Rewarding the old timers of WoW
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 18th 2007 at 9:30AM
I like Zymm's idea over on the forums-- he suggests that people who have been playing WoW for a while, or just "older" characters, should get some sort of special recognition or title as a WoW "old-schooler." Not just because I am a WoW old-schooler, but because it'd be nice of Blizzard to give out a little recognition for players and characters that have been active and playing for a while. I'm not saying that they should start handing out Epics just for standing around, but a special tabard or title would be kind of nice.And there are other benefits, too. It'd be a quick and easy way of telling who the veterans are in-game-- as in, who should know what they're doing and who might not. Plus, our characters don't actually age, so while gear is some indication of where they're at in progression, it doesn't tell you who's been on for years and who just powerleveled to 70 in the past few months. Some common indicator of age would set a milestone for how long characters and players have been around.
Eyonix jokes about "Old School Zymm," but it's a good suggestion-- we should have some way of showing off how long both we and our characters have been around Azeroth.
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Graham Fenech Oct 18th 2007 9:40AM
That would be great! It would be nice for the people that have been playing for years to get an Elder Status of some sort. Dont even need to have anything special, just a small title would be enough in my opinion... or maybe a free epic flying mount that takes passengers :P
Paw Oct 18th 2007 9:40AM
Yes. That is what Blizzard should do. Cease and desist the work on the much neglected, sorely need mid-game content so that those that already get the most attention can get more.
Mayo Oct 18th 2007 9:43AM
Just 'cause you started playing in January 2005 doesn't mean you "know what they're doing and who might not." I've been playing since end of original beta, and a lot of the people I've known since then still can't play their classes worth a damn.
Interesting idea, though. They could add a suffix to our toons names, like "Sergeant Major Mayo, who has paid Blizzard $493.35 since January 2005" ;-)
Dur13l Oct 18th 2007 9:44AM
Planetside had a nice reward for Its vets they were allowed special Weapons. they were not game breaking but they did give a small advantage or atleast they had the ooooooooo nice factor.
this is a good idea. its would be nice to know who really has played "SINCE BETA MAN!" which seems to be the answer for everyone.
I simple tabbard that changed with years (colors design etc...)would be cool.
Nails Oct 18th 2007 9:46AM
i would suggest maybe a character creation date on the armory, and that's about it
Razhlok Oct 18th 2007 9:48AM
The one nice thing SWG had was their Veteran Reward system. You'd get a choice of reward based on how old your character is. I'd love a tabbard, title, non-combat pet or mount to show my status as a veteran player (Nov. 2004).
Dotixi Oct 18th 2007 9:50AM
@5 /agree
Wulfhere Oct 18th 2007 9:50AM
Why does someone always assume any suggestion would require the immediate cessation of all other activities? It might be possible to have someone consider putting in rewards for people who've played the game the longest WITHOUT shutting down all further development by everyone working at Blizzard.
#2 is proposing a false syllogism. It does not have to be either a small title for long time players or mid level content, there is room for both.
That being said, it's an awful idea and I hope they don't do it. But mainly because I don't like the idea of anyone being happy.
thrstn Oct 18th 2007 9:53AM
Future patch notes:
Inpecting other characters now shows /played time.
BiggusGeekus Oct 18th 2007 1:32PM
I agree with #3. All the designation would do is tell you who has been an idiot for the longest amount of time.
For the record: I've been playing a year and a half.
Michael Oct 18th 2007 9:56AM
Mini Diablo, Panda Collar, Zergling Leash
ThorinII Oct 18th 2007 9:58AM
I like the tabard idea with a char create date on the armory. The military uses hash marks on the uniform sleave indicating a specific number of years in the service. Army's = 3, Navy/Marines/CoastGuard = 4. They could make a tabard with the faction insignia using different colors for each yr active, or do hash marks of some sort for each yr.
I've only been playing a couple years now, so it wouldn't affect me really. But, it would be nice to acknowledge those with no lives and have been playing since beta. ;0)
Andrethir Oct 18th 2007 10:04AM
How about special mounts?
[Walker]
Equip: Decreases move speed by 50%
Equip: 15% off your next respec, only valid Wednesdays
Equip: If struck in PvP, the offending character loses 5% Rep. with their factions.
Vicious Oct 18th 2007 10:11AM
Haha @13
Matias Varnum Oct 18th 2007 10:39AM
What about giving the the title "Veteran" to any character that have played more then 2 years. That should be to hard to implemend. And will give a nice and easy way to show that you are a veteran.
Paw Oct 18th 2007 10:46AM
#8 Wulfhere
Because it has taken so long for Blizzard to recognize that the mid-level content is hurting, despite the many people who have repeated the mantra ad-nauseum for quite some time now, that is is very credible to think that Blizzard would jump at any opportunity to find something they feel is better to do with their time. In this case it is more fluff for the end-gamers (and lets face it, if the new Hallows End quest is 70 only, what are the odds they would create a recognition of service-life device and have it tagged to any character below that threshhold).
And yes...let's do it:
Blizzard prefers end-game
70s are end-game
Blizzard prefers 70s
I don't see how that is false syllogism.
Even further
Blizzard traditionally ignores mid-game content
70's want more fluff
Blizzard will ignore mid-game to give 70s more fluff
Hexadecimal Oct 18th 2007 11:16AM
Well in the case of warlocks you can already tell who the old timers are by looking at the names of their pets (excluding felguard since he was added after the name table change).
If you see older names like Krak'thun, Juk'thun, Krak'doom, Huk'dron, etc, then you have an old warlock.
vespa Oct 18th 2007 11:50AM
surely the old pvp titles (stone guard, blood guard, warlord etc.) are an indiciation that a player is old school? at least in the sense that they have been playing and pvp'ing since before TBC, an indicator that they *should* know what they are doing.
Caribbean Oct 18th 2007 12:08PM
I've been playing since Beta, not the same character though. My account has be active since!
Runstadrey Oct 18th 2007 12:11PM
How about a tabard with grey beard outline on it?
'Course I'd need a tabard with a baby bottle, since I've only been playing 5 months.