wow Upcoming Artifact Knowledge Research Hotfix

[Stan 5,022]

The amount of time needed to research Artifact Knowledge cap 40 will be significantly reduced in an upcoming hotfix.

If you're a returning player at Artifact Knowledge 25, don't forget to complete the Broken Shore scenario before doing anything else to unlock Artifact Knowledge Level 26, as this is a huge leap in Artifact Power gain.

In Patch 7.2.5, heirlooms scale up to Level 110. You can buy Weathered Heirloom Armor Casing for 5,000 Gold and Weathered Heirloom Scabbard for 7,500 Gold even though Artifacts are more powerful.

New toys allow to learn flightpaths and more information can be found here.

Blizzard (Source)

We’re currently working on a hotfix intended to significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to reach the Artifact Knowledge cap of 40, in order to allow returning players to catch up more quickly.

Specifically, this hotfix will reduce the time it takes to research ranks of Artifact Knowledge between 26 and 40 to approximately 4 hours each. We hope to make this retroactive to any work orders already in progress when the hotfix is applied. Once these changes are live, a returning player should be able to reach the maximum level of Artifact Knowledge in only a few days.

This hotfix will require extensive testing, but our goal is to apply it within the next day or so.

[DeathsDesign 92]

We just hit AK 40 last week and they're already making it so people just now coming back that skipped all of 7.2 will catch up to us in a few days?

Is this one of those everyone's a winner and no one's a loser scenarios?  You get what you want just because you want it and not because you worked your ass off for it?  I mean if everyone is special then no one is special. 

If this was going to be a thing then it should have always been a thing, not just as a "catch up" mechanic.  I do understand that brand new players are at a huge disadvantage because they have no choice but to start at AK 1 and work their way up, however due to the server catch up mechanic then their research times should only be 2-3 days per research compared to the 5 it was for those at the front of the line.

I think my biggest gripe with Blizzard is that it caters too much to the casual players.  Now don't get me wrong.  I am by no means a hardcore or elite player and sometimes I can be as casual as it comes, however, I do feel that those that put in the time and effort should get something more to show for it than watching people that haven't duplicated their work catch up to them in a few days.  This I feel applies in both PvP and PvE.  If you're going to make the game easier to play and achieve your own personal goals then give the hardcore players bigger and better prizes.  Make it so that the average couch potato still gets his enjoyable game but give the elite mental fitness trainer his keys to the kingdom.

[codered311 0]

15 minutes ago, DeathsDesign said:

You get what you want just because you want it and not because you worked your ass off for it?

You clicked a button and waited five days to click another button.  How exactly is that working your ass off for it?  There is literally nothing that was required of you besides *maybe* grinding out the order hall resources.  Even then, new players are going to be at a disadvantage trying to grind out the order hall resources to keep the AK flowing every four hours.

[DeathsDesign 92]

You are correct sir.  I did indeed click a button then wait 5 days to click another button.  I also clicked a lot more buttons than just that one in the 5 days including but not limited to; BGs, Arenas, M+ dungeons, and H+ raids.  Yeah I don't see a disadvantage here for them.  I boosted a hunter one Friday afternoon.  I hit 110 Saturday evening, Had my order hall quest done Monday afternoon, and was able to obtain every single order hall upgrade without having to "farm" order resources.  I never once used bloods to get OR for anything and I'm back up to 29k currently through just normal daily WQ runs etc...

Here's an explanation that you might understand better.  You're at your local store and you're waiting for a new item that you've been waiting for months to come out.  You were one of the first in line but you still have to wait for the line to get to you.  Then someone comes in the store and just because it looks cool decides they want the item as well so they walk up past the line and are given the item right after you obtain yours (or right before.. I could really care less).  You didn't really work your ass off, you stood in line the whole time, but the fact of the matter is you put forth a major effort on your part to ensure that you were justly rewarded, yet the other guy got what he wanted just because he wanted it regardless of working for it or not.

All we do in this game is click buttons and look at a screen, does it mean we're not working towards a goal? No.  It doesn't meant that, it means that someone that puts in time and effort for something shouldn't only be rewarded with obtaining the something first while newer people or returning people don't have to put in even a quarter of the effort to obtain the same result.

Edited June 13, 2017 by DeathsDesign

[Darkclaw 23]

32 minutes ago, codered311 said:

You clicked a button and waited five days to click another button.  How exactly is that working your ass off for it?  There is literally nothing that was required of you besides *maybe* grinding out the order hall resources.  Even then, new players are going to be at a disadvantage trying to grind out the order hall resources to keep the AK flowing every four hours.

actually there is more than that, if you are here from the start you farmed OHR and AP like crazy, now is really easy with all the quest and BoS, something that took us weeks to get will be a 2 button away to the new players, it's just too easy imho

 

[InfernoRFU 117]

3 minutes ago, DeathsDesign said:

You didn't really work your ass off, you stood in line the whole time, but the fact of the matter is you put forth a major effort on your part to ensure that you were justly rewarded,

Nope, you just stood there, that is 0 effort. Well, maybe .5 effort? Sitting there would be 0 effort. On a totally unrelated note can I borrow some of that salt? These pretzels are terrible.

[darlclaw 5]

i feel you @DeathsDesign i will only say that

[DeathsDesign 92]

10 minutes ago, Sawzorthn said:

Nope, you just stood there, that is 0 effort. Well, maybe .5 effort? Sitting there would be 0 effort. On a totally unrelated note can I borrow some of that salt? These pretzels are terrible.

Actually due to the requirements on the muscular and skeletal systems it actually would be putting forth an effort, much more than sitting down which puts the muscles into a resting state from a working state.  Also in the process of waiting you took time out of your schedule that could have been put to other uses.  On that unrelated note, sorry all out, used up all the salt I could get out of the Crystalline Tear of Loyalty.

7 minutes ago, darlclaw said:

i feel you @DeathsDesign i will only say that

I don't blame you, seems that some topics regarding WoW are off limits today.  People must not have access to their safe spaces today.

Edited June 13, 2017 by DeathsDesign

[codered311 0]

37 minutes ago, DeathsDesign said:

Here's an explanation that you might understand better.  You're at your local store and you're waiting for a new item that you've been waiting for months to come out.  You were one of the first in line but you still have to wait for the line to get to you.  Then someone comes in the store and just because it looks cool decides they want the item as well so they walk up past the line and are given the item right after you obtain yours (or right before.. I could really care less).  You didn't really work your ass off, you stood in line the whole time, but the fact of the matter is you put forth a major effort on your part to ensure that you were justly rewarded, yet the other guy got what he wanted just because he wanted it regardless of working for it or not.

Standing in line =/= working for it, or putting in a major effort, or whatever else you want to call it.  Based on your example, I don't know if you understand how commerce works, but once something is available on the market it is available to everybody.  You will get yours first, because you were one of the first in line but that doesn't preclude everybody else from attaining it in a relatively similar timeframe. New/returning players aren't "cutting the line" by getting reduced AK research times.

22 minutes ago, DeathsDesign said:

Also in the process of waiting you took time out of your schedule that could have been put to other uses.

I would agree with you, except for the fact that it took all of twenty seconds to put in the work order for AK, and then you were free to do whatever else you wanted until the note was ready.  In no way were you required to sit in your class hall for 5 days without doing anything else.  That isn't a grind, it's a timegate.  You're talking about this like it's a grind from the old days.  You did virtually nothing to obtain AK, it's just a mechanic that's in the game that was walled off behind waiting periods.  Maybe I have to explain this in a different way to you.

You put in a "major effort" by clicking a button once or twice a week to get to AK 40.  You waited weeks upon weeks to get to AK 40.

Then comes along this other guy, who according to you, puts in no effort to get to AK 40 because Blizzard gave into entitlement and some other BS.

But guess what - both players have to click the button the same amount of times to get what they want.  Your argument makes no sense.

 

Edited June 13, 2017 by codered311

[DeathsDesign 92]

8 minutes ago, codered311 said:

But guess what - both players have to click the button the same amount of times to get what they want.  Your argument makes no sense.

The difference is one group of players had to wait months to attain the goal no matter how it was attained, the other group has virtually no wait (a few days compared to months).  I don't care one way or the other if my argument makes sense to you, the fact of the matter is Blizzard is catering to the more casual player without providing additional provisions to the more hardcore player.  This is fair to neither player because it devalues the time and effort of the hardcore player, while in the same process devaluing the achievement of the casual player.

[Dacows 0]

So your point is that you deserve a better reward for pushing the same button overall quicker than newer players returning to the game, first of all I don't know why you're making this a big dead if you're bothered that newer players are catching up so easily where you had to wait then why are you not complaining about a mythic raid being outdated the next expansion where every casual player can clear it and possibly have a mount drop and get a title from the last boss too, usually the only difference between raiding mythic nighthold this expansion then doing it again on an alt next expansion is that the mount will no longer be 100% and almost every boss will be nerfed so what about those casual mythic raiders waste their time wiping on a boss like krosus when they know they probably won't even see the mount drop from guldan and truly hardcore raiders like players in exorsus only get a world first and theirs no achievement for second place. With the ak you basically put in no effort like you do if you're raiding lfr or something but on a load of different characters for world first progression then that's a whole different story.

Edited June 13, 2017 by Dacows

[Maruken 31]

3 hours ago, DeathsDesign said:

You are correct sir.  I did indeed click a button then wait 5 days to click another button.  I also clicked a lot more buttons than just that one in the 5 days including but not limited to; BGs, Arenas, M+ dungeons, and H+ raids.

You collected Artifact Power with those button "clicks", not Artifact Knowledge.

Even if players that are behind get AK40 quickly, they will still take a while to grind the AP to get to where you are. I welcome the change.

Edited June 14, 2017 by Maruken

[DeathsDesign 92]

13 minutes ago, Maruken said:

You collected Artifact Power with those button "clicks", not Artifact Knowledge.

Even if players that are behind get AK40 quickly, they will still take a while to grind the AP to get to where you are. I welcome the change.

This is the single post I respect the most because it's the least argumentative.  And I do agree about the AP grind, and in retrospect it's not as bad for new players because they still have a somewhat delay getting to 25, but allows them to catch up to 40,

[Arthalon 2]

9 hours ago, Dacows said:

So your point is that you deserve a better reward for pushing the same button overall quicker than newer players returning to the game, first of all I don't know why you're making this a big dead if you're bothered that newer players are catching up so easily 

LOL you are talking as if the AK makes no difference in the game when it makes A HUGE difference (it makes the biggest difference right now). From AK 36 (yep, 36, not 26) to AK 40 there is a difference of 4 times the amount of AP you get (from 26 to 40 the amount is just ridiculous). That Makes a "Returning player" to spend 4 times less than me more or less to get the same points (difference could be bigger as I spent long time in 26-36).

Sure, we did nothing to get it... wait, we payed 13$ per month to do it. Companion doesn't work if you are unsubbed (those 26K OR that I got from just doing random quests with the bodyguard would easily be spent this way).

Make things easy for returning players? SURE ! Would be stupid for people to start now from AK 1 and go up to 40. Change 3 days for 4 hours in something that could be almost the most important (apart from getting your BiS legendary, but that crap is completely random). Well, I think is a game changer.

Same reason I don't play with alters. I still don't have AK 40 and don't want to waste my time. I get AK 40, I send the book, I get insane amounts of points in those chars.

[xBlueBlaze 5]

this is actually annoying!!

[Weltenfeind 40]

18 hours ago, DeathsDesign said:

We just hit AK 40 last week and they're already making it so people just now coming back that skipped all of 7.2 will catch up to us in a few days?

Is this one of those everyone's a winner and no one's a loser scenarios?  You get what you want just because you want it and not because you worked your ass off for it?  I mean if everyone is special then no one is special. 

If this was going to be a thing then it should have always been a thing, not just as a "catch up" mechanic.  I do understand that brand new players are at a huge disadvantage because they have no choice but to start at AK 1 and work their way up, however due to the server catch up mechanic then their research times should only be 2-3 days per research compared to the 5 it was for those at the front of the line.

I think my biggest gripe with Blizzard is that it caters too much to the casual players.  Now don't get me wrong.  I am by no means a hardcore or elite player and sometimes I can be as casual as it comes, however, I do feel that those that put in the time and effort should get something more to show for it than watching people that haven't duplicated their work catch up to them in a few days.  This I feel applies in both PvP and PvE.  If you're going to make the game easier to play and achieve your own personal goals then give the hardcore players bigger and better prizes.  Make it so that the average couch potato still gets his enjoyable game but give the elite mental fitness trainer his keys to the kingdom.

You can't SEROUSLY expect returning players to have to wait 6 months to catchup, right? We all knew this mechanic would be in place. You've neither lost nor gained anything. Your artifact is not a race to get better than everyone else. it's literally just something for you to do while doing other stuff in WoW. It's not about catering to casual players in this case. New or returning players would be at a SERIOUS disadvantage if not for catchup.

If you want to complain about something in this case, complain about how stupid the artifact system is. Not go on a rant about casuals. The artifact is basically just a hook to keep you playing. The illusion of "character progress".

Edited June 14, 2017 by Weltenfeind

[DeathsDesign 92]

2 hours ago, Weltenfeind said:

If you want to complain about something in this case, complain about how stupid the artifact system is. Not go on a rant about casuals. The artifact is basically just a hook to keep you playing. The illusion of "character progress".

EVERYTHING in the game is the illusion of "character progress" because it's exactly that.. an illusion.  It's a game, it's not real, so your argument of this point is invalid.

No I don't expect returning players to spend 6 months catching up, but I don't expect them to be caught up in a few days of returning.

I really don't understand why you guys don't get that Blizzard is making all of the time you've put in to get to this point, whether it's clicking a button or waiting around in your order hall or spending it out in the game world, worth nothing by letting those that haven't put that same time into it catch up to where you are, or pass you within just a FEW DAYS.  A few weeks I'd be ok with, I mean hell give them a 36-48 hour timer per research which is still less than the lowest time gate any of us ever had, but don't just hand it over to them...

The reason I'm not going to complain about how stupid the artifact system is, is because I actually like the system.  It's new, different, and it's not the same old "oh I hope my BiS weapon drops this time!.. IT DROPPED I CAN FINALLY BE GOOD AGAIN... oh nevermind this other guy got it because reasons even though I have been here day in and day out."

Here's a scenario.  You're in a raiding guild and you've been raiding current content since it released.  You still have yet to see your BiS/class weapon drop despite having been to every single raid from the beginning.  An old guildmate that plays the same class as you who quit before current content release decides to come back.  HIs first raid with you guys the weapon drops and your GM gives it to him instead of you.  You neither gained nor lost anything there either, yet a returning player was given something without having to do anything, while you had to put in time for it.

I don't expect a lot of people to get it, but I would at least expect the intelligent people to put up a discussion that's not argumentative.

It's my opinion, so I'm entitled to it.  If you disagree then so be it, if you don't like it then fine.  If you have something constructive to say then go for it.  If you have nothing constructive to say about it then don't.

 

I'm done with this thread.

@Stan, @Starym, @Blainie sorry if any of my posts were inflammatory.  

Edited June 14, 2017 by DeathsDesign

[PatrickHenry 293]

13 hours ago, Arthalon said:

I still don't have AK 40 and don't want to waste my time.

then... I fail to see the issue?

[DeathsDesign 92]

10 minutes ago, Weltenfeind said:

Delete this. Just realised I cba to discuss with babies.

My reasoning and thoughts behind this entire thread stem from larger concerns about the direction that society is going.  This is also something that I feel very adamant about to my core and those beliefs have been attacked throughout this entire thread.  Assault is not the same thing as a discussion, and to me this entire thread has been an assault.  I refuse to back down from what I believe, however, I'm tired of trying to help any of you understand why I feel how I do with not a single one of you even being willing to admit that my points are valid therefore i'm removing myself from the discussion.  If that makes me a baby then so be it.

 

 

[Weltenfeind 40]

4 minutes ago, DeathsDesign said:

My reasoning and thoughts behind this entire thread stem from larger concerns about the direction that society is going. 

 

You're on the wrong forum then, pal.

Also, no one is actually attacking you (unless you count my post which I already changed to be nice), unless you think disagreeing are personal attacks, and in that case.. Well..

/Peace oot.

[DeathsDesign 92]

1 minute ago, Weltenfeind said:

You're on the wrong forum then, pal.

Not really, despite larger concerns about society my posts were regarding WoW, and I'm pretty sure that's exactly what these forums are about.

2 minutes ago, Weltenfeind said:

Also, no one is actually attacking you (unless you count my post which I already changed to be nice), unless you think disagreeing are personal attacks, and in that case..

Never saw your post, I was asleep when you posted it and changed it.  However a little advice if I may, never change something you say to be nice, It just looks weak on your part.  I'd have more respect for you if you had stood by what you said, nice or not.  Not that you care, just thought i'd offer.

[Arthalon 2]

On 6/14/2017 at 11:17 PM, PatrickHenry said:

then... I fail to see the issue?

Don't just choose the words, and pick the whole sentence. Is clearly linked to:

"I don't play with alters because is wasting my time until I have AK 40".

[ChaosDecides 30]

I have 12 alliance characters all maxed at 40ak. I have 12 100's on the horde side that I haven't touched yet. So in my case I don't mind this at all.