Legendary items as random loot
Legion is still considered one of the best expansions World of Warcraft has ever received by many. Many features are nostalgically remembered. Whether it’s the artifact weapons, the different stories for all classes, the overarching theme of the Burning Legion, or the beautiful area of Suramar.
When thinking back to Legion today, most remember the positive aspects.
Many have repressed that Legion had a system until the end of the expansion that was completely hated by the community at that time: Random Legendaries.
In Legion, there were many different legendary items, of which you could wear a maximum of two at the same time. These legendary items were powerful and could even drastically change the playstyle of your class. Depending on the item, characters were between 5% and 15% better than their peers of the same specialization.
The catch: The acquisition of the legendary items was random. Although there were many different activities from which legendary items could drop in theory, the actual receipt was not guaranteed.
The frustration was gigantic. Because when a fire mage eagerly awaited finally receiving the legendary that would make the Pyroblast even more powerful, nothing was as devastating as receiving a “trash legendary” that might only be suitable for PvP situations.
In many cases, characters needed several months to finally get the right legendary – some were even busy searching for almost a whole year.
One thing that Blizzard learned from this: Loot should be deterministically obtained to some extent. Since then, almost all items that fundamentally transform gameplay have various ways of acquisition.
