Hey everyone!
Was told that some folks can’t access the alpha forums so for the sake of discussion accessibility, reposting here!
With each new Alpha build adding more rewards to Dragonflight content, I’d like to draw attention to a huge reward potential that builds upon one staple of WoW that has gone unchanged for many years.
TL;DR below with LOTS of pictures to showcase my feedback 
TL;DR for the thread:
Grey trash armor/weapons have always used the same identical 2004 classic-era models for the past few expansions. With grey/white transmog coming in 10.0, why not introduce a new sense of reward by having the Dragon Isles trash loot be NEW and unused updated armor (from the 9.0 “New player” kits?) without reusing the same armor from the past 10+ years.
On the left: Proposed Dragonflight trash/grey set. On the right: Current Dragonflight trash/grey set.
The Unimportance of Grey Trash items
Most players will agree that grey trash drops aren’t all that exciting in World of Warcraft. At minimum they serve as nothing more than easy vendor trash for gold and at most they’ll have some fun flavor text that the devs got to play with. With the exception of roleplayers and collectors, most players are going to vendor the weapon or armor as there is no exceptional reason to keep any of it.
While there are some instances (shown later in thread) of grey weapons/armor having unique models, most of the pieces are assigned 2004 models and are left as boring, unimpressive items that are meant to be vendored.
While this may seem weird for folks, the simple reasoning is that because grey/white armor were meant to indicate lower quality and therefore not meant to be used.
Why would the lowest quality items ever be given unique appearances, especially since players can’t collect their appearance for Transmog?
From left to right: Dragonflight trash plate, Shadowlands trash plate with weapons, BFA trash plate with weapons, Legion trash plate with weapons
As seen above, the grey plate set from the past few expansions uses the exact same model each and every year. Starting with current Dragonflight grey armor on the left, all of the sets are accompanied by random grey weapons from that expansion. As you can clearly see, the sets are all identical with 2004 low-rez weapons which clearly indicate they are meant to be sold to a vendor.
Every armor class uses the same template for each expansion and is given the same outdated 2004 model with an accompanying name of poor quality (timeworn, brittle, twisted, rotten, etc).
Leather set from Dragonflight and SL. As you can see - that chest piece is used many times over and over.
As you can see - identical set, expansion after expansion. Note the wall of text on the right to show how many times each piece is used.
As you can see, the Dragonflight sets above on the left follow the same pattern (at the moment) as the last multiple expansions.
Now before anyone rages, this has never really been a cause for concern because despite Transmog being introduced in Cataclysm, we’ve never had the option to transmog grey/white armor. If we can’t mog it, who cares what model the greys use right? It was fun for collectors but that’s it.
Grey & White transmog in Dragonflight
With 10.0, we know grey/white quality items should be enabled for transmog and while this opens up a whole plethora of starting armors like the Worgen, Goblin, Pandaren and new 9.1.5 starting armor, it also opens up 18 years of grey weapons and armor as transmog!
Tons of new starting sets from the Pandaren, Worgen and Goblin zones will be moggable in 10.0.
As mentioned, some grey weapons (specifically in SL) have used some unique unused models, but this is a rare occurrence.
The torch on the left (Revendreth chests) and the sword on the right (Bastion chests) use unique models not used elsewhere
While this is definitely exciting for many, the previously shown images make it clear that the Dragonflight greys follow the same template which means they’re using the same grey armor that was used in Shadowlands, Battle for Azeroth, Legion and before. And since grey transmog is being added, I gotta ask: why does the trash drops have to use the same duplicated armor every expansions now that grey/white transmog is a thing?
With the new opportunities of grey/white transmog being enabled, I am imploring the Devs to consider the possibilities for for exciting rewards through grey trash drops and make use of the many unused models in the files.
New Opportunities in Dragonflight
Back in the earliest days of WoW, many players may remember getting their first grey helm or set of shoulders which served as the earliest replacement to their unfulfilled armor slots. And that was EXCITING!
Look how happy this Orc looks. He's now a proper Warrior with his mail shoulders!
As the expansions went on, that sense of 'discovery and wonder’ behind grey/trash loot (however brief) was lost as any item that had stats was clearly a better choice than any armor or weapon with no stats.
Today, greys don’t serve that purpose because they provide no stat gain, they’re usually not unique appearance wise and above all else, they can’t be transmogrified.
But what if that sense of discovery/reward could return in the form of transmog-collecting?
Dragonflight has the chance to bring back that feeling of discovery and reward through something as simple as “modern” grey trash items. Instead of assigning a low resolution weapon or armor models from 2004, why not make use of the many unused starting player sets and new player-experience weapons that were added with Exiles Reach?
The above sets were introduced in 9.1.5. Everything with a green 
is used as a starting class set, which leaves 15 sets unused. These would make PERFECT grey trash sets while still being something new and exciting for players to collect.
Imagine: Instead of the set on the right (which is the same duplicate trash set from the past 5 expansions) the grey trash pieces rewarded the appearance on the left. Still simple, still rustic and dingy but also brand new and not used anywhere else.
Or what about the countless “New player” weapons introduced with Exiles Reach? A fraction of them were added in the starting zone but easily 75% of them remain unused.
Imagine if instead of looting an old 2-handed hammer that looks like something from Classic, you looted this beautiful weapon from within the depths of an old burial ground?
Imagine if instead of opening a Gnoll weapon cache and finding a Classic low-rez staff, you find this gnarled staff? Still looks simple, poor quality - but it's brand new!
Even weapons that are meant to be ‘flavor trash’ drops off certain rares, chests or caches. Environmental storytelling is always so well done by the Quest team in World of Warcraft and these new, unused weapons could be put to use instead of letting them remain unused in the files!
Deep within a sunken ruin on the coast of the Dragon Isles, you find a shrine built in honor of a former Queensguard who abandoned Queen Azshara's lunacy. The plaque reveals the guard had aided several green dragons struck down by the Legion and when said guard eventually passed, they and their weapon were buried here.
Open a random chest and find a trash shield. Still clearly a low-quality item as the shield is simple, low-fantasy but it's also modern and up-to-date.
The armor and weapons we loot from treasures and rares doesn’t have to be newly made assets. The 9.0 unused Exile’s Reach weapons could serve that purpose.
With thousands of unused assets waiting to be used and ton of “simple yet HD weapons and armor” from the new player/start kit, why not bring back that sense of reward and excitement from looting poor quality items while still giving players a sense of accomplishment/reward beyond gold?
There is an untapped treasure trove in the files from the last 18 years of World of Warcraft. Before 10.0, there was no reason for grey/trash loot to be given fancy models since we couldn’t transmog it.
A handful of the weapons introduced with Exile's Reach but never made available to players.
But now, with grey/white quality transmog being opened up, I don’t think there’s a reason to use the basic 2004 leveling models for any rewards - not in a land as beautiful and high-definition as the Dragon Isles.
The armor/weapons in Dragonflight are beautiful and the grey trash loot should be on par with the modern artstyle without the need of creating more work for the art team.
Bring back that sense of reward and discovery with grey and white quality trash drops!
The era of using Classic 2004 models for loot in modern WoW should be a thing of the past - there are 18 years worth of greys for players to collect from those era! Let’s start having even the bottom-of-the-barrel loot look like it belongs in 2022 World of Warcraft.