Class Specific Content

I'm taking a break from working on the Green Fire chain (to both gear up a little more and maybe see a therapist after the Kanathred fight) but it got me thinking: This chain (most of which is part of the scenario) is pretty darn epic. The scenario itself is quite different from what we've been trained to think of scenarios being, in that it's less of a quick mini-dungeon and more like an epic one-man raid (taking place in one of WoW's greatest raid instances, too.)

The other thing that's pretty exciting (and super challenging) is that, because it's designed for a specific class, they can force you to use your whole Warlock toolbox without worrying that some Hunter isn't going to be able to do the same.

This is the strength of class-specific content: you can create challenges specially tailored to those who will be doing it.

I never got to do the Rogue legendary chain (Dragon Soul is not yet soloable, but once it is, you can bet I'll be doing that) but I understand that there were some nice Rogue-specific challenges there as well. This is good stuff, but understandably hard to do as there are now eleven classes (and if Santa Claus listens to me, hopefully soon twelve! C'mon, Demon Hunters!)

The other thing is that the Green Fire chain has a great cosmetic reward that is something people have been asking for for ages. Most other classes don't really have such an iconic thing to seek out, so the reward for such content is an unknown.

But just for the hell of it, let's try to imagine what kind of content and potential rewards one could get for various classes:

Death Knight:

DKs already have a ton of cool stuff - glowing blue eyes, class-specific and free weapon enchants, deep, echoing voices and the potential for creepy, half-decomposed skin options. The one option I could think of for DKs as a reward would be to have an epic chain in which they craft their own runeblade, which would then become a transmogrifiable weapon. Another option would be to let their eye color change depending on spec (again, my Frost DK, who is a Draenei, would once again not really benefit, though when he's in his Blood spec, that would be pretty badass/terrifying.)

In terms of stories and content, I think this would be a good opportunity to rescue Koltira from Sylvanas' dungeons, acting as a representative of the Ebon Blade, which is none too pleased about one of their knights getting brainwashed. One could also deal with the shards of Frostmourne, or possibly delve into the history of the pre-Scourge Death Knights of the Old Horde.

Druid:

Well, we already have new druid animal forms (as of Cataclysm... or was it 3.3?) We also have armored animal forms through talents... I suppose one option would to gain Malfurion-like permanent animal attributes. This guy has antlers and wings even in his Night Elf form... Not sure here.

Druids have had plenty of exposure over the last few expansions, but I think these class-specific things should always try to go to the very core of the class' identity. So presumably, the Druid chain would have to take you into the Emerald Dream and possibly expose the corruption of the Nightmare and N'zoth. Actually, this would be a great opportunity to have our first confrontation with N'Zoth. I'd like to see one of the Old Gods display a little more personality before we go into their lair and chop some tentacles.

Hunter:

Hunters are one of the classes that suffers a little from being too general a class. While DKs or Druids have a lot of very specific lore, Hunters are just anyone who gets really good with a gun or bow and likes to hang out with animals. Rewards for a Hunter would probably be something like a unique pet, but there are already a bunch of "challenge pets" out there. Another option is that a hunter could track down a mythical beast, perhaps learning more about the history of the world in this way. Actually, if I could get an awesome reward, it would be the ability to tame Dragonkin.

Mage:

Mages are pretty cool, and recent events in Dalaran have some serious implications for the class, but like Hunters, Mages are not a terribly centralized class, nor is there much I can think of for cosmetic rewards. On one hand, I'd say you could deal with the aftermath of Malygos' death, but... oh yeah, we did that one. In many ways, the Dragonwrath chain was really best suited for Mages.

Monk:

Monks have not yet really been able to develop their lore beyond "this is what all Pandaren basically are." Ok, in fairness, there is a lot of Monk lore, but we're pretty much playing through it this entire expansion. The only reward I could think of is the option to have your monk constantly carrying a barrel of brew on their back.

Paladin:

Almost as long as people have been asking for Green Fire, people have been asking for visible Librams. We don't even use Librams anymore, but Paladins are all about books and hammers (see the Draenei guy in the BC cinematic.) Also, because Paladins don't dual-wield, our right hip is always free of hanging weapons, so there's a place to put it, too. Another, crazier option, would be to get glowing golden eyes, but we can hold off on that for now...

On one hand, Paladins have tons of lore, but it's not exactly focused. The class came about originally to fight off the Horde's Warlocks, but they've also been aligned against the Burning Legion and the Scourge. The Scourge tends to be the most iconic Paladin villain, but I feel like the post-Arthas Scourge is really more a matter for Death Knights to settle than Paladins. Not sure about this one.

Priest:

Priests have some of the same problem as Hunters, in that there's not a specific way all Priests come to their calling in WoW. I don't know what Priests would want for a cosmetic reward. So... um.

Rogue:

Well, we just had a pretty epic Legendary Rogue-only chain, and it had you assassinating the entirety the Black Dragonflight (save Wrathion and anyone who was in Outland,) with plenty of intrigue and sneaking around, so I think Rogues are probably going to need to sit on the bench for a bit.

Shaman:

There was a lot of Shaman stuff in the previous expansion, and arguably the Thrall chain in 4.2 was very Shaman-appropriate. There also aren't a ton of cosmetic rewards I can currently think of for them, though I always thought Shamans should get a ghost-wolf mount, or the ability to turn into some kind of ghost-raven.

Warlocks:

You just got yours! Sit down.

Warriors:

Ah yes, if you thought Hunters, Mages and Priests lacked for specificity in lore, this is the once class that every single race can be (even Blood Elves now!) and the class' lore is just: "this is a person who hits things and gets angry." Granted, some kind of gladiatorial event would be pretty Warrior-specific, but I also really don't know what cosmetic reward these guys would get (that hasn't been covered by glyphs.)

I would love to see lots of class-specific content, and I hope we continue to see the stuff at the quality of the Green Fire chain, but I can totally sympathize with reluctant designers who fear it would be a ton of work for a fraction of the player-base.