the account-wide essences paradox

[ashblond]

Essences should simply be removed.

BFA has the worst gear system in wow history by far, because of azerite armor, traits, essence, plus legendary cloak and corruption gear.

Blizzard thinks making gear unnecessarily complicated = fun.

[Kaver]

That doesn't mean it's not min/maxing. What it actually means is that min/maxing is no longer optional at the extreme level you're playing at - it becomes a necessity.



Except you're not really arguing about access to content so much as your ability to reach certain ambitions within that content. As @Nnyco correctly points out, the game isn't forcing you to do the extraneous content, it's your ambition to push well beyond what is necessary. I am perfectly comfortable with the concept of people being "forced" to do content they don't like if they want to cut it in the top 0.1% of players, because ultimately that is what it is all about - competing with other players rather than the game itself, and that is always going to come down to who is prepared to make the sacrifices.


On the topic of BotE though, I do agree that there is an issue with how it works with alts. On the one hand, at least you only have to do the honor grind on one character, and once you get the achievement you can get the essence on all your alts - at least that's how I read how it should work - I haven't tried it on any of my alts. The problem there though is with the achievements themselves in that individual progress is independent - you need to get all 100K honor on a single toon to unlock the essence for all, but getting 20K each on 5 alts gets you pretty much nowhere. I think that is flawed design. When the achievement is account wide, honor on all toons should count towards it.

I get your point, but I don’t agree. Of course there is no right answer here and it is base on opinion.

Personally my opinion is that the competition between players should be based on skill on not grind. Getting gear is not really impressive to me. However doing a +25 key is impressive. And only a very few players are able to do that. Even if you give average players the best gear in the game, they would still not be close to be able to complete a +25 key.

In the end, my opinion is based on just allowing people to do the content they enjoy. And I’m not going to tell other players how they are supposed to enjoy the game.

[mmocfd1b0ab5a3]

But I guess you don’t use those alts to push +20 keys?

No, my main is for that. Alts are for fun 13-16 keys but nothing would stop me pushing +20 with alts. Last time I checked getting 2 missing rank 3 essences on my best alt would net me 2k dps increase, not something it would prevent me trying to push.

[Kaver]

I would argue that if it is your goal to push +20 keys, that should typically require that you devote most of you time to a single toon. If you want to divide your time between multiple alts, expect to not be able to achieve the same end result. It's the classic Jack of All Trades/Master of None situation. At some point you need to decide what the correct trade off is, not just expect the game to allow you to both have your cake and eat it.

I would just enjoy the game more. There is no one answer to what is right or wrong, but personally I would play the game more if I could push high keys with alts while avoiding doing content I hate.

[Azerox]

Everything should be account wide, reps, titles, essence, whatnot.
Like, hello? Its me, the person who is achieving those things. Not this particulair character.

[Kaver]

No, my main is for that. Alts are for fun 13-16 keys but nothing would stop me pushing +20 with alts. Last time I checked getting 2 missing rank 3 essences on my best alt would net me 2k dps increase, not something it would prevent me trying to push.

Fair enough. I just don’t like playing sub-optimal character. Matter of opinion.

[Vampyrr]

I havent played a single alt since essences came out. I dont really intend to start beyond a farmer or 2. They will not be doing any content though.

[Soon-TM]

If tomorrow morning Blizzard gives away all essences for free to everyone, by lunch time the forums will be:

- I worked so hard for my essences now people get them for free????? It has worked this way since WotLK at least.
- There is nothing to do in this game. If mindless grinds are all the game has to offer, then it would be a quite accurate statement.
- Why should I play the game earlier/now when I can get stuff for free later by Blizzard. See essences above
- Free essences means game is dead, nobody is playing it. So what? Do the usual forum doomsayers bother you THAT much?
- Blizzard is trying to increase monthly metrics again by giving everyone free essences, #fuckCorporations. I admire your attempt at whitewashing Blizz, but if Essences were account-wide they would be cutting into their precious metrics for the sake of customer satisfaction, thus making whiteknighting much easier, go figure.

Next time, think of something better if all you want is to blindly defend the statu quo.

Edit: inb4 some smartass chimes in with ThErE WeaR nO eSseNcEs IN woTlK, essences provide a direct increase in character power, and thus are comparable to more "traditional" gear.

[ro9ue]

I pretty much just ignored the entire Heart of Azeroth system the entire expansion and that includes essences. If I acquire some stuff along the way cool, but it's so bad and boring, especially when you look back on Legion's artifact/class campaign stuff.

[Ielenia]

It’s more constructive than just bending over.

He didn't say "bend over". He said "stop giving them money if you don't agree with the direction they're taking."

[Somewhatconcerned]

Entitled, schizophrenic playerbase demanding that they basically have on-demand, fully decked out 120s of every class, with minimal to no effort.

[Soon-TM]

Entitled, schizophrenic playerbase demanding that they basically have on-demand, fully decked out 120s of every class, with minimal to no effort.

Wow, would you mind quoting the poster(s) who have asked for that? Or did you just pull all that stuff out of some body cavity?

[Kumorii]

Blizzard is wrong by default. They are so out of touch with the playerbase that they can't please ANYONE. Not even the casuals.

No one is pleased, yet people play the game... hmmm...

[Kaver]

He didn't say "bend over". He said "stop giving them money if you don't agree with the direction they're taking."

Not in the post I commented on.

But it’s still not very constructive if you like the game in general.

[f4ncybear]

I guess "Account-wide essences" is the "Let us buy legendaries" of BFA. Keep crying and you will have it 2 months before Shadowlands.

[Inukashi]

Maybe Blizzard is right, but this would make it even worse.

If they think farming AP/Essences/Rep (multiple times for each char) should be the core of the game, their gamedesigners should reconsider their career choices. If I want to do boring tasks to fill a bar, I'll download a mobile game like adventure capitalist.

That's the reason why I'm only subbing every 4 month a year. There's only content for 2 month of playtime a year (sadly you can't just sub for 2 weeks)
1 week is getting equip through catch up mechanics and one week is having fun with the content.

Having to grind something can be an optional extra, but shouldn't be the core of a game. I'm buying games because I want
- story
- challenge
- competition
- create/build something

If all I get for grinding is 'more grinding but better' I quit.

Run M+ to get equip, to get higher M+

The only challenge for stuff like this is to play more (not better) than others to get a higher numbers. I don't consider it as challenge to run 30 times M+12 to get the best trinket with highest roll to be able to push M+19 easier.

As long as Blizzard stays uncreative in content creation it only gets 25% of revenue from me. WoW could be worth more, but it just isn't.

[Seranthor]

Not in the post I commented on.

But it’s still not very constructive if you like the game in general.

Like it or not, money talks. If you hit Blizzard in their wallet hard enough they WILL notice. If you keep throwing your money at them while tepidly squeaking you want them to do XYZ isn't going to get the job done.

So you have to ask yourself... Do you want to keep being ignored, or do you want action from Blizzard?

[Kaver]

Like it or not, money talks. If you hit Blizzard in their wallet hard enough they WILL notice. If you keep throwing your money at them while tepidly squeaking you want them to do XYZ isn't going to get the job done.

So you have to ask yourself... Do you want to keep being ignored, or do you want action from Blizzard?

But I enjoy the game. I just wish that some elements would change, but overall I have a lot of fun. So why would I quit the game?

[Seranthor]

But I enjoy the game. I just wish that some elements would change, but overall I have a lot of fun. So why would I quit the game?

I'll answer you with your own words.

It’s more constructive than just bending over.

[wargone]

It not a paradox. Blizzard is flat out wrong.
since Cata i been a very casual player, what i loved the most was alts. I have no fucking drive, want or reason to play an alt. it so fucking boring, WITH how fast you get artifact levels 3 of my alts are screaming at me to " PUT IN A PASSIV!!!!!!!" but i dont have a fucking 2nd essence, for i Dont do feel like grinning all that on an alt.

It just blizzard wont admit how bad BFA is for alts. this have been the least alt friendly expations, and it a fucking sad show. IF ANYTHING just allowe rank 1 version of all the eseences, dont even have to be rank 3-4 of them. but no, blizzard is to proud, and they are wrong on this matter, My 2 IRL friens who still Played wow, have also stopped playing BFA because it an alt shitfest.