Morning everyone!
So, a few hours ago I read the QnA panel follow-up bluepost. One of the questions was about the controversial Titanforging/Warforging system. After my initial meltdown seeing the response, I’ve given myself some time to really think about the How and Why this deeply flawed system exists in the first place.
I personally disagree with the idea that every encounter should be doable for everyone if they just “earn” enough upgraded gear, but let’s put that aside for now.
So, what I understand is that the idea behind forging is to give the players some way of upgrading their gear even though are stuck on a certain boss, reached Mythic+10, or some other reason that prevents them from getting regular item upgrades.
So the real question is, how do we handle those additional upgrades? How I see it, there are two options: random or planned. Both of these options have been used plenty over the last few years. We had small incremental upgrades through currency in MoP, as well as forging. We had forging in WoD, but also items that could upgrade our legendary ring as well as crafted gear. Same with the Antorus trinkets and legendaries at certain points.
Blizzard has obviously no issue with players spending ressources to upgrade gear. So what is it then with the overreliance on the Forging system? The Bluepost mentions “surprise and excitement”. Killing a level 40 boar and getting a random Epic drop is a genuine surprise, because you did not expect that to happen. Getting a war- or titanforge from a Mythic chest is exactly what you are hoping for. There is no surprise, especially with WF/TF being ever-present. And rather than exciting, it is dissappointing if you only get the regular item instead.
So how about instead of pulling the leaver on that slot machine 5 months in a row and maybe not getting anything at all regardless, we could just use a ressource or currency to upgrade our existing gear? I believe that giving a player a clear goal to aim for is a far better motivator than crossing your fingers and maybe get that super high titanforge on your first go, or maybe get nothing week after week. It can be a long term goal, maybe it will take months to upgrade every single piece of gear, but it is at least something that you know whether or not it will actually happen. I steady influx of currency or ressource would be a instant reward rather than a random chance of luck. The changes to Legendary aquisition at the very tail end of Legion where overall well received, showing that players would prefer such a system over the “surprise and excitement” of getting that highly unlikely but expected drop (and the dissappointment of not getting that drop).
I think my ideas reflect the sentiments of a larger part of the highly dedicated player base who are the most affected by the current system. I hope my suggestions somehow find their way to the people in charge.