Promises to Warlocks broken?

#0 - March 13, 2009, 4:07 p.m.

Warlock were told a lot of fixes were coming our way in 3.1 and we have yet to see any changes implemented that will address them. We also haven't been told by blizzard that these changes are still forthcoming. If they were really planning a complete revamp of warlock pvp I'd expect that these changes would already be on the PTR so we could test it thoroughly.

Soul Shards

We were told some changes were coming. Instead drain soul gets more shards than before but the system is otherwise unchanged. For pvp, 41/30, and chaos bolt builds, the drain soul change is not very helpful. Why haven't we seen more?

PVP

Warlocks, already at the bottom of arena brackets, saw their best talent tree for pvp (affliction) get pvp nerfs while demo remained pretty much unchanged and destruction got a 6% damage reduction. 6% damage reduction is really nothing. Instead of taking 10,000 damage in a cheap shot I'll take 9,400. This is not going to make a big difference for warlock survivability. Moreover, its placement in the destruction tree does nothing for the best (but nerfed) pvp spec - haunt/SL.

The glyph for shadowflame is only moderately helpful. Warlocks need an escape from melee. Snaring a rogue or a warrior doesn't do much when I already likely have crippling poison or hamstring on me. Moreover, rogues can CloS the snare off since it is a magic effect and warriors can intercept.

The glyph for soul link helps but it's still taking warlocks in the wrong direction. Soul link is a band-aid that really needs to be removed and be replaced with something else. Now we're more reliant on it than before. So not only is our pvp survivability balanced on a talent, it's balanced around a glyphed talent. This is just laziness from the devs.

There were a lot of great ideas vis-a-vis warlock pvp survivability and all we got was a glyph for soul link and shadowflame. I don't recall anyone asking for those so what was the purpose of the feedback?

Destruction

Is there any reason to go past 30 points in destruction? It's just a mess up there and theorycrafting shows both affliction and 41/30 to be stronger. Moreover, talents and glyphs contradict each other - other posts have gone into this with more depth - making it clear the developers haven't yet reconciled immolate and conflagrate. Chaos bolt is quite underwhelming and the whole pierces absorption effects isn't really that helpful.

Spells we don't use

We had a whole long thread about spells we never use. What changes have come because of this? What was the point of all that feedback if nothing was going to change?

Conclusion

We were told there would be a revamp of the soul shard system. We got none. Our best pvp spec got nerfed and the pvp changes we've seen so far are lackluster glyphs unlikely to make any difference. Destruction still isn't worth it past 30 points and meta still has the same weaknesses.

I really don't understand why we haven't seen more drastic changes to warlocks in each of these areas. We were told changes were forthcoming and yet little has changed. Blizzard really needs to let us know whether more changes are on the way and, if not, what was the point of all that feedback?

Ghostcrawler

#38 - March 14, 2009, 6:42 p.m.

We don't promise class fixes. That would be very stupid of us.

Hyperbole does not make your point more poignant, and in fact attracts this kind of attention (the wrong kind) instead of actual discussions about your class.

Ghostcrawler

#55 - March 14, 2009, 7:41 p.m.

To all the "Why did you post here" responses:

1) You aren't supposed to complain about where blues post. We ask you not to. It just ends up being controversial.

2) I try not to post in good discussion threads, because it often derails them.

I actually read this thread, because it got on track despite a silly title. However, the chance of getting a blue post at all is pretty slim for even the best of threads. You should not ever post with the expectation of one, and many of our responses are going to be trying to nudge the forums towards improvement rather than a simple Q&A with the developers.

Ghostcrawler

#128 - March 15, 2009, 6:43 p.m.

Q u o t e:
No, on Blizzard's private forums, they don't. In fact, continuing to discuss/complain/talk/whine about things you have specifically been told not to is a very good way to join the many people who mistakenly thought they could continue to rant and rave without fear of repercussion and found themselves with temporary or, in some cases, permanent vacations from the forums as a result.

These are our forums. We make the rules. If you don't like the rules, then don't post.

These forums are here for discussion of class issues. Every time you talk about the developers or Blizzard, you are probably not discussing class issues.

The title of the thread is inappropriate. The sense of entitlement is inappropriate. Calling us poopyheads because you didn't like the changes we made for 3.1 is inappropriate. Posting to say you feel ignored is inappropriate. These class role forums are not for venting nor for customer service.

If you need one simple rule to follow: talk about the game.

If you feel weak in PvP, discuss that. If you don't like shard mechanics, discuss that. If you have said all you can say on the subject, then just stop posting. We spend entirely too much time on these forums discussing how to post on these forums. If you are smart enough to be at all good in a game as complicated as WoW, you are smart enough to figure out how to provide feedback on the game in an intelligent and civil manner.

And if you can't, you won't be posting here for long. If that happens, you probably lose the chance that any developers will read your feedback. The choice is yours.