World of Warcraft's Plunderstorm event proves we'll put up with anything for cool transmogs

GamesMMOWorld of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft’s Plunderstorm event proves we’ll put up with anything for cool transmogsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Plunderstorm

My name is Fraser Brown and I will ruin my life for a cool in-game cosmetic item. There, I’ve said it. I feel a bit better now. Well, not that much better, because I’m painfully sleep-deprived and my back hurts from spending too much time hunched over my desk. At least I can dress my World of Warcraft toons like fancy pirates now, I guess?

I hate it. I hate it so damn much.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Plunderstorm

Granted, it’s very cool that Blizzard sprung this event on us, and I really hope we get more of these limited-time modes. Novelties like this keep me coming back. But WoW’s regular objective-based PvP modes are so much better. They’re more polished, tactical and let you use characters you’ve actually developed. The main issue I have with it, though, is that it’s a battle royale. And battle royales are bad. The novelty of the genre has worn off, and now the thought of dropping into a game and scrounging around for supplies for 20 minutes makes me want to walk straight into the storm.

I’m not much of a PvPer these days because age has dulled my desire for competition, and when you combine that with the fact that Plunderstorm is a battle royale, you’d think I’d simply avoid it. I’ve only started up WoW again after many months away, so I’ve got plenty of other things to occupy my time with. But I have to play, because I’ve gotta get these damn transmogs.

Once upon a time, I really gave a shit about raiding and ranked PvP, but these days I can’t even be arsed being in a guild. Now my power fantasy is all about being an orc or a goblin or a walking corpse with exceptional drip. I will still do some Looking For Raid, but again, just so I can expand my wardrobe. This goes for pretty much every MMO I play now. I used to be staunchly opposed to opening up my wallet for microtransactions, but I’ve spent an embarrassing amount of money playing dress-up in Guild Wars 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic. It’s really eating into my real-life clothes budget, which in turn has been eating into my food and bills budget for many years.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Plunderstorm

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

This is why, last week, I just decided not to sleep for a day.

I suspect most of these players are, like me, primarily interested in PvE. There’s a tension at the heart of Plunderstorm because Blizzard has tried to make a PvP mode that welcomes PvE players. “We want players who just want to have a good time, they go in and they want to have an awesome pirate party with their friends and collect plunder, fight monsters and play it all for the cool abilities that are in there,“Blizzard told us. “There’s a gold monster on the map that drops plunder. There are chests you can open. Even if you’re not winning, you can earn stuff, you could still have fun. That’s really what we’ve been focused on.”

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Plunderstorm

So you can play Plunderstorm like a PvE game. A clunky, boring PvE game, sure, but a PvE game all the same. But that only makes it suck so much more when someone interrupts your monster-murdering and kills you, removing you from the match. It’s hard not to resent them, despite the fact that they’re also playing the mode the way it was designed. So you’ve got these two communities, who play the mode in two distinct ways, forced to play together. And they just don’t get on.

Blizzard has done a good job of making it aless frustrating experiencethrough updates, though. I have played Plunderstorm for two days and I’m almost done. I jump in, I do my quest, and after that I usually just walk into the storm and let someone murder me. It’s a horrible way to play, but marginally better than trying to stick it out until the end of the match, which is only worth it if you claim the top spot. The amount of plunder you get has been increased, and every level on the reward track requires the same amount of renown.

Part of me wishes it was harder, I confess, because if I knew I wasn’t going to get everything, I simply wouldn’t bother. I’d be free! Brains are weird. People play games in really strange ways and have odd priorities. And lots of different priorities, too. Some folk get perverse joy from ambushing other players who are just about to open a chest after defeating a tough enemy. I, meanwhile, am a middle-aged man who’s willing to have a shit time for two days just so I can dress up a zombie like a pirate.

Of course, Blizzard knows that we’re all beholden to our weird brains. The cavalcade of rewards and the easier grind is designed to keep up playing, keep subbed, even if we’re not really having a very good time. When the next season begins, this will all be gone, so we’ve got to just grin and bear it. A community that’s ravenous for cool transmogs is easy to exploit. And all the PvE players being encouraged to jump in get fed into the PvP meat grinder, giving the PvP players a quick and bloody fix—some easy kills to reel them in.

It’s going to be really interesting to see what Blizzard’s takeaway is after the event is over. I’m sure there are fans, but all I’ve seen is PvP and PvE players yelling at each other, and folk just determined to grind the renown as fast as possible so they never need to play again. That said, the people having a shitty time are also the ones more likely to mention it. This skews the perception of the event.

Hopefully there will be some kind of post-mortem, which might also give us some insight into what Blizzard’s going to do with limited-time modes going forward. Of course, this won’t paint the full picture. More likely, we’ll just find out it was immensely popular, in terms of players numbers and time-played. But all that tells us is something we already knew: people love pirates.

TOPICSActivision Blizzard

TOPICS

More about mmoWorld of Warcraft’s most recent patch soars with fun additions that last just long enoughWorld of Warcraft’s competitive dungeon mode is struggling

More about mmo

World of Warcraft’s most recent patch soars with fun additions that last just long enoughWorld of Warcraft’s competitive dungeon mode is struggling

Image for World of Warcraft’s most recent patch soars with fun additions that last just long enough

World of Warcraft’s most recent patch soars with fun additions that last just long enough

World of Warcraft Mythic Plus screenshot

World of Warcraft’s competitive dungeon mode is struggling

Latest

Dead By Daylight: The Junji Ito Collection

See more latest►

Most Popular

The Witcher 3’s now 2-year-old bonus quest is our first taste of the ‘vibe’ CD Projekt is going for in The Witcher 4

2024 was the year updates for old games beat out all the new ones for me

Train like you game with this adventure-inspired workout

‘It’s simply impossible to make a difficulty level that’s just right for all players’: How Final Fantasy 14’s lead battle designer has been playing a precarious balancing game for Dawntrail’s dungeons and raids

Please join me in getting super excited for all the cool looking survival games coming in 2025 (and beyond)

Competitive shooters are at a crucial crossroads in 2025: ‘sweaty’ teamplay vs. casual fun

Call of Duty’s $28 Squid Game skins are the perfect crossover for our capitalist dystopia, and Activision knows exactly what it’s doing

These are the 14 biggest upcoming RPGs of 2025—get ready for another amazing year for the genre

Five new Steam games you probably missed (January 6, 2025)

I’ve seen enough: No more forcing singleplayer studios to make mediocre live service games

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals