Entries in wear and tear (1)
Wishful Thinking: Repair Bill Reduction
The bloggers of ProjectLore may be critical of World of Warcraft from time to time, but we do it with a purpose. The main reason behind our critiquing of WoW is to help our readers envision the way we see the game, and what we think is best for it. Being paying supporters we, and you, are entitled to our opinions and aspirations. It would be an added bonus if some of the topics we discussed ever did reach the designers at Blizzard, but we can't honestly expect them to keep track of everything. This is one of those things that I wish would reach them, as I believe we could all agree that it would be beneficial to all kinds of players. Repair bills sucks. It is a safe assumption that we all hate paying them, no matter how much sense they makes. They are included in WoW - and many other MMORPGs - as a consistent and easy way to pull money out of the hands of players. The fee is essentially a tax, if you are fighting monsters, then you must pay. I have no issues in paying for consequential repairs to my gear, as stated, it only makes sense that they experience wear and tear. But there is always a fabric, material or even brand that is known for its durability. Take cast iron or stainless steal kitchenware, those things take a beating. Mine go from boiling temperatures to chilling waters without more than a hiss. Yet they keep on performing. Why can't we have something like that in WoW, a material revered for its long-lasting durability? Perhaps we could learn to be a craftsmen so skilled, that our weapon and armor can survive the harshest conditions? There are two intuitive ways to achieve this goal. The first would be to follow the lead of the Jewelcrafting profession and allow a max level crafter a chance at creating a more durable item. Should the random number generator fall in their favor, then the item would be imbued with all the craftsmen skill, giving it a slower rate of decay. This implementation would be great, but requires special durability cases for these items at best, or a re-design of the entire system at worst. A more likely and more beneficial solution would be a salve or potion that lowers all incoming wear and tear. The item would cover all of our armor in a protective shield, saving us money on each piece, rather than a designated few. Our second option removes the need for special cases, although a re-design of the durability system remains a possibility. Let me be clear, I do not mean a high max durability, I mean for the items to not take damage at the same rate as our current gear. The reduction of our repair bills would be minute if the proc on crafting was selected. A salve or potion would be of far greater use. Just think about all those early training runs in raids, difficult heroics, and of course, shady PUGs that they would be applicable for. In the end, you would be saving tons of gold, making the creation and use of the items quite beneficial. Not to mention profitable for any profession that was able to craft it. The only adverse effects I foresee would be skyrocketing prices for the the needed materials and a shift in the weight of professions. Neither of these concerns seem to worry Blizzard that much as evidenced by The Burning Crusade's Leatherworking crafted War Drums. Heck, now that I think about it, if they are going to implement one of them, they might as well just do both. It would help even out the profession changes. What do you guys think? Do you like money?