This is my first topic in the WoW forums, although I have been playing World of Warcraft since late TBC. As much change as I’ve seen in the past decade, most have been for the better. But this new expansion has put a sour taste in my mouth and the only way I know (I think) to change the direction Activision-Blizzard is going with the way the game is going is to talk about it. And what better outlet then their own forums.
Just so everyone doesn’t think I’m on an all out rant, I must say the art team have outdone themselves…again. It seems this area is the one of the few things going in the right direction.
Professions, on the other hand, are a complete waste of time. I understand farming materials to craft gear, potions, enchantments, etc. etc. What I don’t understand is the need to make the more rare materials (talking about expulsom and other like materials) Bind on Pickup. Why is it my gathering profession characters cannot trade gathered expulsom with another character on the same account who can actually put it to use. It’s not like there’s a vendor I can trade this stuff in for something else, (and I understand there will likely be a vendor later in the expansion, however, by then it’ll be pointless anyway). Primal Spirit in Warlords of Draenor was the first time that I can recall we have ever seen crafting materials Bind on Pickup. The equivalent in MoP, Spirit of Harmony was never bound at all. In short, I’ve got crafting materials lying around collecting dust on characters that can’t use it while other characters are starving for it.
Which brings me to my next point. World Quests. Sure, they can be fun… for the first week, maybe the first month. After you out-gear the WQs, and you’re exalted with all factions, what’s the need for them? A couple thousand gold (maybe) for the World Quests that offer it, and a trinket or two if and when the WQ for them are available, which can be farmed at a rate of one or two per day IF you’re lucky enough to get trinket rewarding world quests. And then you have World Quests that offer Expulsom as a reward…for a quantity of 5. And though I haven’t been looking for these WQs, I look for the cooking recipes. I’ve seen an Expulsom rewarding WQ one time, recently. In my opinion, Expulsom and other like crafting materials don’t need to be bound at all, or very least bind to account. After all, it is you the player that farmed them.
Segue to my third point. Does everyone remember Mists of Pandaria? More specifically, the option to purchase commendation medals to boost reputation gains on all characters on an account? Or how about the tokens that were bind on account that you could get from (most memorable) Warscouts? Why are those not a thing currently? I find the reputation grind exhausting and in a sense, unrewarding. By the time you’re able to purchase the 350 gear most quartermasters sell upon reaching exalted, you’ve already geared past the need to have it. Maybe you could send it to an alt, but it’s bind on pickup. Toys, transmog, and pets are ok if you’re into playing that aspect of the game. Recipes and patterns for crafting professions are nice to have, sure. But going back to my first bullet, the amount of time (not work, don’t confuse the two) it requires to level two characters, grind the reputation needed for those recipe and pattern upgrades, and still farm the rare materials to craft the stuff you’ve been working at making is daunting at best.
And PvP. This nonsense with Alliance getting 30% reputation and experience gains for having Warmode toggled on while the Horde get 10%. On top of that, Alliance get a quest to kill 25 members of the Horde for 370 gear? Com’mon Blizzard. A little biased much? I’m not understanding the end goal here. I don’t see the big picture. The best I can come up with is that you want more Alliance players, which is fine I suppose. My gripe is, don’t cripple the Horde to make the Alliance more appealing.