World of Warcraft Q&A

1Up has published a short Q&A with Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan, quizzing the World of Warcraft lead designer about the game's upcoming v1.10 patch. An excerpt to follow:
Q: Like most MMOs, and even going back to games like Blizzard's own classic Diablo II, one of the big reasons people keep coming back day after day is to get better stuff; primarily armor and weapons. What's your priority in the constant adjustments in endgame armor sets? To make them more effective, to look way cooler than lower level players (adding distinction to high level players), or a combination of both? The reason I ask is because I saw a level 60 Druid with moose antlers. I don't know about the next guy, but I don't wanna be level 60 with moose antlers (Thank god I'm a hunter). What's your criteria in designing endgame armor?

A: We certainly do want to differentiate between high level and low level players, appearance-wise. When it comes to designing armor, we do want some distinct and eye-catching looks out there, but that's entirely separate from the actual game design behind the armor. With armor, we want to make sure the spectrum is covered; it's one of the major ways to customize your character's power and abilities, so when creating new armor, we make sure to fill any holes within that spectrum that exist. As far as looks go, we do our best to keep the appearance consistent with the Warcraft style people know and enjoy.