right in the hopes and dreams

[Xenophon]

I don't really give a shit about what happens to enchanted BoAs, but if F2Ps get the Heirloom tab we might actually see some balance return to BG team compositions - no more Alliance agility-DPS death squads!!

 

[Brov]

I don't really give a shit about what happens to enchanted BoAs, but if F2Ps get the Heirloom tab we might actually see some balance return to BG team compositions - no more Alliance agility-DPS death squads!!

Cause 8 agility is the root of all of this bracket's problems.

 

[artonkn]

Guild perks (guild tabs) were introduced in Cataclysm and the ability for trial-accounts to join guilds was removed long before that.
And Pet Battles are completely different from what is currently being discussed. It's a feature of its own while the heirloom tab isn't.

I have said this many times already; it has been stated that the heirloom tab will work similarly to the mount and pet tabs.
Your examples are completely different from the currently discussed feature. If Blizzard was to, for the sake of argument, add the ability for you to challenge others in various minigames; then I would agree with it being a fifty-fifty chance of F2Ps getting access to that feature. That's because minigames, unlike the heirloom tab, would be an independent feature.

Now let's return to the heirloom tab. It is not an indepent feature, it is based off the mount and pet tabs. This means Blizzard has just revamped the mount and pet tabs to also offer you the ability to save heirlooms across WoW-accounts under the same Battle.net-account. We can therefore safely assume that it will be accessible by F2Ps since the mount and pet tabs also are.

You make it sound like they copy and paste some code and change some things with looms. It's a new system, and works differently to how mounts and pets work, I thought you knew that. Additionally mounts are purely cosmetic where as looms are different and make more reasons to make blizzard not want them for F2Ps.

 

[Xenophon]

Cause 8 agility is the root of all of this bracket's problems.

It's not just the skill patch but also Aluwyn's Legguards that give Alliance F2Ps an advantage over their Horde counterparts. Even if you discount the proposed class changes that look like a nerf for classes that would use this gear, and the removal of the need to reach hit cap, having better-geared Horde hunters, etc. might mean we see more of them and this could be an effective counter to the number of hunters, etc. that appear in Alliance BG teams.

Sure, this bracket has other issues (and WoD might make some of them worse e.g. ring/neck enchants, 20-29 BGs) but account-wide BoAs for F2P will give players extra gear options that could change the classes people play.

 

[Xenophon]

You make it sound like they copy and paste some code and change some things with looms. It's a new system, and works differently to how mounts and pets work, I thought you knew that. Additionally mounts are purely cosmetic where as looms are different and make more reasons to make blizzard not want them for F2Ps.

While it certainly isn't a "copy and paste" situation, it's not entirely new and much of the new tabs will likely inherit existing classes and objects. Blizzard will have to work out whether the extra cost in implementing restrictions for F2P access to the Heirloom tab is worth it. From a purely financial perspective, I doubt that restricting F2P access to this feature will mean that more people purchase a subscription. From a philosophical perspective, I think you are right: Starter Editions don't need BoAs to start playing and learn the game.

 

[Aradiel]

Cause 8 agility is the root of all of this bracket's problems.

It's not just 8 agility. There's also spec bonus and NE bonus. No horde race has as much agility as NE's do. For example, NE's have a base agility of 52 while orcs, one of the more popular horde hunter races, has 45. That's 15, and with 30% sub bonus, that's ~20. It makes a difference. It's also more hit for DW.

 

[Xenophon]

It's not just 8 agility. There's also spec bonus and NE bonus. No horde race has as much agility as NE's do. For example, NE's have a base agility of 52 while orcs, one of the more popular horde hunter races, has 45. That's 15, and with 30% sub bonus, that's ~20. It makes a difference. It's also more hit for DW.

Troll might be a better example. They aren't too far behind Night Elves in base agility and the bow specialization and zerk are pretty good.