What if alternative power progression systems were entirely replaced by cosmetics?

[Crimson Spears]

Not just basic cosmetics like transmogs but the full blown cash shop quality mounts. enchantment effects replacement animations/effects for spells and cosmetic armor. Things that really make your narrative choices stand out among other players.

Would this system make everyone happy rather then the weird facebook/phone game power systems we find ourselves with today? It would make power minded high end players happy to not have to sim out extra things beyond gear and would give the rest of the player base a host of customization options.

Seems a win-win no?

[Acidbaron]

Progression systems are the staple of RPG's one could argue, Didn't GW2 try something like that what ended up being even a bigger -grind-?

Also your content creation would suffer, as stats don't matter or plateau out very early. There would be no point in multiple difficulty tier dungeons or raids.

PvP is a different matter but even there some progression or some gear choice is desired.

In short if the solution was that simple i would have been tried successfully by now.

[Crimson Spears]

Progression systems are the staple of RPG's one could argue, Didn't GW2 try something like that what ended up being even a bigger -grind-?

Also your content creation would suffer, as stats don't matter or plateau out very early. There would be no point in multiple difficulty tier dungeons or raids.

PvP is a different matter but even there some progression or some gear choice is desired.

In short if the solution was that simple i would have been tried successfully by now.

Why would content creation suffer when shadowlands was delayed expressly because they fucked up the alternative power progression systems? They then spend the entire expansion trying to bandaid their broken system.

I am strictly talking about the bullshit like ap,conduits,covenants not proper gear progression.

[Toybox]

Although I'd love a system like this personally, I think it's easier to sell more people on the idea that they have to do something for power than it is to sell them on doing new content for a set of cosmetics. We already have hundreds of full sets at this point, so unless the new cosmetics were spectacular, I simply wouldn't bother with them...

Which is kind of the case right now, honestly. I've 400+ items in pretty much every slot & I have sets I love. There's not a single piece of transmog I've seen in Shadowlands that I've felt the need to go out of my way to get. If Shadowlands had launched without covenant power/Torghast, I'd have done nothing outside of PvP/PvE... Which is fine by me

Blizzard love their MAU's, & I don't know if this would be suited to that, even if I'd kill for it myself.

[Falkeshall]

Things that really make your narrative choices stand out among other players.

No one gives two farts what anyone else is wearing. Power trumps all.

[Alroxas]

Not just basic cosmetics like transmogs but the full blown cash shop quality mounts. enchantment effects replacement animations/effects for spells and cosmetic armor. Things that really make your narrative choices stand out among other players.

So PoE MTX for WoW? I think I'll pass.

weird facebook/phone game power systems we find ourselves with today?

I think the larger issue is why we have borrowed power systems in the first place. Borrowed power systems are in WoW because nobody really wants to go back to older content and grind there just to be able to do current content here. Imagine if legion artifacts were still a thing: Do you really want to take your level 60 character and spend weeks (if not months) farming up Artifact Power in "old content"? Yes shortcuts could be put in to speed up the process but again, it's an extra hoop to jump through because the rest of the current playerbase has already done that content and is busy doing the current content.

Additionally, borrowed power systems allows for a soft-reset of player power similar to why in ever expansion we have to level up a bit. Leveling increases the secondary stat rating required to maintain secondary stat percentage.

The end result is that both leveling and borrowed power systems allows for character progression in the current content. Now nobody likes getting weaker so one of the developer's goals is to make that transition smoother and less impactful which they don't always succeed.


Consider this: As players, we've defeated dragons, old gods, rogue titans. Our power levels should be on par with Gods yet we still get killed by a +5 higher level mob as a non-tank.

[Azerate]

People are already complainign there is "no content" in the game as it is. If you stripped it down further, even more power-focused players would complain or downright quit

[wysimdnwyg]

My Priest wears Transcendence (T2 from BWL, etc) gear xmog. If that was the same power as anything I could get in SL, why would I ever take him to new content (more than once, anyway)? And there goes your argument.

[ellieg]

No. I dont care to change a few pixels on my screen. I care to grow stronger. Cosmetics don't matter at all to me. Once I get a decent looking set that's not 100% hideous, I have no need to replace it with something else.

Cosmetics always seem dumb to me. U can only use a limited amount at a time. U get ppl that farm that shit religiously and will never ever use it lmao

[Fantazma]

WoW urgently needs a SUPER addition of cosmetics. I play a lot of other MMOs and it's amazing how bad WoW is in this regard.

[FuxieDK]

Seems a win-win no?

More like a loose-loose..

[Crimson Spears]

My Priest wears Transcendence (T2 from BWL, etc) gear xmog. If that was the same power as anything I could get in SL, why would I ever take him to new content (more than once, anyway)? And there goes your argument.

I have no idea how you approach video games but its so utterly alien to me its tough for me to understand...do you need a reward to do content?

[wysimdnwyg]

I have no idea how you approach video games but its so utterly alien to me its tough for me to understand...do you need a reward to do content?

Why would I repeatedly go to a raid if I get nothing from it? Once I see the story, if I get no other reward, why go? Every game in existence has some type of reward. In RPGs, that reward is typically to improve your character in some way, generally through power. What you've proposed eliminates the possibility of improving gear. If there are no other tangible rewards, once I've seen the fights and story, it feels like there's no reason to go back. Going back amounts to little more than grinding mobs - yes, they're more difficult mobs, but that's basically what it is. There are plenty of other things to do in game that DO provide an award of some sort, including pets, mounts, toys, etc.

What you're suggesting is that a player would prefer to repeatedly do content with no reward rather than doing content that could provide rewards. THAT makes no sense.

[Glorious Leader]

What if mythic raiding was entirely cosmetics?

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I have no idea how you approach video games but its so utterly alien to me its tough for me to understand...do you need a reward to do content?

See above. Its super fucking easy to be blase about other peoples fucking shit.