Gnomeaggedon happened to
post something so interesting the other day that I thought it merited a bit more discussion. He actually posted it almost as an afterthought (I guess he's moving in RL -- good luck with that), but it's quite an idea just the same: "Make it all BoA," he says. Blizzard has added in some
more Bind-on-Account items, and most recently made it possible for
BoA items to go across factions. But Gnomeaggedon says it's time to stop messing around: mounts, emblems, tier and arena gear, currencies, vanity pets, reputation items, anything that would be useful across toons should be able to be traded freely between them. Why, he asks, should there be limits on which character you decide to play with?
And actually, while the possibilities there might make some players' heads spin (imagine how many badges you could earn on your geared-out pally for your newly 80 warlock), I think that Blizzard is probably headed that direction. They may not want to open the floodgates completely, but look at where we've come -- we just heard Frank Pearce say the other day that
faction changes are a direct result of Blizzard wanting to give players more choice of who to play with, so wouldn't it follow that we'd eventually get more choice about which characters we use? You have to think that we'll see more and more BoA items, so why not just skip to step ten and open it all up? What do you think?
Tags: bind-on-account, blizzard, boa, discussion, factions, floodgates, frank-pearce, game-discussion, gamer-discussion, gnomeaggedon, heads-spin, warlock, world-of-warcraft-discussion, world-of-warcraft-hot-topics, world-of-warcraft-topics, wow-discussion, wow-hot-topics, wow-issues, wow-topics
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Breakfast Topics, Making money
Dec 17th 2009 at 8:00AM 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
thermoman Dec 17th 2009 8:04AM
So free epiks for noobs isn't enough already???
Hollow Leviathan Dec 17th 2009 8:10AM
People will complain about anything - did you know respecs will *ruin* Diablo III !?
I sure wish I could send my 168,120 Badges of Justice to my lower level alts.
Eyhk Dec 17th 2009 10:55AM
I doubt Blizz will want everything to be BOA.
The BOA items are just for the purpose of getting your low-level up to 80 so you can play with your 80 friends, not for gearing them up. If you've ever randomed with a BOA geared player, you'll know their stats are absolutely dismal. They aren't for the end game, just for getting you up to level 80. After that it's up to you. Free BOA badge gear for alts would mean they would be pretty much skipping any instances under iLevel 245 or T9, which would not be in Blizzard's best interest.
And if it isn't easy enough already lol.
Just my opinion, take it for what it's worth.
Eyhk Dec 17th 2009 11:08AM
Then again BOA mounts and pets (maybe even reputation or achievements?) would definitely be a plus. The riding skill could still cost money, but grinding old world factions just for that wintersaber on my new rogue alt? Nightmare all over again.
Over the course of WoW, I played different characters at different stages.
Vanilla WoW, I played a paladin (yeah i know). My paladin has most of the faction reputations including exalted with Argent Dawn, Zandalar, Cenarion, and Brood of Nozdormu. In BC, i played a lock, and have all of the BC factions. Now in Wrath I play a druid and have all of the Wrath factions. I've actually done all rep grinds, just not all on one particular toon. It'd be nice to share.
Achievement wise, it should be an achievement to the player, not the toon. Especially for the noobs booting alts from pug ToC25 cause "OMG U DON HAV ACVHIEVMENT?" when they have Tribute to Insanity on their main.
Thijz Dec 17th 2009 3:22PM
People tend to forget that World of Warcraft is a game. Remember games like Super Mario? When you wanted something, like getting a top score on a certain level, you needed to try, fail and try again. When you get everything for free and you just need to gear up one character to get all you other character up and running as well, where does the 'game' aspect go?
Nagi Dec 18th 2009 12:30AM
@Eyhk - I can definitely agree with you on making mounts and vanity pets BoA. It's hard enough to get people to run Heroic Steamvaults at 80 for ONE Cenarion Hippogryph, and now I have to do it all over again for my second main on the opposite faction. And let's face it, default Horde flying mounts are kiiiiinda fugly (yay, pre-3.2 druid cat models with wings and the goofiest run animation ever!), so anything to help escape the humiliation of using that thing more than once in your WoW career is a major bonus. Also seconding making achievements BoA. As it is now, I feel the need to do EVERYTHING in the game on my main just so I can have all of my achievements in one place, which can get to be a little tiresome (especially with things like, say, PvP achievements, where being a squishy caster with nerfed-to-the-ground CC and hare-brained teammates just doesn't cut it).
As for BoA gear...for me, it really depends on the type of gear. I agree that badges should probably remain soulbound so that players aren't skipping a massive chunk of endgame, but I think reputation gear--the blues and purples players get from getting exalted with Wyrmrest Accord and the Argent Crusade and such--should be BoA. For many players, this is their starting gear to get them into Heroics, which makes it odd that by the time they're typically of the appropriate reputation to buy the stuff, it's outdated. Making it to where players can buy this "low-level endgame" gear on their main and send it to their alts would, theoretically, allow them to transition more easily to endgame as opposed to skip large stretches of it.
@Thijz - After having spent untold hours getting a main to top level and fully geared out, then having spent untold MORE hours getting one or more alts to 80 to where they're ready to get geared out (this amount of time likely eclipsing how long it takes to beat Super Mario Brothers several times over, by the way), allowing people to skip a few unsavory parts of that grind on their third or fourth trip through really isn't that bad. If anything, the ability to get a new character to endgame-caliber more quickly could be viewed as a reflection on, or even a reward for, all the previous hard-fought hours of progression. Think of it like the infinite ammo bandanna or stealth suit you got from beating Metal Gear Solid to make future playthroughs easier, or the infinite-ammo rocket launcher you got from beating Resident Evil to make future playthroughs easier. It's like that.
Lylo Dec 17th 2009 8:05AM
"Rolling on this ilvl 264 caster weapon for my lvl 41 priest for when she dings 80"
Ozzard Dec 17th 2009 8:19AM
This.
Emblems, yes please. Bought gear, yes please. Loot drops, no thanks - and that's despite me having a woefully undergeared 80 shammy alt and crying inside whenever I see shammy gear get sharded when I'm playing on my main.
Hal Dec 17th 2009 8:37AM
And it's for that reason that gear drops will never be BoA. There's just too much room for abuse with people rolling for gear that their current character can't use.
Aedilhild Dec 17th 2009 9:03AM
And I would argue that LFG's usage restrictions on "Need" show that Blizzard isn't interested in BoA drops.
Nor does making reputation faction enchantments Bind-on-Account signal a significant change in Blizzard's attitude; rather, it heralds the end of an expansion.
Phil Dec 17th 2009 9:12AM
While I am not sure I want loot drops to be BoA (I like the idea of badges and things of the like though) one method for this is when you hit "Need" then item becomes non BoA but if you hit greed it is BoA. Honestly id make it so when you master loot it makes every non-BoA as well to discourage the Ninja's
Zhangrief Dec 17th 2009 4:57PM
"Hold on there, let me need on that hilt real quick."
"Dude, you have the weapon already."
"Sure, I have the weapon but my alts don't..."
/facepalm
Bronwyn Dec 17th 2009 12:20PM
@Zhang-
Can't say I'm not tempted. ;-)
Abbadon Dec 17th 2009 1:05PM
@zhangrief
Absolutely!
If in a total pug, everyone has an equal right to roll. Even if not in a pug, technically, everyone pays their $15/month and is entitled to roll. But then there is a level of common courtesy and how far players are willing to extend it will vary.
Again, if in a total pug, we owe each other nothing other than to do our respective jobs and complete the dungeon successfully, and you bet I'll roll for a 3rd hilt! (won one and bought a 2nd off the AH - speaking of which is another argument.. besides this is for my alt, someone could say, I bought it from the AH and I'm rolling with hopes to recoup my loss)
If grouped with guildies and pug members, I'd roll and give it to one of the guildies if I won.
If grouped with all guild members, I'd just pass and let them roll it out.
Jorges Dec 17th 2009 2:00PM
A lot of things should be BoA: all the vanity stuff, mounts, enchants, maybe recipes. But things that imply character progression shouldn't, like top rank emblems (lower rank emblems could be ok) and definetly dungeon/raid epic loot.
With a little bit of balance, it can be perfectly done.
Felix_NZ Dec 17th 2009 4:32PM
Recipes! yes! I've almost grinded all the Wrath reps on my main, which is a Miner/Smithy, so he gets nothing in the way of recipe rewards, if only he could buy up the Recipes as well as the head/shoulder enchants for my JC & Engy alts, it would be swell
Zhangrief Dec 17th 2009 5:06PM
@Abbadon I think the term you are looking for is "Need before Greed".
Blizz made it the rule of the road for PUGs and I am stoked that the hilt weapons are all unique equip.
Zandrae Dec 19th 2009 5:00PM
How about: Yes, allowing someone to transform a new item into something that can be sent to another alt at a cost that makes people think twice. Something like 40 badges plus X gold per iLevel and once the item is equipped on a new character it reverts back to being soulbound.
It might suck in a pug raid, but we're already sharding crap in Icecrown, I'd rather have stuff sent off than have another abyss.
Vahan Dec 17th 2009 8:07AM
That would be awesome. I have so many unused conquest badges on my main. Would be nice to see them get used....
Picviewer Dec 17th 2009 8:18AM
Buy gems with the tokens?