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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsCataclysm: No plans to extend current heirlooms to 85
by Michael Sacco 
Aug 31st 2009 at 7:00PM
There's been quite a burst of blue posts on the official forums post-BlizzCon; some by World Event Designer Kisirani talking about lore and the post-Cataclysm world, some by Lead Systems Designer Ghostcrawler talking about new game systems coming with 4.0, and some by the Community Managers, providing slightly less meaty morsels of information. It's not all chaff from the CMs, though -- there's some wheat in there.
Bornakk, for example, stopped by a thread asking about how heirloom items will work post-80 in Cataclysm. He said that there are no plans to extend the experience bonus they give past level 80, though there may eventually be new heirlooms available to help bridge that gap. That's not surprising, really -- if they were extended, heirlooms would essentially be mandatory for the people racing to get to 85 first, and that's a situation Blizzard would like to avoid.
Interestingly, he also noted that it's "unlikely" that heirlooms won't work on Worgen or Goblin characters, which is admittedly a relief, seeing how I just bought a set of them for my Worgen Warrior. Battle Howl, anyone?
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From Goblins and Worgens to Mastery and Guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.Filed under: News items, Expansions, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Hyacinthe Sep 1st 2009 3:22AM
I like to experience the new content as it comes, so I'm not terribly bent out of shape over this news, but pointing out the level requirement on the item as a point for your argument about why they shouldn't work past 80 is kind of stupid. The level requirement has never served as a limiter before now, so why should people be expecting it to on the heirlooms? Of course they're going to be upset, like when the carrot on the stick quit working. I don't think it's as big an issue as people are making it out to be, but "entitled casuals" is a bit harsh.
LilBanshee Sep 1st 2009 8:28AM
"The level requirement has never served as a limiter before now"
That's not true, blizzard has in the past set "max levels" on items they want to phase out. Examples: mana/wizard oils, old-school overpowered engineering gadgets, everything that says "unreliable against targets over level X"
theRaptor Sep 1st 2009 11:18AM
What LilBanshee said. EVERY and I mean EVERY expansion Blizzard have level limited and phased out items. And I am sorry but the whining is from "entitled" people. And my argument wasn't that they shouldn't work because of the level limit, but they shouldn't be expected to work because of the level limit. It says right on the box "requires level 1 to 80" so it working from 1 to 80 is all we were ever promised. But people demand more because they feel entitled. This is far less worse than them nerfing the mount speed items (damn it earning that Netherwing whip should at least have got me Feat of Strength) because those had no level limit on them until near WotLK launch.
Really if you get a ticket that said "Good for unlimited free movies in 2009" would you whine when 2010 kicked around and your ticket was no good any more? Would you stamp your feet and demand something you were never promised?
Hell they have nerfed the procs on LEGENDARIES between expansions. So NOT extending heirlooms is absolutely what is to be expected. If they did extend them it would be a freebie, not something to be demanded.
Amaxe Sep 1st 2009 8:30AM
I think it makes sense for the items of today not to be usable for levels 81-85 in the expansion of 4.0. I'm sure Blizzard doesn't want people to stockpile items and burn through the content in a week.
These items were designed for alts to speed up leveling through content we've seen before, not for mains getting through content for the first time.
Tinious Sep 1st 2009 10:14AM
This all seems easily fixed, just like with Epic flying. Heirlooms work 1-80. Then allow level 85 characters to buy a scroll that allows heirlooms to work 80-85. That way everyone has to level the hard way once, and then can get bonus to level more easily after...
Just like epic flying....
micgillam Sep 1st 2009 10:26AM
...? I'm confused. There's a scroll that enables Epic Flying for people it wouldn't normally be available to?
And, isn't one of these a modification to a character's skills and the other a modification to an item's basic properties? I don't think there's a precedent for changing an item's level requirement (on the fly, and on an individual instance of an item) is there?
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micgillam Sep 1st 2009 10:31AM
Oh, you were talking about the Cold-Weather flying thing. Sorry, I should have picked up on that a little faster. It's still not a comparable precedent though.
Tinious Sep 1st 2009 3:47PM
Yeah, sorry -- I did mean cold weather flying, not epic flying. #fail. I would argue it is comparable except for the timing -- the cold weather flying scroll came 8 months after release of WOTLK, I suppose they could wait a few months after Cat...