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Breakfast Topic: Is it time to implement artifacts?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. More and more people are gearing up in epic equipment these days, either through Zandalari heroics or normal and heroic-level raiding. This leads to a lot of purple items of wide range of different ilevels, particularly toward the end of an expansion set. While this is great for those of us who are catching up to current content (or gearing up an alt), couldn't there be more of an incentive for hardcore raiders? Back in vanilla, it was really something to see someone decked out in the highest level of gear. The color category of a player's items alone was enough to determine their in-game accomplishment. I absolutely think it's a good thing that a larger group of people get to see content and gear up quickly, but shouldn't there be a new level of reward for those who work the hardest on progression? Well, as longtime WoW players may remember, there already is. There has always been a level of gear above epics that has never been implemented in game: artifacts. Originally planned as a step above legendary items, red-quality artifact items could perhaps instead replace heroic raiding-quality epic items as a status symbol for those at the cutting edge of content. At a point in time when blue gear is considered temporary and purple is again becoming the norm, could it be time to implement a rarer category of reward? Do you think it would be beneficial to World of Warcraft for the best possible items to be of a different grade? Would this be enough to bring hardcore players back to the game? Or would it greatly devalue traditional epics?
Enter at Your Own Rift: Creature comforts
I've got a problem that nine interventions and three bouts of electroshock therapy have yet to cure: I'm hopelessly addicted to collecting non-combat pets (aka vanity pets) in MMOs. I don't know why that is, exactly, although I've always had a fondness for "fluffy" elements on online games. In my opinion, a lot of what we work for in MMOs is cosmetic anyway -- a really good-looking set of armor, a top-of-the-line mount -- with some piddly stats occasionally making a cameo. (Comment bait? Oh yes, I'm evil that way!) While adding nothing to my combat power nor helping me advance in the game, pets still hold purpose. They are fun to display, particularly if you have rare critters that others haven't seen, and they can give you a feeling of virtual companionship during your journeys. Unlike many collection items, pets have a use -- you can actually do something with them instead of tucking them away where they'll sit collecting pixelated dust. I was pretty pleased to discover that RIFT wasn't going to leave us high and dry when it came to non-combat pets, although it's interesting that they're somewhat harder to come by than in, say, World of Warcraft. If you're like I am, you're scouring the game looking to expand your menagerie, so it might be frustrating to be well on your way to 50 with only a paltry pair of pets to your name. Where is everyone getting all of these? How can I snag a few more? Join me after the jump as we examine six ways to collect crazy critters!
Enter at Your Own Rift: A case for player housing
Earlier this week we were treated to the news that Trion Worlds is going to offer free character transfers between "select servers" once Update 1.3 hits. Now, how useful this will be is anyone's guess -- as some have noted, this may just be a clever ploy to redistribute the population from high-pop servers to low-pop ones -- but generally it's been met with applause from the community. I remain impressed as a consumer with how fast and aggressive Trion is pumping out content, and the fact that this is a free transfer once per week is really cool considering how most other subscription MMOs charge for a similar "premium" service. Whatever Trion's motive and however it'll play out, I do know this: The company needs to continue to bring the heat to the competition. It's vital that RIFT distinguishes itself from the rest of the pack in some way, whether it be polish, originality, speed, customer service, or innovation. Today I'd like to make a case for what I think should be high up on Trion's development schedule: player housing. We know it's something the devs have discussed, with some very much for and some very much against, but I'm hoping it's gone past the brainstorming phase. Why should we care about what might seem like fluff? How could housing work in RIFT? Tune in after the jump, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel to find out!
The legends of non-Legendary items
Blizzard has a torrid history with the Legendary items in World of Warcraft. The first such item to raise a stink was probably Ashbringer, the sword of Highlord Mograine of the Scarlet Crusade. Though stats have been found in the game (and a Corrupted version is available), the item itself isn't obtainable by players at all (though it still may be in the future). And reader Scott recently brought another one of these not-quite-Legendary items to my attention: the Skull of Gul'dan. This is probably one of the most powerful items in all of Azeroth-- it's been used to close and open the Dark Portal, it's responsible for tearing apart Felwood, and it turned Illidan from just an emo elf into a superpowerful demonic badass. And yet, it's no more than a rare trinket in the game.Shouldn't an item with that much legend behind it be called Legendary? Illidan's twin blades are labeled legendary, but they're hardly the stuff of modern legend-- Illidan took them from a doom guard commander 10,000 years ago, and they've done nothing but sit in his whirling hands since then (heck, they couldn't even take down Arthas). I agree with Scott-- there's no reason those blades should be Legendary when the skull isn't. Sure, the skull might not be as powerful as it used to be, but it's still got a load of legend behind it.And the Legendary debate isn't over yet, because there is one more big item looming on the horizon: when we head to Northrend, we'll all, Horde and Alliance alike, be looking to find the item that kicked off this Arthas trouble in the first place: Frostmourne. Will that be wieldable by players, or labeled Legendary? If Blizzard's previous experience with Legendary items is any indication, the answer may not be what you expect.
Ashbringer quest in Utgarde Keep
Our friend Boubouille over at MMO Champion has gotten a nice tip on Ashbringer appearing in Northrend (warning: I don't think this is a huge spoiler, as it probably happens within your first hour or so of Wrath of the Lich King, but if you don't want to know anything about what happens to Ashbringer, skip this post).So apparently inside the Utgarde Catacombs (which is probably the lower section of Utgarde Keep-- I played the upper section), there is a cleric of the Silver Hand, the group led by Tirion Fordring that fought against the Scourge in Naxx, as well as other places. The cleric sends you on a timed quest inside the dungeon, to retrive a "Sacred Artifact." After you retrieve it, he sends you with his dying breath to someone back in town, who then tells you that the Artifact you just held in your hands is related to the Ashbringer, thanks you for grabbing it, and takes it away (as, Boubouille says, "the ret paladin of your party keeps crying"), promising to give it to Fordring in his fight against Arthas. How is it related to Ashbringer? Well, it could be the blade itself, except that the Corrupted Ashbringer was last seen in player hands, not at the bottom of a dungeon. Most likely, it's a mirror, or a copy, of the artifact seen in Old Hillsbrad-- a new holy artifact, meant to create a new, uncorrupted Ashbringer.So that's kind of cool. It definitely shows how Blizzard is going to make good on their promise of involving us in the lore right away when you enter Northrend-- at BlizzCon, they said a few times that most players worried they would never see Illidan, so the idea with WotLK is to bring the lore to you (we're supposed to meet Arthas early on in this way as well). I like the way this is done-- even though you don't get to wield it, you're still able to interact with it. Should be very exciting to see how Blizzard incorporates other parts of the lore in this way.Just so we don't take down MMO Champion's site with hotlinks, I've mirrored the three quest images after the jump.Update: MMO Champion got it from Cydel, who also has video.
The (in)famous 1080p truth
This article is making the rounds on the internet so we may as well throw in our two cents. I think there is a lot of confusion and misinformation about HDTV in general and 1080p specifically, and this piece in particular has a lot of both swirling around it.First, let's address the section I've seen quoted most often in forums (usually misinterpreted or presented alone with no context). "How about Blu-ray and HD-DVD? If either format is used to store and play back live HD content, it will have to be 1920x1080i (interlaced again) to be compatible with the bulk of consumer TVs. And any progressive-scan content will also have to be interlaced for viewing on the majority of HDTV sets."What does that mean? If you have a player that outputs only in 1080i (like the HD-DVD player Ben reviewed) and/or a 1080i TV, you will see ... you guessed it 1080i. Not incredibly complicated or shocking, just something I've seen people go into a frenzy over and suddenly believe 1080p is as real as the boogie man, Easter Bunny or gas that costs less than $2.75 per gallon. Trust me, 1080p is real, but you have to be careful about what you're getting.As it stands, this piece is at best half done, definitely outdated and somewhat inaccurate.
