Why Farm Item Level? Why Bother?

[Sanguinerd]

People generally farm item level to more easily beat the current and upcoming content, it just goes on and on. Sure you CAN have fun doing so but there has never been a point to it beyond that.

The entire game can be enjoyed without having BiS anyway so if you don't feel the need to get it that's fine - you don't have to and you never did.

I'm enjoying my subpar gear just fine

[Alvorea]

People generally farm item level to more easily beat the current and upcoming content, it just goes on and on. Sure you CAN have fun doing so but there has never been a point to it beyond that.

The entire game can be enjoyed without having BiS anyway so if you don't feel the need to get it that's fine - you don't have to and you never did.

I'm enjoying my subpar gear just fine

I just realized this morning that end game and the endless gear grind is pointless for me. I dont like mythics or raid and I mostly enjoy battlegrounds. The ilvl still do a great deal on PvP and for that reason I decided to stay at 119 on every toon and do all the quest and pve to improve me at 119. I at least have an ending and an achievable goal now.

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This: https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...-WoW-problem-(

[Deleted]

I AM HAVING FUN IN BFA

in caps lock

The only thing im saying is that maybe the game needs a "fun" place to "enjoy" when you are BiS.
But what is "fun"? I dont know...

you are having fun and you need more fun but you don't know what "fun" is .

pointless thread from a confused mind.

stop playing wow, go see a doctor, and maybe you will discover what "fun" is in real life. your "loneliness" and wow addiction are hurting your mental health. every thread you create makes you sound like a weirdo.

[Deleted]

Try actually pushing in M+ maybe. Ilvl remains relevant there. Beyond that the only real places to "show off" would be PvE content below the level of your character (lower keys, M0s, Heroics, LFR, Normals, etc.)

Very important post. So i "should" try pushing high Mythic + keys because is fun? Or for the item level?
And you said and VERY WELL that the only places to enjoy your item level is "content below the level of your character".
Very nice catch.
But in other games when you do this you receive cosmetics, gold, materials, gold etc.
In WoW you receive nothing.
Well....you receive low item level items.

A "fun" place to enjoy your gear is what i think is missing here.

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you are having fun and you need more fun but you don't know what "fun" is .

pointless thread from a confused mind.

stop playing wow, go see a doctor, and maybe you will discover what "fun" is in real life. your "loneliness" and wow addiction are hurting your mental health. every thread you create makes you sound like a weirdo.

Fun is subjective. I am a PvP kind of guy. What is fun for me is not for you.
Thats why i said "i dont know" -__-

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People generally farm item level to more easily beat the current and upcoming content, it just goes on and on. Sure you CAN have fun doing so but there has never been a point to it beyond that.

The entire game can be enjoyed without having BiS anyway so if you don't feel the need to get it that's fine - you don't have to and you never did.

I'm enjoying my subpar gear just fine

Me too!

My alt Demon Hunter (which is my favorite char) has fun farming azerite pieces ilvl 340.
Ive been doing that since the beginning of BfA
And i have lots of fun with casual PvP Battlegrounds with him.

So i am enjoying my full 340 ilvl demon hunter

[Deleted]

1.Gear should absolutely not matter in PvP!!

I can't stress this enough. I get sick hearing that kind of feedback cause it tells me you don't care about pvp. Without reeling control of gear, everyone dies in a global. How can anyone defend that as pvp? How can that be fun?! Just stop! If you don't care about skill in pvp and think gear should be the deciding factor even before the fight starts you are wrong and you don't enjoy PvP. Stay away from it.

2. The damage of course. The more damage you do, the better ranking, the faster and easier the boss kill are, the better gear you get. Where is this nonsense coming from? Gear matters a hell of a lot, especially in the current raid that is by no means a pushover like EN.
If you mean you got no goals towards that gear. If you don't want to challenge yourself with higher mythic+ and the sort, then sure, there is no point for you to improve your gear. Go play an alt or go do something else. I don't think the devs have a problem with that. The "problem" is with you.

[MrHappy]

So im not supposed to want item level.
Its intended by design.

Because a person with my profile doesnt need it

Ok no problem then.

Go play Skyrim or Witchhunter then. The point of the MMORPG is to kill a boss to get gear to get strong to kill harder boss and repeat untill next expac.

the whole point is to get gear to do harder content.

While wow can be played just for story it's not its design.

[Deleted]

That repetition of "spend time engaged in [content] farming [object] so I can do [same content but slightly harder] for [different version of object with higher numbers] and repeat until expansion is over" has carried on for almost 20 years now. I think the difference between Vanilla/BC and now was that this form of "fun" was still new, as was the world and all of it's content. Blizzard was pioneering the fresh genre of MMOs, and coming up with wild new ideas each expansion. Ontop of that the community was arguably the biggest attraction to the game. Blizzard fostered the WoW community which in turn kept the game going strong.

Nowadays the sense of community is practically non-existent, everyone is anti-social, and this form of repetitive PvE - doing the same thing with a new coat of paint - is pretty outdated by modern game standards. We generally have a list of expectations from expansions now, and since Blizzard's new "hook" features have become more lackluster (or just plain non-existent) as of post-Cata, there's nothing to distract us from what's become a yearly formula, let alone something to make the game feel new or dynamic again. Relying on character progression alone feels so empty when you know it'll just be another stat reset next year to start the same loop over again. This basic form of progression should've been improved upon and altered after Wrath. It just feels like Blizz is trying to recreate the formula Vanilla had without changing it.

What's ironic is that there's probably more collective optional pve content available to WoW players than ever before that would break monotony on paper, (we have pet battles, interesting stories and quests, island expeditions, warfronts, tons of collectibles to show off for bragging rights, numerous endgame islands with different mechanics around them, tons of world exploration content, rewards waiting to be dug up by the secrets & easter eggs community, etc) and yet the game continues to feel duller and duller.

Perhaps it's partially because my only perspective is one as a person who's played this game faithfully since at least late vanilla/early BC. I'm sure there are indeed tons of players who enjoy this mythic+/raiding scene stuff. I know I, along with most other vets, probably would've been blown away if WoW had started with all the insane features, technology, and overall polish currently being used for modern WoW.

I loved your post.
Thanks for posting!

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It's a flaw in the game design if players are even asking that. And trust me OP it's not just you, I've asked myself the same thing and so have my group of friends that play together in BfA.
Regardless of OP's post history he has an extremely valid point that I've seen people discussing on reddit, in my guild and ingame randomly, it's a feeling that I feel like started in Legion but truly reared its ugly head for me in BfA and I'm thinking many others as well.

If the game is designed well then you should never be questioning why you want to play it. It should be fun and make you feel like you're making a meaningful push towards your goal.
The problem with BfA's design is that any semblance of a goal is now officially gone. No legendaries (as much as I hated them in Legion, they did keep me hoping), Azerite is an eternal unrewarding grind that doesn't have the draw AP did in Legion, and gear itself just isn't all that rewarding. The game's design sucks and doesn't feel like an MMORPG anymore. Nobody's working towards anything, just twiddling their thumbs and praying for good RNG so they can keep progressing in raids or something.

WoW feels like a very slow rollercoaster ride with no real destination in mind. ilvl doesn't feel worth it because the world doesn't feel worth going out into anymore, as per Blizzard's own design. Your character isn't making progress, just slowly obtaining ilvls towards an abstract idea of a goal of "This is what I'm supposed to do in WoW right?".

Im glad you understnd me

[rohoz]

So you have people playing a sub based game, not having fun doing it and asking why to play it? is that it? this whole thread is about the level of special-ed I expect from the OP, but eh.

[Thelyron]

The place to "have fun" with your high ilvl is higher difficulty content. If you're not interested in higher difficulty content, then you don't need to farm ilvl.

[Tekkommo]

I farm ilvl so I can get better ranks on warcraftlogs, clear M+ faster, and be prepared for the next raid. Farming ilvl is maybe the wrong phrase, as I don't use all pieces with a higher ilvl, it depends on the stats it has.

I don't pay any attention to pvp these days, but it sounds like you wanted to get high ilvl so you can easily beat lower geared characters (is this what you mean by a place to show off BiS?). PVP has always been flawed in this game imo. I think it's a good thing to normalise gear in PVP, as it requires more skill on your behalf, at the same time, it's a MMO, and maybe gear should matter in PVP as well. I don't really care though, there are far better games out there for PVP.

[Deleted]

I don't pay any attention to pvp these days, but it sounds like you wanted to get high ilvl so you can easily beat lower geared characters (is this what you mean by a place to show off BiS?). PVP has always been flawed in this game imo. I think it's a good thing to normalise gear in PVP, as it requires more skill on your behalf, at the same time, it's a MMO, and maybe gear should matter in PVP as well. I don't really care though, there are far better games out there for PVP.

I appreciate the casualization of PvP in terms of not needing item level to do great in your alt characters.
But this also means i will lose motivation to farm gear.

Azerite system is my saving grace, and is the sole reason why i farm Mythic 0 right now to get fun PvP azerite playstyles.

The problem with the normalization of PvP is just that it removes all motivation to farm item level.

[Montanahax]

WoW has never been about bragging rights. If that's the reason you're playing it then you're playing the wrong game. If the game isn't working for you then fucking quit. Don't ask the internet to give you a reason to play.

Is not anymore cause gear is so easy to get. But it was in the past. Ppl afk in full tier 3 in orgrimmar with everyone around them inspecting them. Ppl asking where you got that and shit. Those were the days.

[pansertjald]

Im not having an existential crisis.
I still have fun playing the game for different reasons like pvp for the love of it, arenas and farming specific azerite pieces.

But i would like to know what motivates you to farm item level.

The most obvious answer would be:
-I farm Mythic + to be able to farm the Normal raid, to be able to farm Heroic to be able to farm Myhtic Raiding

The problem for me is that this "adventure" means nothing to me. So why should i bother farming item level?

My main problems compared to old expansions is:
1) Item level means next to nothing in PvP because of the normalization in PvP
2) There is no fun/rewarding PvE place to show off your "item level" once you are full BiS

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So my question to you is why should a player with my profile bother farming item level? A part of me died with the normalization of PvP.

Is item level made only for raiders?

IMO WoW lacks places to show off your item level. Or better, ways to have fun while you are full BiS.

Or maybe a player with my profile SHOULDNT bother farming item level, and is INTENDED and not a problem at all.

When are you brining Jaylock out to play?

[schwarzkopf]

Don't farm anything... there hasn't been a need to farm stuff for years.

Just play the game, enjoy it. What ever you get - you get.

[Dizson]

Don't farm anything... there hasn't been a need to farm stuff for years.

Just play the game, enjoy it. What ever you get - you get.

This. You can basically get everything at the end of expansion for "free" without the grind.

[schwarzkopf]

This. You can basically get everything at the end of expansion for "free" without the grind.

I'm at iLvl 361 now 6 x exalted, and I've just done the basics ... picked a few WQs to do every day or two, 5 or so Islands, the questlines, 3-4 M+ a week and 2 hours of raiding a week.

[Sparda Strife]

My main problems compared to old expansions is:
1) Item level means next to nothing in PvP because of the normalization in PvP
2) There is no fun/rewarding PvE place to show off your "item level" once you are full BiS

Then you don´t have to worry about gear, since you don´t do anything that relies on having a nice gear, and BTW, good luck being full BiS, that´s something almost impossible right now.

If you only want to do M0 and BG, then you shouldn´t even think about gear. There is a lot of reasons to get Ilvl, maybe a class doesn´t work if doesn´t have enough crit (Fire mage, for example) and you achieve that with gear, or wanting to see a nice holy light healing far more than 30k. If you want to play something that requires more gear, then you go for it, simple as that.

[Deleted]

Then you don´t have to worry about gear, since you don´t do anything that relies on having a nice gear, and BTW, good luck being full BiS, that´s something almost impossible right now.

If you only want to do M0 and BG, then you shouldn´t even think about gear. There is a lot of reasons to get Ilvl, maybe a class doesn´t work if doesn´t have enough crit (Fire mage, for example) and you achieve that with gear, or wanting to see a nice holy light healing far more than 30k. If you want to play something that requires more gear, then you go for it, simple as that.

true. Its just different times.

Just wanted to know what were your thoughts on it...is it a design flaw? Intended? Just play what you find fun kind of deal.

[Twinkelle]

I do it to allow me to pursue my true passion in game, vanity item farming. Having higher gear levels allows me to solo things easier, which means I don't have to share those precious rewards with anyone.

[TEHPALLYTANK]

Long ago farming better items felt meaningful cause you had bis list and a goal to work towards.

Now its become way overcomplicated with all the azerite, titanforging, tertiary procs, socket procs, its just rng on top of rng pile which is on top of another rng pile.

I loved raiding in Wotlk. I've had my bis list and each new item meant being close to my goal. Then finally, with full bis, the feel of "yay! now i can operate at my full potential"

Now, not only that, but the world scaling with your ilev and all legacy content made tankier than it should throws me off of farming anything.

Heh, and I remember when they removed reforging with the excuse of "it over-complicated gearing".