Badges for dailies
by Eliah Hecht 
Feb 21st 2008 at 7:00PM
Originally, there was only one way to obtain Badges of Justice: Heroic bosses. Now there are a couple more: Heroic daily quests as well as raids. Still, there hasn't been a way for the die-hard solo player to get their hands on some badges -- until now. The Shattered Sun Offensive (SSO), the new faction associated with patch 2.4, assigns many daily quests (to help you fill the new 25-dailies-a-day limit). Several of these quests reward you with Shattered Sun Supplies, a box which contains a high-level green item, and also -- coming to my point -- has a chance to contain a Badge of Justice.According to Wowhead, there are seven dailies that reward Shattered Sun Supplies. Some of them are apparently only available during certain phases of the SSO effort, so let's say you can do five of these per day. I don't have numbers on how often the supplies contain a Badge, but let's say it's a 50% chance, based on one comment that Badges are contained "more often than not." So on average, you could get 2.5 Badges per day just by doing these daily quests, which means 60 days to get one of those snazzy new 150-badge weapons. That's a long time, but arguably justified by the fact that these quests are probably pretty easy. Overall, this is, in my opinion, an excellent enhancement to the Badge system. Your thoughts?
Update: Suzaku questions my hypothetical 50% drop rate in a comment. Obviously, the impact of these badges will depend on how frequent they are, and we just don't have solid numbers on that yet. Not to mention it may change during testing.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jayus Feb 21st 2008 7:15PM
Its an interesting change, and IMO a good one, sure it might take people who only do dalies a long while to get them (as those people wouldn't log on every day) but they'll get items eventually, and you forget that a lot of items are fairly cheap.
Thander Feb 21st 2008 7:19PM
It will be great for my alts. Doing BGs and Arena for PvP gear and lots of instances for PvE gear is just too much time for an alt. This will help casual players too. It will really help supplement the gear you are getting from the PvP and PvE sides.
niko Feb 21st 2008 7:21PM
I don't mind this at all. Casuals like myself (and I'm probably more of a hardcore casual than the regular casual) can appreciate that there are multiple ways to grind those badges out.
It's the same as any other endgame rewards... you can do BG's/Arena/world pvp/5mans/heroics/raids for excellent stuff. It's enough of a variety IMO to keep both casuals and nolifers busy for months.
Jamesisgreat Feb 21st 2008 7:26PM
Can't wait for this for change - I only get to raid about once a week and, due to being online at very unsocial times, rarely bother with heroics. Being able to earn my own badges via dailies will at least ensure that I don't get totally left behind gear-wise in my guild.
2.5 badges a day actually sounds like the best thing coming out of this patch, imo!
Wolftech Feb 21st 2008 7:29PM
Start the QQing about welfare epics in 3... 2.... 1...
This and the non BOP nethers are the best news I have heard so far about 2.4. The fact that casual raiders will have the change to get geared better (meaning the ability to get more gear because we can make gear requirements more quickly) and be able to finally see that end game content we pay for.
Pzychotix Feb 22nd 2008 12:30AM
No, you pay for the ability to gear up and see the endgame. Not for Blizzard to give you loots and see the endgame.
Mitch Feb 22nd 2008 8:48AM
Contrary to popular belief Pzychotix, we pay for whatever Blizzard is willing to give us. If we like it we continue on and pay our subscription. If we don't like it we stop playing or don't do the new things they give us. Simple.
The great thing about it is you can continue to grind raids out for gear or do other tasks to get some decent stuff. There are these things called 'options' and 'free will.' Not sure if you have heard of them or not.
Rednights Feb 23rd 2008 3:30PM
Very very excited, probably the best thing from this patch IMO for us casuals.
Bayard Randel Feb 21st 2008 7:30PM
Personally I'd like to see Blizzard stop providing gear rewards equivalent to Black Temple gear, to players that have not earned it.
The fact that you pay the same fee each month as a raider shouldn't entitle you to the best quality gear in the game. If you're only capable of running Karazhan, you should receive Karazhan level gear.
Raiding guilds work very hard to progress through 25 man content, spend huge amounts on repairs and consumables, and dedicate a lot time to the game. It's patently absurd that someone in greens that plays a few times a week should be rewarded with gear better than that available to guilds that have just killed Kael'thas and Vashj!
nearlysober Feb 21st 2008 7:48PM
If your ego is so tied up in your gear that you feel threatened by someone else obtaining gear through alternate methods... then man you really need to quit WoW
BillDoor Feb 21st 2008 7:52PM
Sure. I agree... I should pay for the amount of content that I see. I only see Karazhan and ZA. So, how about I go over to wowjutsu, count up all the guilds no farther than kara and za, and then we'll divide the cost of the development of those zones by the number of players.
Then we'll add up the number of players in BT/Hyjal/Sunwell, and divide the development costs accordingly. Since you're seeing more of the game than I am, you're okay with that, right?
Bayard Randel Feb 21st 2008 7:58PM
The fact is that those "alternate methods" require nowhere near the amount of skill, dedication, coordination and gold required to achieve the same level of gear from raiding.
No, I don't think someone soloing a sunwell daily should be entitled to the same rewards as a group of 25 people that show up regularly, with consumables, with their gear gemmed and enchanted, who spend hours learning difficult encounters that require teamwork and communication.
Magnetic Feb 21st 2008 7:59PM
nearlysober wins.
Gear is a means to an end, and not an end itself. If you're playing the game just so you can have more purples than anyone else, or for that extra +5dmg/heal, you need to rethink the amount of time you spend on the game.
You're getting reward enough in even seeing the inside of BT. 99.9% of the playerbase won't ever step foot in there.
Matthew Rossi Feb 21st 2008 8:11PM
I'm sorry, but as someone who does all those things you suggest, I support this change. You're overreacting horribly. If you do every single one of these new Sunwell Dailies and get ridiculously lucky, you'll have a new piece of gear in TWO MONTHS. That's for ONE piece of gear.
Meanwhile, 25 man bosses will be dropping badges. So you and I, who run 25 mans, will be getting badges every raid. If we run Kara and ZA every week and do just Tempest Keep and SSC, not even Hyjal and BT, we're looking at easily 65 badges a week if we clear them. That means what takes a casual two months to do, we can do in a little more than two weeks, AND we'll be getting loot in the meantime. Throw in Hyjal and BT and the badge count increases. Plus, if we really want to, we could do the daily heroic (since, frankly, we're overgeared for it) for another five badges a day.
Meanwhile, the dude who MIGHT get a badge for doing a daily quest is somehow devaluing your hard work? Frankly, if the fact that you get better gear faster than he ever can AND get to see the best raids in the game isn't enough, I have no idea what would be for you.
Bayard Randel Feb 21st 2008 8:19PM
I think you're failing to see the point I was making - it's not about time, but the amount of effort required. Killing Kael'thas and Vashj is hard! Running a bombing daily is not.
p-diddy Feb 21st 2008 8:44PM
Bayard,
I hope you remember this discussion the next time you go out to eat. I don't know what you do for a living, but I bet the waitress thinks you get paid lots of money for not working nearly as hard as she does. Tip accordingly.
-p-
North Feb 21st 2008 9:07PM
Killing some bosses the first time is hard, true. But then they're on farm and it's easy. Free cake. Frankly, if raiders haven't had Illidan on farm for months already, maybe some of this gear will help them get there. gear > skill anyway in WoW.
Wolftech Feb 21st 2008 7:31PM
They really need a preview function in this thing. I ment chance not change.
Nathan Feb 21st 2008 7:39PM
Great, more welfare epics
Naix Feb 22nd 2008 10:53AM
There IS NO welfare epics. These epics take time and skill to obtain. You can put a player that done nothing but pve into a pvp situation. Watch how fast they get owned with their welfare epics.