Originally Posted by
Algorath
Hi guys, I'm sorry if this discussion has already been talked to death, but the more I play Shadowlands, the less sense the covenant system makes. I'll try to describe my experiences and thoughts, and look forward to hearing yours.
Before release: When I first heard about the covenant system , and the fact that there will be four different "factions" in the Shadowlands, of which we, the players had the "RPG" role of picking for our characters, I thought two things;
- Blizzard, this won't work, the game and the player base is far too dependent on performance that any choice regarding player power isn't actually a choice. The best performance will be king.
- On the other hand, it's kinda cool. Rivalling factions with different aesthetics recruiting us in order to assert their dominance in their respective realms.
However, they aren't really rivalling, and throughout levelling and the campaign, we are a huge asset to all four covenants. It kinda makes the point of us choosing a covenant pretty redundant. All four factions see us as a valuable ally, all four factions allow us to use their powers while levelling. Why would they be against it when we are max level?
Why do I bring that up? Well one of Blizzards main arguments was that its an RPG aspect of the game, but from an RP perspective, they could just as well not have done so. Perhaps made the Covenant Ability (Fleshcraft, Night Fae form, Blood Mirror and Call Ally) as well as the in-dungeon benefits permanent and covenant based, and the actual "power" things be easier (maybe not free) to change.
So, to summarize;
- Late into this patch, I feel like trying out different specs for fun in RBGs and farm content. Specifically I play a Venthyr Enhancement Shaman and would love to play around with resto and ele every now and then, but I can't, and I don't understand the reasoning behind blizzards decision to not allow them to be open. Similarly I really enjoy the concept of Night Fae Paladin, a paladin to me is a character that buffs others, that's just how I see the class when I play it, and the Night Fae ability is perfect for that... It's just not good enough, so I went Kyrian
- The RPG element could just as well allow for free "empowering" from each covenant, as we're all friends anyway. Perhaps a short quest chain -after- reaching renown 40 with your main faction, with each other faction in place to gate-keep it a little would've been good.
- The idea of creating different permanent factions with different permanent power levels will never work in WoW (or modern online gaming) - Most power = King for 99% of the playerbase. (As far as I see at least)
What do you guys think? Is this system good, or does it have it's merits? Do you feel there's a strong argument for it being as it is? RPG/MMO wise? Could they have done anything better? Will they change the system going forward?
Thanks for your time <3