pvp-weapons
Latest
Wings Over Atreia's Aion 2.7 sneak-peek: Dev death match
You all just better be grateful that NCsoft is working out the kinks by using me as a guinea pig so you can have a smooth launch! Even if by launch I only mean the PTS, which is set to go live today with Aion's newest patch. Yes folks, I -- your intrepid Wings Over Atreia correspondent -- was invited to a media sneak-peek to check out the Crucible 3 arenas coming very soon to a live server near you. Who am I to pass up a few practice runs through the new arenas before the rest of the masses? So I touch-down mid-week for some additional Atreian coverage. And come on, no one could pass up the chance to stealth up behind a dev and unleash a flurry of dagger blows into his/her back! Unfortunately, logistical and technical difficulties stretching for days plagued this endeavor. Yours truly was especially cursed. However, just when it seemed like the event wouldn't happen, there we were, standing in Kaisinel Academy in spiffy new duds and queued to enter what is arguably the highlight of 2.7: the PvP arenas. At this point, I forgave all previous problems because I got to commence some slaughter on a few NCsoft employees. What?!? You all know you want to! I tested my dagger and sword against Scott Hannus, producer of the game guide; two members of the game guide team, Sean Orlikowski and Ryan Compton; Adam Christensen, Associate Producer; Dom Wai, Brand Manager; and two members of the community management team, Felicia Johnson (Nyx) and Curtis Grooms (Anhtoo). Oh, and I learned some pretty neat things about the upcoming patch as well. So how was the experience? And just exactly how tasty are Aion's forthcoming goodies? Whet your appetite past the cut with my impressions of the two instances and the new PvP gear as well as check out a video. Then join in on the PTS server to experience for yourself.%Gallery-136333%
.jpg.cf.jpg)
Are PVP weapons and armor too cheap?
That's the question of the week on the World of Warcraft forums, where many former Grand Marshals and High Warlords are lamenting their lost time and suggesting that Blizzard double or triple the cost of GM/HWL weapons. Several former PVPers have posted arguments that basically amount to feeling that since they put in the admittedly arduous amount of effort to get top rank, they feel slighted by seeing people running around in all blues and Rank 14 weapons. Melodii of Stormreaver posts not one, but two tales of woe: one of her rise to rank 14, and one of her arguments against cheap weapons. Melodii's story is somewhat heartwrenching, since she admits that she pvped through illness, neglected her friends, didn't work and quit school for six months to get Grand Marshal. Her opinion of herself as an "acheiver who didn't quit" was not shared by the seven pages of people making fun of her. So are weapons and armor too cheap? In my opinion, the cheap weapons and armor are fully justified. While I understand it can be painful to see the stuff you worked so hard for seemingly made available to the common man, the truth is that Blizzard's PvP system was completely broken. Melodii's story, rather than an impassioned defense of the former PvP system, looks more like an argument against it -- who wants to do nothing with their lives so they can get epics in WoW? Continuing with a life-disabling PvP system just so those who've gone before don't feel slighted is like sending people into a sinkhole to retrieve someone's wallet, and when those people don' t come out, sending more in so the dead people wouldn't have died in vain. The former Grand Marshals and High Warlords have their titles, and they had the weapons and armor long before they were available to the common player. Plus, as Drysc notes, the PvP gear will be worth much, much less come the expansion. All this will do is give people more of an equal footing when we're all standing at the Dark Portal together. And as someone who hasn't raided in two months, the idea that I can work a little each day to get something to help me level is a very, very sweet idea indeed. What do you think? Should they raise item honor costs, or are you just too close to that Grand Marshal mace to let that happen?
