities were automatically learned, and Legion removed almost every other use for these NPCs. The only thing these class trainers do in World of Warcraft now is provide access to the Proving Ground and change how certain abilities work.
Recently, WoW fan Portergauge shared an idea that would give these class trainers a purpose once more. He suggested turning these NPCs into individual-class Barbershops. Players of each class could visit their trainer to customize the appearance of certain spells, abilities, summons, and other cosmetic aspects of their kit. While implementing this change would take a lot of work, it would give players a great deal of control over their World of Warcraft character's customization.
The idea of class skins in World of Warcraft is not a new one. Players have created fan concepts in the past, such as shadow or moonlight magic for Forsaken and Night Elf Paladins respectively. There is even precedent for such customization in World of Warcraft already with glyphs that modify the appearance of certain skills, or the Warlock’s green fire quest unlock.
World of Warcraft also recently added the ability for Warlocks to customize their demons via the Barbershop, similar to how Druids can change their shapeshifting forms. Portergauge’s idea would take the framework of that concept and spread it to other classes, giving everyone the option to personalize the way their class looks.
Though many players would love this idea, the vast amount of work it would take means it probably won’t happen any time soon, if at all. That said, World of Warcraft has confirmed its plans to make every class playable by all races in the future. So far, each time it has opened up a class to other races, WoW has added new class trainer NPCs to the world reflecting the new combination. Class trainers don’t have much of a purpose anymore, but it seems World of Warcraft hasn’t forgotten about them yet, so there is still hope that these NPCs can find use again someday.
World of Warcraft is available now for PC.