World of Warcraftis changing how Gear Trading works in Patch 10.1,Embers of Neltharion. While this change will be a net positive for mostWorld of Warcraftplayers, a small group may be in trouble when Patch 10.1 goes live.
Gear Trading is the mechanic that allows players to freely exchange Soulbound drops from dungeons andraids with otherWorld of Warcraftplayers who were eligible to loot the item. As it is now, the system allows these pieces of equipment to be traded until two hours of online game time has elapsed, or until the item is equipped or sold.
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A recentbuild of theDragonflightPatch 10.1 Public Test Realmsaw these rules changed slightly. Players now have up to four hours to trade gear looted from dungeon and raid bosses before it becomes permanently Soulbound to them. However, this increased timer continues ticking even while offline, rather than stopping until you log back in again.
For most players, this change will be a net positive–if it affects them at all. Few players raid for more than four hours at a time, so this extended duration means they can focus on fighting bosses, without needing to lose momentum by stopping to distribute gear part way through raid night. The added flexibility will save most casualWorld of Warcraftplayers some unneeded stress.
That said, a small group of players will be negatively affected by this change. Hardcore raiders and Mythic+ dungeon delvers inWorld of Warcraftsometimes freeze their loot by logging out until the weekly reset to see their gear from the Great Vault to decide if a dungeon or raid drop would be useful for them. High-endWorld of Warcraftguildswho participate in races to world first will also suffer, as figuring out the optimal characters to give gear to is a process that sometimes takes hours or even days. With the Gear Trading timer counting down even while offline, these players will have to split loot on the fly, possibly hurting their chances at claiming world first.
Nevertheless, unlessWorld of Warcraftreverses this decision, players will have to adapt to these new limitations with Gear Trading if they want to win the world first race. WithEmbers of Neltharionreleasing on May 2, endgame raiders only have a few weeks until the next raid tier.Aberrus opens forWorld of Warcraftplayers on May 9, so world first racers will have to figure out how to adjust quickly. Luckily, Liquid, Method, and the other major guilds will all have to deal with this new restriction in their own way, so everyone will be on an even playing field.
