The Great Gear Myth

If you read a bunch of WOW blogs like I do, you will have realized that common topics sweep the internets like cold germs get passed around. One week everyone will be talking about bag addons, the next they will be talking about account security.

The last two weeks it is been The Great Gear Myth. A lot of folks have noticed the obsession with high level gear in WOW. We're not talking the twinks who are focused solely on looking good in gear that is very high level; we are talking about experienced players turned down for raids because they don't have the perfect gear. We are talking about huge numbers of low level players appearing on the Solo MMO Player's realm decked out in gear that is way way above their ability to obtain on their own. We are talking about PUG groups that only want folks decked out in epic gear to go with them. We are talking about guilds set up to benefit the officers and their friends who get the first pick of all raid loot. We are talking about focus on gear that seems all out of proportion to what it buys a player.

The Savage Coast lays out the debate the best.

http://thesavagecoast.blogspot.com/2009/08/gear-or-player.html

UPDATE WOW Insider does a good job summarizing the gear myth, even though they are late to the party.
http://www.wow.com/2009/09/02/yogg-saron-in-blues/#continued

Ailis is also late to the party but sincere in busting the Great Gear Myth.
http://ailisinhunterland.com/2009/11/my-lovehate-relationship-with-gear/

Tank Like a Girl is watching what the gear obsession is and isn't doing in her guild.

http://www.tanklikeagirl.com/2009/08/27/the-gear-myth-and-other-shocking-revelations

Pwnwear agrees with the above, along with links to earlier articles he's written about the issue. I include this article because it links to interviews with famous guilds that you might enjoy. The second link is a further article on this issue.

http://pwnwear.com/2009/08/26/ulduar-cleared-in-blues-not-epics/

http://pwnwear.com/2009/08/28/what-gear-is-required-for-a-raid/

Naissa's Rage is mad about the gear myth.  (I suspect some of the anger is directed to a bossy know-it-all in the raid Naissa just did.)
http://www.naissasrage.com/777/that-gear-thing-again/

I expect you can guess that here at the Solo MMO Player we are a bit contemptuous of players who have the best gear and don't have a clue how to play the game. Solo players run into many situations where the gear that they get from a quest or instance isn't as good as what they already have. If this happens a lot, one becomes less focused on gear as a way to get through the game and starts to experiment with what skills one has and coming up with strategies to use subpar gear successfully. You end up as a better player if you don't depend on fancy high level gear exclusively.

So what's a regular player to do? Good gear helps as does a good guild but if you don't have either laying around your realm, you have to learn your own abilities and study the instances and raids and quests that you plan to attempt.

Still, gear is important. I think the myth has arisen because so much is given as reward in the game and because the right gear really helps a weak player. A solo player without a guild or easy access to great gear needs tools to manage and evaluate gear. I'm pulling together an article about gear and gear tools to help players who need better tools to see just what gear they can get by with so they don't buy into the myth and spend all their time looking for purples when green or blue gear will do.

Otherwise the search for the best gear will continue to warp the game experience for many players and the Great Gear Myth will never die.

*******************************************
Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com