Even if Blizzard’s developers claim the opposite at every opportunity, the World of Warcraft equipment system has clearly developed in a negative way over the years – at least if you ask our editor Karsten. Good thing WoW Classic is coming soon…
Recently, in a quiet moment, I opened up the WoW Adventure Guide and, on a whim, flipped to the Sets tab. What a sad sight. A total of four item combinations are displayed there for my villain, which have zero relevance in the current endgame. Zero! In the first few years, it was mainly the armor sets that almost every WoW player was after. For me just one of several reasons why the equipment system of World of Warcraft (buy now) has clearly developed negatively over the years. But first things first…
The hunt for the prey
Let’s go back in time a few years. 14 years to be exact. At that time, I visited the Vanilla WoW raid challenges with my guild Godmode for many months. Week after week we defeated the same bosses there. New ID? New run! Why? Well, one reason for sure was that we had a lot of fun at Molten Core and Co. – at least most nights.
But a second reason was at least as important: We were keen on the loot from the bosses! We wanted to complete our eight-part animal sets, finally bag the long-awaited weapon upgrade and invest the hard saved DKP points in a new piece of jewelry. Yes, it took a lot of time. The drop chances were sometimes beyond good and evil, the competition was at least as hot for the rewards as you are, and there were only very few alternatives of equal value. As a class officer, I had to talk to frustrated fellow players more than once or even settle disputes about loot.
pleasure instead of frustration
The high expenditure of time, lack of alternatives and potential frustration – these are certainly three reasons why Blizzard has noticeably changed the equipment system over the years. What the developers didn’t understand, however, was that these downsides were partly responsible for the fact that loot in vanilla WoW felt much, much more valuable than it is today. That’s the only reason why this feeling of elation arose at the time, finally being able to put on the item of your desire that you had been working towards for so long. Just like the joy of having managed to complete a complete set. Or just because you were once again asked about a stylish weapon or armor in Orgrimmar that only a few other players on the server wore.
Back then, armor and weapons also had a visual value that transcended mobility, endurance, and crit. These loot pieces showed at a glance which challenge the player had completed and which path he had to cover for it. And just for the record, in the early years there were a whole bunch of tier sets and weapons that just looked terrific. Every announcement of a new class armor generation was a highlight back then, if only because it was great to get upset that other classes had gotten the nicer sets.
Up to the BIS gear
Another problem I have with modern WoW is that there is no longer a single BIS list of items for my villain (BIS means Best in Slot, i.e. the best item for each character’s equipment slot). Thanks to the warforged and titanforged procs that are possible at any time and the countless variants of armor and weapons that are available as a result, the hunt for new loot has lost much of its value for me.
No, dear Mr. Hazzikostas: It’s not really great that, with a bit of luck, there can be an item in every box that is titanium-forged better than my current part. I have always preferred having a clear goal in mind and being able to work towards it. I prefer tightly defined BIS lists, class sets that are equally stunning in their set bonuses and looks, and legendary items that are legendary rare but legendary good.
Classic, here I come
Before anyone wants to position myself as a fanboy: When it comes to comparing Vanilla WoW and Battle for Azeroth, I don’t find everything better that was standard in Azeroth 14 years ago. But on the contrary. With the equipment system, however, the BfA could certainly cut a thick slice from the original. Yeah, I actually liked it back then that we had to level up weapon skills, farm toughness gear, and hit a certain level.
All of these are – in addition to the community aspect and the nostalgia factor – certainly the most important reasons why I am now really looking forward to the release of WoW Classic on August 27th. I’m actually keen on farming my villain’s iconic tier sets again, going into battle with Maladath or the Mange Ripper in hand, and who knows, maybe even the Chromatic Hardened Sword will drop this time. If so, I’ll be more happy about the blade than about all the loot of the last WoW decade.
What is WoW Classic?
World of Warcraft Classic is a true recreation of the original WoW as you know it from 2006. All parts of the game – from combat mechanics and talent trees to character models and zones – have been recreated, contributing to the authentic experience.
Getting Started
All players with an active World of Warcraft subscription or game time on their accounts have access toWoW Classic at no additional cost.
- Open the Blizzard Battle.net Desktop App and select World of Warcraft from the menu.
- Select World of Warcraft Classic from the Version menu. If you have more than one World of Warcraft account, you’ll see a second Account drop-down list. In this column, select the active account you want to play with.
- Click the Install button. The progress bar will tell you when your game is ready to play.
- Click the Play button when the installation is complete.
You will need to select the realm you want to play on from several different realm types. Make sure you choose the same realm as your friends – in World of Warcraft Classic, you can only group with characters that are on the same realm as you!
Heroes&WIKI, WoW Classic, World of Warcraft Classic, WoW ClassicSpecial, WoW ClassicSpecials
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