Unlockable equipment, where are you now?

All right, first off, I know I will be burned in effigy by some players for even starting this thread. I understand, but guys, hear me out.

For the last several years we've had a variety of new equipment based power sets come out, starting with Dual Pistols, that have had no unlockable item options. And personally, I'd like to see more earnable, in game rewards made availible, encouraging players to play the game, rather than just throw Paragon points at their desires. Crey CB-X9 pistols for Dual Pistols, Nemesis Staves for Titan Weapons. Arachnos Maces for maces. Circle of Thorns staves for Staff Melee.

Now, in light of the current play environment, and to not exceed the patience level of the current crop of players, we should consider some guidelines.

A: Most unlocks should be earnable by midgame. And by midgame, I mean 25th-35th level. Back before the Atlas/Mercy revamp, my Natural and Science origin characters could get Council weapons well before 10th level. They still stand a chance, but they aren't earning credit towards that until they leave the starting zone anymore. Is there really a reason a simple giant clown mallet isn't an option until 40+? (And I'm ignoring the very valid option of getting your Incarnate buddies to help you out here.)

B: High level unlocks should be worth the effort. The Rularuu gear is a perfectly good example of this. It is shiny, has high detail textures, and the bloody eyes move! Roman armor, on the other hand, or the perviously mentioned hammers are not. They are pretty stock costume parts, suitable for any number of core character concepts.

C: Earning an unlock should take a reasonable amount of time. The tommy gun is a perfect example of where this fails. I cannot think of a single spot Blueside that has a reasonable number of Consigliere spawns*, and Redside the only spot is way up in the 45-50th level section of St. Martial. Rikti weapons are kind of in the middle: back when invasion weekends were more common, even a lowbie could get a signature weapon without too much difficulty. But they are pretty nifty.

And that's my wild thought of the day. Excelcior!

*- If the Devs want us to spend time in Independance Port, upgrading some of the Family spawns in the SW corner to have higher boss probabilities would do it.

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I agree with all those points, with the addition that stuff should NOT be bloody convoluted to get (Rularuu kit Redside, where it's only an option on certain arcs) or where it is entirely side locked (looking at YOU, Redcap daggers and Taskforce Epaulets!)

In-game unlocks are good. The Council weapons are spot on perfect, in my opinion; beat up goons, take their stuff. Brilliant.
Having to farm Fake Nem bosses, or grind Family Bosses? Not to mention the 50-locked Incarnate armour....

I /Sign this

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Me too. I've never really understood some of the decisions to put up a level barricade for unlockable generic weapons. For the most part I don't even bother trying to figure out what's unlockable or not, nor do I bother trying to find out what I have to do in order to get those items. I discovered that they just weren't worth my time or energy. If I'm creating a character that a particular costume part would be perfect for, I don't want to wait until level 40 to start running Task Forces or Trials (both of which fall pretty solidly into my Not Fun category) for a chance that I might, maybe, possibly, get that item one day. Maybe even by the time I hit the level cap and move on to another character.

I like the idea of unlockable content. In fact, I love it. But, the way it's been done so far in this game has caused me to ignore any of it.

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