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The long road to 'Exalted'
This week, I hit a new milestone on my main character -- I finally got Exalted with one of Azeroth's factions. By playing far too many games in Alterac Valley, I have somehow managed to convince the Stormpike Guard to like me (and I mean really like me). Anyone familiar with AV will know that you get a lot of reputation per game played, and thus getting to exalted is simply a matter of turning up, but it's still a great milestone for me.Achieving this got me to thinking about other factions I'm working on reputation for. Slowly but surely I'm building up Cenarion Circle, Zandalar Tribe and Brood of Nozdormu faction through raiding, while I'm working on Silverwing Sentinels and League of Arathor by PvPing. On top of that, I'm working towards Stormwind reputation so I can get a horse mount, and I'd love to get Timbermaw Hold and Thorium Brotherhood rep for the recipes they bring.It's all a bit much, really. Reaching Exalted with AV seemed to take long enough, and I'm staring despondently at my 'Neutral' and 'Friendly' bars -- not to mention the one or two 'Revered' bars which seem to stretch on forever. As I'm not a fan of grinding, reaching higher reputation levels with many factions is a case of farming instances equally repetitively -- for now, my tactic is to do these instances and let the rep come to me, rather than vice versa, but it will be many months before I reach higher levels if I continue this trend.
Alliance/Horde Ratio Over Time
PlayOn has some interesting data on the ratio of Alliance to Horde players on different server types over the course of about six months. The numbers are surprisingly stable over time, with PvP samples being close on 1-to-1 and PvE samples being nearer 2-to-1. However, this data only makes me more curious as to what the numbers will look like after the Burning Crusade is released, when shamans and paladins are available to both factions.
Breakfast Topic: Fixing Faction Imbalance
Blizzard's announcement yesterday that the Horde would have access to paladins and the Alliance would have access to shaman has been getting mixed responses on the forums. Some seem to find this the most equitable solution to faction imbalances - now each side will have access to the same classes and abilities. Others, however, think that with this change there will be no longer be any defining difference between the Horde and the Alliance, and that you may well flip a coin to decide which to play. For myself, I remain undecided - and am adopting a wait-and-see approach to watch how Blizzard plans to run with this change.While this is one way to address the continued concerns of Horde players with regards to PvE imbalance, but it certainly wasn't the only way they may have gone about improving the situation. And so, readers, if left to your hands, how would you have addressed the issue? Is there another way to help bring a bit more PvP power to the Alliance and a bit more PvE power to the Horde, while maintaining their sense of uniqueness?
Alliance Shamans? Horde Paladins?
While previously Blizzard posters had announced an unsurprising list of classes available for the new Draenei and Blood Elf races, but now there appears to have been a change of plan. However, Gamespot is currently reporting that in the Burning Crusade expansion, Draenei will have the option to play as Shamans while Blood Elves will have the option to play as Paladins. While I initially wondered if this was merely wishful thinking, CM Eyonix has posted on the official forums confirming it. This rather changes the argument of faction imbalance and "easy mode" favoritism - and, while it may remove some of the unique flavor of each faction, it may be a good solution for overall game balance.[Thanks, Silvertusk]
At War With the Dawn
I really hope I never get this bored...Then again, your options do get pretty limited once you reach level 60; the same raids & dungeon crawls over & over, the endless grinding for reputation. Or you can do what this guy did, and just say to hell with it all & declare war on the Argent Dawn. And he photoblogged the whole thing over at notaddicted.com.Yes, I guess it can be pretty annoying to other players when quest NPC's & the like are killed...especially by members of your own faction. But after all, that 'at war' tab IS there for a reason, is it not? It would be a shame to let it just go unused forever...or not.In any case, it's something I would never do or never hope to encounter, but it does make for some funny reading over your cornflakes....
Faction System to be Reworked in Burning Crusade
Worldofwar.net has a quote today from Blizzard developer Rob Pardo, which states that the faction system in WoW will be getting somewhat of an overhaul in the upcoming Burning Crusade expansion. According to Pardo:"...we are looking to overhaul the way faction works in the expansion. It was one of those features that was put into the game in late beta and never really received the polish and refinement that it deserves."So, hopefully that means that, unlike now, reputation will be somewhat easier to raise than the Titanic. I've probably grinded away more hours in this game trying to raise my faction rating with various groups than doing anything else; any restructuring of the system would be welcome in my book. Unless they make it harder, of course...but they wouldn't do that....would they?
Avoiding Familiarity with Pirates
Perhaps you have heard about the upcoming Dungeon 2 armor sets. If not, I'll give you the basics - these are 8-piece, class specific sets, obtained via quests that require you to complete tasks solo or in small groups. Four pieces of the set will be epic in quality. The armor sets - and related quests - are currently live on the test realm for everyone to see. And not everyone likes what they see.One of the required quests begins in Gadgatzen, which leaves those who have spent time and effort gaining faction with the Bloodsail Buccaneers out in the cold. Gaining faction with these pirates - for which you are rewarded a nifty pirate hat - happens to have the nasty side-effect of immensely lowering your reputation with all Goblin towns, which means the town guards will attack you on sight. While many of us would question the wisdom of grinding to hated with the factions that control all neutral towns, loyal Bloodsails are unhappy they're cut off from these new content quests - and that Blizzard continues to add content while leaving their favored faction out.
The Epic Grind
So, you've finally gotten to level 60. Now what? Well, there are some resources to guide you along, but whatever your direction, be prepared for a grind. Rewards for gaining reputation with the game's factions can be high, but the process for getting them tends to involve the tedium of killing the same monsters or doing the same repeatable quest for days or weeks on end. Collecting a new piece of powerful gear is always a thrill, but you may find yourself running through Upper Blackrock Spire a hundred times without winning a roll on the item you seek. Even if you're in an end-game raiding guild, the game can be a grind - running through Molten Core again and again for the low chance of a specific item drop. And I can certainly say that after defeating Ragnaros a few dozen times it becomes less of an epic struggle and more of an issue of "Drop my Choker of the Fire Lord already!" Have you reached the point where the game is nothing but a grind yet, or do you still feel the magic?
