After much distress and worry, the fix for the mysteriously shrinking male orc shoulder graphics is going live in 2.2 as opposed to a later patch.
The bug was first reported on the PTRs for the recent 2.1.3 patch, but despite this managed to make it to live. CMs assured players that they were aware of both the change in male orc shoulder size and off-hand size, but were unable to give a solid timeline on when the fix would go in, hinting that it might be in the next big content patch.
With the introduction of in game voice chat, in game video recording for the mac client, and a variety of other features, it's understandable that such a small bug might not be Blizzard's first concern, but their willingness to acquiesce to the community's desire to have this fixed quickly is refreshing.
