Every so often, usually when it comes to World of Warcraft, I hear what I’ve always thought of as the Peacock Defense for making raid gear so much better than everything else in the game in terms of looks and stats and everything. The Peacock Defense is pretty obvious: It’s that the point of looking better and outgearing everyone is standing in the middle of the city and making people gape and grovel at how totally cool you look. The hours of assembling other people and following precise raid strategies someone else figured out are all justified by that!
And yet I’m going to be honest – after years of playing MMOs, my reaction to this has never been, “Wow, I should devote myself to the raiding cycle.” At best, it’s been, “Wow, it’s annoying that all of the best customization options are locked that way,” and at worst it’s been, “Wow, what an obnoxious turd mountain standing in the way just to show off.”
But today we don’t want to talk about the design philosophy going into these elements but the people standing around and expecting admiration. Gear peacocks exist in any game wherein there is gear to be a peacock in, and while they’re less common in games replete with cosmetic options (hello, Final Fantasy XIV) you still find them just the same. So what do you think of gear peacocks in MMOs?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
