I refuse to grind any of this, because as we saw in Legion they put in so many catch-up mechanics it made all that time spent grinding 100% wasted. I honestly don't care if my neck piece is ever "maxed out" as it will simply get tossed into the trash can in 12 months anyway. I will not reward these devs for such dumb game design, and frankly it doesn't even impact my characters hardly at all.
This feels short-sighted. Catch up will be the same, but it means you're basically hard-gated at a particular level until each week's AK. It's the same of you're behind, but it's significantly more grinding if you're trying to stay ahead with only two sources getting a small increase and all others staying the same.
I just read the 8.2 Patch notes. It should be noted that while they did increase the amount of AP needed, Blizz also increased the amount of AP you can get from most sources on top of the Island and Emissary stuff. AP gained from PvP was doubled accross the board, and end of M+ chests also received substantial increases. The only thing that most likely hasnt been changed are the AP rewards you get from individual WQ. This change actually isnt that bad in the long run. We will still gain neck levels faster than before. I just wish they'd also increase AP rewards from WQ
If only there was something every week that made each level significantly easier to get, a sort of catch up mechanic built into the system that implied your character was wiser and more efficient in how to gather this artifact power so it required less to level with this system in place. Ah well, one can dream.
1) AK is not fun or rewarding2) It feels like a grind (Yes all of wow is a 'grind' if you want to be technical, but not all feels like it)3) I barely want to rep grind on more than 1 alt, let alone a system I never felt rewarded by
Look... if you don't want people unlocking anything beyond the initial Major Essence slot before AK kicks in... how about you just not uncap the Heart of Azeroth until Season 3 starts?For pete's sake, the 1st Major Essence slot unlocks at 35 ( which the intro quest boost everyone to) the second unlock isn't an essence slot and comes at level 53 amounting to a minor +% to stamina. I can't express how much I hate how the AP system has worked so far this expansion with traits and armor. It's only purpose pre-8.2 was to gate players from things. There were a frustrating amount of level ups with 0 unlocks, or "unlocks" that were simply you regaining something you already head. Like the ability to choose traits from Ring 2. Post 8.2 it seems the only purpose, still, is to gate players from things!Opposed to the Legion system, it certainly doesn't feel like I'm unlocking, being rewarded, or progressing for the levels I earn as I play in the BFA system but rather waiting until they tell me I can have access to the stuff. The unlocks being moved to the neck was a return to the older, better, Legion system. (Even if we only get 3 unlocks spaced way too far apart 35, 55, 65) But unlike the Legion system players aren't free to grind out levels and not every level has a reward. Some just empty and blank. Levels in BFA are impossibly large and progress isn't treated as absolute but relative. As far as the system is concerned it only cares about the levels, or portions of levels, you haven't yet earned. In BFA you could dump 30k AP into the system week 1 and you wouldn't make level 51. You could continue to dump 30k AP worth of stuff into it for the preceding 6 weeks and end up barely level 55. Meanwhile someone who joins at week 7 would only need to dump in a total of 35k to be level 53 and just a single unlock behind you.Considering tokens have a static value during this whole process that translates to a player, coming in the back way, only needing to do 1/7th of the activities you did over the past month and a half. The system controls your progress, it's almost completely out of players hands. And unlike the Legion system, every level doesn't come with a reward. The difference between level 51 and 54 is a minor +% to stamina.