Fame in Dragonflight? Some WoW players are already gasping in horror. But don’t worry: The developers seem to have a plan.
It is probably no secret that many features of Shadowlands were received with mixed feelings by the World of Warcraft community. The fame system with weekly progression and as a barrier for character power was one of the controversial features. In some interviews about the next expansion “Dragonflight”, it was revealed that the fame system will be active again on the Dragon Isles – for multiple factions at the same time.
What is the fame system? In Shadowlands, the fame system (“Renown”) was one of the progression systems. There were 80 different “levels” and each of them had a small reward that was gradually unlocked.
These could be transmog, mounts, but also unlocks for soul bonds, legendary powers, or toys – or even entirely new chapters of the covenant campaign.
The maximum possible fame was limited each week by certain activities, creating a kind of “time gating,” whereby content was unlocked gradually.
What’s coming in Dragonflight? In Dragonflight, several factions will use a fame system. However, you won’t have to decide for just one faction; you can collect fame with multiple reputation factions at the same time. Jeremy Feasel from the WoW development team said in an interview with AusGamers:
You will see an evolution of the fame system that we used with the covenants, and we think this is a really cool way to set up a reputation faction that feels fresh for World of Warcraft. Our four main reputation factions will each have their own set of fame levels, which ensures we can reward you often. It allows us to show you what you’re getting as you unlock various things, whether those are cool cosmetics associated with the reputation faction or additional quest lines with further gameplay.
The new fame system is also supposed to go hand in hand with the daily quests, which will also be present in Dragonflight.
We really wanted to push these aspects far. The new version of daily quests will be transferred to a very activity-focused system, where you always feel like you are making progress. And, unlike with the covenants, you won’t have to choose just one reputation faction to collect fame. You can do them all at the same time.
Anyone who is already worried that this means being forced to repeat the same things on twinks and gradually increase fame across all factions can be reassured. Because it continues:
We are currently looking at how we can build twink-friendliness [into this system] in the same way we did in Patch 9.1.5, so it can be a significant renewal of the outdoor world.
What does Blizzard intend with this? The idea behind the “new” fame system seems relatively good. It is supposed to be a new type of “reward path” from what players have known from reputation factions. Because in the past, reputation factions always released their rewards in very strict and fixed intervals.
Between reaching the “honored” and “revered” reputation level, there could often be several weeks during which players received no rewards at all. With the fame system, it is at least possible for selected factions to unlock individual reputation rewards repeatedly.
Whether traditional reputation factions will be completely abandoned is still unclear.
Do you think it’s good that the fame system will remain in some way? Or would you have preferred that there be no fame in Dragonflight at all?
