The way raiding works now, you are locked to a raid instance based on the highest completed level. This means, if I do Mythic raiding, I can’t then go back into Heroic or Normal and get gear there. This makes it really difficult to collect transmogs with varying color schemes because they are associated with different levels of raids. If I raid mythic, but want the normal color scheme, I would need to skip mythic raiding for AWHILE in order to get the normal gear items and complete the set. This makes it impossible to progress in raiding and also enjoy the “collection” aspect the game does so well.
The solution is to provide all subsequent color options based on the highest completely gear item. If you are completing higher level raids, you are basically indicating that you are qualified and deserve the lower level ones too. For example, if I get the shoulder piece in Mythic, it should also unlock Heroic, Normal, and Raid Finder color patterns for the shoulders. Why wouldn’t it? If I can complete Mythic, then I can obviously complete Heroic, etc. So it isn’t a matter of deserving the transmog. It is just a way to streamline the process and keep people focused on progression. This would apply across the board. If I complete Normal, I should automatically get Raid Finder. If I complete Heroic, I should get Normal and Raid Finder. This would only be the transmog unlocking, not the actual gear item. In reality, it already works like this for set pieces. If I have Mythic, Normal and Raid Finder gear, the set still completes and gives me my set bonus. So why not just unlock the associated transmog appearances for us?
When you really think about this, it is more of a fix for a problem than it is an “enhancement.” The fact that we are loot-locked to the highest level means we can’t even farm lower level raids for transmogs, even if we wanted to and had the time. Even if I wanted to run Vault 4 times (RF, Normal, Heroic, Mythic) just for the transmogs, I couldn’t. It makes it impossible to farm appearances effectively. This could also help with legacy raids too. A lot of us farm legacy raids for the transmogs, mounts, pets, and goodies associated with them. But once you do mythic, you are locked to mythic. What if I want the heroic version? Then I have to skip mythic and do only heroic. But what if I am farming the mount too? Again, this just creates a massive barrier and time sink for us. With warbands right around the corner, there is going to be a huge influx of collectors coming out of retirement to efficiently farm what the game offers. This improvement would be a huge addition to the already outstanding warband functionality.