Why is the loot always white, green, blue, purple and gold?

Whether MMORPG or single-player game: In many games we are presented with items in the colors white, green, blue, purple or gold. But where does this well-known color code come from?

For years, we players have been drawn to the familiar color code on items that indicates their value or effectiveness: white is less good, while the best gear is purple or gold. Some games vary with their item colors, but many stick to the code that has been with us for years.

This article originally appeared in 2019 and was last pulled up on Easter 2022.

Where does the well-known color code come from?

Many of you will surely think of World of Warcraft first when you hear about the well-known colors for items. However, you are only partially correct, because the color code was already introduced in earlier games.

Item color codes were used in early internet games. For example, there were the so-called BBS-Door games, which were run on computer systems known as mailboxes. One of the most famous BBS games, Legend of the Red Dragon, already used a color system to indicate the rarity of items.

The color scheme was probably only made palatable to the broad mass of players with the release of Diablo 2 in June 2000. The ARPG introduced a rudimentary version of the color code that is still in use today.

The code was expanded in the MMORPG Dark Age of Camelot, which was released in October 2001. However, the colors of the items depended on the level of one’s hero: gray items were far below the hero’s level, while yellow items were optimal. Orange, red, and purple items were over the character’s level.

World of Warcraft sets the standard

Thanks to the popularity of World of Warcraft as of November 2004, we players are still chasing multicolored loot today. Blizzard’s MMORPG introduced the code that indicates the quality of different items: grey, white, green, blue, purple, orange and with the heirlooms also yellow.

With the success of WoW, other games adopted this color scheme, and the code is particularly popular in MMORPGs and MMOs. In addition to WoW, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Guild Wars 2, among others, also use colored items, albeit with slight variations.

As more and more games adopted the color code, the players got used to this system. The color scheme is now so well known and so easy to understand that many games still use the color code today.

In which games is the code still used?

Besides the classic MMORPGs, other games have also adopted the color scheme, so colored items are now found in a variety of different genres. Shooter fans may know the code from Destiny 2 or The Division, but it is also used in the Battle Royale hit Fortnite.

The colored items can even be found in single-player games: Among other things, the action-adventures Kingdoms of Amalur and Darksiders 2 have adopted the pattern known from WoW.

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