02-26-2008, 11:54 PM
After thinking about it, the badge issue doesn't really bother me.
I can't see any player with access to Tier 6 instances choosing to go to Karazhan *instead* of BT or Hyjal. The Tier 6 instances give you a chance for loot - and badges, while Kara gives badges alone.
For those raiders, badges are a nice to pick up supplementary items - eg that pesky item that refuses to drop. Or the multi-class item that you have to compete with half the guild for. In that respect I can badges being the same way people use Arena teams to get weapons upgrades.
For the guilds that simply aren't large enough to put a 25 person raid together, badges give you a nice incentive to run Kara, Zul'Aman and heroics. There is still something for you to aim for. And even the most dedicated badge collectors aren't going to be assembling full armor sets overnight (people presently sitting on vast hordes of unspent badges excepted).
When it comes down to it, loot is the driving force in the game once you reach the level cap. It's the only way to make your character "stronger", and in the years since the game's first release Blizzard has developed the ways it distributes loot considerably:
To list:
- Straight drops
- Token drops (so particular classes aren't disadvantaged by the RNG)
- Quest rewards
- Reputation rewards
- Badge rewards
DKP systems were developed to reward players who invested time but got no instant rewards in terms of drops. Now every boss will drop something that you can use (eventually) to get loot. Even the bosses where you disenchant every other drop will be worth *something*.
Chris
I can't see any player with access to Tier 6 instances choosing to go to Karazhan *instead* of BT or Hyjal. The Tier 6 instances give you a chance for loot - and badges, while Kara gives badges alone.
For those raiders, badges are a nice to pick up supplementary items - eg that pesky item that refuses to drop. Or the multi-class item that you have to compete with half the guild for. In that respect I can badges being the same way people use Arena teams to get weapons upgrades.
For the guilds that simply aren't large enough to put a 25 person raid together, badges give you a nice incentive to run Kara, Zul'Aman and heroics. There is still something for you to aim for. And even the most dedicated badge collectors aren't going to be assembling full armor sets overnight (people presently sitting on vast hordes of unspent badges excepted).
When it comes down to it, loot is the driving force in the game once you reach the level cap. It's the only way to make your character "stronger", and in the years since the game's first release Blizzard has developed the ways it distributes loot considerably:
To list:
- Straight drops
- Token drops (so particular classes aren't disadvantaged by the RNG)
- Quest rewards
- Reputation rewards
- Badge rewards
DKP systems were developed to reward players who invested time but got no instant rewards in terms of drops. Now every boss will drop something that you can use (eventually) to get loot. Even the bosses where you disenchant every other drop will be worth *something*.
Chris