With the upcoming changes on the PTR and dev talks, Blizz has been discussing cutting back on RNG and it’s probably the best feature coming out of 8.2. RNG has been the bane of fun the past two expansions and I’m more than happy to see it get reigned back. While small amounts of it are welcomed–and in some cases necessary–I’m more than excited to see an actual end-game in sight for gearing and progression.
Now, if Blizz would just ax Warforging/Titan forging, I’d be one ecstatic player. If Warforging/Titanforing is to remain in-game, then nerf it into oblivion. I don’t think it’s fair to get some of the best gear in-game with a minimal amount of effort and more than a fair share of luck.
Also, if WF/TF is to remain, give us back badge upgrading like it was in Mists (or something similar) to counter bad-luck. Make RNG Upgrades have much less of an impact. This way we still get the obvious dopamine rush that Blizz has been force feeding us and wanting us to have (IE fireworks classes and confetti loot/upgrades), but still be content with getting the base version of the gear knowing that with some extra work we’ll get to that level of satisfaction–that sounds an awful lot like character progression, imagine that.
Because it makes normal non-WF/TF gear feel like not bis.
Only the gear that upgrades winds up feeling good, and that pretty much almost never forges to its max level or with level and gem slots and tertiary stats. And that is locked behind RNG where you are pretty much helpless to help yourself. So you really don’t have agency, and that never feels good.
If the upgrades came from doing content, thus earning currency, and then spending currency, that would feel good when you finally complete your item and can feel accomplished and done with it.
But as it is, you just wind up feeling like you’ve been put on a never ending hamster wheel, like a gambling addict sitting at a slot machine chasing a big payout that rationally isn’t even going to happen.
RNG gear drops off bosses area fine. But it’s the RNG layered over RNG that is particularly obnoxious. People want to build to their bis sets and “win” at least for a little bit until the next raid tier comes out and the gear needs to be replaced. Locking you into a never ending grind with no reasonable way out or to finish just feels like a junk experience designed not for fun but simply to artificially increase MAU.
So you are left with feeling bad about gear 95+% of the time, and only ever occasionally feeling somewhat enthused about what you get once in a blue moon, and never (or close to it, I have never seen a piece of gear become bis: WF to max ilvl + gem slot + bis tertiary stat and not just for myself but for anyone in my guild, and I’m betting most of you the situation is exactly the same) feeling totally satisfied with anything that drops.
Because it screws with what should be a linear gear progression. It’s not an ego thing, it’s how it messes with how some would like to have that linear gear progression back. The correct ilevel being rewarded for the correct type of content being run. That sort of thing.
What they need to do is scrap TF, leave WF to be +5 ilevels with tertiary stats, and add gem sockets back onto gear baseline and not RNG.
Honestly I don’t even care about WF/TF anymore. I just want those token things I can use to exchange for gear I actually need like in MULTIPLE passed expansions.
I think RNG could be good. For example instead of having a different piece titan forge. Or warforge. Why not a random chance of your items warforging or going up x ilvls from current content.
If it sims worse than what I’m wearing, I shard it.
Been trying to replace my 385 ring w/ socket, but I’d need another socket ring to make it worthwhile, or something in the 420 war-/titanforged category.
I don’t find that to happen too often, personally.
But people are also looking at this from a current standpoint instead of future change.
Every expansion changes how our gear and stats work. So saying next expansion this idea would be worthless doesn’t make much sense.
Five ilevels and tertiary stats may well be worth it on end game gear next expansion. And they can make it that way on purpose to make sure it’s an incentive.
Personal anecdote: go out and hunt a dungeon for a particular set of crit/haste boots. Get them, equip them, be happy. 4 days later get a pair of vers/mast boots, garbage stats but “better” because they arbitrarily gained an extra 15 ilvls. Equip them and hate them. I was, in essence, punished for trying to optimize my character.
Another personal anecdote: I no longer care about anything that doesn’t forge, because it’s not the best version of itself. The majority of “rewards” are no longer rewarding.
Gear drops can be pursued, they can be an objective in and of themselves. Titanforges can’t.
Aren’t the pearls necessary for upgrades the RNG element? I played around on the PTR builds since they introduced Nazjatar, but I can’t tell you with an distinct pattern what will or won’t give me manapearls, unless the reward is specifically manapearls.
You obviously don’t understand what BiS means to say something like that.
If I have an il 340 and another one 345 but my 340 gave an extra 14 agility and my 345 gave a little higher Versatility which one do you think I’m going to equip?
From my understanding, you get a set amount of pearls doing dailies and killing rares with a small chance of getting pearls from random mooks in the zone–kinda like Apex Crystals, just not to the jacked up amount required back in WoD. I could be wrong here as I’ve only read the PTR changes and word-of-mouth from Youtube content creators.
I understand that quite well. But it’s not going to be true of everything-- it hasnt for me in the past-- and what I proposed was for a future expansion, where everything about stats and ilevels can change.
I would expect any drop rate on the PTR to be reduced either prior to pushing the content live, or within the first 2 weeks. Just call it a hunch, based on Blizzard’s past performance with these things.