Most "Server First" titles removed!

[Waldonnis]

Tigole finally put the uproar to rest by stating:

We've decided to remove the titles for the Realm First Feats of Strength that are associated with reaching level 80. We've also removed the titles associated with the Realm First Feats of Strength associated with gaining 450 skill in the professions and secondary skill. Lastly, we've removed the title associated with Realm First to accomplish the Northrend Vanguard achievement.

Realm First boss kill achievements will still grant a title.

I'm relieved at this, personally. Not only were most virtually unobtainable by anyone but the most intense multi-boxers or account-sharers, but many were too deeply rooted in lore and meaning to be given so haphazardly to people who would likely be breaking the rules to obtain them ("Arch-druid" was the most frequently cited, as an example). As much as I would've loved to get the special fishing title or engineering title, I just felt that they fostered too much unhealthy competition and would've caused a large amount of animosity towards whomever got them (we won't even talk about people that got them then transferred...). There were also some outstanding issues that couldn't be solved easily, such as time zone differences for release, beta players having an edge over others, and the inevitable "game store employee that gets the game early and has it installed days in advance" scenario.

[Holyssa]

Sweet. At least Tigole is doing something right for a change and realizing that silly stuff like this is just going to distance the player gap even further.

I'm glad a lot of the lore-sensative ones are gone. I can't possibly see "<AFK> Arch Druid Orcala" sitting in the middle of Dalaran among a myriad of others with silly names. A better title would have been "Master of Manimals" or even "Ruler of the RAWR-Bomb" >.>

Some of the titles sounded really neat, and I think Blizz should allow players to buy them with Achievement points after completing a specific list of criteria. Ex: unlock Crusader title for Paladins by doing all the class's quests, becoming Exalted with all major capitol cities & having done a certain amount of the "head" quests (Onyxia, Baron, Magtheridon, 5-man Kael, etc). We already have a bunch of Naaru Champions & Hands of A'dal. Why not?

[Orcala]

Sweet. At least Tigole is doing something right for a change and realizing that silly stuff like this is just going to distance the player gap even further.

I'm glad a lot of the lore-sensative ones are gone. I can't possibly see "<AFK> Arch Druid Orcala" sitting in the middle of Dalaran among a myriad of others with silly names. A better title would have been "Master of Manimals" or even "Ruler of the RAWR-Bomb" >.>

Some of the titles sounded really neat, and I think Blizz should allow players to buy them with Achievement points after completing a specific list of criteria. Ex: unlock Crusader title for Paladins by doing all the class's quests, becoming Exalted with all major capitol cities & having done a certain amount of the "head" quests (Onyxia, Baron, Magtheridon, 5-man Kael, etc). We already have a bunch of Naaru Champions & Hands of A'dal. Why not?

Beast master would have been nice

[Perthes]

Ah man!! So wrong.. JUST WRONG!!

But yes.. I agree Beast Master would be nice

[Kailand]

Sweet. At least Tigole is doing something right for a change and realizing that silly stuff like this is just going to distance the player gap even further.

I'm glad a lot of the lore-sensative ones are gone. I can't possibly see "<AFK> Arch Druid Orcala" sitting in the middle of Dalaran among a myriad of others with silly names. A better title would have been "Master of Manimals" or even "Ruler of the RAWR-Bomb" >.>

Some of the titles sounded really neat, and I think Blizz should allow players to buy them with Achievement points after completing a specific list of criteria. Ex: unlock Crusader title for Paladins by doing all the class's quests, becoming Exalted with all major capitol cities & having done a certain amount of the "head" quests (Onyxia, Baron, Magtheridon, 5-man Kael, etc). We already have a bunch of Naaru Champions & Hands of A'dal. Why not?

Beast master would have been nice

Only if a hunter can tame that druid...

[Waldonnis]

Ex: unlock Crusader title for Paladins by doing all the class's quests, becoming Exalted with all major capitol cities & having done a certain amount of the "head" quests (Onyxia, Baron, Magtheridon, 5-man Kael, etc). We already have a bunch of Naaru Champions & Hands of A'dal. Why not?

I'm not a fan of requiring raiding as part of the criteria for any lore-related (or even loosely lore-tied) title, personally, although reputations and other rather long-to-achieve criteria wouldn't be a bad idea. The reason for this is that lore-related titles shouldn't be easy to get, but also shouldn't force players into playstyles they don't want any part of or don't have a circle of friends large enough to achieve. Extensive criteria is good, but anything that would force someone like me into Arena or an Arena-junky into raiding just to achieve something tied to lore is just unfun.

I do wish they'd give some basic titles available to anyone, some of which were previously given for server firsts, like "The Forsaken" for Forsaken players. Part of the reason that people go for titles is because they like to have some flair for their characters or at least want to fit in somehow amidst the sea of Hands/Champions. Some very basic titles would also allow for a little extra roleplay flavour and aren't uncommon in other games (LotRO has titles that progressively advance as you gain strength or accomplish certain goals, as an example).

More titles were added in this latest build, so we'll see what gaps there are once those sink in...

[Waldonnis]

Northrend's recipient of the "Realm First! Grand Master Angler" is none other than...Verissi!

Apparently the achievements are not retroactive, since I *know* there was another person to hit 450 before the achievement was active, but this shouldn't be an issue on live servers.

It still indicated that a title reward was given, but I did not receive a title...which I was thankful to see, actually. I submitted a bug that the title reward text should be removed.