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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: Are legendaries good for the game?
by Allison Robert 
Dec 7th 2009 at 8:00AM
A good point is brought up by Amiyuy in the thread -- the process of creating a legendary, or having to keep farming for an extremely uncommon drop, tends to wear people out. A healer on track to build a Val'anyr can't reasonably expect to take any time off for fear of missing one of the inconsistent shards, and my guildmates and I continued to farm Black Temple well past the point that anyone was getting even offspec gear upgrades because we just couldn't get a main-hand Glaive. With another legendary coming out in Icecrown Citadel, guild leaders are facing the headache of figuring out who'll get it, and we've already fielded questions on our tip line on which class gets the most from Shadowmourne and whether Blizzard could have nixed the stamina on it to discourage death knight tanks from picking it up (!).
So readers, I ask you -- are legendaries good for the game? If your guild was on a position to get one, did they ultimately help or hurt you more? And is the painful process of getting a Legendary the real source of the trouble, and not the item itself?
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics, Raiding
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
gizmo42742 Dec 7th 2009 8:44AM
When the first shard of the Ulduar Legendary dropped all the healzors rolled in my guild and I won. I no whave 15 pieces and we're not planning a Yogg+0 run any time soon. Me thinks I'll get the hammer post Cataclysm.
Wowinsider Dec 7th 2009 9:37AM
You only need Yogg+3. Researched it much, did you?
Valt Dec 7th 2009 8:48AM
Dont know, dont care until we get proper caster legendary thats actually obtainable and for "mages, warlocks, druids, priests". Not very intrested seeing melee legendaries since vanilla with 1 staff that got removed.
But ofc its impressive to see someone with legendary, unless its warglaives.
Wolftech Dec 7th 2009 9:28AM
Well, just mages at any rate :)
Dolan Dec 7th 2009 2:05PM
I believe you missed shamans off that list for caster dps who want a legendary ;)
Tooay Dec 7th 2009 8:50AM
The legendary item type should be for items that are of a particular importance to the World of Warcraft, through their story, their past, their creation. Not for items that are crazily complicated to obtain. Make it something that takes time and involvement to get without being dependent on drop rates. There's ways of making things hard to obtain without forcing you to have perfect attendance with your guild.
Candina@WH Dec 7th 2009 8:52AM
Legendaries now, Epics in Vanilla...
If an insignificant part of the game causes you stress, anxiety, anger, frustration, etc. It is no longer a game. You probably need to re-evaluate why you are playing.
Legendary items are WoWs chalice. The item which the 'faithful' quest (in Arthurian terms) for. To be sought, rarely to be obtained.
and after Cataclysm drops, it will just gather dust in your bank as a memory of your achievement.
So, first of all. Relax about it.
Secondly, if WoW is going to make Legendaries... well, Legendary. They should adopt a more 'heirloom' mentality with the item. The item should be *ALMOST* best in slot for whatever level the user happens to be. Imagine assembling your legendary healing mace, having Cataclysm drop, and the feeling of having to replace this legendary piece with a Cataclysm quest reward.... It would make me sick.
Haden Dec 7th 2009 8:54AM
i got Warglaive last night so damn happy :)
Ethan Dec 7th 2009 8:56AM
The lack of hit or expertise is enough to make pretty much every DK tank run screaming from Shadowmourne.
Wowinsider Dec 7th 2009 9:41AM
Just like that made every DK tank run from the Dual Blade Butcher? Oh... wait.
You don't know what you're talking about. Expertise and hit certainly make some DPS weapons more attractive to DK tanks but it's not the end all.
Kia Dec 7th 2009 8:59AM
I don't mind legendaries being in the game, but I do think the acquisition process is really limiting--more so than it needs to be. I'm all for making them just as much of a challenge to get as they already are, or at least very difficult, but I absolutely loathe that you're pretty much SOL without a 25-man guild.
Some of us are perfectly dedicated and skilled players that just can't get into a guild that manages 25-mans... Size, no recruitment in larger guilds, etc. It's extremely frustrating to be someone that plays, hell, probably even more than some of these people going after legendaries and being screwed out of a chance merely due to circumstance.
c_tedeschi Dec 7th 2009 9:07AM
I think they'd be good for the game if they were based on a questline that was based more on tedious, hard-work than on drop rates and thus more people had access to them.
It's one more thing that, as a sometimes hard-core, sometimes casual player, finds inaccessible and makes me want to run off and make a soloable p-server just to access it. (doesn't mean I will, but certainly feels like I want to)
Dart Dec 7th 2009 9:08AM
They break Arena, nothanx.
Colin Dec 7th 2009 10:27AM
It's cool, arena breaks everything else.
Ratskinmahoney Dec 7th 2009 9:11AM
Legendaries might work better if the stats were nerfed to below the level of top-tier weapons, but offered some kind of raid-wide buff. Not sure exactly what, but something balanced so as to provide advantage to everyone in the raid. That way, other than the joy of actually owning the thing, there's no reason to get too fussed about who gets it, it actually disadvantages the carrier themselves in comparison to their raid buddies.
deweymaverick Dec 7th 2009 9:37AM
This, sir or madam, is a great idea.
The idea that people rally behind the legendary sword or that inspires others to greater action, is an amazing idea.
Even if it didn't have a passive buff (that was always active) it could have a use effect on cool down, where the bearer "reveals" it to the raid or whatever.
They should do this, asap.
Mau Dec 7th 2009 9:39AM
Yes and no, getting one in a guild is a effort that joins it together (or creates drama)
As a casual, I'll BARELY be able to see someone else equipping one...
IMHO, Legendarys should be like Heirlooms: get stronger as the game progresses. A player with a Warglaive of Azzinoth would probably use it through patches 2.1 and 2.2; at 2.3 a new drop would probably replace it, and then at 3.0 it would be used again while leveling, until the player reached Naxx, then it would've been replaced with something until 4.0 comes out.
jtrack3d Dec 7th 2009 9:28AM
Loot has always been one of those things I can't completely get in WoW from my old NWN days. There are so many little things that this game does to pit players against each other and cause hard feelings rather than to build synergy. I am hoping the "guild system" of Cataclysm will help here.
What I'd rather see other than just... you got lucky and rolled higher than joe blow... would be a reward system built on effort. The person that makes the most effort at working as a team, providing the most help to others and the raid. As it is, you get too many people looking to be top of the dps chart or kicking people for a gearscore or whatever gooberness you can that says I am l33t and you suck mentality.
These people aren't special and deserve no legendary anything except for some new option to be tagged as jerks.
So, yes, legendaries cause more problems than they solve.
Imnick Dec 7th 2009 12:37PM
It's all very well saying "I want a reward system based on effort" but you didn't actually give us any idea of how that could be done.
Any system based on how much "effort and cooperation" someone gives will have to be based on reviews from other players and that would just cause MORE drama an abuse than the current roll system.
serf Dec 7th 2009 9:48AM
It's not the legendary that's causing drama in your guild. It's the selfishness of the members.