Originally posted by Nikopol

This happened routinely in vanilla WOW. Anytime I got some piece of gear that came from the higher tiers of raiding (and thus not common), I'd have a flood of /whispers asking me what it is. And not just standing around in Ironforge, but while I was out farming as well.

I take it you were quite upset the first time an expansion (BC for example) turned those shining platinum symbols of your prowess to worthless tin.

Originally posted by botrytis
no and I didnt even read the thread title - it looked like a rant.

Fully agree.

Originally posted by Icewhite

Originally posted by Nikopol

This happened routinely in vanilla WOW. Anytime I got some piece of gear that came from the higher tiers of raiding (and thus not common), I'd have a flood of /whispers asking me what it is. And not just standing around in Ironforge, but while I was out farming as well.

I take it you were quite upset the first time an expansion (BC for example) turned those shining platinum symbols of your prowess to worthless tin.

Did you hang around for the next time it happened?

I literally thought people were going put a drill to their temple during that period.

Ironically...the cat the raged the most was the one who would stand on the Ironforge bridge like a statue...

Originally posted by Icewhite

Originally posted by Nikopol

This happened routinely in vanilla WOW. Anytime I got some piece of gear that came from the higher tiers of raiding (and thus not common), I'd have a flood of /whispers asking me what it is. And not just standing around in Ironforge, but while I was out farming as well.

I take it you were quite upset the first time an expansion (BC for example) turned those shining platinum symbols of your prowess to worthless tin.

Did you hang around for the next time it happened?

Honestly, I was never in it for the gear. I used to /pass gear for others all the time. We all did. I played for playing with friends (mostly real life ones) and gear was just something that helped us get to the next bit of content.

Plus, raid gear is never symbols of one's prowess, but that of the raid's - though I'm sure you already knew that, but were just in the mood for a predictable jab. :)

I did play WOW after the vanilla phase, quite a bit, too, and had my gear "turn to worthless tin" many times over. It's a natural part of any gear progression game. I'm totally OK with that.

Originally posted by daltanious

Originally posted by botrytis
no and I didnt even read the thread title - it looked like a rant.

Fully agree.

No,but people that can't even read one line of text annoy me.

Hell yeah I would be envious! If someone told me years ago while I was playing WoW that the badass set of Judgement Armor:

was only available for those that attended Blizzcon, I would be like: "Oh hell no!" And for those that say they would not feel even a tinge of envy, it's obvious that they have yet to find something to be envious of. Whether it be in games or real life. A little bit of envy is not bad thing. How you harness it is where the problem lies. Some could use it as a motivator to push themselves a little harder, while others could use it as a reason to break people down.

But let's not fool ourselves here, the very reason that mmorpgs (or any game for that matter) are created is to invoke the 7 deadly sins that exist in all players. And in most (but not all) cases, the primary sins developers are looking to invoke are the ones that have us reaching into our back pockets.

"This happened routinely in vanilla WOW. Anytime I got some piece of gear that came from the higher tiers of raiding (and thus not common), I'd have a flood of /whispers asking me what it is. And not just standing around in Ironforge, but while I was out farming as well."

I can understand players whispering you about raid gear. Thats not the same as stuff you buy in a shop on pre-order, you are not going to get people asking you how on earth you managed to get that so fast. :)

Here's an example that I honestly experienced:

A few weeks before Warhammer Online launched, I had attended one of their pre-launch conventions. I lived fairly close, was interested in the game, and knew that any extra codes could be sold via eBay.

I attended. I talked to one of the developers (the one handing out an endless supply codes). I asked him for more. He gave me a handfull!

I claimed one of the codes for myself. I sold the rest on eBay for around $300 per code. They sold within hours.

The game launches. The code that I was given gave me the ability to turn my character into some type of humanoid rat (pretty heavy with the WAR lore - Skaven). I did this. While I was walking around town, I had gotten bombarded with messages, e.g., "How the heck did you do that?!?", "What?!?", "What quest gives you the rat?!?", "Interested in selling!??"

Most of them were upset when I had told them that the only way to obtain this was to attend a pre-release convention.

Moreover, this has nothing to do with socialism or whatever else most people are crying about. If you want a cool item, then go and earn it in the game - not outside it. It was lame that I was able to be semi-iconic simply because I lived close to the convention.

Originally posted by Dauzqul

Moreover, this has nothing to do with socialism or whatever else most people are crying about. If you want a cool item, then go and earn it in the game - not outside it. It was lame that I was able to be semi-iconic simply because I lived close to the convention.

Again, in order for it to be "lame", you have to buy into "Iconic" looks. Several titles have been working on selling Gear As Trophy, for as long as MMOs have existed.

It delves into all kinds of status symbol psychology that some will insist is unavoidable, others trivial.

Just like keeping up with the Joneses, in Suburbia, is obviously far more important to some honeowners on your street than it is for others. Ten minutes at a neigborhood barbecue will confirm.

Originally posted by Cod_Eye
Interesting replies, just going back a few days people were whinning because legacy players got into FFXIV ARR phase 1 beta. though that has changed since.

People just aren't understanding that not eveyrone plays MMOs that same. Some like adventure, exploration, socializing, collecting, crafting, griefing, etc.

Many players don't care about this topic. That is fine. However, there are many that do care, so I will say that it is a problem.

LOL

Umm, No.

Originally posted by Dauzqul

Many players don't care about this topic. That is fine. However, there are many that do care, so I will say that it is a problem.

Well, go get em, Rebel Leader.

Shouldn't you be doing it on the boards of the game you're pissed off at, though?

No.

@ OP

Nope im fine with it. I ahve never played a game where one of those items actually gives a massive advantage to anyone anyway..

Depends on how they do it, what the item is, and how often they do it. Offering a con only dungeon for the duration of the con, and perhaps even a short time after, or having a uniquely skinned item/race/etc. or two running around really isn't that big of a deal. The cross promotional and 3rd party stuff starts to get a bit dubious, but even those are usually kept within reasonable limits from what I've seen. I understand the mentality that everything should be earnable ingame, and agree to a large extent, but at the same time, having a few truly unique items is a good thing as well, as they give the people who have them a genuine interest in being active enough to show them off. I haven't seen any examples in this thread of things that people saw and wanted that I would consider massively game breaking or giving anyone any kind of actual advantage, nor have I seen any such items in my own personal experience.

The reality is, most such things end up collecting dust anyway because people forget about them or don't want the extra attention gained from using them, so it balances itself out in the end. Those who are collecter types can usually end up acquiring most of the objects anyway from people who received them and don't use them, at least in most of the games I've seen, so it's not like they are always completely unobtainable for those who missed out on the first opportunity to get them; it does require actual interaction with and reliance upon other players, which seems to be falling by the wayside these days, but it is still usually doable with some effort.