What happens to all my Epix in WotLK?

#0 - Dec. 10, 2007, 7:51 p.m.

That is the question that will inevitably come up again and again as WotLK is released and many people who remember acquiring valuable epic items through hard work will once again realize that level 74 greens will be a true upgrade to their hard earned epics...it happend with BC and it will happen again.

The problem is that people will feel that their accomplishments are pointless and a waste of time - besides being annoyed and frustrated - players will feel defeated...I wonder if Blizz has learned from experience and has something in store for us.

Suggestion:

It is time for upgradeable epics. What we need is a system for armor and weaponsmiths/tailors/leatherworkers and engineers to upgrade epics with upgrade kits. Upgrade kits will increase armor and stats (by increasing the item budget) on older epic items. This upgrade kits may drop as blue items (or purple items) in various dungeons on the road to 80). This accomplishes the following:

1. People wont feel that their previous raiding attempts were a waste of time since you "dont have to" replace your hard earned rewards with level 75 green junk.

2. Older cool looking armor sets wont become obsolete - it is a shame to not see rogues in Bloodfang armor or Paladins in Judgment armor anymore. Some of the cooler armor sets and weapons will stay with us and add diversy to todays clones.

3. There may be a reason to go back and get older armor sets in roder to upgrade them and be somewhat unique.

4. Crafting professions will have another purpose. Not only will they be able to upgrade armor but the same system can be used for craftable epic items that start to become obsolete as new Tier X armor and weapons are released.

5. To remind everyone - the best upgrades arent supposed to be easier to get than up to date Tier X armor but just an alternative form in order to encourage diversity. For instance - there may be a level 80 version of Bloodfang Armor which is equivalent with the newest Tier X armor available at that time. The kits to upgrade the armor to that level will drop in the same dungeons as the current Tier X armor.

6. Instead of armor kits - you can also implement reagents needed to upgrade that drop in raids/instances etc.

7. (Optional - I think ti is nice but....Blizz doesnt seem to be the customizable kind of company) Upgrade kits may allow for customizing older armor where a certain item budget is provided and the player can choose with what to upgrade the armor/weapon.

Bornakk

#25 - Dec. 10, 2007, 8:33 p.m.

Q u o t e:
From past history...

we well acquire new, shinier gear to replace the gear we currently have.

I don't think we'll be changing from this mindset for Wrath of the Lich King. If you want the best gear you get to work for it as always and any new characters won't start off with a distinct disadvantage.

Bornakk

#128 - Dec. 10, 2007, 10:44 p.m.

Q u o t e:
TRANSLATION: Stop raiding and lawlrenaeing and take a break from wow the day they announce the Wotlk release date. I knew many people that raided naxx for hours on end and were so upset when the xpac came and all their hours spent in there were replaced with greens.

I also raided Naxxramas and nothing was replaced early on, mainly it was blues that were later in the leveling process and by that point it felt like Naxx was way behind me and the doors to everything in Outland were opening.

Bornakk

#131 - Dec. 10, 2007, 10:53 p.m.

Q u o t e:
I think you are missing the point the OP is trying to make, and its a point that many of us have made over and over again and blizzard still seems unable to wrap its head around.

The problem is that blizzard trivializes the effort long-time gamers have made to acquire gear by making it all worthless in the first few weeks of a new expansion. Nobody is asking blizzard to make those items give players an undue advantage in a new expansion. All people are asking for is to not have to actually throw the items away. The bonus need not be huge... it can be as little as a few stat points here and there... nothing that would effect the overall game. But doing that would have a huge effect on moral and not make it seem to those of us who have played the game for such a long time that we are just wasting our time when everything we work for is thrown into the trash every year.

This is a dynamic that blizzard should really think long and hard about. It is directly related to the duration and durability of the game. There are many, many long time gamers who want to see blizzard do something along these lines and not just do the same old cookie-cutter-throw-everything-away crap that they've done the last three years.

Also, with regards to armor sets and particularly the visual feel of the game, TBC turned nearly all dedicated gamers into tramps with such a mix of gear and incomplete sets that you couldn't tell quality if it hit you in the face. Being able to retain sets that actually look good would be a huge benefit to the game. All blizzard has to do is allow the sets to be upgraded (including their set bonuses) as a REPLACEMENT for the new gear. That is, at the point in time where you would acquire a new piece of you, you would instead acquire an 'upgrade' that you could apply to your existing gear. You still wind up with the same ilvl at the same point in time, the only difference is that it scales up your existing piece instead of giving you a wholely new piece. That would really be awesome.

If blizzard is just going to do another cookie-cutter gear replacement scheme like they did with TBC, that will be the end of the game for me. It's gotten old, and frankly its just stupid now.

-Burns

We have heard this request before and it is something we have chosen not to do so far. We have not added an option to upgrade items yet and while I understand you want it to be the same strength, having them retain armor models and provide an extra bonus (even small), can put other players at a disadvantage.

Bornakk

#138 - Dec. 10, 2007, 11:56 p.m.

Q u o t e:
and the only difference is stylistic and a continuous sense of ownership...what would be the problem?

The problem sounds like a stylistic advantage for some players.