World of Warcraft has drastically nerfed one of its most time-consuming achievements. This especially affects players who have invested time and energy.
The original release of Patch 9.1, Chains of Domination, has been a while in World of Warcraft. But how can you tell that something was not quite right with the content? Among other things, this small point: An achievement that basically just says “Complete all content” has still not been earned by most players after months.
What achievement is this? The achievement “On the Offensive” is one of the major meta-achievements for Korthia and the Maw. To obtain this achievement, players must complete 9 different tasks. These include:
- United Front: Complete all 4 Covenant assaults in the Maw.
- The Jailer’s Secret Stash: Open 10 hidden Rifts chests during the Night Fae assault.
- This Army: Complete the quest “You and What Army?” once with each of the 5 Champions.
- Grab Bag: Open 10 different Maw-bound chests during the Necrolord assault.
- The Zovaalzer: Dance near 5 different anvils in Zovaal’s Crucible while holding a Maw-safe sunshade.
- Torghast Hoarder: Use items that pull Toothbreakers from the Torghast portal.
- Becoming Sly: Find “Sly” every time he runs away.
- Attack and Have Tea: Serve tea to all special characters during the Venthyr assault.
- Krrprripripkraaks Heroes: Heal each of the special characters during the quest “Don’t Ask Me How to Spell That”.
The catch is: Although it is essentially just a “Complete all new content” achievement, it takes an incredibly long time to complete the achievement. This is because a large part of the necessary achievements is dependent on chance. 7 of the 9 achievements can only be completed if a specific quest is active during a particular assault. If the quest is missing, you have to wait another 2 weeks and hope it will be active in the next assault. But that is not guaranteed, and some quests have not appeared since the patch was released.
What is being changed now? Blizzard has now drastically simplified the criteria for obtaining the achievement with a hotfix. It is no longer necessary to complete all 9 criteria. Instead, it is sufficient to complete 6 out of the 9 criteria. This should bring the achievement within reach for all current, active players. Most players who have been playing since the launch of Patch 9.1 will likely receive the achievement simply upon their next login.
Why is the achievement so important? The achievement is tied to two mounts that players have been waiting for a long time. The first is the “Bracelet of Salarangor”, one of the new “Hand” mounts that players can ride – this is obtained for the achievement “Breaking the Chains” – a major meta-achievement that also included the achievement “On the Offensive”.
The second mount is tied to the player’s respective covenant and is a special coloring of the “Standard Mount” that each covenant received in Patch 9.1. You had to be reverent with the Death’s Advance – and also possess the meta-achievement “Breaking the Chains”.
Thus, this achievement effectively “blocked” 2 mounts.
Community reactions are mixed: Many players are happy about the change, as the achievement has now been simply credited in numerous cases. However, there is also a lot of dissatisfaction, as once again players who have fought for the achievement over many months feel cheated. As Oxyia writes in the comments on wowhead:
[…] This means that the achievement can now be completed in a few weeks at most. This happened after the achievement could only be fully completed just last week. In other words, we are just idiots for playing the game and waiting months. […]
I am not an expert, but players who dedicate their determination to something should be rewarded and not feel like idiots because requirements are systematically softened retroactively for every reward – all for the desperate attempt to keep the subscriptions going.
Have you already received the achievement and the two mounts? Or are even 6 out of 9 requirements still too much for you?
