First and foremost, I want to express that I understand the uniqueness and thrill of having exclusivity; from “Hey I have this cool mount no one else has!” to “Guys I worked really hard for this weapons!” …This is NOT what I take issue with.
What I take issue with, are the nonsensical arbitrary rulings that have started to become more and more normalized with Blizzard.
It needs to change.
Trade Post Issues: The Trade Post doesn’t need to retire items for months/years before we “maybe” see things again, a Vendor was temporarily introduced to allow players to buy older Trade Post Items at a discount. – Why not keep that? Why not have this vendor remain and old items are always able to be obtained? – This is still something players would have to work for, because it will still cost currency, a finite currency you can only get so much of each month.
For a new/returning player? I’m speaking from experience, I’ve completed the past 3 months of Trade Posts objectives and I’ve almost ran dry on the currency to buy all the stuff I wanted, if those additional outfits were there, I wouldn’t magically be able to have them all, I’d still have to work for them.
Several times I’ve seen a super cool armor set and was like “Omg I’d love that!” and when I google, I see it was something temporarily available in Trade Post and no longer obtainable with ZERO communication form Blizzard on when we’ll actually see it again.
(e.g. Darkmoon Harlequin, Blood Troll Hunter, Dark Ranger General, Hornstrider Hunter, etc etc… The list goes on.)
Trade Post Issues Suggestion: Keep the Vendor that sells old Trade Post transmogs like ones that are at least 6months-1yr old so there’s still a window of exclusivity as a middle-ground, but they’re not gone for an unrealistic amount of time.
Otherwise, have them obtainable with Trade Post Currency in areas relevant to the mods; like the Darkmoon Harlequin being available during Darkmoon Faire and able to be bought with Trade Post Currency on its grounds, but only when the Faire is around, just as one example.
Legion Mage Tower: This has recently become a more hot-button topic so I’ll keep this short. – Doing Remix, people have been begging for this to be available again for players to be challenged and have an opportunity to earn the things people did back when Legion was current, that’s it.
We saw FIRST HAND, and Blizzard did too, how many people made/logged back onto their Druids to swap to the Mage Tower Bear Skin when it was mistakenly made available. …If that doesn’t tell you how much people want access to unique appearances, I don’t know what will.
I’m glad it got fixed and the people who didn’t earn it had it taken away, but this shouldn’t be the last we hear of it.
Legion Mage Tower Suggestion: Hot take, but I feel this shouldn’t be available during Remix, but instead during Legion Timewalking which comes around every so often and isn’t an one-off thing like Remix… Have it be scaled encounters to mimic the challenge of Legion Expansion when it was current, for players to be able to queue into these encounters to try and earn the Mage Tower Appearances fairly.
That would fix everything instead of trying to rush allowing for Mage Towers for the remaining 90 days of Remix only for it to be gone forever all over again and players who missed out to be upset, still.
And it makes it so people still have to put in the blood sweat and tears to earn it, but it will come around every time Legion Timewalking does so it’s not just gone forever.
PvP Season Exclusives: Now I Roleplay more than I PvP, but I still love PvP and I feel that some of the set recolors are amazing. As time goes on, those “Hey guys look I got this super cool recolor of this armor!” becomes a rarer and rarer thing. Especially as graphics/mesh updates for armor models improve as time goes on. I think this is another needless bit of FOMO that can be adjusted.
PvP Season Exclusives Suggestion: Have it so when people achieve whatever prerequisites they need for CURRENT SEASON fashion, they can also earn a currency on the side that allows them to buy the no-longer-available recolors of prior Seasons. This way it’s still earned in a current-expansion climate but things that people no longer hold as prestigious can be sampled and enjoyed with something purely cosmetic.
I can see some push-back on this one since there will be those who like to hold their past achievements over people’s heads, but at the end of the day, this is just fashion, and theoretically people will still be putting in PvP effort instead of it just being handed out.
Delver’s Seasonal Mounts: Now this is a sensitive topic for me because I’ve been in and out of Tickets for weeks with GMs and have gotten so many different responses, but I finally had someone review my case and check into it: Despite the first Delver’s mount (Dirigible) still being obtainable in catch-up quests, and the 3rd Delver’s mount (Mana-Skimmer), the 2nd Delver’s Mount (Gob-Trotter) was confirmed to be Retired and because of this, is no longer obtainable. No catch-up quests, nothing, it’s not even a Drop.
This has been confusing for myself and many others I’ve talked to since August, since you can STILL purchase the Upgrades for the Gob-Trotter but you can’t actually obtain it. Blizzard also denied refunds for these items, so let this double as a PSA to NOT buy any upgrades for the Delver’s Gob-Trotter if you do not have it.
Some might say it’s not too different from the Dirigible, but that’s not the point. It has unique colors and upgrade points and it’s Goblin themed since it was designed to be unlocked with the Undermine Delves quest, then Seasonal Refresher.
This is a newer issue that I fear will become a new trend as we’re getting Delves in Midnight as well, I pray this is re-evaluated by Blizzard. I missed it by literally 1 week…
Delver’s Seasonal Mounts Suggestion: If Mounts are going to be retired, PLEASE have it so their Upgrades can no longer be purchased EDIT: Specifically, By people who do not own it so they do not waste currency, but those that do own it can remain eligible. – Ideally however, make it so these Mounts can still be obtained as a % chance drop from Delves relevant to its release.
This way players can still put in time, energy, and work to attempt to farm the Mounts they missed out on, instead of them just being gone forever.
In-Game Item Shop: I can’t believe I’m writing about this, but it finally happened. We now have a Transmog item up on the Item Shop that’s only being sold for 90~ Days, this is a lot of time so I’m not terribly upset, but it’s the start of what I can see turn into Flash Sales in the next year or so.
I want to address this now.
EDIT: The items will still be in the Shop, just as individual instead of a complete pack as they are now, I missed this initially. Thanks to those that explained it to me! – My concerns of timers in the Shop however, are still something I’m wary of.
In-Game Item Shop Suggestion: If Blizzard INSISTS on having so much FOMO in their game that they also have limited run Shop Items? Then please please please please take a note out of other Game’s books who’ve been doing it longer, and how they’ve handled it rightly and wrongly. One right way is that if something is temporary, it’s not gone forever, but on a rotation.
I get the business argument of “If we sell it and then have it gone for a long time, people will be more inclined to buy it again when it returns.” …Sure, but is that fun for players? No. Does Blizzard care about fun? Yes. Because if Players aren’t having fun, they’re not playing. There’s always a middle-ground to be found.
In this case, the issue right now I feel it’s very small because 90 days is generous. But what will 2026 look like? Will that 90 days of availability turns to 30 days? What if that turns to a week? …Please do not let it get that bad, that’s all I’m asking.
I’m sure there’s more but these are the main things that have upset me and those I’ve spoken to that encouraged me to write all of this to begin with.
I just returned to WoW in mid August after being gone for 5 years, it’s very rough to constantly see cool things and be met with “Nope, sorry, not in the game anymore.” …That doesn’t make me happy, that’s depressing.
I even missed out on the 20th Anniversary event, and I hear that there’s only a ‘chance’ for the transmog sets to come back another 5-10 years from now. …I am not trying to sound hyperbolic, but 5-10 years from now I might not even be here anymore with the way my RL is going. That’s just ridiculous and makes zero sense to drag out exclusivity to such needless lengths. Why?
But my argument here is less about me, and more about the overall game and what I’m noticing has developed as it’s evolved. I’ve played since BC and I remember a time where we had so much more player agency with Gear and Item Acquisition. But I digress.
I understand the pros and cons of Exclusivity.
I understand FOMO from a Player Perspective and a Business Perspective.
I understand how Blizzard wants to find a lot of ways to keep people invested, to make Players feel special, to go about offering things that not everyone has, to design an experience that will both reward and entertain.
But the way it is now, I genuinely, wholeheartedly feel isn’t the way it should be finalized.
The way it is now keeps the average player in fear of missing out, that’s what FOMO is for those uninformed; imagine not being able to afford a month or two of WoW because you’re literally down to your last dollar trying to afford food and keep a roof over your head? Yeah, those cool things you wanted? Tough, you’re not getting them, and there’s no chance besides a rumor mill of maybes that you’ll ever see them again.
Perhaps that is an extreme scenario, but it’s no less a real one. Hell I was gone for so long from WoW because I couldn’t afford it and was almost homeless, but I’m not asking for Blizzard to specifically CATER to the less fortunate. Our Real Life issues are NOT the concern of a company trying to design an experience. I GET THAT.
But there’s always middle-grounds, there’s always a way for people to feel as if things they want aren’t forever lost, and I think even if my above suggestions aren’t used, some other form of middle-ground should be discussed, because how it is now just isn’t promoting a healthy environment, nor healthy habits.
Thanks for reading.
P.S.: If this is not a place for feedback/discussion, I will happily move it to the correct place if someone can point me to it, sorry in advance if so!