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Might of US-Turalyon released another heroic video last night, this one of their Blood Queen Lana'thel kill. Check it out below, or watch it on YouTube.
In addition to this, Wraith of EU-Sargeras released a video of their Sindragosa heroic kill. Watch it below, or on YouTube.
DKs in PvP
An interesting thread that I think deserves attention. It's not an informative blue post, but it's one that can help to promote change for Death Knights in PvP.
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Quote from: Ghostcrawler (Source)
So for those of you not happy with being paired with a warrior, what comps do you see yourself potentially fitting in and what changes would it take to make that comp workable? Are you looking for mage-DK-priest?
(Saying "I should be able to play with anyone" is a fine goal, but deficient enough in details so as to not be super useful.)
We're much more interested in discussions like that than we are "Buff Scourge Strike so I can hit harder" or "Change all these talents so I have more answers." We're looking for a bit more context.
So for those of you not happy with being paired with a warrior, what comps do you see yourself potentially fitting in and what changes would it take to make that comp workable? Are you looking for mage-DK-priest?
(Saying "I should be able to play with anyone" is a fine goal, but deficient enough in details so as to not be super useful.)
We're much more interested in discussions like that than we are "Buff Scourge Strike so I can hit harder" or "Change all these talents so I have more answers." We're looking for a bit more context.
Blue Posts
A handful of interesting blue posts from yesterday. I don't know about you all, but I'm very anxious for the StarCraft II beta to start.
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Cataclysm goals (Source)
I think some of you are misinterpreting a couple of the Cataclysm goals.
We're not "overhauling the combat system." We are changing some lame stats to be more interesting (like Intellect) and removing some that just added complexity to the game without adding depth (like armor pen, which is pretty much just damage modified by how much physical damage you do). We are adding more health across the board, but that's to add a few seconds in between the time you take damage and the time you die, which we think will improve both PvE and PvP.
We're also not trying to "dumb down stats." Complexity and depth are two different things. Depth is really important to us. Without it, the game starts to get predictable and stale. Complexity can be a route to depth, but it doesn't have to be. The game of go has very simple rules but almost limitless depth (you can use chess if you aren't familiar with go). The game tic-tac-toe has very simple rules and almost no depth. It's hard to come up with examples that lots of players will get for games with too much complexity and not enough depth, mostly because those games either never become widely popular or don't endure. Ever heard the phrase "quick to learn but a lifetime to master?" That's depth.
Yes, we are messing with talent trees, but a simple skimming of the forums should suggest why. There are too many talents that have little depth but are mandatory (most of the talents right about the 51-pointer). There are possibly interesting talents that you can't afford because of the passive dps / healing / tanking increasers. There are also modifications we need to make just because you'll have 5 more talent points. There are also talents that we have modified along the course of LK in the name of closer spec balance that are now out of budget. We're not deleting any talent trees and starting over. We're trying to make them more interesting and more fun.
Keeping interesting talents in Cataclysm (Source)
Yes, all of those are "interesting." Sure reducing cooldown or cast time is just a dps (or healing) increase, but it does so in a way that requires more on the part of the player than just passively boosting dps (or healing). It changes your rotation depending on whether you have that talent or not. It makes your dps tree play differently from your healing tree.
Everyone can come up with the example of "I think X talent is really fun, but I only have 2 free points in my build, so I can't get it." We'd like to see that 2 be a much larger number, like 10 or more.
Another way to think about it is that every talent in say the Elemental tree also says "...and increases your spell damage." That's the bonus you get just for investing in the tree.
Talents are one of the few choices with regard to customizing their character that players really get. Gear is often subject to random elements or even whether you have access to the content or not. Everyone gets the same spells as they level. We can't get away from cookie-cutter builds completely, but we can have more of the type that say "and spend your last several points wherever you want."
Spirit and MP5: The Cataclysmic Combination (Source)
I was about to write what I often do about healer mana management, which is that without mana being a consideration, healing is boring because you can just use your most powerful spell non-stop. Then I read your second paragraph, and it seems like you sort of agree with that. Imagine then that both MP5 and Spirit are going away and being replaced by a new stat called "Regen." Then imagine that a few weeks down the road, we decided that "Spirit" was a sexier name than "Regen."
Class synergy in PvP and PvE (Source)
Class synergy matters a lot more in PvP than in PvE. As a very simple example, chaining crowd control with different diminishing returns is almost non-existent in PvE. Therefore, classes with different forms of crowd control play very well together in PvP. To break that (to make class synergy not matter), we'd have to make all CC's DR with each other. I think it would get worse than that though. I think you'd have to give just about every ability to every class for fear that you might be missing one if you just paired with 2 other random players. It takes a whole raid to get almost one of everything in PvE and that's with a lot of homogenization on our part. We like that class comp matters in Arenas. It really doesn't much in BGs.
I also understand that there is a component of players who liked the aspect of BC Arenas where you could pretty much go in with anything and eventually get good gear. Maybe there is a way to still have a place for that, but we backed off of it because too many players were opting for Arena over PvE content simply because the loot per unit effort was so generous. Adding a skill component to earn the best PvP loot pushed some players back into PvE to earn the best gear.
Druid
Owlkin Frenzy: Should it be buffed? (Source)
I don't think Owlkin Frenzy would be a good area to buff Balance burst damage in PvP. It's very dependent on actually being the one focused. That almost by definition is not "on demand."
I also don't think it's a great place to buff them for PvE. There are fights without a lot of predictable raid damage, and void zone diving shouldn't be critical in keeping your dps up.
Warrior
Revenge and high rage situations (Source)
I suspect we will buff Revenge to make it more attractive to push even in high rage situations.
I think some of you are misinterpreting a couple of the Cataclysm goals.
We're not "overhauling the combat system." We are changing some lame stats to be more interesting (like Intellect) and removing some that just added complexity to the game without adding depth (like armor pen, which is pretty much just damage modified by how much physical damage you do). We are adding more health across the board, but that's to add a few seconds in between the time you take damage and the time you die, which we think will improve both PvE and PvP.
We're also not trying to "dumb down stats." Complexity and depth are two different things. Depth is really important to us. Without it, the game starts to get predictable and stale. Complexity can be a route to depth, but it doesn't have to be. The game of go has very simple rules but almost limitless depth (you can use chess if you aren't familiar with go). The game tic-tac-toe has very simple rules and almost no depth. It's hard to come up with examples that lots of players will get for games with too much complexity and not enough depth, mostly because those games either never become widely popular or don't endure. Ever heard the phrase "quick to learn but a lifetime to master?" That's depth.
Yes, we are messing with talent trees, but a simple skimming of the forums should suggest why. There are too many talents that have little depth but are mandatory (most of the talents right about the 51-pointer). There are possibly interesting talents that you can't afford because of the passive dps / healing / tanking increasers. There are also modifications we need to make just because you'll have 5 more talent points. There are also talents that we have modified along the course of LK in the name of closer spec balance that are now out of budget. We're not deleting any talent trees and starting over. We're trying to make them more interesting and more fun.
Keeping interesting talents in Cataclysm (Source)
Yes, all of those are "interesting." Sure reducing cooldown or cast time is just a dps (or healing) increase, but it does so in a way that requires more on the part of the player than just passively boosting dps (or healing). It changes your rotation depending on whether you have that talent or not. It makes your dps tree play differently from your healing tree.
Everyone can come up with the example of "I think X talent is really fun, but I only have 2 free points in my build, so I can't get it." We'd like to see that 2 be a much larger number, like 10 or more.
Another way to think about it is that every talent in say the Elemental tree also says "...and increases your spell damage." That's the bonus you get just for investing in the tree.
Talents are one of the few choices with regard to customizing their character that players really get. Gear is often subject to random elements or even whether you have access to the content or not. Everyone gets the same spells as they level. We can't get away from cookie-cutter builds completely, but we can have more of the type that say "and spend your last several points wherever you want."
Spirit and MP5: The Cataclysmic Combination (Source)
I was about to write what I often do about healer mana management, which is that without mana being a consideration, healing is boring because you can just use your most powerful spell non-stop. Then I read your second paragraph, and it seems like you sort of agree with that. Imagine then that both MP5 and Spirit are going away and being replaced by a new stat called "Regen." Then imagine that a few weeks down the road, we decided that "Spirit" was a sexier name than "Regen."
Class synergy in PvP and PvE (Source)
Class synergy matters a lot more in PvP than in PvE. As a very simple example, chaining crowd control with different diminishing returns is almost non-existent in PvE. Therefore, classes with different forms of crowd control play very well together in PvP. To break that (to make class synergy not matter), we'd have to make all CC's DR with each other. I think it would get worse than that though. I think you'd have to give just about every ability to every class for fear that you might be missing one if you just paired with 2 other random players. It takes a whole raid to get almost one of everything in PvE and that's with a lot of homogenization on our part. We like that class comp matters in Arenas. It really doesn't much in BGs.
I also understand that there is a component of players who liked the aspect of BC Arenas where you could pretty much go in with anything and eventually get good gear. Maybe there is a way to still have a place for that, but we backed off of it because too many players were opting for Arena over PvE content simply because the loot per unit effort was so generous. Adding a skill component to earn the best PvP loot pushed some players back into PvE to earn the best gear.
Druid
Owlkin Frenzy: Should it be buffed? (Source)
I don't think Owlkin Frenzy would be a good area to buff Balance burst damage in PvP. It's very dependent on actually being the one focused. That almost by definition is not "on demand."
I also don't think it's a great place to buff them for PvE. There are fights without a lot of predictable raid damage, and void zone diving shouldn't be critical in keeping your dps up.
Warrior
Revenge and high rage situations (Source)
I suspect we will buff Revenge to make it more attractive to push even in high rage situations.
Boom De Yada by Irdeen
This is a pretty awesome video by Irdeen. All of you nostalgic fans who remember the classic content will enjoy quite a few parts of it.
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