Hypothetical: Would they have kept Artifact Weapons until Dragonflight?

[Woggmer]

It's as the title suggests.

Let's say we never gave up our Artifact Weapons, that we had to start from scratch but still kept them and they added new mechanics and pre-existing traits borrowed from the Azerite Armor/Essences/Corruption Gear/Shadowland Conduits... Treating Artifact Weapons/Artifact Weapon Trees as a temporary Evergreen system up until Dragonflight's launch and talent trees.

It is still borrowed power, but it was a soft reset where some traits were changed to make the playstyles a bit more interesting and adding new abilities. Essentially turning the Artifact Weapon Trees from just another expansion exclusive system into a secondary talent system.

Would Artifact Weapons have improved expansions and gameplay if they kept them going in BfA and Shadowlands? Or should Artifact Weapons just stay as a memory of Legion?

Edit: To make this a little more clearer to understand. I'm not suggesting that we stacked Artifact Weapons, Azerite Armor/Heart of Azeroth, and Covenant Powers/Conduits on top of each other.

I'm asking if Artifact Weapons REPLACED Azerite Armor/Heart of Azeroth AND Covenant Powers/Conduits... From the beginning of Legion to the end of Shadowlands, we just relied on our Artifact Weapons. No other systems, just Artifact Weapons. Would it improve the gameplay for both expansions (BfA and SL) or should Artifact Weapons stay as a feature only in Legion?

[Lochton]

It's as the title suggests.

Let's say we never gave up our Artifact Weapons, that we had to start from scratch but still kept them and they added new mechanics and pre-existing traits borrowed from the Azerite Armor/Essences/Corruption Gear/Shadowland Conduits... Treating Artifact Weapons/Artifact Weapon Trees as a temporary Evergreen system up until Dragonflight's launch and talent trees.

It is still borrowed power, but it was a soft reset where some traits were changed to make the playstyles a bit more interesting and adding new abilities. Essentially turning the Artifact Weapon Trees from just another expansion exclusive system into a secondary talent system.

Would Artifact Weapons have improved expansions and gameplay if they kept them going in BfA and Shadowlands? Or should Artifact Weapons just stay as a memory of Legion?

First problem there is that you sacrificed the power of the weapon, making it just a chunk of wood/metal/scrap with a history.

Secondly, it would stretch the main problem we are trying to avoid, borrowed power.

Third, for me, it would keep the player elevated higher than we should be. We shouldn't have been given such artifacts in the first place, nor titles of control.

Last, placing borrow powers that also needs charging, on top of Azerite gear, sounds like a very bad combo, the same with anima gathering on top. In short, AP upon AP, with AP, doesn't sound good.

[Lorathir]

Artifact Weapons and class halls with those quest chains were glorious addition. from week to week I was for the first (and last) time waiting for how the story would proceed. I loved history and story behind Ashbringer and how it developed through the long months of Legion. I loved strengthening it, changing it's appearances. planning and scheming how to get through the mage tower and get that shattered image of the sword. even though the artifact power grind was say boring, it was worth it.

but most of us agree that less godly and more grounded we are in Azeroth, better is the story. defeating Argus and eventually caging Sargeras was too divine for a mortal, but it made sense because our weapons were astonishingly powerful.

Dragonflight is a High Fantasy thing. we have lots of dragons. so let those dragons be godly as they were supposed to be and us, a mere adventurers who live through the tale.

[Guyviroth]

It would be cool. Wouldn't even be that much different from what we're getting in Dragonflight if you think about it. Every class has a "class tree" and "spec tree". If the spec tree was tied to the artifact weapon, you'd still get the same result.

I guess two things would also change, which people may or may not like:
-- no more worries about having to try and upgrade your weapon, which is somewhat what Legion achieved well.
-- every weapon drop going forward would be cosmetic. I know a lot of people wouldn't like that though.

[Woggmer]

First problem there is that you sacrificed the power of the weapon, making it just a chunk of wood/metal/scrap with a history.

True, but that isn't the case especially with what happened to Xal'atath who was still functioning in BfA despite being sacrificed. Their power isn't entirely gone, but would get infused with the next AP grind. Like charging your artifact power with the power of Azerite to create a supercharged version of it, but then we lose that power to deal a final blow to N'zoth.. yet the weapon is still working just fine that we use them again in Shadowlands to power them up with Anima.

Secondly, it would stretch the main problem we are trying to avoid, borrowed power.

Which is what BFA and Shadowlands did... The only difference that I'm suggesting is that we never lost our Artifact Weapons or had to replace them with Azerite Armor OR relying on Covenants.

Remember when a lot of the specs were specifically designed to their Artifact Weapons but when BfA came and replaced them with Azerite Armor that made them feel like they were missing something in their playstyle? Let's say that never happened and we just kept our Artifact Weapons but had to reset the artifact trees which were somewhat the same as they were in Legion, but replaced some of the more boring and lacking or overpowered traits with something else?

Third, for me, it would keep the player elevated higher than we should be. We shouldn't have been given such artifacts in the first place, nor titles of control.

That I will agree with, but again, this is the same case with BfA and Shadowlands. We already considered a Champion of the Horde/Alliance in BfA and we already the Maw Walker when we went into Shadowlands. Having Artifact Weapons wouldn't change the story much except for instead of using the Heart of Azeroth to defeat N'zoth, we just used our Artifact Weapons that we (hypothetically) leveled in BfA.

Last, placing borrow powers that also needs charging, on top of Azerite gear, sounds like a very bad combo, the same with anima gathering on top. In short, AP upon AP, with AP, doesn't sound good.

I didn't say anything about stacking the AP grinds on top of each other. Just only for the Artifact Weapons. Obviously each expansion we'd have to start from scratch again, but the weapon is infused with a different power in each expansion that connects with the theme.

Adding Artifact Weapons + Heart of Azeroth + Azerite Armor + Covenant Powers and having their AP grinds stacked on top of each other is absolutely asinine. As I said, I'm only asking if we DIDN'T use Azerite Armor/Heart of Azeroth or Covenant Powers/Conduits in Shadowlands... and instead we just relied on Artifact Weapons from the beginning of Legion that we got them to the end of Shadowlands where we would've lost them to the Jailor instead of a giant sword in Silithus?

I apologize if the start of the thread, didn't say anything about that.

[Celement]

I think it would of been better though not ideal. The power systems behind artifact weapons were there biggest drawback.

That said the visual aspect of them was a massive draw and one I'm actively annoyed they got rid of.