Blizzard gives sneak peek at Tier 9
by Zach Yonzon 
Jul 2nd 2009 at 8:10PM
The good news with these faction-specific armor is that the design team has put a decent effort into making the sets somewhat distinguishable from one another. For example, the Horde Shaman's shoulders are reminiscent of the Earthfury Epaulets from Molten Core, distinct from the chitinous design of the Horde Hunter. The Alliance Priest and Warlock designs are a lot closer to each other, however. But don't take my word for it... head over to the Under Development page and check out the previews for yourself. I'm pretty stoked and can't wait to see the rest of the sets!
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, Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Joeribbons Jul 2nd 2009 8:13PM
looks um... okay?
Verit Jul 2nd 2009 11:05PM
Maybe its me, but the way gear looks in Wrath in general is meh - the shaman 7/8 sets looks ok, but I think Tier 7 looks better.
They really should have a "shake test" committee at Blizzard - if at first glance it doesn't survive players general appeal - back to the drawing board.
EmOtaku Jul 2nd 2009 11:18PM
Ginby, I apologize if I seemed aggressive. I've just gotten tired of people going out of their way to nitpick or henpeck irrelevant matters of spelling or grammar rather than address the actual points of an article/post.
The worst are those that think they can invalidate a point of view they do not agree with only by pointing out that their opponent made some minor mistake in writing it up, not that you were doing that.
And if you go out of your way to point out someone's else's minor mistake, it looks bad that your correction was in itself incorrect.
Anyhow, random addition but linguistic professor Geoff Nunberg has written some interesting things about people who go out of their way to point out other people's minor writing mistakes and what it says about them, worth a read :-)
devilsei Jul 3rd 2009 12:34AM
Verit, thats because a good 75-80% of gear we've gotten throughout the entire Lich King exp besides raid gear, come from the same 3-4 models as every other piece of gear. And non-tiered raid gear (at least plate) was ripped straight from the DK chain's blues.
kabshiel Jul 3rd 2009 2:39AM
I guess we shouldn't be surprised that the generic filler raid would drop generic filler armor.
Stuntman Mike Jul 3rd 2009 6:49AM
looks um... SHIT
This looks like the designers of T8 armour had an argument with the designers of T2 and this crap is what's the compromise!
Having escaped to "re-design" T7, T8 is first original tier set in wotlk, so logic would dictate that T9 > T8... This is developer laziness at it's best, and Blizzard is hiding behind "homogeneous design" GFTO
Lets hope... by some slim chance, that Blizzard is messing with us. Most likely not the case...
Evelinda Jul 3rd 2009 10:07PM
vanilla tier gear? pretty cool.
bc tier gear? pretty darn cool.
wrath tier gear? /snore
God, i used to love tier gear... it was generally the best looking stuff you could get in a slot, and nothing quite compared to seeing someone walking around in a full set of super sexy tier gear (or getting to do it yourself!). This stuff though... meh. Seriously? I understand trying to avoid the clown look that outland enjoyed while youre levelling, but youre not levelling when youre trying to get t7, let alone t9. Its time to bring in some sexy, unusual looking gear at that point.
Ah well...
Ginby Jul 2nd 2009 8:17PM
"seem the share". Grammar please?
EmOtaku Jul 2nd 2009 9:30PM
I think that falls under the category of a typo, not a grammatical mistake, but thanks for showing your superior command of the english language for the rest of us.
Ginby Jul 2nd 2009 9:35PM
Was pointing out an error, no need to be quite so aggressive about it.
Ensane Jul 2nd 2009 10:59PM
You could have stated it in a way so that it appears you are just pointing out the mistake. I would think a master of the English language, like yourself, would have noticed your post had somewhat of a sarcastic tone.
Hivetyrant Jul 2nd 2009 8:17PM
Maybe it's just me, but i'm all about looks in WoW, I even consider passing on upgrades sometimes just to keep cool looking gear.
The idea of faction specific gear is great, but if it means they are this similar, then meh.
It's like Alliance is Ford and Horde is Holden (sorry Australian car brands, lets not have an argument.....) and each class is just a different colour but they all really look the same.
There is no individuality!
Hivetyrant Jul 2nd 2009 8:20PM
And to add to this, after really looking at them all, I'll take Tier .5, 1, 2 or 3 over these thanks.
At least they actually looked like they were wearing Cloth.....
Noscy Jul 2nd 2009 8:44PM
Ford and Holden, the Great Australian Bombs(Ford not so much), now that is a better analogy for these armor types.
havitech Jul 2nd 2009 8:24PM
I'm very disappointed in this tier. Not only are the models terrible, but they're extremely homogeneous.
The faction-unique models don't make up for it, either. Maybe if these models were for PvP, ya know, where we would actually see players from the opposing faction. But when I'm in a raid, all I'll see are my guildies who are barely distinguishable by their tabards.
I hope Icecrown is better, but I'm not holding my breath.
SmokeTheBear Jul 2nd 2009 8:44PM
Seriously. I was so happy about the priest tier 8. I love it so much. But this? This is utter crap. Their item design team is clearly phoning it in.
eVEAN Jul 3rd 2009 9:35AM
I completely agree with you post and i would like to add that it REALLY looks like they didnt put any itme into it. The appeal to having different sets for each faction, but then keeping the model the same for each armor type, is really only a benefit to the developers, who end up spending less than half the time they would've needed to do class specific armor.
I really dont see how ANYONE would want to go from a set of gear that looks SPECIFICALLY like it was designed for the awesomeness that is their class, to a set of gear that makes them look like everyone else. I dont see anyone taking this t9 crap over their t8. Tiers rarely offer a huge upgrade in stats, and imo, t9 shouldve really been a side grade or even been the added armor (boots, belt, rings, etc) that Blizz has done so many times in the past.
devilsei Jul 3rd 2009 5:58PM
I have to agree as well. And what I find funny, is the contradiction of this "Faction" based gear, and the purpose of the Tournament.
The tournament, at least how I see it, is meant to bring the two sides together. That the best force to take out the Lich King isn't two large armies at odds against each other and the undead, but a small team unified under the banner of the Argent Crusade. This means horde and alliance working as one. Obviously gameplay wise this would only at best be represented by seeing npcs of both sides under the AC name in the raid or around it, but the point still stands.
Yet, the Tier gear is meant to give us a general distinction (colors from what I've seen) between the two factions. So instead of any one paladin looking like any other paladin, a horde paladin might be red, while the alliance is blue. It only fosters the division already seen, and goes against what the Argent Dawn are trying to do.
So instead of fostering division where competition is meant to be, where it should and needs to be, they are separating the two further when they need to be united most. Now obviously you can argue that we'll all look the same again after we kill Arthas and get his Tier 10 gear, but that isn't the point.
Leviathon Jul 2nd 2009 8:25PM
I think I am going to just keep my T8 on my shaman over that set.
maeby Jul 2nd 2009 8:27PM
they do have a kinda old school look to them. I am a bit dissapointed with the similiar looks, but i am just thrilled (being a mage) that ill be back in a robe!! i cant stand this tunic/pants t9 robe looks nice to. happy mage here! :D