3.2: Emblem-o-mania

According to the new patch notes, when 3.2 hits, all Heroic Dungeons and T7 content (Naxx, EoE, OS, Vaults of Archavon) will drop Emblems of Conquest! This is a huge change especially for me.

For those not familiar:

Emblems of Heroism=ilvl200 gear (baseline, starter epic items)
Emblems of Valor=ilvl213 gear (Equal to 25-man Naxx drops)
Emblems of Conquest=ilvl226 gear (Equal to 25-man Ulduar drops)

Now, I can run dungeons, OS, or Naxx with any of my 80's, and earn badges towards rewards that match Ulduar's in most cases. And when my lower level characters hit 80, they can start earning gear that brings them up to speed with the current content.

Some may complain that they ran a million heroics or Naxx every week and they cashed out their Emblems (or have hundreds rotting in their currency screen) and now newbies can run in and start earning gear much higher in quality for doing the same thing. That is the nature of MMO's - I remember 3 years back, having to grind mobs purely for their XP between quests because the XP gain slowed down around level 40. Now my alts earn levels incredibly fast - I ran Zul'Furak *once* at level 44 or so, and the combined experience from mobs and quests in that one run was enough for an entire level's worth of XP.

The first time I hit 60 waaaay back vanilla WoW, it took me about 12 days /played I think. Now you can hit 60 in half that time, and even faster with heirloom items, rested XP, or refer-a-friend. The game changes and evolves, get used to it.

As for positive changes to the game this Emblem change will bring (from my perspective at least):

You will have geared players going back to Heroic dungeons. Sure it will be a faceroll for many, but this will be a chance to try new specs or new roles while the emblems go towards your main spec. I am looking forward to trying some retribution Paladin or feral Druid runs while earning badges for my protection Pally and resto Druid gear sets.

Newer players will get a boost as their fellow PUG members may have better gear and/or experience in the dungeon. You will still have some /fail PUGs with That Guy who wrecks it for everyone, but short of a /kick the overgeared members will be able to compensate. With DPS doing 4k regularly nowadays, 4-man runs will become more common too. (Heroics assume about 1.5k-2k dps x 3)

You will have more chances to try for achievements. As more players will be outgearing the dungeons, you will have a better chance to earn achievements that were designed for much less powerful players. In an incidental change, drakes in Occulus and EoE will scale with gear, like vehicles in Ulduar. This means these previously difficult-to-master (and difficult to PUG) encounters will become slightly easier to manage as well.

Personally, I don't know how I will manage my time between all my characters anymore. My main Msmoo, has been finished with Heroic dungeons for months now, and my Paladin has been too for a while. For guild Naxx runs, my Pally went while my Druid was benched as there were zero upgrades for me to be had. I could expect any Heroic dungeon running would be on my mage, my other 80 at this stage. Now any of my 80s stand to gain from a Heroic dungeon run or Naxx run. If any other of my characters hit 80 it will get even tougher to choose. I guess it will come down to what I feel like playing at the moment. Which is, as they say, a Good Thing :)

Nevermind all the other stuff in 3.2, like a new battleground, revamped older battlegrounds, and the new Coliseum instances. Too much for a guy with a bunch of alts!