Druids response to the new Swipe..

#0 - March 14, 2009, 4:47 p.m.

Q u o t e:
Swipe: The Bear Form and Dire Bear Form version of this ability no longer has a targeting requirement and hits targets behind the druid and to the sides

Good Change: Swipe no longer has a target requirment
Bad Change: Swipe hits targets from behind the druid and to the sides

Okay, so judging from other threads and whatnot most druids love the no target requirement while many dislike the idea of a 360 degree swipe. It just seems spammy and unskillful and takes away the ounce of flavor that druids AOE tanking had. It also requires us to spam swipe every GCD. Here are a few suggestions which would make a lot more sense to swipe.

1. Change swipe to have a 180 degree radius
2. Either let infected wounds include swipe or let swipe give off a lacerate bleed.

Infected wounds would slow down the mobs and let us gather them without straggaling away giving us additional time to get threat on them

Giving Swipe a lacerate bleed would let druids use other abilities instead of always having to spam swipe every GCD. It would also make us use it constantly to keep up the bleed stack.

Im not asking for both infected wounds and lacerate to be applyed, but just one or the other -- and to sacrafice gaining this we would lose 180 radius of swipe.

Ghostcrawler

#42 - March 14, 2009, 7:15 p.m.

We can't really design by community consensus, because the community is never going to agree on anything much beyond a change that reads "Your class now does 10% more damage and healing."

For that reason, players should avoid trying to speak for the entire class community on changes, or use forum post volume or intensity as any kind of suggestion that they speak for a majority.

When an issue comes up, we evaluate it and see what other players feel about the change. But ultimately it's always going to come down to whether we think it is a good change or not. We use feedback to make informed decisions, not to make the decisions for us.

Per this and the similar thread on Swipe's range, we'll test it to make sure it is working correctly. I don't have the PTR available on this laptop that I am using here on the back of a yacht in the Mediterranean. (But the mussels make it all worth while.)

Ghostcrawler

#64 - March 14, 2009, 7:59 p.m.

Q u o t e:
Has anyone ever noticed that a GC post immediately brings all the morons talking about PvP to a thread? Is it just me

I'm not calling anyone here a moron, but I want to quote this because it is one of the reasons I choose not to post to certain threads, especially good ones.

I'm going to regret derailing this thread any further, but I don't think it is a good strategy to balance around arena representation. I'm not saying there are not good data there -- there absolutely are. However, consider:

1) You can parse those data a lot of different ways. I have seen players list just gladiators, just 2s, just the top 100, or many other ways to break up the data that most supports their argument. Data never tells, shows or proves anything. At most, it suggests trends. It is the interpretation that is important.

2) Certain specs or comps are low because others are high. If you nerf A and buff B, you might create more imbalance whereas if you had just nerfed A, everything would have fallen into place. Are Ferals low because DKs are high? Is it because burst damage is too good? Is it because the classes that counter druids also counter the classes that are dominating Arenas? Is it because the classes that complement druids well are too weak? It is much more complicated than "X is low, so buff X."

3) Power and popularity have a correlation but it is not 1.0. In other words, there is a relationship between the two, but more things influence that relationship. Some classes or specs are not popular for reasons that have less to do with their potential to win an Arena match. Some players don't care at all about being well-rounded in other aspects of the game and just want a killer Arena character. Others gravitate towards certain specs because it meshes with their own playstyle. Part of DK popularity is certainly because they have been overpowered. But they are also novel and fun.

Ghostcrawler

#184 - March 16, 2009, 8:28 p.m.

Q u o t e:
In this thread, GC stated: "Per this and the similar thread on Swipe's range, we'll test it to make sure it is working correctly."
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Just to note, the language is very neutral. It neither suggests or denies that the current range of 5 yards is the "correct" range.

The correct range for the new, 360 Swipe should be 8 yards. It appears to only be 5 in your version of the data.