If you won’t take the players word for it, how about Blizzard’s own?
I’ve Got the Power!
In Mists of Pandaria, we added PvP Power as a stat that would allow PvP gear to be functionally superior to Raid and Dungeon gear in PvP combat, without exceeding the value of its equivalent PvE gear in PvE content. That was largely a success within instanced PvP Arenas and Battlegrounds, but we think we can do better while also ensuring outdoor world PvP is able to benefit from that same intent. So, in Warlords of Draenor, we’re taking a different approach.
PvP gear in Warlords will no longer have PvP-specific stats. Instead, it will scale up to a higher item level as soon as you enter a designated PvP area, such as an Arena or Battleground, or as soon as you enter PvP combat anywhere else in the world. If you’re out questing with PvP gear, the item’s base item level will be used while fighting back the Iron Horde, but the second that raiding druid tries to gank you, your higher PvP item level kicks in and you’ll have the upper-hand. Each piece of PvP gear will have its PvP item level displayed clearly on its tooltip, so there’s no guesswork involved.
On top of that, all gear—even gear found in PvE content—will be scaled up to a certain minimum item level in any designated PvP area. That minimum is still lower than any of the actual PvP gear, but a fresh level 100 character who’s just wearing some dungeon gear, or even whatever they picked up while questing, will not be at quite as severe a disadvantage should they choose to step into a Skirmish or Random Battleground.
One added advantage of this new system is that most PvE gear will no longer need to be downscaled in PvP areas, as the equivalent PvP gear is already a higher item level in PvP situations. Instead of making players wearing PvE gear feel weaker in PvP, we make players wearing PvP gear feel stronger. The only exception is Mythic raid gear. Mythic’s PvE item level and Conquest’s PvP item level are very close, so we’ll be downscaling Mythic gear slightly in designated PvP areas just to make sure that Conquest gear remains the best available for PvP.
Please do the right thing, bring back this amazing system for PVP gear, that would be even better with WarMode now implemented.
WoD Pvp gear was actually cited as one of the reason why they got rid of it in Legion. They considered it to be a huge failure due to world pvp or something. I forget the details.
Raiding-centric players spend a lot more in the cash shop than pvp-centric players. What a horrible thing to do to people who contribute more to the bottom-line.
I think Blizzard has a few fundamental issues with a WoD-like system though (see below), and I think those are entirely fixable:
It is scaling, and Blizzard (Ion) doesn’t want “noticeable” scaling with players’ HP jumping up and down.
Blizzard and PvErs don’t want to have to wear a separate set just to be even with PvPers (same ilvl).
Blizzard wants to incentivize everyone to do PvE content (due to increased time-played metrics etc).
Issue 1: Easily resolved with War Mode. Just make the PvP ilvls always active in War Mode, and HP won’t be jumping up and down. Your foe’s health will indicate their strength (only limited by other systems).
Issue 2: Can only be solved by allowing PvErs to upgrade their gear with PvP ilvls to a total ilvl cap (base ilvl + pvp ilvls). There’s already an upgrade vendor, let the upgrade vendor upgrade PvE gear with PvP only ilvls. This means there’s a path for PvErs to get their gear to maximum effiency in PvP as well.
Issue 3: Is resolved by allowing all gear to be upgraded with extra PvP ilvls via the vendor (not just PvE gear as in Issue 2). If PvP gear has relatively low base ilvl (compared to equivalent PvE content) and is upgraded with PvP ilvls to become BiS over time then the fastest way to reach BiS is actually to combine PvE and PvP gearing, but not the only way.
Pure PvPers would get to BiS too, just a bit slower. Ta-da, incentive to do PvE without high-end PvE farming being mandatory.
It feels odd trying to make PVP gearIng cater to PVE only players. It has been that way for 4 years and needs to stop imo.
It should not be faster to gear up for PVP via PVE. Also, I don’t think the system needs to be any more complicated than PVP gear gets a 30 ilvl boost in PvP.
Honor gear was easy and quick to obtain in WoD, the barrier to entry was so low for anyone. If PVE players already had gear they were that much further ahead already.
The motivation for branching out to do other activities should be for things like a legendary piece, not because most of the gear is better and easier to get via PVE.
Also, PVE players can still choose a PvP reward in their weekly box if they really want to gear up without hardly setting foot in PVP.
The WoD system just as it was, was the best we have ever seen, no need to add more systems or something different.
Why not bring it back and iterate on it over the next two years, no need to gamble on another one.
Well, in the system I proposed it’d cater to those who do all content, not PvE only players.
Regardless, I think if we want to get anywhere with Blizzard (i.e. a permanent solution to PvP gearing via PvP stats or WoD-like scaling) we have to figure out a way to solve the main issues Blizzard currently have with our proposed solutions - and that is satisfying PvE players that just want to dabble and also don’t want to carry 2 sets, and also to incentivize participation in PvE content (which I think Blizzard is afraid will soon not have enough participation to sustain a healthy Mythic raiding scene).
That means that PvErs have to be let into the PvP system as well (not having to start from scratch with a new set), but if done well it can be done in such a way that PvEing is not the sole way to gear and that those who 100% do not want to PvE at any serious level (LFR/M0 at most) can still get to full BiS in PvP in a reasonable time frame.
I would certainly have liked if it wasn’t that way - but I highly doubt it ever will (based on what Ion has written about their philosophy previously).
Easiest solution: reintroduce PVP stats, effectively creating separate gear (PVP gear/PVE gear) and separate gearing streams (PVP content/PVE content) - the way it used to be. WoD scaling would be nice, but I think we all know that Blizzard would manage to botch it up somehow. PVP stats are, I think, a lot less complicated - and that’s exactly what we need: less complication. Blizzard is over-complicating things, as usual. Cross-over is a pipe-dream that’s never going to work properly. PVP for PVP gear, PVE for PVE gear - problem solved. Blizzard can start working on something else, like better class design.
This should not be the paramount goal of PVP gear, that is catering the group that does the least amount of PVP. We have had that the last two expansions. PvP gear needs to be separated so it can be best for PVP.
In WoD, you did not have to start from scratch, and PVP honor gear was earned so fast and was not far behind the ilvl of conquest gear. Anyone who wanted to PVP got gear fast.
Well, if we want to get a system that works we have to work within the boundaries of what’s within the realm of possibilities.
Blizzard cares about those things, so if we can come up with a system that satisfies our demands while also satisfying those of Blizzard’s that’s what we should try to push (instead of something that’s far less likely to get accepted by Blizzard). I.e. something like what I just proposed, which gives PvErs a way to BiS without a second set, and which incentivizes PvEing, but which doesn’t force it and still allows PvPers to get BiS without PvEing.
Blizzard is not going to allow you to ever gear as fast as you did in WoD again.
As proven by the massive increase in “hamster wheel” activities in Legion/BfA the data gathered during WoD must have showed that allowing players to “finish” their gearing process quickly and early in patch cycles led to massive subscriber losses.
Moreover, this is enforced by Ion’s previous statements that while war/titanforging is removed they will decrease drop rates drastically to compensate. I’m sure there is no way this will not apply to PvP as well (as we’re already seeing with the incredibly long and tedious upgrading process on the beta).
