#1 - Sept. 12, 2018, 4:55 p.m.
TL;DR - Old content would sometimes apply a raid wide mob debuff on a set schedule, and it was applied game-wide. This, instead, is a naturally evolving nerf to the raid, attached to your personal progress.
https://www.wowhead.com/news=287086/the-effect-of-reorigination-array-in-uldir
It's kind of clever, I don't see what the problem is with a game-wide static effect, but it's something else that you can earn. However the article itself illustrates that the team is being too clever by half with this system:
- The tooltip doesn't describe what the actual effect is, you have to get the buff to see it.
- There's no explanation of stacking effects with dupes on other AA pieces or with trinket effects (this is a broader issue with Azerite Armor effects).
- The "hidden quest" system that bolsters this effect over time is just that: hidden. Looks like wowhead got this stuff from datamining. This should be visible in-game.
If I'm relying on a 3rd party site to datamine core game mechanics and explain their functionality, there's a problem.
These BfA systems are complex, but were delivered with zero communication effort. The overall sense of frustration coming from the community is, in my mind, attached not to disappointment with in-game features, but rather the team's seeming inability to tell us anything about them until after the fact.
Based on my own corporate experience, I'd venture to guess we're seeing the effects of an internal comms breakdown between game design and community management. If Design doesn't send specifics to Community, and/or if Community doesn't maintain equivalent access to systems in development, feedback suffers and you get the fustercluck we've seen lately:
- Class-specific buffs - What happened to "bring the player not the class?"
- Azerite Traits - I still don't know if any of them stack
- AA tradeability - A blue-guided thread woulda nipped this one
- Release schedule - Mythic+, PVP, and Raid all same week?
- Warfronts - Hype machine + unexplained swap timeline + faction imbalance for early gear availability
- Mythic+ chest item count - there's zero chance you didn't know that the multiple piece drop system was expected by the community
- Mythic+ chest item level - It's so confusing, Ythisens had to correct himself. Why is there a distinction in the first place?
- Reorigination Array - see above
As my post count can attest, I'm not prolific in the forums, but I wanted to get my thoughts out on what I have seen as a series of missteps from a company I like that typically handles these things with more proficiency.
Any of you guys see things differently?
#BetaForAzeroth