Hello everyone!
(TL;DR on bottom)
I’m not one to make too many posts here on the forum, despite playing the game for soon… 18 or 19 years now.
Either way, “Back in my day” as we say, a rare spawn was… rare. I remember the fun in vanilla exploring every nook and cranny to figure out secluded areas, and that one named mob that I always envisioned was the “Boss” of the pack. Sometimes they hit hard, other times not. But the wonder of defeating it and going for its loot was always a thrill that actually made me create rare-hunting parties with others who shared that passion.
Then when tbc hit, the formula was changed. Rare spawn became really rare. Almost frustrating so as the servers weren’t sharded at the times, and if you heard a rumor about a rare patrolling an area, you would have to quit your job and family to camp the area it was supposed to spawn - if one didn’t mind studying up on the art of charisma and persuasion to talk your way into the group with the most hunters laying down traps to tag them.
Things took a turn for the better with wotlk where they didn’t get as rare, and even had better loot. Guaranteed money, a satchel with trade goods and gold, and even a piece of loot that was more focused on proper stats that could be usable. (TBC could have “of the whale” a bit too often.)
Cataclysm hit, things got a bit more rare again, but it kept the same formula. It even added some rares that dropped mounts, which I recall was the hustle and bustle in guilds where people would admire those who got the rare mount from… well, rares.
Then… I don’t know what happened. MoP came along, and rares wasn’t rare anymore. They were named mobs with better loot. The respawn timer was drastically “improved” where players would seek out rares just for the loot as some of it was seen as “required” by some to progress more comfortably through content. This was in an expansion where discovery and exploration was encouraged, mind you, as there was several hidden items hidden in the open world. High-value trash grays was strewn about, as well as account-bound weapons that was pretty strong for whoever was lucky to find one.
WoD came along, and the formula was even more present. Named mobs with the “rare” tag that was crawling all over the place. The sense of “wonder” for me was long gone as a rare spawn was no longer a rare. It was a mob that on schedule would appear with some better loot, and often(the opposite definition of rare.)
Fastforward till today, the same vision is still in place. In fact, minutes before deciding to write this post, I finished a dreamsurge and went down to the shore to look over to the emerald dream gate. I met a not-so-friendly-“rare”-salamander and ended its life for the sake of shore-peace.
What I got from this was some dragon isle supplies and a … epic 372 item level mail pants. This made me reflect upon what makes a rare - rare. What is their vision in the game. Do they have any point? Are they a forgotten aspect that yet still seem to make it into every expansion? And for what end?
I am writing this post here today(And under the quests-section since killing rare spawns for some reason contribute towards the daily quest-counter), to both ask and ponder with the community; two things.
- Why do we have “rares” anymore? They’re not rare. They serve as a little guaranteed loot-piñata that benefits the initial launch of the expansion where it can be exciting to kill and get a piece of armor that will help you on your travels, but quickly becomes obsolete as patches progress. Surely there can be better ways to either label, or make them a bit more scarce/scattering about? (Example here is back in vanilla, a rare spawn had several spawn points, making one hunt a little bit for the loot. The quick spawn and guaranteed drop-system makes it feel a bit “loot on conveyorbelt”-ish. )
- If not so to “fix” the rares as in question 1, would Blizzard think of increasing the item level with the patches, making rares at least relevant to the game in a minor way, other than being relevant for the first couple of months? Current ilvl on catchup equipment is 415. While it might not be the best to make rare spawn loot drop to be the same(we would want players to focus on new things after all, no?), making rares drop 402 could certainly be a nice alternative, no?
I’d like to thank everyone who reads my post. I might be alone in what I feel about rares in the game, and what they did to make the game initially feel special and full of wonder, but I feel like they no longer really serve a purpose - and that little purpose they serve is ran into the dirty shortly after every expansion launch. I welcome everyone to share their view on rare spawns in the game and what they would want to see done with them to be more relevant, and/or if you’re happy with how they are; share your opinion. 
TL;DR:
Rares are not rare anymore. Can we label them as something else, or make them rare? Also, dropped gear from themis very outdated, making them next to obsolete. Possible to increase their ilvl to either function as a catch-up mechanic, for current or past tier?