Here's some news from the PTR hot off the presses via
MMO Champion:
Shaani the jewelcrafter is now selling epic gems previously only dropped in 25-man dungeons for 15 badges apiece, and all the recipes to cut them for gold at various levels of Shattered Sun Offensive Reputation. So if you don't raid, and don't mind doing 3 or 4 heroic runs for each gem, you'll be able to socket all that new badge gear too. It looks like it was unlocked with the
Razorthorn Root daily, so if you want those gems, be sure to get your friends and guildies on doing that daily once it's unlocked on your server come 2.4
While you're there, you can also grab a new daily from Mar'nah the alchemist which will reward a Bloodberry Elixir, which provides +15 to all stats for an 2 hours, but only on the Sunwell Plateau itself (thanks for catching the Sunwell-only restriction, Aikiwoce).
The badgification of epic gear continues apace. What will be interesting to see is if Blizzard is primarily doing this to close the gear gap between casuals and raiders for WoTLK, or if this marks a new loot philosophy that will continue into
WoTLK. Will we be able to buy Icecrown Glacier gems for badges as well?
Tags: 2.4, badge-of-justice, Crimson-Spinel, dailies, daily-quest, daily-quests, Empyrean-Sapphire, Lionseye, Marnah, mmo-champion, patch-2.4, ptr, Pyrestone, Razorthorn-Root, recipes, Seaspray-Emerald, Shaani, Shadowsong-Amethyst, Shattered-Sun-Offensive, test-server
Filed under: Jewelcrafting, Realm News, Factions, Quests, News items, Blizzard, Analysis / Opinion, Items, Patches, NPCs
Mar 4th 2008 at 4:15PM 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
CaffeineRage Mar 4th 2008 4:22PM
It is good to know I will not have to spend a large amount of money to make the trinkets once 2.4 comes out.
Still, I am going to be going though badges like crazy.
Aikiwoce Mar 4th 2008 4:22PM
Bloodberry elixir is +15 stats for 2hours, only works on the sunwell isle.
Jack Mar 4th 2008 4:25PM
Eesh, and to think these gems are going for hundreds, even thousands of gold on my server at the moment...
Charlie Taylor Mar 4th 2008 4:28PM
Wow, that's a really nice stat boost.
I don't think that we'll be able to use "Badges of Justice" in WotLK, since they would be old content. (notice in LW that knothide couldn't be made from anything in the original game) That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if they continued using some sort of badge type thing as an item procurement system in WotLK.
Sanol Mar 4th 2008 4:28PM
yay for world of casualcraft -.-
Sickle Mar 4th 2008 4:39PM
First, who cares if casuals can get good gear?
I mean seriously? Do you people care about your "l33t" factor so much that you think it good that no one gets as good gear as you? Grow up.
Second, it's obviously to close the gap before WotLK comes out.
Kaljin Mar 4th 2008 4:47PM
Because the only people who can get good gear should dedicate a lot of time to where its obscene, am I right?
Mel Mar 4th 2008 5:16PM
Wow, so that is the sound a shriveling e-peen makes?
Fascinating!
Manatank Mar 4th 2008 5:37PM
I'm looking forward to gear being accessible to more folks. That way performance can be properly attributed to skill instead of time spent.
WoW is a pretty fun game as it stands, but the less it feels like a loot roulette wheel, the more I enjoy it.
I don't like the idea that my progression should be tied to dumb luck on drops. Reasonable badge rewards that provide at least some progress for my time invested is a good direction in my opinion.
gary Mar 4th 2008 5:44PM
i completely agree with this guy
Matt Mar 6th 2008 6:13PM
Whats sad is your prolly just a elitist jerk wannabe...friends with one of em, but dont have even any idea about endgame, if people can get some gear that is comparable but not as good as mine for end game, go for it...i dont mind. more power too em, still takes teamwork and skill to make it through SSC and TK, killing kael and vashj is not just a gear check...
Nick S Apr 11th 2008 2:02PM
give the casuals all the gear they want, make raid gear obsolete, whatever - killing raid bosses will still be hella fun. and fun is the reason to play, right?
Baluki Mar 4th 2008 4:31PM
That's pretty cool. I'm glad they're doing this.
Does anyone know if they become soulbound when you buy one? The ones that drop in BT don't, so I would assume that these won't either. If not, people could probably use it as a way to convert Badges into Gold (sell them on the AH), although that's gotta be one of the least efficient ways to make money I've ever seen.
Blake Mar 4th 2008 6:44PM
With Nethers also being transferable, you can also try and convert your badges to gold that way too. So it seems badges will be able to be monetized with 2.4. Now, I just need to get a couple hundred more of them :)
~Tid ... http://blog.wowtid.com/
Lab Monkey Mar 4th 2008 4:41PM
As a casual player I feel sorry for the peeps who put the time & effort (or gold) into getting these. I wish they'd leave some things be or else half of Outlands will become completely skippable just like all the old lvl 60 content I never bothered doing. It's a shame.
Naix Mar 4th 2008 4:50PM
As a casual player I can point an laugh now. Now I gots the epics you had.
Xchupa Mar 4th 2008 4:48PM
@ Sanol
Yay for blizzard finally realizing only 6% of their player base raids and makeing things easier to obtain for the other 94% of the people who pay the same amount of money per month as hardcore raiders.
Hank Mar 4th 2008 4:43PM
This makes sense. Even for those that want to, a 25-man raid may be difficult to get together for most guilds. So instead of blazing a trail through Mount Hyjal, the same loot is available to anyone who can put together a five-man group, and complete several heroic instances. This opens things up a lot for smaller guilds full of people who can't commit to hardcore raiding or who can not hope to get past ZA.
Manatank Mar 4th 2008 5:46PM
While I agree with what you are saying, I question the point. If these folks never intend to move to 25 man content, then what do they need the gear for? Even with the 2.3 badge loot, heroics are already incredibly easy. Running 5-man heroics in 2.4 badge gear will be snooze worthy (with the exception of Magister's Terrace I suppose).
I think this sort of thing is more of a boon to casual players that want to take a peek at 25-man content. Or perhaps to gear out a guild that focuses on 10 mans to the point that they can start picking up their bear mounts.
Manatank Mar 4th 2008 5:56PM
Oh, and as a further note, I'd love to see a reason for better gear in 5-mans. Perhaps a legendary mode that is tougher than heroic. I'd suggest that the bosses be much tougher, and drop two badges instead of one to make the effort worthwhile. Or perhaps even introduce a tiered badge reward system with a second type of badge required for the better gear (the better badges dropping out of 25-mans and legendary 5-mans).
It would give people with smaller guilds a progression path that didn't include sacrificing the tight-knit nature of their group for the informal business-like nature of a 25-man raid. I raid with many people, but I only actually enjoy playing with a handful.