What if Legendaries were purely cosmetic?

[Jessicka]

To add to all the other "What if Legendaries..." threads. What if they were purely cosmetic, like Green Fire or the Visage of Tarecgosa 'mount'?

They wouldn't be considered mandatory, they wouldn't require instances be balanced around their presumed presence and so their acquisition could be based more on skill*, dedication** and desire rather than a perceived "need". That would ensure those who really want them get them to keep their prestige, and that prestige would have lasting value beyond the tier from which is was earnt. To me, the present perceived need is the cause of what makes them so prevalent and so unlegendary.

*Skill allows something to be obtained through ability.
** Dedication allows something to be obtained almost regardless of ability but is made up for in sheer temporal investment.

These are both things that are already rewarded in the acquisition of Legendaries - Skill usually allows you to get them sooner than dedication alone, which is a fine model as far as I am concerned.

[Deleted]

what if they will look terrible like visage of tarecgosa and none will want them

[Notos]

what if they will look terrible like visage of tarecgosa and none will want them

Many people would still get it for its exclusivity.

[Herecius]

Legendary items should make the player feel powerful.

If you want an ultra time-consuming vanity item, those already exist; inf the form of super rare mounts and titles.

What're you waiting for? Go get Seeker of Knowledge.

[Jessicka]

what if they will look terrible like visage of tarecgosa and none will want them

Aesthetics are subjective. I definitely wouldn't have the cloak on that basis, but let's assume it looks awesome unlike previous orange pixels.

- - - Updated - - -

Legendary items should make the player feel powerful.

How do you feel powerful if everyone has one? Instead, you just feel underpowered without it.

Also, Seeker of Knowledge is the ultimate grind. There's no shortcutting it with skill.

[shise]

No. A legendary must be a hard to obtain, a rare item. Why? because that's the whole concept behind legendary.

I made a post on the official forums sharing my idea of a legendary, I hope that you enjoy the idea:
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/8715391758#10

[Herecius]

How do you feel powerful if everyone has one? Instead, you just feel underpowered without it.

Other players' legendaries don't really have a bearing on me? I know my character's power jumped immensely when I got it, the proc looks pretty sweet (in my opinion), and I can even notice when my dps spikes from the proc. That feels pretty powerful to me, so it's doing its job, in my eyes. It took the entirety of the expansion to obtain pretty much, too.

Not to mention, there really are craptons of players that do not have the cloak. I know that's really hard for folks on this forum to believe, but there are craptons of players that don't have the cloak.

[Jawless Jones]

they wouldn't exactly be legendary items would they..

they would be called cosmetic items

[shise]

Aesthetics are subjective. I definitely wouldn't have the cloak on that basis, but let's assume it looks awesome unlike previous orange pixels.

- - - Updated - - -


How do you feel powerful if everyone has one? Instead, you just feel underpowered without it.

Exactly. It's like store mounts, they are a waste of money for the simply fact that as soon as you log in that very same day, 60% of players around you will be using it... what's the point then?

[Annoying]

Aesthetics are subjective. I definitely wouldn't have the cloak on that basis, but let's assume it looks awesome unlike previous orange pixels.

- - - Updated - - -


How do you feel powerful if everyone has one? Instead, you just feel underpowered without it.

Also, Seeker of Knowledge is the ultimate grind. There's no shortcutting it with skill.

There were legendaries that not a lot of people had. They felt pretty powerful.

[Herecius]

There were legendaries that not a lot of people had. They felt pretty powerful.

Those old legendaries were also random drops, which is a garbage system for handing out legendaries that should never even be considered again. Shadowmourne also felt powerful. The daggers did too, though they kinda sucked in how they were a single-class legendary. Every legendary has pretty much made the player feel more powerful for having it.

[Sierra85]

Instead of making one person feel awesome i would prefer the old school drop legendary, and that legendary buffed everyone in the raid since they helped acquire it.

[Jessicka]

Not to mention, there really are craptons of players that do not have the cloak. I know that's really hard for folks on this forum to believe, but there are craptons of players that don't have the cloak.

Yet the peers with whom I play all have the cloak.

[Annoying]

Instead of making one person feel awesome i would prefer the old school drop legendary, and that legendary buffed everyone in the raid since they helped acquire it.

Short of when they transferred to a better guild, which they always did.

[Tiev]

Make them at the end of a quest that requires you to do solo content as hard or harder than Warlock's Green fire quest and also make it so that it scales with your level so it doesn't become zergable at higher item levels.

Then, yes, I'm all for purely cosmetic.

[Deleted]

No, legendaries should be super hard to obtain and give you really powerful stats , only 4-5 people per server should be able to get them. The items should be proof of that you are very skilled and dedicated to the game. That is what makes them legendary.