Customizing your character in World of Warcraft will soon be free. Dragonflight is making one profession poor – and the community happy.
In World of Warcraft, there are plenty of ways to spend the gold you’ve earned. Whether it’s for repairing your gear, buying potions, or a long-distance flight – almost everything costs gold. However, one service will likely become free with the new expansion Dragonflight and ensure that all players can tweak their virtual appearance much more often.
What will change? Short and simple: The costs for visiting the barber in World of Warcraft will be eliminated with Dragonflight. If you want to alter your character’s appearance (face, eye color, jewelry, gender, etc.) at the barber, he will no longer charge you for it in Dragonflight. Please don’t ask how exactly the barbers of the world will still make money, but maybe they have lucrative advertising deals.
Why is Blizzard doing this? The exact reason is not stated; however, there are several clues that suggest a justification.
On the one hand, Dracthyr have more customization options than there are grains of sand. So, they may simply want to lend a hand to the new race – and everyone else – to let them express themselves visually more strongly and frequently.
The second reason is just as likely, and that is the “Inclusivity Offensive” that World of Warcraft has been pursuing for several months. This had previously led to the ability to change the character’s gender at the barber. Before, this was only possible for real money, which the developers said sent a bad signal to the community.
Even though the barber in World of Warcraft is currently quite cheap at max level and adjustments usually cost just a few gold pieces, it has been a barrier that can weigh heavily, especially for new characters and new players. Since it takes time to level up the first character, the barber is definitely a luxury that not everyone can afford.
Please note that this is still a change from the Alpha phase. It is certainly possible that Blizzard will change this again.
The community also wants transmog to be free: With the change, other wishes in the community have been sparked. It is hoped that transmogification will also lose its costs. With transmogification, it is possible to give equipment a different look. Unlike the barber, this service also costs a considerable amount of gold. Transforming an entire set can cost several thousand gold pieces and lead to acute gold shortages with regular changes (Yes, I’m looking at you, druid from my guild).
Transmogification is currently only free during a micro-holiday. Here, players would wish that this service would also be freed from costs to allow for more and frequent variety.
What do you think about the change? Do you think it’s good that the barber’s costs are disappearing? Or was the amount so small that it never mattered?
