Summary
World of Warcraftis a game that has evolved numerous times, making many of its features feel redundant or inefficient, and its players now believe that the time has come to give Heirlooms a major overhaul. AsWorld of WarcraftapproachesThe War Within, it leaves behind an expansion that will be remembered for focusing on the core strengths of the game. UnlikeShadowlandsandBattle for Azeroth,Dragonflightdid away with temporary systems and borrowed power. It brought back a more complex talent system and introduced flashy evergreen features such as Dragonriding.
While the developers have proven to be more receptive to player feedback inDragonflight, the upcomingWorld of Warcraftexpansion will continue the same philosophy: an emphasis on evergreen features, and embracing the aspects of the game that players enjoy.The War Withinis set to introduce Warbands, a system that will make farming item appearances from old raids far more convenient. Furthermore, new reputations will be shared across a player’sWorld of Warcraftaccount, which used to be a highly requested feature ever since Blizzard started toying with concepts such as shared Achievements, Mounts, and Heirlooms.
When they were initially introduced, Heirlooms granted players an experience boost on top of dynamic stats, making theleveling process inWorld of Warcraftsignificantly easier. Players could buy these items via their main character, and then share them across alts, as subsequent expansions kept adding more variety, upgrades, and quality-of-life features to the Heirloom system. However, withShadowlandsremoving the experience bonus, Heirlooms have lost their main appeal, and players such as Schfaffendudel argue that the total gold cost of fully upgrading them is no longer worth it.
How The War Within Could Update Heirlooms in World of Warcraft
As is customary with anyWorld of Warcraftexpansion,The War Withinwill provide a new upgrade tier for heirlooms, allowing characters to take their gear all the way to the new level cap. Heirlooms used to be a clever gold sink for veteran players, but investing almost two million gold at a time when leveling inWorld of Warcrafthas been so thoroughly trivialized that it is understandably unappealing. An overhaul to Heirlooms inThe War Withinwould make sense, especially due to the expansion’s focus on its Warband feature.
There are two obvious directions for Blizzard to take when it comes to Heirlooms: either by significantly reducing the gold cost, or perhaps more elegantly, by reducing the amount of upgrade steps that Heirlooms have. The value of quick, convenient leveling has plummeted in modernWorld of Warcraft, and the gold sink of Heirlooms needs to adjust to this new reality. Though it remains to be seenwhat Blizzard will do inThe War Within, it’s certainly a proposal that merits consideration.
World of Warcraft
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World of Warcraft is an incredibly successful MMORPG that has been going strong for almost two decades. It’s one of the highest-grossing franchises in history and is widely considered the most popular MMORPG ever made.
