Ulduar items and why they look the same
by Zach Yonzon 
Mar 22nd 2009 at 4:00PM
It's a pretty tough argument, and players throughout the thread have weighed with their thoughts on the matter. This is an issue that has been apparent since the launch of Wrath of the Lich King, where many armor pieces have largely shared the same models. Take, for example, the Spaulders of the Giant Lords, a plate shoulder piece purchased from the Sons of Hodir at Revered reputation. It shares the same model as 22 other rare plate items, from drops to crafted pieces. That's a lot of similar-looking gear. This design direction ensures that players will find an easier time finding non-set pieces that match instead of looking like a clown. This was one of the criticisms hurled at the leveling items in The Burning Crusade, and Blizzard seems to avoided it in Wrath.
On the other hand, some players argue that Blizzard might have overdone it, with one poster diligently listing many items which share similar models. He laments the fact that he has had the same looking helm over half the time he was leveling up and for some time after hitting Level 80. As cool as the Death Knight armor looks coming out of the starting area, it was something of a surprise to find that the non-tier plate items in Naxxramas and Heroic dungeons shared the same model. If you took mostly non-tier plate epics at Level 80, you would look almost identical to a Death Knight coming out of the Eastern Plaguelands.
This time around, in Ulduar, there doesn't appear to be a non-tier "set" as many pieces (as data-mined by MMO Champion) appear to be recolored versions of Tier 8, which the original poster decries as "effectively draining every shred of fun and sense of accomplishment out of raiding as a whole." I'm not so sure about that, but melodrama aside, it prompts Blizzard Community Manager Crygil to respond, stating that it's a tough balancing act but by using this method Blizzard is able to "maintain a good solid well polished look."
To be fair, this isn't the first time they've done this. Many tier items in The Burning Crusade had recolored versions, allowing players to mix and match non-tier pieces with their sets. With some luck, it was possible to obtain a complete, yet differently colored Tier 5 look using various loose pieces. Unless most of the items revealed so far from Ulduar are mere placeholders, it looks like Blizzard has followed through with this design direction. Crygil admits as much, noting how Blizzard aimed to avoid mismatched gear, and that this is how they choose to address the problem "for the time being."
While I do think that the base models are quite sparse this time around, I'm quite certain that there would've been whining either way. I think Tier 8 is very well-designed, and the current itemization means players won't struggle too hard to maintain the same, cohesive look (color discrepancies notwithstanding). That's certainly a good thing. On the other hand, players can't put together a completely different look should they wish to. To a degree, the original poster has a point about how every other person in Dalaran looks the same.
Personally, I will appreciate the flexibility of being able to keep just two or four pieces of a tier set for the bonus yet be able to maintain a cohesive appearance throughout. Should Ulduar itemization make it to live in this state, I wouldn't be so worried. This is the first time any raid dungeon will contain completely visually cohesive pieces, it's an experiment I'm willing to participate in. Blizzard has been known to change item models through patches, anyway, so even though it's a remote possibility, it can still happen with non-set pieces.
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Ryuker Mar 22nd 2009 4:05PM
If Blizzard made this game free, some people would complain that it's making it too easy for casuals.
DeadNite Mar 22nd 2009 4:21PM
Indeed they would.
They would also whine about how much money advertising generates (to make it a free service) and because of how much they contribute, they feel it entitles them to something.
By paying $15 a month you’re entitled to login. The rest is icing on the cake.
And they have changed models in the past.
Remember the spellfire tunic...OMGAH. I was so happy when they changed it to a robe.
Without the ability to color or dye items...this is what you will have to live with. Look at any world first SS throughout the history of WoW. Tell me what you find. This is the art direction they chose to stick with.
Either login and enjoy, or stop paying your $15 a month.
People tend to let there epeen get in the way of unadulterated fun.
Heilig Mar 22nd 2009 4:56PM
So, as the paying customer, what exactly DO we get to make our voices heard about?
Just because they created the game doesn't mean they get to ignore their customers. Rather, it means exactly that, but it also means they have to live with the consequences. If it bothers people enough, they will just leave and stop paying.
But that doesn't mean we shouldn't tell Blizzard what we don't like so they will know what they've done to drive people away. Obviously they have decided that more people like content than loot models, but I have a feeling they have underestimated the number of people who are attached to the look of their characters.
Making things fit together is nice, having recolored versions of cool models is a nice touch. Having EVERY plate piece of armor that drops in a raid look identical is lazy.
The recolored set pieces mentioned from TBC were SINGLE items that were tied to a certain class, e.g healing plate shoulders from SSC were a gray recolor of Pally T5. No one besides a pally would wear it, and it was the ONLY piece in teh game that looked like that. So far I have seen 4 plate hats from Ulduar that are all recolored DK T8, That's boring and lazy. If there were one recolored warrior, one recolored DK, and one Recolored Pally, along with a couple of new models, that would be interesting.
Having some things be the same is interesting. Having EVERYTHING be the same is lazy, and Blizzard needs to hear that their paying customer base sees it as laziness and is thoroughly unimpressed.
PeeWee Mar 22nd 2009 5:31PM
Funny, I'm reading the TOS and the EULA here, it says nothing about us paying to modify the game, or have a vote in the development decisions. We're paying to gain access to their servers. That's it. Anything else is a bonus.
Dave Mar 22nd 2009 6:18PM
You must be new or a non-raider. Let me elaborate on what the real issue is and has been:
Back in the Pre-expansion days of running Molten Core and AQ40 and such, you could at a glance instantly tell how progressed a guild and a player happened to be from what they were wearing. Everything was VERY unique to the point that it was blindingly obvious (and very cool) to see certain people with different gear. It was a status symbol somewhat, and a visual inspection on another level.
Now, you can't tell by looking at someone if they're a heroic 5-man player, a 10-man player or a 25-man heroic guy because the gear looks the same no matter what level you get it from unless it's a weapon. A T7 hunter and a T7.5 hunter are going to mostly look identical. It takes away a little of the achievement of doing 25-man content over 10-man content since the stats on the gear aren't THAT much better (and speaking as a T7 hunter with a single piece of T7.5 I can say that my DPS is as good or better than most hunters doing 25-mans). At least if you're not going to be doing much more in the way of quality, you could look better while doing it or at least different.
It's probably not a big deal, but it meant something a few years ago and it's essentially meaningless now when random pieces look like tier pieces.
If the only way to get armor sets to not look mismatched and stupid (and I personally think that non-tier pieces of tier slots shouldn't match tier gear) is this homogenization, it's pretty disappointing.
Kakistocracy Mar 22nd 2009 9:55PM
Dave, while I do not agree that completing a 25 person "heroic" raid should carry more prestige than the same raid on "regular" (because the 25 person variant tends to be easier once it gets started) I do agree that it would be nice if there were more distinction, like the hare mode rewards should stand out (without being gaudy). And I suppose that the Ulduar drops will be easily enough distinguished from the Nax drops, but it does seem like blizzard could come up with a way to have players not all geared exactly the same way.
belligerent Mar 22nd 2009 4:09PM
people complained in BC because even though there were items that were different, they were all mis-colored. it looked stupid.
Everyone who complains wants the same thing: interesting-looking items. They want to look cool. No one is complaining that the items in Wotlk don't look cool, it's that there are only a couple of them in the game.
They can't all be as cool as tier 6. Man I loved those priest shoulders.
Heilig Mar 22nd 2009 5:02PM
"people complained in BC because even though there were items that were different, they were all mis-colored. it looked stupid."
This is the key. Nobody cared that their gear was "mis-matched." What bothered us was that, even if we managed to match all our gear, it STILL looked stupid. The problem wasn't an inability to match gear, it's that it was just plain ugly. Pink chestpieces don't look any better with pink pants than they do with electric green pants.
Blizzard could have very wasily created more models and simply stuck to a uniform color palette and achieved what we wanted: variety of look without looking like a clown. If we have 150 different helms that are all mixtures of black, gray, and brown, then we will always match, even if the models are different.
I guess with all the money they invested into this expansion they didn't bother to spend a few bucks on a phone call to ANY CLOTHING DESIGNER ALIVE TODAY to find out if you could make things that look different match anyway.
Kassu Mar 22nd 2009 5:37PM
Seriously.
I liked the DK starter helm. It was all sorts of awsome.
After having to tolerate the AWFUL looking quest reward plate helmets, I finally got an upgrade that looked like my starting one. Had it for ages. And then I got my Tier helm.
Now I just can't take any non-tier plate helm drops because THEY ALL LOOK LIKE THE FREAKING STARTING SET ONE. This will be a bit better in Ulduar, actually, because some random plate helms look like the tier 8 one, but it validates the point even more - Blizz is doing some serious slacking.
Groth Mar 22nd 2009 7:45PM
try looking at the same god-awful druid form models for 60 or 70 levels.
at least the colors change on armor!
You can still spot the people who've progressed far, though it it much harder I'll agree- you lean to spot the color combinations which drop from high end bosses.
That and little hints like having a black proto-drake mount, or "the immortal" after their name...
Yeng Mar 23rd 2009 11:21AM
What Blizzard needs to do is have the 'vanity' clothing option available. Many other MMOs do it. This is having the ability to choose gear that will be displayed on your character, but not necessarily the armor you are wearing (the ones you are getting stats from).
So instead of homogenizing all the gear, players would be in charge of putting together a look, and it'd be their fault if they look like a clown or not. Then Blizzard would be open to create different looking armor models (if indeed they are doing this for aesthetic reasons and not just out of lazieness) and it would be up to you to put together 'your look'.
Wasuremono Mar 22nd 2009 4:09PM
The problem is that the armor still doesn't "match" even if it looks similiar because of slight color difference. I don't think it is visually cohesive as you put it.
There is a way to solve this problem but they refuse to implement it. Instead of different pieces of the same armor color changed they need to put the color changing into the hands of the players and make armor have different models.
Styvorama Mar 22nd 2009 4:11PM
What I don't get is why we are unable to paint, dye etc gear to make it a different color(would also make you able to get at least gear colors same). I mean you were able to do that in other older MMORPGs Are we supposed to believe that Blizz has never thought of this, or that is it a huge undertaking? Seems like laziness from my perspective.
SaintStryfe Mar 22nd 2009 4:18PM
I'm sure if they tried that we'd see tons of wankers running around in entirely black armor. I'd be worse then it is right now.
Shinn Mar 22nd 2009 4:34PM
@ SaintStryfe
Yeah, so what? The rest of us will look better because of it :D
Anelf Mar 22nd 2009 4:58PM
@Styvorama - I agree (except for the the laziness comment). Being able to dye gear would be a great addition to the game. Maybe give the recipes to Alchemists (or Cooks, if you're that way inclined :-) ).
Kakistocracy Mar 22nd 2009 8:51PM
I have heard that blizzard doesn't want players to be able to change what items look like, because it would be too hard to look at a character and know how well geared they are...
So, you can't chose to make your gear all match because then people won't know what you're wearing...
Instead Blizzard decided to make most items will look alike, so you will match...
But that makes it hard to tell at a glance which gear you have...
Oh well.
Styvorama Mar 25th 2009 12:05PM
Maybe laziness was a bit harsh, it just seems like an easy add on.
I don't think it matters if you can know if someone is geared at a glance. You can always inspect, and if they are on the opposing faction you should not be able to determine that info, kinda takes the fun outta it. Allows PVP vets to play pick out the noob in the crappy gear. Anyways, just thought it would be cool, the game is an RPG game, and diversity if a core part of any RPG.
Also, lets talk about hunter pets. We should be able to get some silly hats for them to wear. All I'm saying is I want a gorilla in a small top hat with cymbals.
Stefan C Mar 22nd 2009 4:12PM
I don't like the fact that I have to look like every other warrior in the game personally. But it does look more polished all around.
Xavs Mar 22nd 2009 4:17PM
I agree that there should be more models or at least some way to choose colors.
Back in BC, I liked being able to say "oh that guy is wearing from . Now if I tried to do that, I would probably mistake it for one of the other 50 pieces of gear that shares the same model.