quest-rewards
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Warlords of Draenor: Random quest item upgrades
One of the most interesting changes to quest gearing in Warlords of Draenor is that you have a chance for any item you get as a quest reward to end up upgrading from a quest green to a blue (rare) quality drop, and even an epic (purple) on rare occasions. For example, the Karabor Honor Guard Legguards are a green quest reward usually. As you can see, they're not a green for me here, because I got lucky. They're not an earth-shattering upgrade, mind you (although with the stat squish, a few points is a lot bigger than it used to be) but it's still a nice little bump. You don't have to do anything for this to happen - it's completely out of your hands. It may happen, it may not. Purely from my own experience it's not that uncommon for greens to end up as blues (I've had it happen four or five times) but these are the first epic I've seen on my second playthrough in SMV. Your own rates will vary, of course.
Would you bring back "boss must die!" quests?
Once upon a time it was common for there to exist daily (for dungeons) or weekly (for raids) boss-kill quests in WoW; think Archmage Lan'dalock during Wrath of the Lich King. User Frozenclaw, over on the EU forums, is wondering just what happened to those types of quests? Why don't we see any in Mists of Pandaria? It would be a great way to drive players to some of the lower-tier raids (such as Heart of Fear or Terrace of Endless Spring) these days, as well as a way to gain some reward for being willing to step into old content. I think this would be a great idea! I still regularly hit up some of the initial MoP raids for valor and the like, but sometimes the queue times are, uh, depressing. The addition of an extra reward for killing certain bosses might help drive people into these older raids--great if you're trying to gear an alt in LFR, for example--and give them something nice for doing so. Would you like to see the return of these types of quests? Would you run them if they did come back? What kind of rewards would you like to see out of them?
Gok'lokk's Shell brings beauty to Pandaria
Mists of Pandaria has introduced a tremendous amount of fun vanity items, more so than any expansion before. So many in fact, that many players are begging for a vanity item tab that works much the same way as the pet and mount tabs that were added at the end of Burning Crusade. After all, when you find something that does something cool to your character, you automatically want to keep it. And when it's something truly odd, you want to use it at every possible opportunity. Imagine this: you're in the latest iteration of LFR. A tank has just left the group, and everyone is standing around waiting for a replacement to appear. Suddenly, you are assaulted with the sight of a muscular green orc, proudly standing in his underwear atop a clam shell a la Birth of Venus. He flexes. You boggle. And you think to yourself, where on earth do I get this thing because I need it immediately? It's Gokk'lok's Shell, and it's surprisingly easy to get, once you know where to look for it.
Ghostcrawler explains spec-specific quest rewards in MoP
If you've been following the Mists of Pandaria beta at all, you may have heard that questing players discovered that they were only getting one choice for quest reward items. Many recent MMOs such as SW:TOR use this model; it's generally agreed that the system of multiple possible quest rewards is yet another "bad player trap," like Ghostcrawler described lots of talents pre-Cataclysm. Players can miss out on quest rewards accidentally, and since there's no in-game way of switching your quest rewards, well, that can be a headache (especially since reports say that GMs are no longer switching quest items for you). When asked about the issue on the beta forums, Ghostcrawler offered a pretty reasoned explanation for the change. He says that most quests with green rewards will only give you one choice (that matches your current spec). However, there'll also be vendors in every zone from whom you can buy sets of gear that aren't quite up to the item level of quest rewards in that zone, so you can fill in itemization holes or help bolster an off spec a little more. Quests that offer blue rewards will usually offer rewards for any spec your class can be, giving you some flexibility when it comes to rare rewards. Also, Mists of Pandaria questing is more non-linear than Cataclysm's, so you'll be able to hit up a different zone in the event that you need gear for a specific level range. Ghostcrawler's full response (and an image of one of the vendors) is after the break.
Hi, my name is Anne and I'm addicted to transmogrification
I have a problem, and its name is transmogrification. I like collecting gear sets. I like picking up different pieces of gear and putting them together. I like making my character look unique and pretty, and I cannot stop. Every time I think I've found the perfect outfit, I keep it for about a week or two until someone in my guild invariably links a piece of gear that is just so cool that I have to find it and build another set around it. You'd think void storage would have solved my bank woes, but it really hasn't. In fact, transmogrification has only made the issue worse -- and it all has to do with quest rewards. See, once you complete a quest and get the reward for it, you can't get that reward back again if you delete it to make room for things. Unfortunately, a lot of the nicest sets out there are floating about in 1-to-60 zones as part of quest chains that you cannot redo if you happen to lose that quest item. So if you want to continue to use it for transmogrification, you have to keep it. Forever. You see the inherent problem here?
The Daily Grind: Does quest reward realism matter?
While playing Star Wars: The Old Republic this week, my quest partner and I ran into something odd: A group of anti-Jedi Twi'lek pilgrims handed over an elite Jedi robe to his Consular. What were these pilgrims doing with expensive gear from their enemies, and if the quest-givers had looted the garb from Jedi corpses, why would they consider such wearables worthy gifts for us? In a game as story-driven as SWTOR, you'd think the quest rewards would match the lore, right? Of course, BioWare's new epic isn't alone in these weird quirks. Think about how many fantasy games have monsters that drop abnormal numbers of body parts, or worse, money, when you know that ghost couldn't carry a sack of gold and you're pretty darn sure that bat had two eyes, not just one. But does it bother you? Are your immersions disrupted by such inanities, or do you chalk them up to game mechanics and go about your MMO business, happily accepting illogical quest rewards and looting ridiculous items (like furniture!) from any old white-con mob that wanders into your crosshairs? 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!
Quest changes en route for Final Fantasy XIV on Monday
Final Fantasy XIV is only just coming back from its temporary shutdown, but it's a known fact that the team hasn't been sitting idle during the downtime, and it looks like the developers have been putting the finishing touches on another small patch. Patch 1.16a is slated to arrive during scheduled maintenance on Monday, and while it's not a major update, it does change one rather important issue -- the way that quest targets are currently handled. When implemented in patch 1.16, enemies intended as quest targets did not provide the player with drops, experience, or skill points. That factor is being changed, according to the preliminary notes for 1.16a, with the respawn timer correspondingly lengthened. While it's possible this might change in the short time remaining before the scheduled release date, the modification should be a welcome one for Final Fantasy XIV fans getting reacquainted with the newly restored game over the weekend.
Cataclysm's best leveling improvement: no more clown suits
One of the many nice things that Cataclysm is doing for the low-level quester is finally getting rid of the level 1 to 60 "clown suit." Every 10-level range has its own specific set of matching quest rewards, giving you a unique look every handful of zones. And they don't look half bad! In fact, some of the sets look pretty darn cool. Speaking from experience, leveling from 1 to 60 in the beta was a lot more exciting, not just due to the new quests and mechanics, but also because I couldn't wait to see what my new gear would look like when I hit a new leveling milestone. Check out the full picture with all of Cataclysm's low-level armor sets, courtesy of reader Frez, after the break.
Breakfast Topic: Grab it while you can
Ghostcrawler made a sobering announcement the other day on the forums when he stressed to players that if they wanted a quest reward, they had better obtain it soon as Cataclysm will basically wipe the slate clean and virtually all quests from the old world will be changed. It only makes sense, after all, as the new race and class combinations will necessitate peppering the game world with the proper drops and rewards, such as ranged weapons in Elwynn Forest or Tirisfal Glades. Some of it might just be re-itemizing the quest rewards, but I suspect Blizzard has pulled out all the stops and made quests -- especially starting ones -- far more creative and interesting than the basic kill X creatures or FedEx deliveries from five years ago. With so much experience under their belt as well as new tools and technologies, the new starting areas and the rest of the Cataclysm-wrought world is ripe for a more engaging questing experience. Be prepared for everything you know to change, so even if you've leveled like ten characters to 80, expect to chuck all that familiarity with old world quests out the window. That means if there are pretty trinkets from quests that you like, these are the last few months for you to get them. I know, a few months sounds like we've got a ways yet, but time zings by quicker than we realize. What quest rewards would you like to grab as keepsakes of the old world? I'm fairly certain members of the Alliance are all rushing to get their Dartol's Rod of Transformation before it disappears forever. How about grabbing that Sprite Darter Egg from Feralas? The Horde just farm it as a drop, but why take chances? With all of Azeroth getting a facelift, Blizzard is probably going to change mobs and their drops, as well. Horde hunters might want to get that one last chance to tame Echeyakee or Sian-Rotam before the opportunity is gone forever. Quests will surely change, but I suspect rare mobs will be moved or disappear completely, too. I don't think Blizzard is holding anything sacred, which means we're running out of time to grab our souvenirs from vanilla. Quick, what will you be grabbing before it's gone?
Arcane Brilliance: Mage guide to quest rewards -- the early levels
It's time again for Arcane Brilliance, the weekly mage column that proves each and every week that there's no such thing as too much warlock hate. You might think there's some kind of limit, that at some point a constant stream of warlock hate crosses the boundary of good taste -- but you'd be wrong. Each joke at the expense of a warlock, like each episode of Breaking Bad, is more satisfying than the one before it. On a related note, Bryan Cranston is a god. Nothing in the above paragraph can be disputed. I'm realizing something as I level the stinking warlock you guys thought it would be fun to have me create, and that's how incredibly fast the leveling process is these days. Gone are the days when your best bet was to pick a zone and then quest it out before moving on to the next one. I was over-leveled for the first quests in Ghostlands before I was even halfway done with Eversong Woods, and I wasn't even trying that hard. In fact, I was more actively engaged in finding new and creative ways to get myself killed than I was in questing efficiently. The fact is, you can now absolutely pick and choose while leveling. Which zone? Which quest? Do I want to just bag the whole thing and hit some random dungeons? If something is unsavory -- say, you find yourself shackled to a quest in which you need zhevra hooves, only it is becoming rapidly apparent that none of the zhevra you're killing actually have feet -- you can skip it with negligible consequences. You're just going to come back and do it later for your Loremaster achievements anyway, right? So today, and probably in the coming weeks (I have no idea if I'll attempt to bring these guides to you consecutively, but I might), I'm going to try to provide you with something of a sightseeing guide for your accelerated tour through Azeroth. But instead of pointing you toward destinations like Hoover Dam or the Louvre, I'm going to direct you toward a selection of particularly worthwhile quest rewards. If you do nothing else in these zones, do these quests. Today we'll focus on classic WoW, and hopefully tackle Burning Crusade and Wrath rewards in the coming weeks. So gather your robes about you, plant your staff firmly into the path ahead and bring lots of conjured water. Our destination today? Phat loot.
Breakfast Topic: I threw that away, d'oh
This Breakfast Topic is brought to you by WoW.com's guest blogger program! Want to participate in a future call for guest posts? Read up on how to contribute, and keep an eye on the site for program announcements! On this past St. Patrick's Day, guild members were doing the quest chain in Hellfire that rewards you Mirren's Drinking Hat. At the time my main was doing this chain, I wasn't the connoisseur of hats that I am now. 10 and counting. Yet another reason for Blizzard to make wardrobes (urge to rant rising.) Several guild members have that hat and it provides much laughter when they pull a random brew from it. I, however, am so sorry I didn't save it. 2 gold for selling it was, at the time, a lot of money for a perpetually broke dwarf and I had a "better" hat for questing. Yes, I know. A dwarf tossing away a drinking hat! That alone is almost sacrilegious. But sold it I did. Now, when guild members pull some brew out of their hats, I regret my decision and I'd go do the quest chain again in a heartbeat just to get that hat. I'd have to toss something from my inventory (Archmage Vargoth's Staff maybe, or Monster Slayer's Kit, neither of which I use but are awesome in their own right) to carry it around in my bags, but I'd do it to get that hat. How about you? Is there any quest reward that you sold or otherwise disposed of that you'd do the quest chain to get again?
Rent seeking (or lack thereof) in WoW
Elnia continues posting some interesting (and complicated) insight into the World of Warcraft over at the Pink Pigtail Inn. This time, it's about what she calls "rent seeking," which isn't about trying to find the money to pay for your apartment so much as it's about individuals petitioning authorities (the government, or in this case Blizzard) for their own income. The post dabbles with some complicated market theory, but in the end, the conclusion is this: while players have definitely petitioned Blizzard for changes to their own class, they have generally stayed away from asking for more money, or changes to the rules that would grant it to them. In general, players are fine with Blizzard staying hands-off of the various in-game economies running in Azeroth. As the commenters over there say, there's a good reason for that, and it's because most of the economic play in WoW is completely optional. Aside from repair costs (which can be high for raiders, but for everyone else are fairly inconsequential), you don't really need money at all; given enough time, you can collect whatever you need from somewhere in the world, either by simply collecting ore or herbs, or by running instances and doing quests. But that doesn't mean that the "rent seeking" comparison isn't valid.
Breakfast Topic: Vanity Items
I know it's a silly RPer thing, but I try to pay some attention to how my characters look in game. For example, I still haven't gotten the Shave and a Haircut achievement on my Death Knight because I think he looks pretty cool and very much like he should as a character and I'm having a hard time changing it, even for an achievement. Another thing I do as a result of this is do varied and esoteric quests to get gear that MIGHT look good on me conceivably. Some day. Possibly. My Hunter has a full set of black leather armor in case she ever has to, I don't know, join an RP night stealth strike force, I suppose, and a torch in case she needs to lead an angry mob or something. It's a little obsession.
Time is Money: Selling vs. Disenchanting
Kebina Trudough here, offering you the best gold making secrets they don't want you to know about! I was like you once, poor and homely, before I discovered my patented system. Now you too can fill your pockets with the good stuff without ever breaking a sweat! Why spend all your time toiling when you could be vacationing in the Hot Springs? I'm not offering these tips for 100 gold, or 90 gold, or even 50 gold! No, not even 20 gold! My system is yours for FREE! Satisfaction guaranteed or I'll give you a full refund (handling charges may apply).Today we'll be discussing the benefits of disenchanting items, and weigh them against your other options, such as vendoring and auctioning. For the purposes of this discussion, I am going to assume that you aren't using the materials to level, but rather, are interested in making the most gold possible.
Time is Money: Selling your quest rewards
Kebina Trudough here, offering you the best gold making secrets they don't want you to know about! I was like you once, poor and homely, before I discovered my patented system. Now you too can fill your pockets with the good stuff without ever breaking a sweat! Why spend all your time toiling when you could be vacationing in the Hot Springs? I'm not offering these tips for 100 gold, or 90 gold, or even 50 gold! No, not even 20 gold! My system is yours for FREE! Satisfaction guaranteed or I'll give you a full refund (handling charges may apply).Today, I'm going to help you make the most out of your questing experience. The most gold, that is! Quests often reward hard-working Azerothians with items that are useless to them. The items are usually peddled off to a vendor at a price of their choosing. When given a choice of rewards, how do you decide which item to select? Some players pick at random, or because the item has an interesting name or looks cool. Some think that they have figured out the rules, and always pick plate over mail and weaponry over armor. What the average citizen doesn't know is that there's a complex, hidden system. It's practically a Goblin-Vendor cover-up, but I'm here to end all that. Goblin Rules of Acquisition, subsection K4, under the heading, Quest Rewards.
Lichborne: Gear upgrades for Death Knights in the starting zones
Welcome to Lichborne, where Daniel Whitcomb really needs a bigger boat. And maybe a more imposing minion to steer it. So by now, I assume a good chunk of us are managing to get through Outland again and are hitting the 68-70 level range, ready to jump onto a boat or zeppelin and head to Northrend. Now, up til now, I'm sure a lot of you have been sticking with your Death Knight quest gear, hoping to avoid the clown look of Northrend, or have been leveling so fast through Outland that you haven't had time to replace most of it anyway. But we're in Northrend now, guys. The difficulty is ramped up a bit, and you're really going to have to start replacing stuff pretty quickly. No worries though, Blizzard's art team has done a pretty decent job of making most of the Northrend quest rewards look like something you'd be willing to be caught dead wearing, so to speak, especially if you're into Norse mythology and imagery like I am. Today, we'll be discussing some of the best quest upgrades for a Death Knight in the first few zones of Northrend, but before we do that, I'd like to mention one more gear-related thing from our tanking column last week: The Cobalt "set."
Scattered Shots: Wrath of the Lich King starting zone upgrades, Part I
Welcome to Scattered Shots, the weekly Hunter column, now with 100% more Northrend!So you're on the shore in Northrend by now, one hopes, and maybe you're level 71, still tooling around the starting zones, looking for the right quests to do to get some decent gear for yourselves. Now if you've spent a decent amount of time in Tier 4 or better content, or if you decked yourself out in badge gear, I'll be honest, you may not find too many upgrades here. But for people who started their Hunter a little late or didn't quite clear Karazhan before the expansion, there's some very nice stuff here.Let's take a look at the quest rewards of Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra and their attached dungeons, and see what they offer:
Ask a Beta Tester: Flight, gear, and more
Welcome back to Ask a Beta Tester! We'll jump right into things today with a question from Snuffles...In regards to flight, what areas are restricted (besides Dalaran) and how to they prevent us from flying over the ocean? Is it a wall, or a new fatigue system?Beyond places that are indoors and you can't mount period, Dalaran and Wintergrasp are the two no-flight zones I've seen. You can't fly in Dalaran so it's more city-like, and Lake Wintergrasp so you actually have to take part in the combat and plan your travel routes, not simply fly from point A to point B without a care in the world. Flying too far out to sea gives you a fatigue bar
A look at the Death Knight's 'dungeon set' and other goodies
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/A_guide_to_Death_Knight_starting_gear'; Death Knights have it pretty good. Old school players will remember the pain of collecting our dungeon sets, such as the Shaman's The Elements or the Paladin's Lightforge Armor. These weren't class-specific armor sets, but for a long time they certainly represented the best of how some classes looked. Completing these armor sets were a real pain, with key pieces dropping off the end bosses of what were then the hardest dungeons in the game. Head pieces dropped off Darkmaster Gandling in Scholomance, leg armor dropped from Baron Rivendare in Stratholme, and the chestpiece from General Drakkisath in Upper Blackrock Spire.In Wrath of the Lich King, Death Knights won't be hoping for drops from bosses. They won't need to. If Wrath breaks as planned, Death Knights will be getting upgrades in every slot before they even reach Level 60 -- through quests. This includes a full complement of absolutely badass armor that isn't really an Item Set but a visually matched assortment of blue (literally and item level-wise) gear. I think I'll dub it the Deathplate Armor. Check out the gallery for a look at all the quest swag Death Knights get through questing. %Gallery-28750%
"Maximizing" reputation gains
My Blood Elf Paladin is level 63 now, and I'm currently after Sporeggar reputation, in hot pursuit of that greatest of Protadin prizes, the Petrified Lichen Guard. Of course, when I started, the first thing I did was go buy a few Bog Lord Tendrils, planning to turn them in until I jumped out of unfriendly. It was the most efficient way to get that faction jump, so I considered the silver money well spent. With friendly under my belt, I can safe turn in a load of Mature Spore Sacs and Glowcaps (I took the quests before I turned in the Tendrils, so I can still turn them in despite being friendly).
