Raiding is pointless right now.

[Svpernova09]

Same exact thing was said pre Wrath, Pre BC, nothing new here. As blues have said, MMOs are a changing world>

Moral of the story: Do what you find fun.

[kadaan]

According to a friend who heard it from a friend who ( i know, that sounds like a song) is a Bliz Dev, the goal for gear is like this .Anything under item level 251 will get replaced by 85 with a mix of greens and blues from quests/drops. 251 raiding gear will have most pieces replaced by quest blues and blues dropped, but not all replaced. 264 might have an item or two replaced. 277+ will not get replaced until T11.

I guess we will have to see. 8)

There are already many leaked screenshots of the loot. When I said 277 epics will be replaced by entry level cata blue items, I wasn't just guessing .

[MiRai]

There are already many leaked screenshots of the loot. When I said 277 epics will be replaced by entry level cata blue items, I wasn't just guessing .

I saw those leaked screen shots too. Then the new beta build came out the other day and a lot of those items have changed because they're still tweaking everything. I won't deny that they want a full gear wipe going into Cataclysm, though.

But really...
...what's the big surprise to everyone else?

[Ualaa]

One of the strengths of World of Warcraft, compared to the previous king - Everquest, is the gear reset with each expansion.

I remember playing EQ, and in expansion three, some of the best in slot pieces were from classic content - maybe a piece per toon. Maybe 35-50% of your gear, would be best in slot from expansion two, with the other half of the gear upgraded in expansion three. The level of upgrades to gear was much more gradual. A player new to the game... well fresh to maximum level let's say, would probably need to raid for a year and a half with a given guild to catch them on gear (this with expansions every 6-9 months).

Warcraft essentially says, everything before now (current expansion content) is meaningless, except for tactics in encounters - things like, this fight is just like abc except for def. You can start the game sometime in Cataclysm, reach 85th within a few months, and basically be on equal footing a player who in WotLK was in the top guild in the game, or close enough anyway.

The gear reset is good for the casual player.

[Littleburst]

One of the strengths of World of Warcraft, compared to the previous king - Everquest, is the gear reset with each expansion.

I remember playing EQ, and in expansion three, some of the best in slot pieces were from classic content - maybe a piece per toon. Maybe 35-50% of your gear, would be best in slot from expansion two, with the other half of the gear upgraded in expansion three. The level of upgrades to gear was much more gradual. A player new to the game... well fresh to maximum level let's say, would probably need to raid for a year and a half with a given guild to catch them on gear (this with expansions every 6-9 months).

Warcraft essentially says, everything before now (current expansion content) is meaningless, except for tactics in encounters - things like, this fight is just like abc except for def. You can start the game sometime in Cataclysm, reach 85th within a few months, and basically be on equal footing a player who in WotLK was in the top guild in the game, or close enough anyway.

The gear reset is good for the casual player.

Indeed, now only give us a way to close the massive gap called 'leveling toons' >.>

I really hope there's gonna a permenant raf or so, just something to make the horrible grind a faster. (especially for players who's done the grind several times.)

[alcattle]

I doubt it. Blizz was heavily critised for the Wrath launch that there werent enough upgrades while levelling.

I think we will see something in between BC (too fast) and Wrath (to slow) this time around.

and the baby bear cata is just right. (sorry)

[OzPhoenix]

Indeed, now only give us a way to close the massive gap called 'leveling toons' >.>

I really hope there's gonna a permenant raf or so, just something to make the horrible grind a faster. (especially for players who's done the grind several times.)

Yeah, I think that's far more important that a gear reset. For myself, my new team just hit 70 tonight, so I suspect I'll still be gearing up by the time Cata comes out - that's fine, I enjoy gearing up, even if I'm going to toss it right out for the very first Cata-green drop I might get.

The bigger issue is leveling. If leveling in Cata is anything like as tedious as it is in Northrend, then I can see an expiry date for me and WoW since I could do that leveling grind just once more - and that covers my primary team only, leaving no options for alternate teams.

Hint to Blizzard: Stop making collection quests single player drop. MMO's shouldn't discourage group leveling.

[Myc]

MMO's shouldn't discourage group leveling.

lets hope this guild leveling will do something right.

[SaraiE]

For newbies like me, should I spend my time lvling my alts instead of geared up? Or lvl all the profession skills up?

First team is at 77, so I am not sure when Cata is going to be released.

Curious...

SaraiE

[Ualaa]

I would get the first team to 80th.
And do Wintergrasp and Heroics, with a goal of PvP +10% EXP Shoulders and PvE +10% EXP Chest.
Chances are, the best way to do this will be to solo run your tank through the dungeon finder on a weekend.
And then run your team, with the semi-geared tank, taking 9.1 tier upgrades, along with iLV 200 drops.
And then once you can run a bunch of heroics, do the badge BoA gear.

I went with Cloth - caster stats & Leader - melee stats.
But really, you could get by with Cloth shoulders and Cloth chest, for all toons.
The 20% experience reduction, greatly helps other teams in leveling.
It is two fewer levels of collections in Northrend.
It is dinging 68th in late Terrokar or early Nagrand.

Also an 80th team, can do dailies for about 1k+ gold per day, in about an hour.
You can buy BoA Cold-Flying books, which will make Northrend much easier for later teams.
You can even mail BoA items across factions, to assist any of your teams.



I'd say Levels > All.
But certain BoA's will get the levels faster.

Professions are gold, which is quite nice.
You might prioritize toons to 68th, then professions for passive gold generation.
And then once they're all 68th, gradually work them up towards 80th, playing whichever set has rested.
I'm pretty much doing that now - 3 of 7 sets are 80th, 5 are between 68th and 75th.