Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
A second option was to gain reputation with a number of dif erent fac-
tions. Upon obtaining an exalted reputation, players often had the option
of buying epic loot. This process could take hours of killing the same mon-
sters or doing the same quests, but promised the guaranteed payof of a
particular item. As a fi nal option, players had access to a very small number
of epic items that could be crafted by the most accomplished masters of
various trade skills in the game.
Of ering fourteen ranks players could climb, from Private or Peon to Grand
Marshal or High Warlord, players gained ranks by killing players of the
opposing faction in ongoing battles between the Alliance and the Horde.
Bolstered by the release of Patch
1.5
two months later, which introduced the
Alterac Valley and Warsong Gulch battlegrounds, players had new ways to
gai n epics , g ri nd i ng h ig h enoug h on t he honor ladder to pu rchase epic items.
Each rank unlocked new items for purchase and, on obtaining the eleventh
rank, players could buy epic items. However, players needed to play as
many as eighty hours per week for months to receive the best rewards. This
system was changed eight months later with patch
2.0.1,
when the rankings
were scrapped and replaced by a system that allowed players to earn honor
points and tokens by participating in PvP. Players could then redeem those
points and tokens for gear of their choosing, with better equipment costing
was the debut of the “welfare epics” of which Tigole was so critical. Play-
ers did not need to win battles to get epics; they only needed to accumulate
enough honor and tokens to buy their desired rewards.
Also released in patch
2.0.1,
but not available for rewards until players
reached Level
70
in the subsequent expansion, arenas gave players a way
extended currency based honor by awarding arena points to each player
who played
30%
of their team's games and was on a team that played ten
or more games in the week. The number of points awarded is determined
by a formula that uses a team's rating and their division (two, three, or
fi ve players). Players get more points for succeeding in larger battles, but
anyone who plays the required amount gets some points to spend. Promis-
ing the best epics available through PvP, the arena system enabled play-
ers to fi nd just one friend and commit about an hour a week to complete
their ten matches. Arenas did add a portion of the social coordination
of raiding into the PvP system, as one cannot play in the arenas without
being part of a team. However, the smaller group size required and the
substantially lower time commitment make arena teams much easier to
coordinate than raiding guilds. Although rewards were in part based on
winning and losing battles, all players now had a way to get some of the
best equipment in the game.
Patch
2.0.1
marked a change in
WoW
's reward structures. No longer
