1) PvP activity is currently extremely low/non existent on TW
2) People hate getting "farmed" by higher geared players
3) People that like to PvP can't because not enough people join
What should be done:
1) OP PvE gear (ilvl 271/277/284) that is better than PvP gear should be restricted (NOT DELETED) for PvP.
Why should it be done:
1) Lower the "barrier of entry" to PvP for new and veteran players alike.
2) Make it fair for everyone that wants to participate in PvP on TW.
How it should be done:
we can have a constant meta change where the max is either:
1) S8 gear without the OP stuff (so ilvl270 max on main pieces and ilvl264 on offpieces)
2) S7 gear without the OP stuff (max ilvl 251)
3) S6 gear
and if the server population recovers:
4) S8 gear with some OP stuff (max rs25nm?)
5) S7 gear with some OP stuff (max tocr25 hc?)
6) No restrictions (right now and definitely not recommended unless we miracously get a huge influx of new players on the server)
etc
Why is it a good idea (to the management)
1) Potential increase in PvP activity since more people would be willing to participate if it is actually fun.
2) New selling point (Most WOTLK servers are full of donor SM players)
3) Gear restriction is a lesser custom option than adding custom items for PvP balancing issues.
4) We (the playerbase) should trial this option for at least one PvP season and if the playerbase overhwhelmingly doesn't like it, it could be scrapped.
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My ideal scenario for now is:
1) Allow all PvP gear (ilvl270) including tier2 S8 weapons(ilvl277) (because PvP gear should always be the best for PvP),
2) ilvl 264 offparts
3) and maybe allow ICC rep ring (because most/all players have easy access to it).
Why?
4) S8 shoulders and Tier2 weapons should act as an incentive for players to participate in arenas.
5) ilvl 264 PvEoffparts are relatively easy to access (Wodin's, ICC BoEs, etc) and are on par with PvP offparts
6) i) trinkets should be restricted to max ilvl264 (DBW nm, WFS hc, Bauble nm, PoTN nm, DFO nm) to allow niche specs/classes to be viable (Prot warrior, sub rogue,etc),
ii) no tocr25hc trinkets (because Solace/dc stacking is too strong and even Solace Hc on its own is overtuned for PvP and hard to acesss, especially frost mages). Purified Lunar dust (60 EoF) is somewhat on par with Solace nm.
iii) no RS25 trinkets (ilvl 271/284) should be restricted outright because human trinket stacking (WFS/STS or DBW/STS or DFO/PoTL/CTS) is a bit too much. Also, DFOnm and DBWnm are not as reliable as STS/CTS)
PS:
I promise not shut down any disagreements in this thread until at least 1 page of comments has been reached.
PPS: If accepted, I wouldn't mind "helping out" in the implementation of gear restriction (play testing/coding/etc) but I would need guidance and advice.