I was looking through the Armory and I'm still not updated in the Armory listing. So as I was browsing through some profiles listed there when something occured to me. It had also occured to me before. The thought being some players really don't take pride in caring for the hard earned gear they wear, wearing it properly or with the proper enchants. Reminds me of the Hunter I once say in Heroics with Blue and low grade gear, with no gems in socket and no enchants at all anywhere.
I've seen it many times, players sporting nice blue gear or 70's Blue/Epic gear with no gems in socket, no enchants on gear or weapon and if its socketed with gems often its with low grade gems on high grade gear. I've seen that many times. While browsing the Armory today I say that too looking around. If you random inspect some players looking at their gear you see that too and on gear pieces your well familiar with. Its often possible that many players don't know or research the proper enchants for their select gear or try and find the best gems for their gear. Its also very possible that many don't have the money to care for their gear properly and enhance their gear even though they are in guilds and raiding. So as a result you sometime and often see nice Blue and Epic gear just plain worn with no enchanting at all or cheap enchanting to gear. You see a Tank with +8 Stamina on a Blue prime tanking leg piece and +5 health to chest. Where is the pride in having your gear in tip top shape for your guild Instance raid encounters to do your job. Does it make a difference if its not in tip top shape, yeah it does. You also don't have to do a darn thing to your gear if you choose not to also. However not having the correct enchants or the right and best gems on your gear does affect the peak performance you can get out of your gear for that raid encounter or instance. Having your gear always repaired and ready to go goes without saying when heading to a instance or raid.
Its possible that many players look at their gear and say well, why should I even bother. Next raid with my guild my gear may drop and it will be epic if your in a raid and when I get it I will enchant that. Maybe it will drop, maybe it won't, who knows. Hey your gear is a reflection of you and the quality you put into enhancing the peak performance of your gear with your given class spec. Your gear says a lot about you. If you can barely maintain your gear now, you will almost be hard pressed to do it when its better quality gear. As a Tankadin, I always took the time to put pride and work in enhancing my gear. I've catalog almost all my gear on my blog and I put the pics up when I enchant it. I took pride at 70 with green gear that was the best I could fine until it was later replaced with better, though many I wore a long time. But I absolutely did it with the Blue gear I wore. I enchanted every piece of gear I wore with the best gems possible for that piece of gear and i was not rich either when I did it. I spent a lot on enhancing my gear. I can't remember wearing a piece of gear for longer than 2 log in sessions without getting it enchanted or gem socketed.
I remembered looking for a week on my realm to get a Thorium Shield Spike for my new shield when I was in my 60's, eventually I got it. If it needed enchanting, I went out found the mats and properly enchanted it. Was I working at saving money back then, yeah! But I put time and effort into my gear pieces for Tanking. If it needed gems, I found the best for gear piece and bought it. I retained enchanters that I knew could do the things I needed, bought raw gems and found a JC to cut then. Often I bought extra gems. I have lots of gems I have in my own bank for future gear upgrades so when I get the gear, I already have the gems. That's taking pride in caring for your gear to do the job you demand of your gear at its peak performance. Many players do indeed take pride in their gear, yet many players don't even though they are head over heals for a Blue/Epic piece. later they just wear it and fail to enhance their gear. Take pride in the gear you wear, its a total reflection of the work you put into caring for your gear and getting top performance out of it.
19 comments:
My take on my current epics...they're going to probably be replaced again soon. Since I'm really the only hunter with our guild (whom farms kara every week) - I tend to get upgrades every week. Just this Tuesday I got 5 new epics. So, right now I really dont want to waste money socketing and enchanting, instead I spend money on pots and scrolls for the raid.
I disagree on the Gems. High-end gems are NOT cost effective. I can buy a green gem with two stats (say, STR and STAM) for 1.5g. OR I can buy a blue gem... with the same two stats only +1 to each... for 30-50g. An extra 1 STR and 1 STAM is NOT worth 28-48g.
And don't get me started on BT gems (currently going for 800g+ EACH on my server).
Have the wrong gems / enchants is one thing, but having green gems in an epic item is being financially responsible.
My gear is unfortunatly for the most part not enchanted. My reason is I can never find any enchanters with what im looking for (comes with the low/mid pop server. Zangamarsh for the win!) I searched for 3 days for 35 agility to 2 hander (had all the mats and everything.) Ive been looking around for about a week and still cant find an enchanter with +6 stats to chest. Now with gems I find I have a hard time shelling out the cash for them. My gear is mostly gemmed in green +3/+3 agi/hit gems. I just cant convince myself to pay an aditional 25-30g for another +1/+1 but thats just me. By the Way love the blog I used to be a Prot pally back in the day too.
dorgol makes a good point - I think the least I can do to up my stats in some of my epics would be to purchase the 1-3g gems. I think I'll do that next time I'm on hawk.
Oh I forgot though my 2hander does have Savagery on it with gems.
:)
I Think its ok to be smart about your gear. However on some gear pieces its may be the best gear piece that will be available for a while among all other and seem just fine to have those enchanted or gemmed properly.
I person can only buy what they can afford to buy. Yet everyone can always do better. We all play the very same game. Now paying 800g for gemms is plain nuts. If you can afford to gem your gear better why not do so. It all adds up in the end. There is a difference between +9 and +12 Stam. Add up several gem slots and that adds up to a bit of stamina. However one does have to use common sense with one finances , i did too when i barely had funds. But i'm a Tank, so my view can be different and i had to make all my stats count for the stats that matter so do with enchants and gems.
The point is to pay attention to your gear, how best you can enhance it and attempt to do so as best as you can. Thats having pride with your gear. If your doing your best to tweak the performance of your gear your doing your best. However some people can eventually do better. Its just a choice in the end. When i didn't have mats or the primals to enchants my gear, i went out and farmed it, all that cost me was time. Sometime it takes a while to find a JC or Enchanter, but you keep looking. When you find a good one you ask them what else they can do. You also put them on your list so you know who they are and how to find them. Thats thinking ahead for future needs. There is a big difference between the person who gets gear and does nothing to enhance it and the other person who gets gear and do the best they can to enhance theirs. Its a choice.
I think you have to consider the utter poverty of people who just somehow fail to make money. Yes yes... dailies and what... but really it comes down to personality and luck with some people.
Thusly cheap gems and cheap enchants. Or hording mats for a really good enchant because you know you are picking up a replacement for X soon that you will be using a long time.
Being smart about gems and enchants come hard to players on their first 70 who didn't roll enchanter or jewelcrafter and never had to give either one any thought soling those first 60whatever levels. However you can become smart :)
I know I have had people just enchant me because they wanted the points. On my mediocre blues I didn't care much... now that I am slowly seeing Epics I am very carefully hording my mats for those good enchants.
What really irritates the heck out of me is yesterday I saw a Holy spec Paladin wearing Truth Bearer shoulders wasted a slot on a Strength gem and has the nerve to sign up for Karazhan. >.<
(Wow sorry this was a bit long.)
I can get 0.75 of the performance of a solid star of elune for 0.025 of the cost if I use a +9 gem. That's a huge performance:price ratio. So I'd be insane to prioritize that over stuff like getting a mount, buying consumables, repair bills, etc. When I have spare money, I'll buy one, and some of my slots have +12s where I've been able to get my hands on one for cheap. But gems and enchants are not a priority. And suggesting that I put more time into a game for nebulous improvements in a character that doesn't even properly exist is not something with which I can agree. From the time I log in to the time I log out, my time is generally spoken for and I rarely have the opportunity to farm, and this is a situation that I think many players find themselves in.
I do take pride from being a good player and treating others well...but in my gear? Not really. It's always been a mantra of mine that playing well is 90%, gear is 10% (keeping in mind that all statistics are made up on the spot ;)). Sure, there are gear baselines for success, but I've never heard someone say they want a guy in great gear with substandard skills over a guy with great skills and substandard gear. The concept of taking pride in my gear is mostly a foreign one to me.
I'm not saying you hold this position, but I see the attitude a lot that players without the best gems and enchants on their gear are somehow lesser players or are not trying hard enough, and it kinda makes me angry to be honest. If you have the time and gold to do it, good for you, but most people don't; personally the time I have available to make gold allows me to maintain a net positive cash flow, but not by a large margin. The idea that I may be judged as a player because I have +9 stamina gems in most of my tanking gear is one I don't wish to contemplate. Again, I know that's not exactly what you're saying, but I do get the sense that your attitude is, "I did it, so anyone else could too," and that's just not true.
@ Galoheart: "If you can afford to gem your gear better why not do so. However one does have to use common sense with one finances ... But i'm a Tank, so my view can be different. ... Its a choice."
I can afford to do better. All three of my 70s have epic mounts, all three have Drakes, all three have Rays. And my bank has nearly 15k gold in gold / mats. I HAVE the money to do just about anything I want to in this game.
But my Paladin (also protection spec) doesn't have an enchant on his leggings. His boots are green and not enchanted. My warrior has ZERO enchants on his gear. He uses the epic Vortex Walker boots from Ogri'la rep... and they have green gems. My warlock has enchants on most of his gear, but his weapon / gloves is not enchanted.
The reasons for all this are pretty straight forward:
My warrior is a trash character. He is a less efficient farmer than my warlock and a less efficient tank than my paladin.
My paladin was a healer first, tank second. His healing set is gems and enchanted (though if I replace any of that gear with upgrades I will probably use green or BOP Heroic gems instead of AH blues).
My warlock doesn't NEED another 40 spell damage to kill mobs or players. He doesn't need spell penetration or +dmg on his gloves to be a better killer. So why put the money in?
I'm much more concerned with people using the RIGHT gems and the RIGHT enchants than I am that they have the best of either. If I encounter a Mage using epic +spirit gems and another using green +idmg or +spell crit gems... guess who I consider a better player?
Hmmm, very interesting post Galo.
Yes, your gear IS a reflection of you. It shows your accomplishments and your level of progression. (I receive this x gear from killing this x boss). However enchants/gems only shows how rich you are.
Unless you’re a jewelcrafter or an enchanter you have to purchase mats from AH or the quarter master at selected towns. This becomes very pricey which individuals have to be selective on what they insert. Which is why you see so a lot of individuals selecting the lower grade gems/enchants. For example, you get a new pair of pants with 2 open sockets, you’ll generally spend 200-300g (depending on server) on gems and enchants. This may not be too much but what if you received 2 new pieces of gear maybe 3 in a course of a Karazhan run (which can happen) the price will add up quickly. To be cost effective and obtain the bonus of the sockets some with insert lower grade gems/enchants until they can afford the higher grade one. Plus some with insert lower grade gems to see what is best for their character’s make-up before they make that investment. .
You’re looking through tanks eyes, which gems/enchants are helpful with your mitigation but again it is not crucial. If you look at my armory, you will notice +9 stamina gems inserted in my pants. Why? Because 120 extra health will not gimped my mitigation nor my health. Granted the extra health may be helpful but with buffs it is hardly noticeable. And if the group wipes it is not because of +4 to stamina. Plus I am saving up for my epic mount which I am being frugal with every purchase.
Overall you shouldn’t look down at someone because of an enchant or gems because you do not know their level of progression nor their intent.
The idea of my post is in general reference to a person Main Character that they use daily in Instance or Raid with.
Some people have 10+ characters and more alts than that. So my reference is to to such players or players with farming alts. Maybe that just wasn't obvious. I don't realistically expect someone to put a ton of money into a character that they never really use or for general farming all the time. If you choose to on such character thats by a persons choice.
Again my reference is to a main lvl 70 character, but what you do beyond a main character is also up to the player if they choose to do anything there. I myself only have (1) lvl 70 character and its my main also.
I think some people just don't have the money or time to get the insane enchants or gems. However, that does not mean they could not save the money and mats and over time get the nice enchants and gems for their epic gear.
There will always be at least 2 ways at looking at everything or viewing whats said. I did say though:
"However one does have to use common sense with one finances"
"If your doing your best to tweak the performance of your gear your doing your best".
If you take pride in your gear hey thats all fine. If you gem and enchant your gear that's fine too also. If you already know better that all good.
However some others may not know either way as yet. In the end I always say Use Common Sense in whatever you do, choose to do, or with your own finances.
xialey said:
"I think some people just don't have the money or time to get the insane enchants or gems. However, that does not mean they could not save the money and mats and over time get the nice enchants and gems for their epic gear".
I very much agree with that, and its probably what happens often. So i agree there.
I was glad to see this post. I recently got the Tenacious Defender on my paladin and I put two blue gems in it. Admittedly being a jeweler I have more rare gems hanging around. But, a bunch of my guild mates and even the Jewelcrafter, I got to cut the gems, were all telling me sell the stones and put green gems in instead.
It is comforting to see I'm not the only one who thinks that if you have the resources to make something better, you should. I'm afraid to admit though I've been slacking on the enchants.
And yes I have a wierd ass spec.
I went the longest time not getting most of my gear enchanted "because I was waiting until something better came along". Well, enchanting what I wore WAS something better than I previously had!
Along the vein of BBB, his thought was if it's good enough for Kara, it's good enough to enchant. The more I think about that, the more I agree with it. Not only are you short changing yourself and your performance soloing and within a 5 or even 10-man, you're short changing your group or guildies. While that crappy little gem might not mean much in itself, as a whole it does add up. I am thinking in particular of one person I raided Kara with last night that had his cloak enchanted only. He didn't even have the rep based "enchants" done (ie Scryers/Aldor shoulder slot, or CE headslot). And some of this gear was epic. At first glance, my thought of this person is "he's here to get gear he doesn't work at by himself but for 9 other people to get for him". While that may sound harsh, it's one perception among many. Our guild has at least 3 enchanters and 2 JC's not to mention who can be found in trade channel.
I've sed mah piece.
Oh man, I dig Galo's outlook here. Yes, hook up your gear! If you can't find an enchanter, oh well, keep looking, I've been trying to find enchants, sometimes I find them, others notsomuch. Fortunately, my guild bank usually has a precent decent stock on hand of Armor Kits that'll do +8 STA or something. They're not super awesome or anything, but they're something. And yeah, when I get a socketed drop, fist thing I do is go to the AH and spend 2g on a green gem. I suppose with token drops, if you'll be wearing, that might be worth the investiture for a blue gem. I do think it's important to give your gear a little boost, even if it's a cheap one.
Seriously, in our guild when people dont bother to maintain their gear (get enchants, grind rep, get craftable stuff) when epic gear drops, our GM and more than a few of the officers don't even consider them as a priority.
Why? Because if they don't care enough about the success of the raid to get a leg armor kit or a healing enchant to their weapon, we dont care enough about them to give them gear.
The gear we have goes to people who contribute more. Period.
Definatly don't think it is worth it putting great enchants and the best gems in your gear while you are levelling. The rate you go through gear when levelling makes it simply a waste of money. +8stam gems cost a couple of gold, +12stam gems can set you back 30g. It is simply a waste of money when you should be saving for your mounts (and epic mounts).
Once i started to get decent gear (75 badge pieces and t4 armour) I started splashing out on the best gems and enchantments but it simply isn't worth it before then (would you really put a 350g armour pack on some blue leggings?)
The article is written in reference to being @lvl 70 which i indicated as such and in good Blue/Epic and even some of the best green gear available for ones class. Its not in reference to leveling gear which can changes constantly and all the time literally. Though do appreciate the comment though.
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