We've all been there: Standing in the middle of Outland with a mismatched set of gear, or raiding through Icecrown Citadel with items you've picked up along the way -- and none of them matching.  For months now the players have been begging the WoW devs for a way to get the look of the armor they like while getting the stats from the pieces they need.  Enter transmogrification.  What exactly does it mean to "transmogrify" something?  Well the dictionary defines it as "to change in appearance or form, especially strangely or grotesquely; transform." 

I'm not sure about the grotesque part, but WoW's upcoming transmogrification will definitely allow players to transform their weapons and armor to look like other pieces -- for a price.  This doesn't mean that you can run around Tol Barad in Tier 12 that looks like you're wearing cracked leather.  There are limitations on how silly you can do with this.  For instance: You can't make plate look like cloth, or make a sword look like a wand.  And why would you want to?  Fancy yourself the Tooth Fairy?

The biggest limitation on the system is the fact that you have to already possess both items: The item you want to change, and the item you want it to look like.  Yep, us sentimental folks who have been holding onto armor just because we like the look of it will finally have our day!  And increased bank space.  Oh how the fashion gods have smiled down upon us.  I imagine this will spark a resurgence in collecting old and outdated armor pieces -- which is awesome as far as I am concerned.  Read the whole Blizzard post after the jump.

You’ve been asking for it, and we were listening. In patch 4.3 you’ll be able to customize the appearance of your weapons and armor like never before.

The Ethereals, emerging from the nether, will bring with them a new technology they call Transmogrification. They’re heading to the capital cities of Azeroth to set up shop and to offer adventurers a unique service -- copying the appearance of one magical item onto another. They only ask for a modest gold donation to recoup their costs.

Visiting a Transmogrifier will present players with a new interface that will allow them to change the appearance of an item while retaining its original stats. This means that you can raid in your paladin tier 12 Immolation set, but look like you’re wearing Lightbringer, while priests can bring Benediction back -- at least in spirit. Hunters can once again roam the jungles of Stranglethorn Vale in their tier 2 Dragonstalker set. You could even slip into the saucy tailored Black Mageweave set for that matter. You know, with the thigh highs, and the little gloves, and the cute little… ahem.

Placing an item into the Transmogrifier interface will offer a preview of how the item will appear once the change is applied. However, not all item pairings are compatible with Transmogrification. In general, only items that have stats can be used in the transmogrification process. You must also be able to wear both items when using this service. Ethereals don’t have much in the way of ethics, but allowing someone to appear as if they’re equipping unusable items crosses the line. Similarly, they won’t allow you to change weapon or armor types. Sneaky death knights can’t make that breastplate look like a cloth robe, and you can’t make a one-handed axe look like a two-handed axe, or transform a sword’s appearance into that of a mace. Guns, bows, and crossbows will be the exception to this rule. You will finally be able to retain your dwarf’s racial gun bonus while appearing with all the splendor and elegance of a bow wielder (or at least the relative silence of one).

Placing items into the Transmogrify interface will increase the gold cost of the process, and clicking the Transmogrify button (assuming you have the necessary funds) will put the appearance change into effect. The process can be reversed by clicking the undo icon on each item, and then hitting the Transmogrify button once more to save the changes. Any item that’s transmogrified will have text indicating it’s been altered by the process for all to see, similar to the item tooltip callout for reforged items.

Transmogrification encourages players to hold onto items with sentimental or aesthetic value, and the Ethereals anticipate that personal bag and bank space will be at a premium now that everyone will be hoarding their frilly pantaloons and leather jerkins. In anticipation of this new demand for additional storage space, they’ll be introducing a unique Void Storage service. What’s Void Storage, you ask? We’ll provide more details soon.

We’re looking forward to seeing how players choose to customize their character’s appearance, and hope you’re as excited as we are for the arrival of patch 4.3 and the Transmogrification feature. Do you have a favorite set or weapon that you’ll be bringing back? Let us know in the comments below.