Getting rid of the gear race

One of the biggest issues and controversies in WoW at the moment is the comparisons between gear.

Is the PvP gear 'welfare epics'? Should all new drops go to tanks/main healers in the first place in a raid? Is the arena rating limitations on S4 arena gear making the 'below 1700' not worth going arena? etc etc.

I think I have the embryo of an idea to solve this.

Let's first explain with arena gear.
With the coming season 4 lots of the gear demands a specific rating, and already there have been a discussion about it killing of the non hardcore arena teams.

First I thought - that’s easily solved. Why not get like 5 different versions of the shoulders which demands specific ratings? Like: none, 1500, 1700, 1900, 2100. This will make it possible for every arena player to slowly achieve better gear according to accomplishment.

And to not make it cost too much, get rid of earned arena points (not rating) and say that chest takes 4 weeks of playing a minimum 10 matches/week to be able to buy. And shoulders 8 weeks.

Here we have options of needing to work toward specific pieces. Like say that each week earns you a merit point which can be put in towards the 4 needed for chest. (A bit like a talent tree where the full tree make you able to wear that piece. Maybe should come with the option of respeccs.) Gettig 'attuned' to wear shoulders makes u able to upgrade to better rating shoulders without putting in the weeks again. A bit of a two way improvement avenue. Rating wise or slot wise.

New arena gear
What will be the result? Well. We would get arena players which all can work toward new gear in two ways. Either by improving their rating or to week by week work towards ability to wear a specific gear slot. More intervals makes it easier to actually get up on the ladder in comparison to now where its a huge difference if u can get the S4 set or not. This would make skill more important but keeping the gear advancement element of play.

But what about PvE then?
Yeah that’s another thing - or is it really? Why not get rid of the old drop system. Let everyone earn PvE rating by downing bosses and clearing instances.

This rating would then make you eligible to buy new gear, much like the arena system.

Wait a minute! Why not grind ZF then to get the best gear!?

Well thats easily solved too. Each boss is wort a number of points, say 60 points for Omor the Unscarred. Say that first time you get 60 points and then we have diminishing returns for him like cutting it to a third each time. 2nd=20, 3rd=7, 4th=3 etc. This to a max of like double the original value for him 120 points. Then you cant grind Omorr any more.

Then we can get phat loot by going in with a good group. Twink runs FTW!

Sure. But if we then add this system with a negative multiplier according to the PvE score of all the individuals in the group/raid? So doing Omorr the Unscarred with a group of BT raiders will diminish the PvE-points gained a lot. That will actually make it worth the time to do the instances with like levelled people.

Ok. I'll save up my points and buy the phattest axe in Azeroth already at lvl 60

Well, you wont. The system will work like the arena system above. The total points make you able to buy better gear. But they will not go away. They are a rating and not spendable points.

What do we get then for PvE?
Players get gear according to accomplishment. There is still a grinding component in there. And there is a motivator for taking on content made for your level.

This will make it meaningless to do Kara badge runs or easy heroics.

There is one drawback though. The thrill of seeing what that boss will drop today. Nothing is as thrilling like seeing that nifty helm drop and checking it out with a ctrl-click.

OK. Suggestion time is over. Please comment if you made it all through =)

WotLK - the death of WoW?

I have this nagging feeling that expansions in WoW is slowly killing the game. I'll try to explain:

When playing the original WoW, pre Burning Crusade, we all knew that 60 was the level cap and reaching that would make it possible to go into the raid instances. Gear upgrade was slow.

Then BC landed. In a couple of days (hours for some) they had exchanged every last piece of equipment to Outland greens. All work pre-BC was more or less for naught - if you look at the game gear wise. The good experiences lingered though (I still remember taking down Onyxia and meeting Ragnaros)

In Outland we where going for 70 asap. We all knew that instance loot in Hellfire Citadel or Coilfang was just a step on the way. Many even didn't enter the mid 60 instances before trying heroics (which is a huge mistake as all know who tried heroics with someone that hasn't done the regular).

For me, a medium fast leveller, I reached 70 and made all of the instances, but no raid content, before the news of WotLK released.

A friend of mine had grinded for money a lot to be able to make his tailor set (Frozen shadoweave). He got a bit pissed. "Why the hell did I do all this work when in a couple of months it will be all for nothing?" he asked me.

The only good answer I could come up with was: "But you must be playing for now also!?"

Investing in WoW
Somewhere here I got a bit concerned. If we should be inspired to try to get better and better equipment we need to feel the investment (of time) is worth the outcome (of gear) in accordance to its longevity (time to update making it obsolete).

I think this might be more of a problem for casual gamers. If playing time is scarse (like mine) and I have 12 months before next expansion makes gear outdated I don't want to put 6 of these months into getting ok gear for early raid content. The investment doesn't pay off enough.

Then we have the arena season gear and the discussion of welfare epics which makes it even more complicated. (For those not into this discussion it is about that the Season 1 gear is available for honor, which makes grinding Alterac Valley the best way to get great gear. For dps the S1 gear is on par with heroics/Karazhan gear).

Time over execution
Now it might feel like I am whining about my gear not being good enough and it takes too long time to get it. Well I am ;) No not really. The thing I think is the problem here is that WoW is extremely concentrated on gear improvement. All the avenues on getting good gear is more or less about the time you invest in the game. This might seem offensive to say, but I don’t mean that all are unskilled that have good gear - but admit that you met your fair share of real asshats with really great gear? =)

Maybe this is a better way to put it. Playing little but good gets you ok gear. Playing a lot but quite badly gets you better gear.

Since this is a tanking blog mostly I just ask you to remember all the times in a PuG with some real stupid party/raid member that you more or less ask not to mess things up and are glad if he’s on auto shot (yeah I'm talking to you huntard =) ).

Conclusion?
Hrmm, I got a bit sidetracked here. But my point is: Since WoW is such a gear improvement orientated game, too short intervals between making that earned gear obsolete (welfare epics or new level caps) makes it less interesting to play the game.

If the focus could shift towards skill this wouldn’t be that much of a problem.

One thing to take into account is the difference between vertical vs. horizontal advancement in a game. Vertical is things orientated on getting you onwards, horizontal is stuff that improves the experince on your actual level without increasing the ability to progress. Vertical orientated games are more addicitive (new fixes/gear) and WoW is one of them.

The joy of ass wippin'

I have seen the light.

Well, at least I have seen the snows, grass and lightnings of Alterac valley, Arathi basin and Eye of the storm.

After speccin for arena I have had an enormous boost in game satisfaction. Doing arena is tremendous fun since it is short, intense and very demanding on proper tactics.

To be able to fight better I need some decent PvP gear. Luckily I didn't buy the Merciless gladiator shield wall for my points, so now I am waiting for season 3 to start so I can buy at least one piece of S3 armor.

The new season will make season 1 gear possible to buy for honor points, as most probably know, so I am trying to stack points for the release. At the moment I am making about 2k honor a night. Not able to play all nights it will take some time. But I am aiming at 27k honor for the Gladiator Greatsword.
And if I get bored I might just buy something less pricey. But a new weapon would be great.

When it comes to armor - I need a new pair of leggings since I am PvP'ing in my tanking pants for the stamina. But check out the new helm in season 3 (just click the pic above). I already got the Overlords helmet of second sight wich is nice - but the S3 looks mean!!! Too bad S3 shoulders need rating of 2k though, would be a nice match =)

How about you guys - what is the best battleground to get quick honor. AV has this problem with loads of leechers. Up to 10 in one game I have had.

Total disgrace

Right now I am in a bit of a low considering WoW. We are trying to get my youngest son to sleep better and not breast feeding all night through. He is 7 months now, so he has this separation phase which means he is uncomfortable every time he is alone. In reality or just imagined. That includes leaving the room and standing out of view.

As you can imagine this has taken a toll on my wife especially, since she cant sleep that well. And to help out I am going to bed a lot earlier. With max 2 hours of time to play there is little room for WoW at the moment.

Well, I had time to do my arena matches at least. We got a 5 win 5 loss game, which is quite good for being a prot warrior. Our rating is around 1175 though - so not too good competition. Except this one guy...

We arrived at arena start area and realised that only one opponent logged in. 'Easy!' - we thought. He turns out to be this monster shadow priest that dots and kites both me and my pal around the whole arena. Two games in a row we face him, twice we are killed without hesitation.

Total disgrace.

But now I have points to buy the Merciless Gladiator shield wall. I just wonder if it counts as a weapon - or if it will be possible to save the points and buy the season 3 shield when it comes out... (Weapons are said to require arena rating of 2000 to be able to buy)

Fireguard walk with me

After a long long time I have finally made 350 in Blacksmithing. Logged out on the gryphon on route to Shattrah to buy the recipe for the Fireguard. Finally - my first epic.

I do need another 10 primal shadows and 10 primal mana. So it will be a farm weekend. But then - Fireguard walk with me!!!

The only downside with it is that it looks weak. I am dual wielding two Latro's shifting sword at the moment which look über cool. Fireguard is a small puny sword in comparison. Looks like a golden dagger next to a Latro.

Un-heroic attempts

I have come to an understanding that going into a heroic instance is a very big leap for the tank.

Being revered with all "key" factions except Honor hold I hav had the time to acquire really good gear. After consulting several gear guides I know I am at the top of gearing for someone that has just started heroics.

The big problem is that it is not enough.

Thursday I did heroic Settekh with a PuG. Went very well in the beginning but it took ages. Up to Darkweaver Syth was no problem. Then it started to get hairy. The big problem was with holding 2 mobs at once. When there where Sethekk Guards it was fine. The healer could hold me up while I kept aggro on both, but when we met the Ravenguards it was another matter. These guys hit hard. If the healer held me alive he would get too much aggro which would make him draw the second mob and get one shotted. Happened several times.

The big issue I think is that I take a bit much damage => lots of heals => healer generates too much aggro => mob kills healer => wipe.

The way I see it there is 2 ways to fix this. One is to take less damage which means more armor and avoidance. The other is to generate more threat which means more Block Value and better dps.

So I am going to make a bit of farming to get someone to make me Bracers of the Green Fortress and Helm of the Stalwart Defender. While grinding I am going to up my Blacksmithing to be able to make Fireguard the one handed sword.

This means I need to farm: 20 primal shadow and 20 primal mana for Fireguard. 20 primal life for Bracers of the Green Fortress and 22 primal earth and 12 primal mana for Helm of the Stalwart Defender. Thats 74 primals...

Luckily I have the earth and the shadow primals already from levelling. Which leaves me with about 30 primals to go...

Do I need to inform you that I have respecced to Fury for a little while =)

Going for the Wall

I am taking the plunge. Me and a fellow warrior are gonna start an Arena team. Just the two of us.

What are you sayin?

"Aint you a prot warrior?", "You dont have the dps?", "A team of two warriors are doomed?"

Well all of the above is true. But we want some arena gear. More specifically "Merciles's Gladiators Shield Wall".
After reading Berghs compendium on tank gear over at Tankspot I have seen the light. I need that shield. (Well - I want it at least) Beside being better than other shields - it looks cool.

And being just the 2 of us gives us the opprtunity to have our disgrace for our selves.

Now we need a fitting name. Birdfeed or Carrion are the most aproriate I can come up with right now =D