Here's my opinion on why Morgl the Oracle is the worst secondary hero we've received. I'll be referencing details from both heroes, Lady Liadrin and Morgl the Oracle to compare the two free secondary heroes as I believe they should be on a similar level, where as the paid ones such as Medivh should not be compared with these two.
It's recommended to open the pages of Lady Liadrin and Morgl the Oracle to get a side-by-side idea of what I am speaking of in my analysis and hopefully understand my point of view.
In my opinion, Morgl the Oracle is the least interesting and most poorly fleshed out secondary hero we've received yet. Frankly, the only selling point that he seems to have had is that he's a Murloc, and anyone that's a fan of that race might feel more of an urge to get him. Consequently, the fact that he's a Murloc can also be a downside, as not only can it be unappealing to someone that doesn't like the tribe, but also to someone that was expecting more of a serious hero for Shaman such as Nobundo.
Aside from just thematic issues, there are a lot of problems with how Morgl the Oracle is presented into the game as well. Morgl the Oracle just feels really ugly to look at. This has nothing to do with his face, mind you, but everything to do with the environment his portrait is based on and the effects that were added to it. Out of all the lore-friendly places in Azeroth where a Shaman could be found standing, Blizzard had to go out of their way to pick a beach to further show the already evident fact that Morgl the Oracle is a Murloc! Because clearly, having green skin and large orange colored fish-hair isn't enough. Now, I was not expecting him to be standing at the mouth of Deepholm or converging from the middle of Maelstorm, showing us the extent of his elemental power, nor was I implying that he should have been fighting Deathwing on a flame-war to be called a Shaman, but, standing in a place that isn't so "washed out" would have done this guy a lot of good.
What I mean by "washed out" is that choosing a beach to paint this portrait on not only bores the viewer by playing to the already known trope that Murlocs like beaches, and shores but also that it's just generally a really boring sight to look at. The colors are bland, there's not much action. Nothing really speaks out, and everything looks dull and thus, lazy and not at all motivating. I don't feel like immediately picking this hero and going on some crazy Aggro Shaman ladder spree, because he just doesn't do much to energize and excite me. Now let's look at a hero that does do all that, and is one of my favorite ones that Hearthstone has to offer... and if you don't know who that it is, it's Lady Liadrin.
When I look at Lady Liadrin, there's an instant pop of color and brightness that shows her glory and the beauty of Silvermoon and the Blood Elves. My eyes are immediately drawn to her raging personality, and make me want to know more about her. Where is she standing? Does she have a backstory? And that sort of excitement is just want Morgl the Oracle lacks. Not to mention the fact that he has no lore-background as of yet. There's say that he might play a role in Legion, but right now, Morgl the Oracle is a literal no-one in the Warcraft universe. Anyways, back to why Lady Liadrin is so awesome. There's so much going on in her portrait. From the fiery look in her eyes, to the yellow dust and particles flying around to the amazing light rays shining down behind her. It's an intense, and roaring hero portrait. Even better than the original Uther Lightbringer. A lot of this intensity has to do with the angle she's been drawn on as well.
Now, when I look at Morgl the Oracle, all I see is a Murloc standing... eh. There's some black-ish smoke flying around in the portrait, now I'm supposed to believe this is either sand but it just feels really out of place, because I don't even know what it really is. Is there a tire factory in the background and this is the smoke that comes out of it? Does Morgl the Oracle live in a pollution-high area and his lore is based around sending the hero to shut down the factory while spreading good environment missions? I may never know because once again, this guy has no lore!
One of the worst things about this portrait (that evidently is one of the best about Lady Liadrin's) is that it has no true color palette. It's a mish-mash of washed out, boring colors that portray nothing to me. There's no energy in the colors, which again has to do with the beach setting. If Morgl the Oracle stood in between firing thunders and lightning shots, he would have looked a lot more epic and the color choices in his portrait would have been a lot more cooler!
Furthermore, there's no point of focus in this hero portrait. I'm not sure where to look and this is largely due to the fact that Morgl the Oracle's face is to the very side. The center of the image shows his hand, and that is not the point of interest. His hand could have been shifted to the side, and his face could have been moved closer to the center with a bit more animation to feel more realistic. There's a lot of excess space left in front of him that could have had something interesting rather than just sand, maybe a moving crab or flying dust? Just anything to indicate more movement and energy. The water moving in the background is a nice touch, but alas even the water is empty in the short image we've been shown.
His entrance animation also disappoints to a certain degree. The bubble doesn't look too realistic, and has a bad cartoon-y look to it. My Windows 7 Desktop Bubbles Screen Saver looks a lot better! Google it if you want to see what a realistic, digital bubble looks like. Comparing it with Lady Liadrin's is quite literally a joke. She has a fast, orange-ish light beam following her as soon as she appears and she immediately flies over to her position, leaving a strong and bold presence on wherever she lands.
Lady Liadrin's emotes are quite nice and interesting as well. "A mistake, to be sure..." is the best BMing tool I've had since "Whoops!". I can't tell which emote is which in Morgl the Oracle's set. I get it, it makes sense for him to speak the Murloc language, but many of his emotes don't relay as much emotion as ones from other heroes do. Now this may be because I don't know the Murloc language, but never the less, it does disappoint on that regard.
In the end, it's free stuff, and I'm certainly not complaining, but would have been nice if Morgl the Oracle was just a bit more fleshed out. It really would have made for an amazing hero! A Murloc hero that got not only the Murloc elements, but the Shaman elements right would have been spectacular. But alas, Blizzard would much rather prefer picturing us in front of a washed out beach than an intense lightning or fiery landscape.
I thought (and still do) that it was silly for all these people to create smurf accounts just to recruit themselves and work to lvl 20 for a friggin picture. Who the hell cares??
I actually happen to like Morgl's emotes. I find <Curses!> to express my frustration about making a misplay works better almost all the time, and I'm not really one to use oops on my opponent's mistakes, so BM value isn't really a consideration for me. However I totally agree with you on the background and the entrance animation. When I heard that Blizzard made a murloc hero, I was kind of expecting something more dark and deep ocean-style, like with Coldlight Oracle. I think that would have worked a lot better for the shaman hero.
Also, even with all that you've said, I still personally find Khadgar the most boring hero. His pose is really generic and the animations I thought were kind of simplistic.
I absolutely agree that losing Farseer Nobundo for this was a huge disappointment. HS needs a Draenei hero and now we're drawing farther from that... Also, his emotes being only written is dull. Sir Finley Mrrgglton is also murloc but speaks the common tongue. Why would a powerful murloc shaman not?
That being said, I still think he is cool and a refreshing/unexpected move. In fact one of my 1st actions after getting him was smash some secret palas in the Wild ladder with face shaman.
Do you really like Lady Liadrin's portrait? It is one of the ugliest for her, it makes her looks like a man at a quick glance. And I still shudder in she saying about "hammers with holy fire" when she is holding a sword in this art. No, " because they use spells that materialize hammers" does not cut for me, specially when we only have what? Hammer of Wrath as the only spell !?
I think he looks decent, but could look better. I also think blizzard cheaper out by not retexturing the hero power. Its dark theme looks completely out of place next to morgls bright portrait.
I don't know what kind of sane mind could think that murlocs are CUTE . They are horrible mutated half-fish creatures that attack and destroy everything.
Im just here to say that morgl is probably my favorite hero.(medivh maybe cooler "checkmate, well done" :D) I think its cool to have a murloc hero. I didn't play too much wow/warcaft so don't blame me, because i like a cute murloc better than random humans and orcs.
I disagree. Khadgar is the worst. I don't like his voice lines, and his hero power animation is an arcane missile, while the power is supposed to be "fireblast". They didn't even bother to change it to arcane blast?
Lady Liadrin is the second worst in my opinion. I also do not like her voice lines much, but i suppose they suit her because it is paladin-like. The hero power animation is cool though and i love the tray colours and design. The hero portrait itself is nothing special, but i don't mind it was free.
Morgl the Oracle is definitely the best freely available hero. His emotes are humourous and i really like the portrait and tray. The hero power animation is also very cool. I actually stopped playing shaman over a month ago because i got so sick of thrall and his bland voice lines. It was worth grinding a new account to 20.
Flawed logic to assume that since we have Morgl, another shaman hero is out of the question. There are two extra mage heroes (and Khadgar is my favorite one!).
I thought (and still do) that it was silly for all these people to create smurf accounts just to recruit themselves and work to lvl 20 for a friggin picture. Who the hell cares??
Someone needs to take a chill pill getting this riled up about a digital portrait.
The dude is just expressing a valid opinion and discussing how he feels about the heros. There is nothing wrong with that, so if you have nothing to add that is constructive please do not reply.
I thought (and still do) that it was silly for all these people to create smurf accounts just to recruit themselves and work to lvl 20 for a friggin picture. Who the hell cares??
I actually happen to like Morgl's emotes. I find <Curses!> to express my frustration about making a misplay works better almost all the time, and I'm not really one to use oops on my opponent's mistakes, so BM value isn't really a consideration for me. However I totally agree with you on the background and the entrance animation. When I heard that Blizzard made a murloc hero, I was kind of expecting something more dark and deep ocean-style, like with Coldlight Oracle. I think that would have worked a lot better for the shaman hero.
Also, even with all that you've said, I still personally find Khadgar the most boring hero. His pose is really generic and the animations I thought were kind of simplistic.
Interesting points, but a little over-reaction.
I absolutely agree that losing Farseer Nobundo for this was a huge disappointment. HS needs a Draenei hero and now we're drawing farther from that... Also, his emotes being only written is dull. Sir Finley Mrrgglton is also murloc but speaks the common tongue. Why would a powerful murloc shaman not?
That being said, I still think he is cool and a refreshing/unexpected move. In fact one of my 1st actions after getting him was smash some secret palas in the Wild ladder with face shaman.
Do you really like Lady Liadrin's portrait? It is one of the ugliest for her, it makes her looks like a man at a quick glance. And I still shudder in she saying about "hammers with holy fire" when she is holding a sword in this art. No, " because they use spells that materialize hammers" does not cut for me, specially when we only have what? Hammer of Wrath as the only spell !?
Morgl is a strong and independent murloc and nothing you said will hurt him, FeelsMrglglgMan
Having a good time with the meta.
I think he looks decent, but could look better. I also think blizzard cheaper out by not retexturing the hero power. Its dark theme looks completely out of place next to morgls bright portrait.
I don't know what kind of sane mind could think that murlocs are CUTE . They are horrible mutated half-fish creatures that attack and destroy everything.
It's a fun, colorful portrait. You're overthinking the issue. I, for one, like it more than Thrall as my main Shaman face.
You made a post THIS long to complain about a FREE portrait that has zero real impact on the game? Get a life man
Seems ok.
Damn! So many words for something that has zero impact on the actual game...
If you say LUL in Twitch chat you are a moron. If you do it outside of Twitch - even more so!
Too long for me to read all.
Im just here to say that morgl is probably my favorite hero.(medivh maybe cooler "checkmate, well done" :D) I think its cool to have a murloc hero. I didn't play too much wow/warcaft so don't blame me, because i like a cute murloc better than random humans and orcs.
I agree with you Agithore.
I think this is probably my favorite Hero (and least annoying one). You just can't please everyone. Some will like it, some don't.
I disagree. Khadgar is the worst. I don't like his voice lines, and his hero power animation is an arcane missile, while the power is supposed to be "fireblast". They didn't even bother to change it to arcane blast?
Lady Liadrin is the second worst in my opinion. I also do not like her voice lines much, but i suppose they suit her because it is paladin-like. The hero power animation is cool though and i love the tray colours and design. The hero portrait itself is nothing special, but i don't mind it was free.
Morgl the Oracle is definitely the best freely available hero. His emotes are humourous and i really like the portrait and tray. The hero power animation is also very cool. I actually stopped playing shaman over a month ago because i got so sick of thrall and his bland voice lines. It was worth grinding a new account to 20.
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It's not that deep
Someone needs to take a chill pill getting this riled up about a digital portrait.
You do not truly know someone, until you fight them.....
Flawed logic to assume that since we have Morgl, another shaman hero is out of the question. There are two extra mage heroes (and Khadgar is my favorite one!).