/agree

This new system is called "Achievements", right? Here's what Merriam-Webster has to say about that word:

1: the act of achieving : accomplishment
2 a: a result gained by effort b: a great or heroic deed
3: the quality and quantity of a student's work

You set a goal, you work toward it, and you achieve it.

How is getting a good roll out of the RNG to see the Squashling drop, followed by another good roll to win it, an "accomplishment" or "a result gained by effort"?

Now, I'm really stoked about the whole accomplishment system. But especially with time-limited holiday events, could "earn the capricious favor of the entropic gods of the RNG" not play such a large role? I suppose the drop rates might be greatly adjusted this year, but if the Squashling is anything like the mount drops from Brewfest, I don't really see this as an "accomplishment". Some people got lucky and nabbed a Kodo their first day in. A lot of commenters claim they ran Direbrew 5+ times every day and never got a mount. Some did little work to get the reward; others put in a lot of work and ended up with nothing to show for it. That's the RNG, and that's not an achievement.

Maybe Blizzard has a different philosophy regarding holidays in general--the "cool" stuff stays on very low drop rates to remain rare; if you keep running holidays, eventually you'll get something rare/cool. I'd like to propose making the cool stuff "expensive"--in terms of effort required to obtain it--is a better way to go. I'm thinking of Brewfest '07 here, where if you wanted the ram, you ground out 600 tickets for the ability to purchase it. That kept me engaged and running all the dailies every day, and at the end, I was excited to get my ram. Yes, anyone and everyone *could* end up with a Brewfest ram that way, which makes it less rare--but no less cool. And honestly, in the intervening year, I've seen very few other people riding around on a Brewfest ram, so I'm not at all convinced that system made the ram less rare.

One more point here--the toon that got the Brewfest ram was my warlock, because I though the glowing green eyes on the epic version fit that toon. My main is a paladin, and I can't really see him riding that ram. The beauty of the system of Brewfest '07 was that I could choose--I decided a certain of my toons wanted a reward, and I was able, with a little diligent effort, to get that reward for that toon. My paladin still ran Brewfest and got the clothes, but didn't bother with the ram. All in all, I had a blast with Brewfest '07--because achieving (there's that word again!) my desired reward was within my power, as a player.

Looking at Hallow's End, I'd really like to make my paladin "Trueheart the Hallowed". If it required consistent effort throughout the event, I'd stay engaged and enjoy my accomplishment at the end. If I put forth consistent effort to have a small chance at getting what I'm aiming for, and the RNG didn't favor me, I'd honestly think twice before really engaging Winter's Veil.

So, Blizzard, if you're reading (and we hear you do keep an eye on this site), here's my proposal: that offering players guaranteed rewards based on effort in game is superior offering players rewards that may or may not come with effort--superior in terms of player engagement with the content and ultimate player satisfaction. Especially with seasonal, time-limited holiday events. I'm sore that I've never seen the Triptych Shield of the Ancients from the Chess event despite months of weekly Karazhan runs, but I know there's always next week (at least until we're off for Northrend). Knowing there's always next YEAR for this Hallowed achievement is a much more bitter pill to swallow.