Realm first level 80 titles removed
by Eliah Hecht 
Sep 4th 2008 at 2:30PM
The Feats of Strength for realm-firsts have been raising some controversy for a little while now. Briefly, the worry is that it only rewards people who are willing and able to either play 24 hours a day from when Wrath is released to when they reach their goal, or share their account with friends and play in shifts. Either way, it's not really a measure of skill or accomplishment so much as a measure of who's got a lot of uninterrupted time on their hands. There is additional worry that playing for 24+ hours straight is just not healthy, and Blizzard probably doesn't want people rushing through the content either.
So it is with some pleasure that I report that the titles for the feats of strength for realm-first level 80 with each class, for first 80 on each realm, and for first to 450 in the various professions are being removed. The title for realm-first Northrend Vanguard (achieve exalted with various factions) is also getting removed. Note that the Feats of Strength themselves are still in – the game still keeps track of who got to 80 first, and will tell you if it's you – but there's no longer a title to show off for other players. This is an interesting compromise; the feat is still noted, but there's much less incentive to do it now. Finally, Tigole notes that the realm-first boss kills will still give titles, which is as it should be in my book. Given raid lockouts, you couldn't raid 24/7 even if you wanted to, so this is more of an indication of skill.
One interesting alternative, for those who still want titles like this to be in the game, is presented on Blessing of Kings. Basically, the suggestion is that the titles should be given to those who take the least time /played to get from 70 to 80. This would mean you'd have to optimize your playing in a different way, and it would also mean you could lose the title if someone outdoes you in the future, which I see as a plus (though some here at WoW Insider vigorously disagree with me). Edit: on second thought, I agree that this is probably not a great idea. Hopefully they'll come up with some kind of very long questline for each class or something.
Filed under: Leveling, Wrath of the Lich King, Achievements
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Merah Sep 4th 2008 2:37PM
I totally agree with this decision.
Aeryon Sep 7th 2008 7:15AM
I think it would be cool if, since not all classes have a lot of class quests, Blizzard were to put a class chain quest for a title.
p.s. I heard about it somewhere but i can't remember where...
Lemons Sep 4th 2008 2:39PM
Good, I don't need some1 shoving an "Arch Druid" title in my face just because he lives in his mom's basement shouting for hot pockets whenever he gets hungry.
Blizz should, however, make more accessible titles. titles not as easy as the SSO title but not as hard as these were.
Augustus Sep 4th 2008 2:41PM
I understand the decision to remove player 1st awards and think it was ultimately a wise move.
However they should come up with some way to give those titles to the player base in some fashion. Most of them were very cool.
Truckin Sep 4th 2008 4:51PM
I couldn't agree more, a title for being an addict/no life make zero sense. Give out fanboy titles (cons/tourneys) fun titles, and ones for in game achievements that have some level of fair access to the general populace.
Having recently tested the "other" MMO out soon, I'd have to say my favorite title achievement was a whimsical one "Ow My Eye".
dotorion Sep 4th 2008 2:41PM
Prepare for an equal amount of whines as we saw when they were implemented ...
*gets out fire resist set*
tehvoid Sep 4th 2008 2:41PM
Thanks Blizzard. Thank god, I won't have to /lol to these L80 title bearer each time I pass in front of the Dalaran bank.
Good decision here.
Eric Sep 4th 2008 2:43PM
"basically, the suggestion is that the titles should be given to those who take the least time /played to get from 70 to 80. This would mean you'd have to optimize your playing in a different way, and it would also mean you could lose the title if someone outdoes you in the future, which I see as a plus (though some here at WoW Insider vigorously disagree with me)."
Thats just as bad... only more incentive to do it faster and faster for a select few making it even worse.... competing with everyone instead of just a class or race.
Durante Sep 4th 2008 2:44PM
Thank god. I was just waiting for the "Man Hospitalized from Warcraft Addiction" stories to roll in the week after Wrath hit.
Also didn't care for the thought that most of these titles would probably get scooped up by people who remember the story of the first person to hit 70; he'd tag a group of mobs and then had basically a raid group healing and attacking the mobs. I wasn't looking forward to most of the titles on our server getting grabbed up by the officers of the largest guild's with a whole pool or pawns to level them.
Jamie Sep 4th 2008 2:47PM
I also endorse this decision.
Bloodletter Sep 4th 2008 2:45PM
Great decision from Blizzard. Classic, actually.
Another great decision would be for them so send me a BETA key =D
what-a-what Sep 4th 2008 2:46PM
I planned on taking a couple of days off just to try and achieve a title. I was honestly looking foward to the race for the titles.
For an excuse that it is unhealthy for players is a load of ****. People will play WoW whenever they want to. A title is not gonna stop most people. Anyways, once players achieve the titles, no one is gonna be playing as much, at least with the 24hour intent of racing for it. I'm way dissappointed in blizzard.
luchifer Sep 4th 2008 2:55PM
True, but it would encourage a lawyer to sue blizzard if some kid dies because he played too much for his "first" title. Also , the idea is to see the content, not rush it.
Mitch Sep 4th 2008 3:00PM
Do you really think Blizz wants the bad publicity when someone going for the title plays for an unhealthy amount of time and gets hurt because of it? Granted it may have more to do with the person's physical shape going into the grind, however there would be a HUGE media backlash and us MMOers would get shed in the negative light again.
I agree with Blizzard's decision to take something entirely arbitrary out of the game (arbitrary because it would take NO SKILL).
Also because the titles were way too awesome for people to have and may take away from future hero classes.
im a real tailor Sep 4th 2008 3:01PM
Oh well... There goes my whole source income.....
I fail!!!!
Barth Sep 4th 2008 3:13PM
The difference is in this case is Blizz is actually rewarding you for doing nothing other than playing WoW for a few days... which is of course unhealthy and unwise.
They can't do anything to stop you from playing non-stop but if they actually give out rewards for it, it's a pretty bad image they are putting out there.
People really need some perspective lol.
dan Sep 4th 2008 3:22PM
People are still going to be grinding through the leveling content because of the raiding carrot. The titles were just a nice also-ran prize. It in and of itself wasn't going to be the cause of the race thru content.
Wither Sep 4th 2008 2:50PM
Good job Blizzard, sure 1% of players might be disappointed, but you listened to the 99% wisely.
I'm not a big fan of the least /played either, I would far prefer a set of class achievements and the requirement to complete all class quests to get the generic titles.
Vlatch Sep 4th 2008 4:25PM
"Feats of Strength are just that, unique titles and achievements given to people who have done unusual or noteworthy things. They give no practical in-game benefits, they don't even give achievement points."
You still get the achievement, just not the title. Trust me, you'll still be hearing about it on the forums, now people will just have a way to prove it (screenshot of the achievement).
Do you really need the title as the carrot to race? Why do people race to be the first to defeat a boss? It's not the loot, it's not the title, it's the prestige of being able to say you did it. This changes nothing other than a random title that not many people will even notice 6 months into the xpac. Hell, we'll all be XXXX of the XXXX at that point.
TotalBiscuit Sep 4th 2008 2:55PM
This decision demonstrates little more than Blizzard's propensity towards catering to crybabies who's egos are too fragile to accept not having a title.
Feats of Strength are just that, unique titles and achievements given to people who have done unusual or noteworthy things. They give no practical in-game benefits, they don't even give achievement points. If you can't handle having it 'shoved in your face' then you have my pity. I cannot imagine how flaccid an e-peen you must have.