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Loot is the carrot, not getting loot is the stick
We've all complained about loot drops. It is as close to a universal truth as World of Warcraft can encompass. I remember running LBRS with my wife, run after run after run, trying to get the hunter dungeon set piece off of Wyrmthalak. I remember killing Rend Blackhand day in, day out, and never getting the Doomsaw until finally, one bright sunny day, it dropped and the paladin healer took it. Luckily, the Beast provided me with a touch of revenge, as he dropped Lightforge, which I then needed and won. Such was the cynical, sadistic, uncooperative nature of Blackrock Spire pick up groups, a lawless zone in a lawless time. Loot remains one of the prime motivations for running dungeons. We run dungeons to gear up and run raids, which then gear us up for the next tier of raiding. Better loot lets us perform our roles more easily, makes daily questing and grinding easier, and serves as a status symbol of sorts, as well as clogging up my bank with more transmog fodder. (This is not a post about needing another void storage tab, but man, I really do.) And as a result, for as long as there has been loot in World of Warcraft, people have complained about how it dropped, about how it didn't drop, about never getting the drop they wanted and getting the same drop over and over again. I understand this frustration. The current loot system used by LFR and world bosses like Sha of Anger and Galleon often maddens people with its quirks. But I tell you now, there will never be a perfectly rational loot system that gives you what you want or need and doesn't give you what you already have.
Hybrid Theory: Itemization, Patch 2.4 and beyond!
My original intent for this week's Hybrid Theory was to take a close look at the Badge Gear for Hybrids in patch 2.4, but that turned into a monstrous project that left my head spinning. I remained vigilant, until I saw the specific class columns were working on this themselves, starting with Shifting Perspectives. Upon hearing that, I jumped for joy and it was as if the Heavens opened up and thousands of beautiful angels embraced me against their supple forms.So instead of filling your browser with loot links and badge prices, I'm going to talk about the future of itemization, from patch 2.4 and onward."We do plan to have more specs share some loot. I know it's great when the Retribution-Paladin piece drops, but that's a piece that isn't good for 26 other classes/specs, so hopefully we can make it so the item will apply to more classes/specs so even the randomness of loot won't be so much of a big deal." -Bornakk on Wrath of the Lich King
At last it dropped
I've talked before about playing with insomnia, and how my current schedule has caused me to play at odd hours with my Alliance toons instead of my Horde ones. I miss playing Horde, but the late shift and my new guild means that I have found myself with almost a guaranteed group for whatever the daily heroic happens to be, and I know I can rely on those players to not stun the mobs before I hit them, fail to cast heals on me while I'm tanking three mobs, set sheeped mobs on fire while I'm looking at the two mobs I was planning to tank, or what have you. So far the guild groups I've run with have been so smooth it's like I'm playing an entirely different game from when I run PuG's, and the new game is fun. We make smart recoveries from bad pulls, kill bosses, get loot and badges, and even handle the occasional wipe with aplomb rather than sniping at each other. It's been delightful.Last night, however, heroic Mechanar made it magical.
