Hello everyone. Recently I created a Death Knight and a Rogue, classes I did not heavily play during Legion. As a result, I unfortunately missed out on getting their Mage Tower artifact appearances, and settled for the ‘Balance of Power’ appearances instead. One thing I noticed while doing it on two different characters was that I was not alone; there are a lot of people doing the questline even today!
For those of us who have done the questline, I’m sure you noticed that one of the color variations is locked behind the ‘Unleashed Monstrosities’ achievement, which requires players to defeat 8 out of the 11 world bosses found in the Broken Isles. In other words, once you spend the 1-3 weeks unlocking your Balance of Power Artifact appearance, you must then wait another 8 weeks to unlock one of its color variations.
During Legion this was fine. World bosses were desirable for loot, transmogs, rep, WQ rewards, and let’s not forget a certain amazing trinket that lasted the entire expansion. Most likely by the time people had their Balance of Power Artifact, they probably already had Unleashed Monstrosities done as well.
But this is the end of Battle for Azeroth, and an experience buff and reputation buff was just added into the game alongside a couple of catchup mechanics to give people more incentive to create alts. People took what was given to them and did just that. But now those fresh characters do not have Unleashed Monstrosities, and they have no incentive for killing those world bosses other than checking off another name on an achievement they’re doing solely for a color change. It is a time-gate that is no longer necessary.
Some suggestions would be:
Lower the requirement from 8 to 4
Make the achievement account-wide
This may seem like such a small thing, especially for older content, but many players still use their artifact weapon appearances because they’re just so well designed! Maybe you’re reading this and disagree now, but you may find yourself in the same situation someday, and I don’t think anybody wants to wait 2 months in BFA/Shadowlands just to unlock a color!
I also don’t see the need to change anything, really. As you pointed out, Balance of Power is an old quest that you can now do solo at your leisure. The same applies to the World Bosses. There is no direct need for expediency.
Though I won’t lie, it would be nice if Balance of Power itself was account wide.
But one could also counter that there’s no direct need for the time-gate, either. Not 4 years after the introduction of said achievement, anyway. More than likely this post will get swept under the rug, unnoticed by any developers or officials. Even if it were noticed, it probably wouldn’t change… it would just be nice to not have to wait 2 months is all.
And no kidding, right?! It took me 3 weeks to do on my DK, but I was lucky on my Rogue and got it done in one because I did my first EN run on a Monday. By the following Tuesday I had Heartstopper. But to think about doing all of that again for any of my characters in the future… makes me shudder.
As I say, I don’t directly oppose your suggestions. I’m rather neutral on the whole matter, outside of the Balance of Power quest chain itself. I really think the base model should be unlocked account wide.
Who knows though? Maybe if you post about it someone from Development will read it and agree? Stranger things have happened.
The team at Blizzard did an exceptionally well done job with our artifact weapons. While I don’t use them for all of my characters, they still hold a significant appeal for myself and other players I know.
Combined with, in my opinion, some of the best transmog in the game, Legion was a critical success in terms of player customization and agency.
I expected this counter as I typed the very sentence you quoted but chose the wait-and-see approach. Yes, you aren’t entirely wrong. On my DK for example, by the time I finished my Balance of Power questline I was left with 5 world bosses.
On my Rogue however, 6.
Now for me personally this was because I played during Legion and knew of the achievement already and what it unlocks, so of course I started on it when I could. But this certainly isn’t the case for everyone. With a little perspective it’s fair to conclude that there are some who just didn’t know, or maybe just completely forgot. So whether it’s 5 weeks, 6 weeks, or 8 weeks… does the point really change? 4 years later is an 8 week timegate really necessary for a weapon color?
Collecting all the things in WoW takes time, that is the nature of the game. Farming out an appearance from an old expansion taking a few weeks does not seem that out of whack.
It took me like 6 weeks of farming the raid on multiple characters to finally get Blackhand’s hammer to drop, and people have gone years without seeing the Garrosh shoulders.
“A few weeks” implies 3/4 of 1 month. Unleashed Monstrosities is a 2 month long achievement with its sole reward in BFA being a color variation.
I personally wouldn’t use a blanket term like cosmetic in this case. The cosmetic is the weapon itself which is already earned. This topic is about a color variation of said cosmetic… not something that really compares to rare cosmetics like The Black Hand or Tusks of Mannoroth.
And c’mon… when you had to wait to continue the questline until Emerald Nightmare was released… or when you had a class hall quest pop up that required you to do 5 missions… or when you had to wait to continue the excruciatingly long Suramar questline (all examples of timegating) you’re telling me you just shrugged it off with a “there’s no rush to get it” and didn’t feel even the sliiightest tinge of annoyance? C’mon, be honest.
I’m not sure why you’re here to tell me anything at all! Did you enter this thread I created with the sole purpose of being contradictory? I already acknowledged previously that not only will be my post likely not be seen by anyone with the power to change anything, but even if it was it would likely not change. That wasn’t enough for you? You really felt it was your duty to come in here with a salt shaker and start rubbing it in? What is the harm in my suggestion? It doesn’t impact you or anyone else in a negative way. So what was the point in you coming here? To troll? To mess with someone’s day? To shut down an optimistic request so someone else can feel some of your bitterness? I don’t understand people like you, I really don’t.
Yes, here I am totally raining salt on your totally not dramatic wounds! Look at how viciously I attack by pointing out that the thing you are complaining about is a pretty normal aspect of the game! Truly, I am a sadist of the highest order!
(or maybe I was extending you the courtesy of acknowledging your post and saying that I don’t agree in a polite manner, because you chose to make it on a public forum which carries an implicit chance of response. Either way, I shall withdraw now. enjoy howling into the void- may the echoes bring you comfort.)
But to think about doing all of that again for any of my characters in the future… makes me shudder.
