With WoW having been an MMO for nearly 19 years now there is a lot of old content already existing in the game. I think the achievement system can be used to add more incentives to doing old content in the game for things like mounts, pets, titles and toys like hearthstones. By using existing assets in the game I think there are easy ways to make doing old content more enticing.
To do this I think major meta achievements that I will call “mega” achievements now are the way to do this. The Veilstrider achievement added in Shadowlands was something I found really cool and I think the game would benefit from adding retroactive meta achievements for old expansions to encourage players to dip their toes in older content. It may not get everyone going achievement hunting but I feel it would make things more fun and get some more people to try content they may never have before.
I propose adding these mega achievements to each expansion. They are not meant to be difficult but for a player to try out a little bit of everything in the expansion. I think a general list for the meta could look like this:
- Exploration for the expansion’s continent
- Loremaster for the expansion
- Completion of all dungeons and raids of the expansion on any difficulty
- Max out skill points for one profession in the respective expansion
- Exalted reputation with all factions of the expansion
Additional achievements would vary depending on the expansion/ For example Scenarios for MoP, Garrison for WoD, Class Hall for Legion and Warfronts/Islands for BfA. I also think it would be great if the legendary cloak and ring quest chains could be added back in since those quest chains have a lot of story in them and newer players who never got to do that content should be able to experience it.
Of course with big meta achievements it is good to have rewards to create incentives to encourage players to try going for them. So I’ve brainstormed a few that can be done, some using existing assets and some new ideas. Not meant to mean all should be rewards just some suggestions of what could be:
Classic:
- Aspiring Champion title
- Arcane hearthstone (arcane animation instead of the nature-leafy one)
- A simple brown bear mount
Burning Crusade:
- Champion of Outland title
- Naaru-themed Hearthstone
- Ashes of Al’ar recolor
Wrath:
- Champion of Northrend title
- Frosty Hearthstone
- Bring Festering Emerald Drake from Wrath classic maybe?
- A shoveltusk mount (just throw a saddle on one of those guys)
Cata:
- Defender of Azeroth title
- Volcanic Hearthstone
- Another recolor of the Obsidian Worldbreaker mount
MoP:
- Champion of Pandaria title
- Misty Hearthstone
- The Magenta cloud serpent but a thundering or heavenly variant
- A son of Chi-ji mount like the Yulon mount, just throw a saddle on em
WoD:
- Champion of Draenor title
- Iron Horde hearthstone
- That cool Black Kor’kron Proto-drake that was a boss from UBRS
Legion:
- Champion of the Broken Isles title
- Fel Hearthstone
- Green variant of the Antoran Charhound
BfA:
- Champion of the Seas
- Watery Hearthstone
- Brutosaur mount but without being a vehicle mount