tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post7535793508282126912..comments2024-03-27T07:57:48.010-04:00Comments on The Grumpy Elf: Gear: Is it Destroying The Community One Drop at a TimeTheGrumpyElfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07621615711198405365noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-30620696652162663302012-08-05T19:52:04.198-04:002012-08-05T19:52:04.198-04:00I think gear is only part of the problem - the big...I think gear is only part of the problem - the bigger problem is IMHO LFD/LFR. During LK on my ED server I could categorize raid leaders into 2 (ok, actually 3) groups<br /><br />a) idiots - identified by "looking for GS..."<br />b) ninjalooters (ran into 2 in my lifetime and did my best to ensure they would not get another raid together)<br />c) people who wanted to have fun (all the rest)<br /><br />couple of times I signed up for a raid while leveling on a twink and it never was a problem. LFD changed the behaviour - maybe due to the time you could use to chat with someone. I think it's far harder now because all comunication uses /2, and you get all sort of chitchat while in the old /lfg channel you almost only found people who wnated to succeed in a GROUP base environment.<br /><br />Gear was around since vanilla. It was only harder to get for the average player. Now LFD/LFR opened the floodgates for the socially handicaped, and gave them one more avenue to look down on the less lucky. <br /><br />There are quite a few people around who want to feel nasty, or simply feel better if they can belittle someone else. As long as you had some social restraints on them, you did not notice them. With almost all restraints gone....<br /><br />Rauxis, chosen of CATAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-9208359686318533812012-08-04T12:50:12.078-04:002012-08-04T12:50:12.078-04:00I've noticed that a lot of raid groups never g...I've noticed that a lot of raid groups never got into total farm mode (at least not for long). They just quit after they finish Heroic modes.<br /><br />We're working on H Spine right now and trying to finish H DS before 5.0. The gear is nice because it does help a tiny little bit but it's so random and the upgrades so small that we don't really care. For example, I got the heroic leg tokens to upgrade my normal leg token last night. Theoretically, it's a 500dps upgrade but that's in a perfect world where I can actually do 42Kdps; not in a heroic raid scenario where I could be doing anywhere from 20K to 35K depending on the encounter... All I care about is the achievement of downing the heroic bosses; saying "We did it!".<br /><br />Once we down H Madness, I'm sure most of us will stop doing DS on our mains. We won't care about those few pieces of heroic gear that we haven't gotten because there is no guarantee we'll get them and they'll just be garbage again once mists comes out because of the insane stat inflation. The only reason we'll kill the bosses again is to help others say "I did it!".<br /><br />So on the gear topic, I would really like gear to work differently. The randomness of gear drops just makes gear annoying (at least for us). Valor points are useless once you've bought the valor gear and then it's just waiting for the RNG gods to smile upon you and give you something. You're very lucky if you actually get an upgrade that week. From an RP standpoint, I've never liked having bosses drop gear. It usually doesn't make sense (did the dragon have that in it's stomach? Why did a boss who uses axes drop swords?). And having magic treasure chests is even worse... "Couldn't the 'gods' have given us something we could use? This gear is crap for our comp."<br /><br />I would very much prefer small incremental upgrades based on materials that drop from bosses.<br />Base items would be bought from vendors or crafted by players.<br />LFR would drop items that would allow small upgrades to a maximum of ilvl 384.<br />DS Normal would drop items that would allow small upgrades to a maximum of ilvl 397.<br />DS Heroic would drop items that would allow small upgrades to a maximum of ilvl 410.<br />Every player in the group would get 1 (non-tradeable) item off each boss so that they can upgrade (with the help of a crafter) an applicable piece of their gear by 1 item lvl.<br /><br />After killing X bosses from that tier, you would have max ilvl for that tier and then you'd need to do the next tier to upgrade further. The upgrades could be limited to a minimum ilvl and they could give bigger upgrades to lower ilvl items. For example, the heroic upgrades could give 2 ilvl below 397 but only 1 ilvl above 397.<br /><br />It could be different types of items from different bosses if they wanted: armor upgrades, weapon upgrades, jewelry upgrades.<br /><br />I also like the idea that stats are the same between the PvP and PvE sets but that the set bonuses are only useful for either PvE or PvP. For example, PvP gear could not lose stats for resilience, instead having a certain number of pieces from the set would give you resilience and other bonuses. It would have the same base stats as PvE gear that way but the bonuses would be different.<br /><br />I'm sure Blizzard could come up with a better system that would work well, but I'm just not confident that they really care anymore.Jaegernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-57668632987907215522012-08-03T08:23:51.682-04:002012-08-03T08:23:51.682-04:00True, people will always find something to value t...True, people will always find something to value their own self worth in and gear is the easiest thing to do it with.<br /><br />I understand the reason pug leaders ask for it and perhaps agree with it at the start. A 390 item level 2 weeks after DS came out means someone is good. A 390 item level now means nothing because a hell of a lot of time has passed and anyone with enough time can get 390 easily without even stepping into the raid.<br /><br />I don't like pugging. More so assembling one and that is the reason. I hate looking though all those people on the armory. In the event of all those whispers it is easier to just take the people with the highest item level.<br /><br />Just a word of warning however, that 396 player on my server was a warlock with all spirit gear. Proof gear means nothing and actually looking with your own eyes will always be 1000% a better way to determine if the play is worth taking. Except for alts of course, but I guess shared achievements will fix that.<br /><br />My hunter on another server could never get into a DS pug. Low item level and zero raid history but with shared achievements they would see all my raid experience and heroic kills and take me along, even with the lower item level. Again, proof item level means nothing in the end. Thus, in my opinion, gear should never be what people judge themselves on.TheGrumpyElfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07621615711198405365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-30614639779599062052012-08-03T02:32:41.047-04:002012-08-03T02:32:41.047-04:00Gear isn't anything by itself - gear is merely...Gear isn't anything by itself - gear is merely the unit of measurement (of progression). If everyone had perfect gear (or rather, if all gear had no stats), people would stratify themselves by<br />Achievements, mounts, companion pets, total gold, and so on and so forth.<br /><br />People required ridiculous GearScores in Wrath because A) they wanted a smooth run, and B)the Supply of people wanting to raid allowed them to be picky. GearScore did not always translate into "good raider" or a smooth run, of course, but it certainly demonstrates Time Spent and/or an easy way to determine someone had gear from the most recent raid already (and thus seen the fights at a minimum). Yes, the undergeared alt of a Top 100 raider would outperform a 5000+ GS noob, no question. But the hypothetical raid leader in Trade chat probably got 20+ tells in the last 30 seconds and cannot possibly vet all of those.<br /><br />Gear doesn't make the player, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to manually throw a group of strangers together and then have to teach them how to raid, look up fight strategies, and otherwise baby them. The better the gear a toon wears, the more likely it is the player behind it has put some thought and effort into the game. It is a greater likelihood, not guarantee, but it is foolish to not leverage every advantage you can.<br /><br />Gear isn't destroying anything. It is peoples' desire to distinguish themselves from one another that is creating this conflict. If not gear, it would be something else.Azurielhttp://inanage.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-70839223223169048092012-08-02T20:23:23.911-04:002012-08-02T20:23:23.911-04:00I agree, you need that gear grind to keep people i...I agree, you need that gear grind to keep people interested for the most part. For a great deal of people if there is no gear there is no desire to even play.TheGrumpyElfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07621615711198405365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-17407324748941934982012-08-02T20:22:49.313-04:002012-08-02T20:22:49.313-04:00I used to do that a lot more previously but I can&...I used to do that a lot more previously but I can't even bring myself to log in most days now. lol<br /><br />I think knowing that AoE looting is coming soon is what is making me wait.TheGrumpyElfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07621615711198405365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-30244694146442254322012-08-02T18:01:25.972-04:002012-08-02T18:01:25.972-04:00It would be the end of farm raids. Once you'd ...It would be the end of farm raids. Once you'd beaten the content, got all the achievements etc. there would be no reason to go back. Plus gear is the motivator for some people. They want all bis gear, or as bis as it's going to get. When they've got it they're done.<br /><br />I personally like gear because of what it lets me do. I like achievements because I'm a completionist and I've been pavlovian sensitised to the whoosh they make. I don't think having raid gear makes me special. I don't look at my ilevel and care. It is what it is, the higher it is the more I can do.<br /><br />Others like gear for itself. One of my guildies raids to get gear, to make his character more powerful. When he can't get anymore gear he's not interested in raiding, or in the game, until the next tier comes out.<br /><br />It would dramatically decrease the life of content. There would be no farming to kit out in bis. All guilds would progress faster as they'd extend the lockouts, there would be no point in the reset as why do bosses when they don't give you anything?<br /><br />I agree with you that gear is very divisive but that's human nature. If it wasn't gear it would be something else.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17771213542953346538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-60620604570966455722012-08-02T17:00:00.986-04:002012-08-02T17:00:00.986-04:00You are posting a lot lately why I have been doing...You are posting a lot lately why I have been doing more and more soloing.CalDMintnoreply@blogger.com