#0 - June 5, 2009, 10:53 p.m.
Q u o t e:
1) Stacking mostly Int isn't fun.
2) Having 70%+ overheal isn't fun.
3) Focusing so much on the main tank in a raid isn't fun.
4) Casting nothing but Holy Light isn't fun.
We do have some ideas for how to fix these problems. They aren't redesign-the-class level because frankly we don't think the class needs that, but the proposed changes would fix the above four problems. Understand though that part of reducing overhealing and being a more flexible raid healer might come with regen or mana pool nerfs. It is possible that the only thing keeping Holy paladins from being too good right now is their narrow focus.
This is the post in its entirety minus a small unrelated snippet at the top. I originally considered only posting the "this isn't fun" part, but I felt it would do Ghostcrawler an injustice to misquote (or partially quote) him on a topic that is obviously very important to me. What boggles me is that if this developer were to take a moment and sit back, and imagine he were anyone but a lead developer of a vastly successful MMORPG, how a post like that would make him feel. Essentially stating, the gearing decisions, cast rotation, and raid role of the class are all being lauded as un-fun in game that is, as games go, designed purely for entertainment (fun) value.
Now, I'm not a WoW dev, but I do play WoW, and that post really disheartened me. Why? Because its true - my class isn't fun. As a holy paladin who has raided on the character for almost 3 years, I've always known this in the back of my head, moreso when I actually bothered to level up other classes and see how they played at 80 (especially when I got a Holy Priest to 80). As a Paladin player and someone who has read and agrees with Ghostcrawler's post there is of course only one question on my mind, and I am sure, on the minds of everyone else who has agreed with his post - what is going to be done about the situation, and how soon can we expect it?
I know Blizzard is often loathe to give out estimates with any more accuracy than "soon" or "eventually" or to reveal partial-promises about things that may get changed in internal testing. But Ghostcrawler in this post has left a job half-done. He went on to explain the things he (and I am guessing the development team at large) find unfun and worthy of change about the class, but he did not go on to specify how or when such changes might be forthcoming other than that "they aren't ready". I am not one to make huge, overarching demands about how I want everything now, but as a holy paladin who also finds his class not very fun I do have two requests:
1) How soon can we expect to, realistically, see the secret developmental changes? I am not asking for something like a patch number or date, so much as something very general, like "this expansion" or "probably not until the next one". I feel its only fair to at least give a very brief idea of where you expect these changes to land, especially after the solid argument that was made of how necessary they are.
2) Again, put yourself in the shoes of a random player who plays a holy paladin - there are hundreds of thousands of us - and ask yourself if reading a post stating the core mechanics of your class were not fun, you would not want at least a basic idea of the kind of things to look forward to. It is a very disheartening thing to read with absolutely nothing to look forward to except "proposed changes will fix all this". Is there any way to let the paladin community know, in general, what sort of changes are forthcoming? Again, I am not asking for specific numbers and formula adjustments here, but some basic idea like "we are looking to change Beacon of Light but have no specifics yet" or "we would like to add a new heal, details forthcoming" would be very welcome in light of the recent "everything sucks right now" post.
I know GC says he reads every post in this forum, so I would just like to say thank you if you actually did take the minute to take a perspective of a paladin player who is disheartened by this news, and that it maybe gives you an idea of how I am feeling, and why I would ask the requests that I do.
