I have never seen as much QQ probably because I avoid the forums, as I can’t stand the QQ. People are saying the game is doomed, that subs will half, that they’ll quit, all because reputation is got by dailies now and not in dungeons. Is this a good or bad change? Well that rather depends on your point of view.
I have a certain opinion on this obviously and so it’s hard not to be biased towards my opinion. So this is going to be a bit of an exercise in creative thinking for me. Can I see it from the other perspective? Well I’m going to try.
It’s a bad change
This is what I see in the QQ. I think the arguments for it being bad are as follows:
– The reputation awarded per quest is very low, in other words not enough.
– It’s not grindable, there’s a fixed amount that you can get every day
– It takes too long, people don’t have enough time to do them
– It’s unfair to those that don’t like questing as it forces them to quest
It’s a good change
I was going to go through the arguments above but seeing as a couple are polar opposites of the good argument I’ll do this first.
– It takes a while to get to exalted
– It’s something to do other than run dungeons till your eyes bleed
– The rep quests award other things like charms and valor
– They have lots of fun achievements attached to them
Balancing good and bad
Right now lets have a look at these. On the good side we have it takes a long time to get to exalted, and on the bad side we have it takes a long time. Who’s right? Well I come down on the side that it’s good as it keeps people logging in and playing for longer. If people can finish content too quickly then they moan for more, and then unsub until they get it. Blizz is a business and they need people to play and pay for as long as possible. That’s why we get the great game that we do. While the game would be viable with half as many subs, it being an industry leader, and having more players, gives them a bigger budget which improves the content that they can give us.
Having reputation via a tabard meant that it was grindable. If you wanted to run dungeons all day, to get to exalted, you could. Now on one hand grindable is good, it means if you have more time, and put in the effort, then you can go further. I don’t think having it in dungeons though was very good, all that meant was that you had to run dungeons over and over with no other choice, as dungeons were the most optimum approach. As in one dungeon you would get the chance at drop gear, points for more gear and reputation, which would give you access to more gear. That’s a lot for one dungeon. These new dailies give you reputation, lesser charms and a small amount of valor. Dungeons give you drop gear and points, it’s a little more balanced now.
For the people that don’t like questing well I’m sorry for you. Questing to unlock things, to get reputation etc. has always been a part of the game. There are those that don’t like dungeons so much and prefer questing. Dungeons are still necessary in many ways, reputation doesn’t take away from their importance. Getting reputation as a by-product of something you were going to do anyway, is in my view a little lazy. Besides for raids you’ll need the elder charms for optimum play, you get those through questing. It’s a bit of a symbiotic relationship and so questing really is a benefit.
In regards to it taking too long I suppose this is because you’re not getting reputation, and running a dungeon at the same time. You have to do both separately which does take longer. For those with extremely limited play time you might have to alternate what you do, and make a choice as to which you do that day. I don’t see this as a bad thing, those with more time will always be at the front of the pack. There’s nothing wrong with being where you are though, that’s what you can do, and what you have time for. The quests themselves don’t actually take that long. You also don’t have to do all of them everyday. You could prioritise and do the factions that give gear first. It’s all about choices, you choose to work on reputations, run a dungeon, level a profession, gather mats etc. No-one, not even those who do practically nothing but play has time to do it all, all the time.
Any changes?
The only change I’d make is giving an option to grind. I wouldn’t attach it to a tabard, more like a repeatable quest turn in, like for Dread Shards for the Klaxxi faction. That way those with more time can grind it out if they feel like, or they can do the dailies every day and do it a little slower.
Conclusion
As is pretty obvious I like this change. I think it’s good for the game both in terms of a little gating, and because it adds diversity. It’s not dungeons or nothing anymore. Plus as they’re not hiding any mandatory enchants doing them on alts isn’t compulsory. I’m a big fan of Mists and the new daily quest model is part of that.
There are those that hate it but much like the cinematic asked why we fight? I’d ask you why you hate it? I’m sure there are lots of people with many legitimate reasons. However, maybe it’s pessimistic of me, but I wonder whether mostly it’s because people are lazy. They got used to being able to run dungeons and get everything with the push of a button. Dailies require effort, they require flying around and not relying on party members to carry you. I don’t have much faith in the general playerbase, which is likely a little mean, but am I wrong?