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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsHow the 3.2 Emblems changes will affect the game
by Mike Schramm 
Jul 3rd 2009 at 1:30PM
As we've heard, patch 3.2 will seriously streamline the Emblems system, allowing players to pick up Ulduar-level Emblems even just by running Heroics. Though lots of the other patch 3.2 changes have taken the spotlight lately, the Emblems change is definitely still a big deal, and while lots of "hardcore" players are up in arms about the changes (they had to raid for the same gear that people will now be able to get just by running Heroics, and even the brand new Emblems of Triumph gear will be attainable through Heroic dailies), other players are just confused by the whole thing. Fortunately, if you haven't yet wrapped your head around what all the changes mean, Clearcasting has a really excellent, thorough writeup about the Emblems changes, both explaining what you'll be able to get from where, and why Blizzard has decided to do things this way.The biggest fear seems to be that players who have never raided before will start walking around in Ulduar- or even Coliseum-level gear, and they'll get invited to raids based on their gear, only to find that they're clueless about what to do. But I like Arioch's point there: does that mean we don't have clueless raiders now? Of course we do -- the gear you're wearing doesn't say anything about what you've done now, and it'll say even less after the patch. Players are already requiring achievements, and even that doesn't necessarily guarantee you're a good player.
Will there be bad PuGs after the patch? Of course, and there are bad PuGs now, too. But this is definitely a helpful change for anyone with alts, and while yes, it will allow non-raiders to get better gear, and it will probably bring raiders back into Heroics more often, it still won't affect those who are raiding at the highest levels. They'll still get the best gear earlier than everyone else, so if that's what's important to them, they've got nothing to complain about.
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, Guilds, Blizzard, Raiding, Bosses
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
Wonk Jul 3rd 2009 2:05PM
I see the trend here now, all the players who could not cut it in Uldar or were too lazy to put in the work love this change... I understand your dislike for those who Did put in the work, it's like watching a successful friend drive by in a new car and you in your old junker, he went to college, you did not, he worked until 3 am everyday to earn the car... you played WoW and bragged about your 2k dps.
You can grey this post out too... but I now understand the kind of players that do the thumbs down on those who are not happy with the change.
danawhitaker Jul 3rd 2009 2:37PM
Couldn't cut it in Ulduar? Too lazy? Neither, thanks. I had no opportunity to go to Ulduar because at the time of night I play, the raids are already full usually and our guild is still gearing. I'm not jealous of people who can go, though I do have an expectation that they try not to be closed-minded and assume that because some players aren't geared or aren't running it means they aren't competent and are lazy. The only person in my guild who even does Ulduar is currently unemployed, can go to bed at 6 a.m. and get up whenever the hell he wants, and has no children or other responsibilities during the day. The rest of us have responsibilities outside the game that preclude us from playing whenever our id tells us we'd like to.
It's not at all about not wanting to put in the time. I've researched my gear drops, I know what I want, I know how to get there...now I just need to work on getting the rest of my guild to that point. I've run heroics til they came out of my ears. I'm still running them to work on my off-spec set while I wait for everyone to be geared and in a position to start running 10-mans. They're the only people I know on my server that I can guarantee running at the time of day I can and who are understanding if something happens and I have to go AFK.
azuri Jul 4th 2009 1:13AM
1) Casuals are not lazy. Casuals are people who have better things to spend their time on then listen to the obligatory spam of whiny, self-entitled 10-40 yr olds (yes, a wide age span but scary on how little the maturity gap is) on how much more they deserve for playing so many more hours then the rest of us. Want a reward? You already have it. You will be the first ones out conquering the brand-spankin new bosses. You will be the ones making videos showing the rest of us on how to beat said bosses. You will be the ones strutting out the door with all the shiny new epics/toys/sets. It will be weeks, months in some cases given some folks play schedule before we see that new tier 8-9 piece let alone fit together a whole set. Hardcore players will see more content then us casuals regardless of how "easy" it becomes to obtain gear simply because they will be on more then the rest of us. Honestly, why run raids if your not having fun in it anyways?
2) While your analogy I assume was meant to put down the casuals/non-raiders, somehow in real life, it much more likely to be the reverse. The hardcore raiders may be the first to the awesome loot in WoW, but kinda hard to gloat when that casual is too busy driving their new car to their job that pays way more then yours because they chose to spend their time on getting somewhere in real life as opposed stroking their e-peen in game.
3) I recognize not all raiders are jerks, I really do. Been in pugs with a wide variety, and I
Boocat Jul 3rd 2009 5:51PM
I love when people use the word LAZY when talking about other players. WoW is not a job or career but a game in which everyone has a choice on how they wish the play it and either way is wrong.
Ophelos Jul 3rd 2009 2:08PM
See those ppl who are complain also don't realise that you can skip all instances/heroics and pre-ulduar raids as soon as you hit lvl 80 if you got the cash to buy ulduar, an other 25man raids just by buying boe epics from the AH..
I know my druid well be ready to hit ulduar once he hits lvl 80.
Also another thing.. Blizzard already came out and said about a year ago they want everyone to do end game this time around.. yes even casuals..
So noone should be getting upset over this at all.
Rich Jul 3rd 2009 2:09PM
Just yet another case how the people scream and holler something will "kill the game" or whatever and in the end, it makes 0 impact on the game.
Sakirsha Jul 3rd 2009 2:13PM
Just one question: How are people supposed to GET the achievements if the requirement to join a group is to HAVE the achievements?
Lokasenna Jul 3rd 2009 2:29PM
Not to mention that a good number of the achievements boil down to blind luck or specifically doing something that doesn't actually affect the outcome of the fight.
King's Bane for instance - I've tried maybe ten times with a good group to do it, never works, Bane always pops. But all of my 80s have the achievement because Ymiron will sometimes just not cast Bane.
Or Less-Rabi - it's not like rhino form makes the fight any less easy.
Valhalla Jul 3rd 2009 5:31PM
I hate the attitude of the hardcore raiders in Wotlk. Vanilla endgame raiders and TBC raiders had some right to complain about how easy the game was getting, because the game was actually hard back then.
Wotlk isn't hard, it hasn't been hard, and it probably won't be too difficult. Don't complain like you're elite with you're t8.5, because you're not.
Zach Jul 3rd 2009 5:33PM
Nice Algalon achievement, bro.
Valt Jul 3rd 2009 8:41PM
"Wotlk isn't hard, it hasn't been hard"
Compared to other games, WoW was never hard. Its easy mode as RPG game and appeals to everyone. It really wasnt never really that "hard" apart from couple teeth grinders. No zillion things to remember in bosses just couple (like dont stand in fire, stay here in phase 2, do this do that), xp loss, gear loss, repairs are huge, 300 talent points to use in 100 different talents that make no sense and are poorly balanced. No moral system no nothing.
Thats why its also good.
noelkytty Jul 3rd 2009 2:19PM
I have mixed feelings about this change. While it is nice that some more casual players will be able to get higher levels of gear without spending hours every night raiding, it will still take a little while of doing heroics and such to attain this level of gear. In all honesty, it seems like they would be better off raiding to speedily gear their characters, and do heroics and instances to supplement this.
I think this is also Blizzards way of helping characters become geared in order to have a chance at the whole game. Before the removal of attunements, a very small percentage of the player base was able to experience end-game content. With so many millions of players, they probably want more than 1% to feel like they are getting everything they can from the game, content-wise. They started this with tuning WoTLK instances to be run more quickly, and I do appreciate that; as far as 5-mans go, compare Utgarde Pinnacle with the length of time it took to complete the dungeon crawl through Maraudon. Not everyone has time for that. In my opinion, the fun in WoW doesn't really start until end-game, so if you are not experiencing it, why are you playing the game? It is that conclusion that may have made Blizzard change things a bit to prevent account cancellations.
I avoid PUGs most of the time, but when you go to one, quality control is paramount. In response to gear level/armory getting people into raids instances, all I can really say for the PUGs is "Bring the achievements, not the gear".
ResidentBio Jul 3rd 2009 2:30PM
What about when we, the new hardcores, try to join a progression guild, but we get trashed for not healing as much as the top guys just because i don't have 4t8s. And what are my chances of getting the tokens when my dkp is really low compared to the top raiders. Do they play a lot better than me? no.. do i deserve the "heal better or i'll change you" no. I'm trying as hard as them, but they simply outgear me.
This will be a nice option for me to get the tiers and for my mage alt so he doesn't have to run naxx as much as my druid did(and im fine with this since this is my main)
And no, my dkp is not low because i don't play like hardcore, i had to change guild because my last one was really casual, and i wanted 25man gear.
Proud2bawesome Jul 3rd 2009 2:37PM
am I the only serious raider that realizes that badge gear is in fact inferior to raid gear? a bade reward is just that. a rewrd, a true drop is something eipc. badge gear is meant to fill in the slots, not a omgz upgradez mai purpz pl0x. the real gear is dropped off in the raid, not by farming heroics so you can gt a sub par raid item... it's the player that makes the gear. gear has never made a player.
noelkytty Jul 3rd 2009 3:03PM
This is often the case, but there are always exceptions to the rule. T7 is purchasable, and so is T8. Also, look at the case of 28 Emblems of Conquest that it takes to buy Belt of the Twilight Assassin. That is an excellent item. As things are right now those emblems are 25-man drops and it takes time to get them, however as we all know, that is going to change.
I also find flaw in your "player makes the gear" statement, as it does not always apply, either. Between having decent Lv80 blues and purples to being fully Naxx25 geared, using the same spec and rotation, my DPS more than doubled. If my guild had kicked me from the raid because my DPS was well below the others of my class, who were well geared, they would not see the huge damage increase that came over time with upgrades.
To be successful and really shine on the meters, some classes are extremely gear dependent, but in agreement with you, for that same level of success, all players are skill dependent.
RAEGLATEM Jul 3rd 2009 3:10PM
Thank you blizzard for finally giving me and my whole guild the final push to quit your game. Gone are the days where people knew you had accomplished something that required hours of dedication and great teamwork just by looking at your gear. Thank you so that every joe shmoe will now look identical to me. Thank you for tailoring your game in absolutely NO WAY to the (not even hardcore raider) but just the average raider. Thank you. Hours spent in Ulduar... all for nothing, seriously... I think Activision has gotten to your head...
Get ready for multiplatform bi-yearly releases for the game... thats the activision/blizzard way!
Andelorn Jul 3rd 2009 4:13PM
Good riddance. You will not be missed. By anyone. Not even by Blizzard.
Reality check: Do Badges of Conquest buy the FULL T8 set? No? And, exactly how many badges does it require to get one of the two pieces that badges give? A LOT. And there are other pieces which also require A LOT. Seriously, it'd take MONTHS of a 'lolcasual' just doing heroics to get anywhere near any T8-level gear, while any 'zomg hardcore' raider will be long since decked in full T9. How the hell don't people see that?
How the hell are you apparently intelligent enough to be coordinated enough with your guild to push content and be a so called hardcore raider, and yet still lack common sense and the ability to do basic maths?
Believe this: if EVERY hardcore raider suddenly quit the game, subscription numbers would be down about 2% at most. Nobody cares if you feel butthurt about something that allows new characters to get up to speed with those who've been raiding for a long time already. Do you know what it's like to get a character who's just newly 80 into raids, when non-casual raiding guilds are ONLY looking for people who already have all the raiding achievements? I'm just damn lucky that I happened to find a guild of people in a similar situation to raid with.
We are not noobs, we are not terribads, we all know the encounters well, but we do still have to start from the lowest rung to get the gear to move up. So get over yourself asshole.
Yakuko Jul 3rd 2009 5:49PM
They're not gone. They're called achievements. You can show off your shiny server first titles and protodrakes that none of these "casuals" will ever have. If the only joy you get out of this game is having better gear than the next guy, then I feel very sorry for you and perhaps it is best you leave because you obviously aren't enjoying the game. Go outside and find out what true accomplishment is.
And before you flame me for being a "lawlcasual", perhaps my your standards I am. I raid 12 hours a week, although I was in 3rd most progressed guild on my server in BC, and saw much of T6 before I quit the game for many months before the release of Wrath. I have no problems with casuals having access to better gear. And no, they don't get it for free. While farming heroics takes less skill, do you have any idea how many they'd have to farm to get full T8?
KT Jul 4th 2009 8:20PM
Ok. Bye! :)
Shoryu Jul 3rd 2009 3:18PM
lol all you people QQing about the"new" badge system, well guess what, it was like this in BC, and you feel you have a false sense of entitlement. its a game and you are whining about some numbers and purple color around a box.