Friday, June 23, 2017

Lament of a Non-PVPer - Brainstorming Ideas For More Accessible PVP Pets

Lately I've been diligently completing the PVP tower WQs on my main (alliance) and an alt (horde). But this hasn't always been the case -- I admit that up until this point, I haven't been keeping up with the PVP WQs. Like at all. And I fully recognize that it's because of my own laziness and aversion to anything PVP-related that I'm so behind on Prestige ranks (barely halfway to Prestige 2 on my alliance, and a little further on my horde).

I also realize that it's kind of silly to be so against Honor grinding this expansion when PVP tower WQs are available. They're more PVE than PVP. BUT! I must mention that I HAVE had someone of the opposite faction try to kill me at one of the PVP towers. Luckily I was on my Druid so it was fairly easy to run away. I couldn't go back to finish that WQ for a few hours though, for fear of being drawn into actual PVP again. And the free-for-all WQs? I don't even try.


Alliance Enthusiast - reward from Prestige rank 1

Anyway, all of this has made me realize how demoralizing this grind is. The desired end goal of this grind (Prestige 7 for the Dutiful Squire and Dutiful Gruntling) seems SO very far away for a non-PVPer that's lagging behind.

The end of Legion is probably still a ways off, but there's still some anxiety/panic for me when it comes to these PVP pets. So far, developers have offered up zero information on whether or not the current Prestige rewards will be available after this expansion ends and the next expansion begins.

Expansion-exclusive rewards would mean there's only so much time left to grind your face off to reach desired ranks. Added pressure of a deadline makes it even less enjoyable, especially for someone like me who didn't like this task to begin with.

What could developers do to make the PVP pets more accessible as we get later and later into Legion? Or even possibly after Legion? I took to Twitter and brainstormed a little with a couple of others!

  • Reduce amount of Honor required for each Prestige rank
    I believe they did this for Prestige 1, but the others were increased. To make it take less time before the expansion ends, I think reducing the Honor required to reach each rank would help a lot.
  • Change requirements for PVP pets completely (not Legion-Prestige related) and make them available on a vendor
    Currently the pets are tied to Prestige 1 and 7, but what if the requirements were changed? Maybe complete a new quest? Or new achievement? And then you're allowed to purchase the pets off a vendor.
  • Make the pets cageable (I'm not a fan of this one in this specific situation)
    The reason why I'm not a fan of these pets being cageable is because developers seem to WANT them to be exclusive, and WANT us to participate in a specific activity to earn them. Cageable would go against that design philosophy.
  • Increase Honor gain (suggested by @noeldillabough)
    Increased Honor earned from simple PVP-related tasks would help a bunch. Coupled with lowered required Honor to reach each rank, would make the race to collect these pets before the end of the expansion less stressful.
  • Purchasable for Marks of Honor (and possibly a next expac-Prestige rank requirement? preferably reasonably low rank :P) (suggested by @liopleurodonic)
    This one seems most likely to happen -- remove the Legion-Prestige rewards, but you can still collect them by reaching X Prestige in the next expansion, and if you have enough Marks of Honor you can buy them using that currency. My concern is whether or not Marks of Honor will be reasonably collectible by non-PVPers like myself, and IF they attach a Prestige requirement to this, whether or not there will be a more "PVE" option to earn Honor like the PVP towers in Legion.

Those are just a few ideas on what could be implemented as either a catch-up mechanic or new method of collecting these pets. I'm sure there are many other good ideas out there. Who knows? Maybe developers already have something in store for us in the future.

Bottom line for me -- This grind is very discouraging and I sincerely hope there's a plan going forward to help PVP noobs like me, and to make sure the rewards are more accessible late in the expansion.

I'm doing the PVP tower WQs daily on two characters, not even Prestige rank 2 on either toon yet, and the end seems so far away. Add to that I Just. Don't. Know. How much time I have left to reach Prestige rank 7 before the end of the expansion and possibly the removal of the Prestige rewards.

If there's no time limit and the rewards will be available indefinitely, great! It won't be as nerve-wracking of a grind and maybe a catch-up mechanic won't be necessary.

But without having confirmation of one way or another....talk about a stressful endeavor. =\

Edit: Thanks to @Evolyn_Warcraft, here's a handy chart breaking down Honor earned and how much it will take to reach Prestige 7.

According to this, at the current rate I'm going (3 PVP towers a day which equals to 1035 Honor/day - using a Guild Battle Standard) it will take me approximately 339 days to reach Prestige 7, minus 1.5 Prestige ranks and give or take a few days.

That's almost an entire year.

If (and that's a big 'if' since there's no official word) these Prestige rewards are going away at the end of Legion and there are no catch-up mechanics or changes.... then I hope this expansion has more than a year left to go. T_T

6 comments:

  1. I would love to have an answer about how long we have to do these. I am in the same situation with only a bit of progress towards Prestige 2. I made a post a few days ago asking if this was even possible to do by the end of Legion and then removed it because no one has an answer.

    I like the idea of buying them with Honor points going forward. Without some input from the developers I can't force myself to grind away at this.I think for one of the first times I moved these current in-game pets to my excluded list along with Collector editions and pets not available in our country. I find myself coming to terms with the idea that I won't collect some of these pets.

    In a way it has been a relief. I find I'm enjoying my main again. I might have regrets later but so be it.

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  2. One correction; they did decrease honor per prestige; I'm not sure how much lower but the last few levels are now 1000 each instead of 1200...I noticed it right away when grinding. Of course I want more! :)

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  3. Well I just couldn't do it! Those pets are back on my wanted list. I am forcing myself to pvp in BGs and the current brawl. For the most part it is humiliating but I just grit my teeth and do it. I have also found some of the daily quest that offer 500 honor are easy to do so if you don't have the instant quest perk from the class hall give them a try. I'm surprised at how much honor I've stacked up since my first post here. If I can do it anyone can cause I'm bad at most aspects of the game. Oh and hope for a really good group to carry you a bit!

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  4. I have the two Alliance pets and one of the Horde.
    Am slowly working towards the last of the 4.
    It is a major grind. It takes months unless you are a PVPer and LOVE arenas, battlegrounds, and brawls. Those are the honor goldmines, literally.
    I have an Outlaw Rogue so she has done duty to obtain the Rogue pets and the Horde PVP pets.
    Don't be afraid to die. I had to get over it and just keep trying my best. This is especially true in battlegrounds and brawls. Yes, other players will often be rude but so what?
    This game is built around war and death. And, we all come back to life.
    I suck at raiding/fighting. Period. But, grinding I can do. What all of these outrageous requirements for new Class Hall pets has taught me is to fling myself into the new and different.
    Never give up, never surrender.

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    1. I agree! Don't be afraid to die. Ignore the rude comments. After doing these for a few days they get a bit easier and I just go for it. After I get these pets unless Blizz does something to force it I won't be doing pvp. Maybe I shouldn't say for sure. By then I should have improved a lot! lol

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  5. I'm slowly working my way to 7. My main worry is if they put in another pet as a reward at say level 20!

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