The Queue: Who are you and what are you doing here?

Really, I’m confused. We may have to do a roll call.

I have unlocked zero heritage armors. Collecting them just really does not interest me at all, particularly when (for Allied Races), I need to level a character from scratch to get them. That just sounds exhausting.

However, there are — or will be — two exceptions to this. I will obviously be getting the Gnome heritage armor because it looks amazing and also … I’m already a Gnome! No effort required!

The other exception is Blood Elf. That armor also looks great, and I have lots of fond memories of playing that character, which was my main from Burning Crusade to Cataclysm… just I haven’t had a chance to level her to to 120, and until I do, the armor remains out of my reach.

I applaud those of you who have been leveling everything… but dang, I just don’t have the energy or the enthusiasm.

I understand why you’re upset. Change is scary. We all fear it, even if we pretend not to. It’s okay to be afraid.

But you don’t need to be afraid for very long, because Mitch will be back tomorrow. You haven’t lost him: you’ve just time-shifted him.

The roll-the-dice loot system we have can be really frustrating, particularly when the RNG never seems to wind up in your favor. But at the same time, I still think raiding needs some kind of tangible reward beyond titles and transmog.

Part of the journey through a raid is the feeling that you’re growing more powerful as you go, and that’s all about getting loot. The bosses at the end of the raid are harder than the bosses at the beginning of a raid, and you can only defeat them by gearing up. Certainly, Blizzard could redesign how raids work to suit a PVP template style of play… but I think that would really cut into why we raid in the first place: the thrill of not only defeating bosses, but of growing more powerful as we do it.

I’ve been raiding heroics this expansion, and more than anything loot drives my enthusiasm… and it seems to drive my raid team’s, too. I’m pretty eager to go when I still have loot I’m looking to collect, but when I have everything I need, my attention really starts to wander. Raid attendance starts to drop. We have trouble beating bosses we used to beat just because no one’s quite bringing their A-game. I think this is even worse in BFA, because the complexity and difficulty of some of these bosses is incredibly high.

So how do you dial down the RNG while keeping loot a part of the experience? It’s a problem Blizzard has tried to address before with tokens that could be used by several different classes to get loot and with alternative currencies like Justice Points. I like the idea of a currency system you earn by doing content precisely because it does take the randomness out of things: you know that even if you don’t get a lucky drop, you’ll be able to buy a piece of gear (eventually).

The closest thing to that in the game is Titan Residuum, which lets you buy Azerite gear — but I’ve personally had trouble with this because the best way to get Residuum is running Mythic+ Dungeons… which I haven’t done at all this expansion. So there is some kind of system, it just isn’t doing anything for me.

Back to the question: I think a currency system on top of a loot system is the best answer here. It lets you enjoy the thrill of random loot (when you get it) while giving you a reliable way to earn gear if you aren’t so lucky. But Blizzard seems to have moved past the Justice Point (etc) idea, so I’m not sure what’s coming next.

Anna and Elsa would never fight and it’s terrible that you would even suggest it!

…but if they did (accidentally), I’m pretty sure Elsa’s got this one.

It varies. When I raid, I turn the music off (but leave other sound effects on) so I can focus in on important sounds… and the voices of my teammates. That’s pretty important, too. When I solo, I usually leave the game music on. When I’m doing something tedious and grindy, either the TV is on in the background or I’m playing whatever Apple Music is telling me I like this week. (Note: Apple Music is actually a fair predictor of my tastes. Except when it isn’t, of course.)

They used to be ridiculously high, but now they’re more ridiculously high. When they were first added to the PTR, they cost 50k gold. Now they’re 90k. So… I hope you have plenty of gold knocking around if you want to add to your mount collection.

Also: you look familiar somehow…

And that is all, my lovelies. To reassure your withered, worried hearts, Mitch will be back here tomorrow to answer your questions, so the week’s long nightmare is either almost over or just beginning.

Either way, have a great Wednesday.