#0 - Nov. 29, 2008, 5:55 p.m.
The unique purpose and identity of each class has become rather diseased. For instance, priests used to be, hands down, the most powerful and the most rapid healers in the early days of WoW. In exchange for superiority in direct healing, priests were given virtually no way to recover mana after it was lost, except for regening it during combat or gaining some kind of buff from another class. They had a recognizeable weakness and a recognizeable strength. During that same period, druids and shamans had a couple ways to restore their own mana and others' mana -- but their ability to heal was somewhat stunted in comparison to that of priests. They were given longevity and more support abilities in exchange for their own weakness in that particular area. Paladins were in their own boat, having probably the best independant healing longevity of any other healing class in the game, but having the worst group healing ability out of anyone. Again, a very clear strength and a very clear weakness.
Look what has happened since then: as it stands today, the entire relationship that I just described has been annihilated and is no longer existing in the game. Priests have mana restorative abilities like shadowfiend and hymn of hope -- stuff that traditionally belonged to shamans and druids. This was part of their plan to "round things out" between the healers. Druids suffered too: they used to be recognized as highly mobile healers whose strength lied in very large heals that could be cast instantly. Well, that is no longer the case: priests have as many, or -- if you're specced right -- more instant heals than druids now. Similar things happened to paladins: their traditionally weak group healing has been artificially strengthened by abilities like beacon of light.
The same sort of thing has happened to tanking classes and most of all damage dealing classes.
The end result: no class has any strong identifiable weakness or strength in one area, and everybody is now interchangeable and exchangeable within any of the game's three main roles. Is that a good thing? I suppose to some people who are just never happy until their class can do anything as well as anyone else, it's a godsend. But to many of us who actually care about the idea of each class having a unique purpose and identity, it is the bane of RPG's. All classes are not equal, nor should they be able to fill in the same role as effectively as everyone else. They should have strengths and weaknesses, WITHIN each of the three gameplay roles, tanking, healing, and damage dealing. Right now, they do not -- at least not to the degree that they should.
Blizzard has said that from now on, they want you to be able to ignore class and choose people for groups on the basis of player ability, yet they also say that they are against class homogenization. Well, that's a bold-faced lie because you can't have it both ways, and Blizzard's past history of changes contradicts that notion. If you want people to pick by the player, then you would have to make the classes more interchangeable (homogenized). If you want to avoid class homogenization, then you have to distinguish the classes more. So do both how? You can't, and there is only one right approach here. Stop rounding out the classes.
I realize that many of the people on this board will immediately call this a supremacy post pertaining to only one class, or a whining post, or something else of the like. And that Blizzard CM's might come in here and downplay the issue entirely and say that nothing has really changed at all, even though it flies directly in the face of the obvious. Hopefully those who can think broadly enough to look past their individual class and to the real matter at hand will be educated by this.
