Vendors with white gear? Why not green?

02/01/2013 12:06Posted by Borderlîne

Vendor gear could get soulbound when u purchase it ( bop )

Indeed that would be a solution, but the other part of the equation it would render the AH economy even more valueless for if people find they need to fill a slot with a better piece, they could just buy it from a vendor.

I think the balance here is right. Vendor gear is not meant to be "great" merely "adequate". Better gear is designed to be obtained by game interaction, not by shopping at vendors.

I think we're essentially discussing convenience vs gaming experience here. I would personally have to agree with the latter sentiment above, that vendor gear like this isn't meant to provide meaningful upgrades, such as from grey/white gear to greens for low level characters. Without high level characters backing you up, you have to go out and explore, fight and win to get better stuff.

For me at least, part of the fun when I start a brand new character on a new realm is having to quest for a while in the most basic of equipment. Then, when you get that first green and you can feel the difference in combat, it feels good, whether it's from a reward or a drop. Just running to a vendor and buying yourself some new gear that is equivalent to the quest rewards seems a little boring in comparison, it would take away some of that excitement. As it stands now, I usually go and grab the white gear for new characters as soon as I can afford it, because any upgrade, no matter how small, helps. And, at that level, grey/white stuff works just fine :)

Vendors for expansion switches would be nice indeed.
Especially BC->Northrend and Northrend->Cat. Especially Northernd->Cat would be nice, as for healers its hard gearing to be able to join Cat instances soonish due to ilvl requirement.

I have noticed (recently in fact) that the first few quests in Cataclysm can certainly be tough unless you're in really good gear from Wrath. However, you get some great upgrades from those quests which make things easier almost immediately. So I still question the need for vendors at expansion junctions, considering how quickly you pick up replacement gear.

There are vendors in Crossroads that sell green gear, also in Sepulcher and Hillsbrad. They are in other places too like Duskwood.

http://www.wowhead.com/npc=3658 Lizzarik <Weapon Dealer> for instance

Yeah but by this stage, green gear and some blue items are readily available through quests and dungeons, so it's not like the vendor gear is a significant upgrade. I think that's the argument here, to be able to buy gear that's better than what's available through normal levelling, am I right?

02/01/2013 16:00Posted by Eolien

So I still question the need for vendors at expansion junctions, considering how quickly you pick up replacement gear.

I think the best part about it would be the simplicity of being able to change your spec at the beginning of a new expansion if you want to. Right now, you can buy green gear from vendors in Pandaria for changing spec and it's quite nice. (I think you can anyway) Gathering gear for a seperate spec while levelling is not easy, especially if it is as diverse as something like tanking and healing. Even starting in Cataclysm as a Druid in Balance after always fighting in Feral before... You may replace the gear soon but it's something to get you started. You could buy gear of the Auction House, but not everyone can afford that and the Auction House may not have everything you need. You could wait till MoP I suppose but it's nice being able to get to know your spec before you begin end game content.

Nicely put, thank you :)

02/01/2013 16:06Posted by Dottie

Yeah but by this stage, green gear and some blue items are readily available through quests and dungeons, so it's not like the vendor gear is a significant upgrade. I think that's the argument here, to be able to buy gear that's better than what's available through normal levelling, am I right?

Also at low level you tend to outlevel your gear very quickly, I recently did Deadmines as a first dungeon and got 3 bits of gear and 2.5 levels.

Edit: I agree with Jonní, it can be difficult to do the first few quests in a new expansion, but if you buy a few bits of gear beforehand it can be easier.

Okay so to address the original topic of whites and greens to lowbies; Yes, you do get new gear quickly at that level, but by doing cool things like dungeons as you mention. Which is why I think being able to just buy greens from the get-go on a new character would be a little sad.

On the topic of new gear for expansions, it's true that you can invest a little cash (of which you should have plenty by this point in the game) in the AH to make the transition a little easier, for sure. There are some nice crafted sets available, you could have someone make you that—I did this for my Paladin, who had some awesome healing gear but nothing at all for DPS, and she failed hard in the starting zone for Pandaria. Again, it comes down to convenience vs. having to go out there and 'play the game', be it chatting to crafters, earning gold to buy yourself a starting set for the new lands or toughing it out by struggling through those first few quests. Just plonking a vendor in the new zone as soon as you arrive with shiny new gear isn't much fun. This isn't the case with the Pandaria vendors by the way, you've probably replaced most of your gear by the time you reach them, although they do offer you the chance to get things for any slots you might still be needing (and gear for offspec ofc).

Takralus,

Firstly thanks for the responses and for keeping this topic going really well .

A question that just came to my mind:
So lets say i am a healer but i am feeling forced to choose dps gear from quests so i can keep on questing . Why can't i choose dps and healing gear from quests ( x2 rewards ) ? The healing gear for running dungeons and battlegrounds as a healer while leveling and dps gear so i can keep on questing. If you get what I mean. Cause if i end up with dps gear from quests how can I be healer? Must I buy gear from AH? Must I queue for dungeons as a dps and if by any chance the healer in the dungeon doesn't need the lets say healing helmet i can roll too?

Thanks!

Is it really fair that a hybrid class gets two rewards from a quest while a DPS-only class gets one? I don't think that would go down very well. I recently levelled a healer myself, but as a Priest, I could happily heal through levelling dungeons in my DPS gear. I know that for Paladins and Druids for example, this isn't the case. Like I said before though, it's not that hard to pick up sets for your offspec through the AH, crafting and Pandaria vendors for characters in that level range.

I think the options are quite clear when you set out to level up; if you go for DPS, you'll get through quests at a nice pace, and this is why having two specs is really handy, because you can keep your healing/tanking spec and use it when you want to, in dungeons or PvP. It's cool that you get that diversity with your character, unlike pure DPS classes. Of course, at some point you have to make that decision when you turn a quest in—do I want this cool healing staff, or the big DPS upgrade one? But we're drifting off topic here!

The point is, gear is available to purchase in the AH or via crafting all through vanilla, TBC, Wrath, Cata and Pandaria if you want to gear up through alternate ways than quest/dungeon/PvP rewards. I'm just personally unconvinced that having vendors who virtually hand you all the upgrades you need before starting a new expansion is the best way to go.