Patch 3.2 PTR Tier 9 reawakens faction pride and... homogeneity?
by Zach Yonzon 
Jun 28th 2009 at 4:00PM
That's right. As wonderful as many players thought those faction-specific armor sets were, they were actually somewhat homogenous in that classes that shared the same armor type (i.e., cloth, leather, plate) had the same models. Apparently this is Blizzard's philosophy with armor set design: either the class sets are faction-neutral but look distinct from each other or they are faction-specific but look the same across armor class. The only time Blizzard broke from tradition was with the much-maligned Sunwell Plateau gear which was both faction-neutral and shared a look across armor class. It felt lazy.
While it's currently unconfirmed, MMO Champion has uncovered what just might be the new Tier 9 sets. The bad news is that it looks like Blizzard is sticking with their by-armor-class design philosophy and making all plate sets (what MMO Champion has discovered so far) similar to one another. The only difference is in the subtle coloration and the design on the center of the chest which, unfortunately, can be easily covered by a tabard. You do wear a tabard, right? Yeah, that's what I thought. The uncovered sets are mostly colored blue, which could indicate that these are the Alliance versions.
So if what MMO Champion has uncovered turns out to be the new Tier 9 gear, expect Priests, Warlocks, and Mages to have the same armor in different colors, just as Shamans and Hunters, Druids and Rogues, and Death Knights, Paladins, and Warriors will all be walking around looking oddly similar to each other. This isn't really a huge change from the status quo considering many non-set items from Naxxramas and Ulduar have the same models across armor class.
The good news is that non-tier drops from the new Crusader's Coliseum will fit rather nicely with any plate class, effectively avoiding the clown effect. The current problem with non-set items in Ulduar, for example, is that it's easy enough to pick up pieces that don't match the tier set. Enhancement Shamans could possibly get shoulders that resemble Hunter shoulders, for example. While Blizzard inserted non-tier gear that shared the same models as Tier 8 items in an effort to make mixing and matching gear easier, visual clashes would still happen when certain classes would pick up non-tier pieces that were modeled after another class' tier gear.
In theory, this should no longer be a problem if bosses drop different items for Horde and the Alliance. Otherwise, we might see Horde players sporting non-tier pieces intended to match Alliance sets and vice versa. That would be a disaster that undermines the whole faction-specific theme. It's still a mystery how Blizzard intends to implement faction-specific gear or non-tier items considering this just might be their most complicated itemization scheme yet. Considering it will be now be much easier to maintain a cohesive look, the shared models across armor types might not be such a bad thing, after all. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the sets, particularly the Horde versions...
Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all the latest!Filed under: Patches, Items, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Satn Jun 28th 2009 4:09PM
Waiting for blizz to add EQ2's appearance armor slots, so I can wear good gear but have it look like older (but better looking) gear of my choice
devilsei Jun 28th 2009 4:14PM
Heh, apparently that's one thing Blizzard refuses to copy... :P
Allison Robert Jun 28th 2009 4:35PM
If they did that, I would wear Tier 6 and nothing but to the end of my days. Thunderheart FTW!
ToyChristopher Jun 28th 2009 4:35PM
It is one thing they refuse to copy because they are apparently against character customization.
From the mage Q&A:
"We embrace some level of player visual customization in World of Warcraft, but it’s just not in the design vision to give players as many controls over how their character looks as some players would probably desire. One of the distinctive visual qualities of cloth is that it often looks like long, flowing robes, which is pretty consistent with the iconic fantasy wizard. No doubt some players would prefer to change the look of their weapon or weapon enchant if they could without having a game play effect, so this is just a slippery slope for us. We will keep the feedback in mind though."
devilsei Jun 28th 2009 4:43PM
"No doubt some players would prefer to change the look of their weapon or weapon enchant if they could without having a game play effect, so this is just a slippery slope for us. We will keep the feedback in mind though.""
That made me laugh Toy. I wonder how giving us more in the way of customization is a slippery slope, and how the devs even think it could be. If it is, they've already gone down it with the new druid forms and the barber shop. Not all mages like robes, not all paladins like skirts and cloth masks, and the one thing I wouldn't care about is the weapon model (alright, thats a bit of a lie really, but still, not something I really care if I can control its look).
Whatever lets them stay lazy though I guess...
Sorro Jun 28th 2009 6:33PM
Ehh, I'd have to go with Nordrassil over Thunderheart, imo. Love the concept of druid armor made out of pieces of a world tree. And the matching Pillar...
Aedilhild Jun 28th 2009 7:17PM
"I wonder how giving us more in the way of customization is a slippery slope, and how the devs even think it could be."
Mr. Pink: Why am I Mr. Pink? Why can't we pick our own colors?
Joe: I tried that once, it don't work. You get four guys fighting over who's gonna be Mr. Black.
Arcanivus Jun 28th 2009 8:52PM
The problem with this is that Blizzard has made sets distinguishable for the purpose of level identification. If they allow anyone to simply appear to be wearing something, we lose the visual cues that tell us how well geared someone is.
Imagine being in a lvl 80 BG and seeing someone in T2 Paladin gear. They look badass, but you have no way of quickly judging how well equipped they are.
The slippery slope is that if they allow that visual customization, anyone could be wearing T9 and appear to be wearing Twill clothie gear. It makes visual classification near impossible.
Satn Jun 29th 2009 12:28AM
Who cares about pvp? the only people it helps to "identify" a persons gear level is rogues, and honestly, screw rogues.
Deadly. Off. Topic. Jun 29th 2009 9:58AM
A custom slot would be great for all those holiday outfits we pick up, but can't really wear unless we're NOT raiding/leveling/pvping etc which cuts out a good 99% of the time in wow.
micgillam Jun 29th 2009 10:13AM
"Imagine being in a lvl 80 BG and seeing someone in T2 Paladin gear. They look badass, but you have no way of quickly judging how well equipped they are.
The slippery slope is that if they allow that visual customization, anyone could be wearing T9 and appear to be wearing Twill clothie gear. It makes visual classification near impossible."
There's a lot of truth to being able to identify gear on someone, and not just in PvP. At the same time, this doesn't mean they couldn't allow *some* level of customization. Pick up to 3 colors, depending on the item. You're not disguising a linen robe as T9 or vice-versa, just allowing someone to turn his green vest red, or white/purple robe black/yellow, or his arena gear bubblegum-pink. Similar to the Dawn of War army-painter, but item-by-item (presumably at a cost). If you want to take it one step further, you could introduce patterns into the process, at least for some items. A camo-patterned breastplate would look ridiculous (and actually, I never want to see "camo" in WoW), but a plaid cloak could be alright for example. Alternately, the one step further could be a general customization slot, for putting your guild-logo on your cape, or perhaps a holy cross if you're a priest/pally, maybe a set of crossed-axes, that sort of logo work that doesn't involve changing the actual model, it's just a slightly different skin.
Nick S Jun 28th 2009 4:10PM
In an ideal world, armor would have different models and textures for each class, spec, and faction. Failing that, though, this setup is actually pretty cool.
Faction-specific sets are a wonderful idea, especially coming from such a faction-specific instance, and I'm looking forward to that aspect of them the most.
Plus, Blizz's texture people really have done a pretty good job of varying the appearances of the same-model sets. While the overall shape stays the same, if you look closely at the textures they each have a flavor of their own.
Would I still rather have different models for every class? Sure. But this isn't such a bad alternative.
zleepnir Jun 28th 2009 4:11PM
Or! It could be that they're three different looks of the same set! Remember how there are three "ranks" of Tier this time around?
devilsei Jun 28th 2009 4:16PM
if you are talking about whats in the picture, nope. The central one has the skull motif in the center of the chest linked to Death Knights. The left one's coloration of blue and gold screams paladin, while the one on the right then, has to be warrior.
Alanid Jun 28th 2009 4:19PM
i admire your optimism but if you look at the examples shown they are clearly not made for the same class
Cydonian Jun 28th 2009 4:19PM
It would conflict with the "logo's" embedded on the chest plate:
Lion for a Paladin
Skull for a Death Knight
Blade for a Warrior
The difference between the tiers will probably be colours, and possibly more particle effects.
dimascus Jun 28th 2009 4:16PM
Dang! This set is SO boring.
oaclo Jun 28th 2009 4:25PM
I'm sorry, but I have to say this is pretty shoddy reporting. The only source you have for this speculation-filled article is a single screen shot data-mined from the PTR's first testing phase and the people who found it themselves admitted that the file names don't even fit the current naming architecture. I mean I understand that you needed to put something out about the screen shot but perhaps you should have reserved judgment on Blizzard's possible class homogenization until we have a bit more evidence.
Nick S Jun 28th 2009 5:20PM
It's almost certain that these will, in fact, be the Alliance armor sets for the three classes. They appear to be finished, make sense for each class, and fit with the new faction-specific loot system.
oaclo Jun 28th 2009 5:53PM
I was not trying to say that there is no way that these are the final models, I was only commenting on the fact that the author seemed to have lost a bit of objectivity when he seized upon a single, unofficial screen shot and used it to justify a large amount of speculation.