cosmetic-gear
Latest
Cosmetic helms now available in Blizzard Store
The first round of transmog gear for purchase has appeared in the Blizzard store. The Crown of Eternal Winter, Jewel of the Firelord, and Hood of Hungering Darkness are all head slot items with zero stats, functional only for cosmetic reasons. All three of these items are unique models with animations, and I do have to say, they are rather visually arresting. Of the three, I think the Jewel of the Firelord (pictured above) is my favorite, but I'm quite sure the Crown of Eternal Winter will be a popular choice thanks to its skull face look. Spooky! Something notable about these helms is that they don't seem to have an armor type. The description tells us that they work across all races and classes, and are available on all current and future WoW characters. So for those of us playing classes that might not have a whole lot of variety available to us (ahem, mail-wearers) this could be a nice way to expand the wardrobe. All three of these helms are available for purchase in the US Blizzard Store under the Collectibles tab for $15.00 apiece and in the EU Blizzard Store under the Pets & Mounts tab, for 12,00 euros each.
The Daily Grind: How much character customization is too much?
Forty million. That's how many fashion combinations Spirit Tales is boasting. Forget, for a moment, whether you are a fan of Anime-inspired MMOs and cutesy fare and consider that staggering number on its merits. I don't think players are really confused by a mind-numbing array of options. Heck, some of us live for cosmetic gear and could never get enough. But each one of these character tidbits was designed and modeled and textured and coded in by someone, and while we know that game development resources aren't wholly fungible, it's still true that money spent on pigtails and lollipop weapons and hats that look like snakes is money not spent on other features like housing and combat -- features more likely to be used by far more players than bunny ears. How much character customization is too much? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: How far would you go for cosmetic gear?
Massively's got so many cosmetic-gear gurus and sandbox aficionados on staff that sometimes I suspect no amount of character customization and housing and achievements and titles would ever be enough for us. We'd do just about anything for more ways to distinguish our characters in an MMO. But what about raiding for cosmetic gear? Enter OpenRaid, a World of Warcraft website that helps players organize cross-server PvE dungeon raids and premade PvP teams for the express purpose of acquiring achievements and gear to transmogrify (i.e., map the skin of something cool onto something with good stats). While I'd hope that needing to run large-scale endgame content for gorgeous weapon skins isn't going to become commonplace in future MMOs, it's still fascinating to see roleplay-oriented players playing content they wouldn't normally touch, just to collect a dress. So how far would you go -- or have you gone -- to get your hands on a sweet piece of cosmetic gear, title, or achievement? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Quest: It's all about the gear
Here at WoW.com, we're on a Daily Quest (which we try to do every day, honest) to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Remember running Scholomance a hundred times just to try to get that last piece of Dreadmist? And no one ever wanting to bother killing Jandice because she was optional and annoying? (It's true: I'm speaking from personal experience.) Times and loot tables may have changed, but we're still a bit gear-obsessed. So, for today's quest, here's what's been going 'round the blogosphere about gear. Blessing of Fish talks about why our gear is special. Larísa at the Pink Pigtail Inn is on the hunt for a decent cloak. Relevart's Druid Reliquary talks about epic gear feeling epic. Cynwise points out an important question from the recent dev chat: will we be able to wear a monocle with our top hat? Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment, and you may see it here tomorrow! Be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW-related sites.
