Why is Blizzard ignoring Class issues?

#0 - Feb. 9, 2008, 9:16 a.m.

When will blizzard finally ATTEMPT to solve the issues that classes are having? I have 3 level 70 toons, nearly 4, and can say that every single class has huge talent/skill issues that need looking into.

I didn't really expect any major class changes in 2.4, simply because I as a warlock have gotten used to nerf after nerf each patch without any attention at all to the issues my class is having. And to all the QQ pvpers no im not talking about that.

Warlocks have an outrageous amount of worthless talents/spells that have gone unchanged since I have started playing this game 3 years ago. Can anyone tell me a use for "Detect Invis" before Mages got invisibility? Even know its pretty useless.

-Firestones=LOL
-Spellstones have limited to no use
-Master Conjourer is a talent that improves the 2 stones listed above from totally useless to very useless
-even without instant corruption, you have the coefficient of it
-soul shards limit the class in no way aside from bag space
-I need to have my succubus on stay before she casts seduce, because if I move then she moves thereby breaking the seduce
-the only way to remove soul link from my pet is sacrificing it
-Cataclysm=mana cost savings of 1 SB every 20 for 5 whole talent points
-Aftermath is a talent that sounds nice for leveling, but destruction is awful for leveling so nobody takes it
-improved lash of pain is improving the dps of a pet that nearly always is 1 shotted and has awful dps anyway
-improved enslave demon is a pointless talent since warlocks rarely ever enslave anything
-Mind vision doesn't aggro mobs yet eye of kilrogg does
-Pets scale terribly (with nearly 14k hp my succubus barely has 4k and next to 0 armor and very little dps)
-rain of fire is obsolete
-hellfire is only good for suiciding
-doomguard and infernal are obsolete
-improved firebolt is a ridiculous talent because if you spec into it fully it goes beyond the GCD of the imp so becomes pointless to take, ntm why improve an imp's dps when he is only used for blood pact.

these are just some of the issues warlock's have. I am not QQ for warlock buffs or anything here, I am asking for blizzard to acknowledge that classes have issues that need working and useless talents/skills.

I could talk about how prot wars reverse scale with gear (good gear=gg tanking a lower lvl instance) or the vast amount of useless totems and abilities shams have, the point is that these are the issues that need looking into.

These things have been untouched or acknowledged forever now. Why isn't anything being done to change them? I didn't expect any sweeping class changes in 2.4, I guess just something to help fix the issues classes have with their skills/talents.

For some reason though, I become less and less surprised each patch.

Nethaera

#4 - Feb. 9, 2008, 4:01 p.m.

No one is ignoring anything. We've made it clear that we are taking in class feedback from the feedback threads and that players would not see big changes to classes when patch 2.4.0 went on the PTR. Instead we're focusing on making changes over a period of time during the ptr as we feel they are necessary. This allows us to get better results out of testing and allows us to get the best data available.

We've made lots of changes in the past only to sometimes remove or tweak them during a patch to equally negative reaction, so while we may get some people upset that were expecting more right away, we are going to still progress through the testing period with all due care.

Many people are reacting to the notes as if these are final. There will no doubt be additions and changes to them during the period of time in which it is tested. How many or how few depend on the actual testing and what we think will work out best.

Nethaera

#22 - Feb. 9, 2008, 4:09 p.m.

Q u o t e:

what's your personal opinion about the nerdrage threads about attunements?

I'm not going to share opinion other than passionate people that care, post. That is to be expected.

Change happens. Some people will appreciate the change, others will view it as the end of their world as they know it.

When we changed the requirements to get into Heroics, some viewed it (and still do) as a horrible change, in the meantime, many people have been enjoying this change and have been able to rejoin their friends and guildmates in taking on the Heroics they were struggling to get to in the past.

What I think is best is what I tend to say every time we release a test client for people to participate in, go, test, give feedback.

I also find it unlikely that too many people are going to find it to be a walk in the park in either Hyjal or Black Temple. They will still need to have the 'right stuff' so to speak to get the job done. But, again, it's about the opportunity being opened up to players that may not have had that chance for a long while yet.

Nethaera

#26 - Feb. 9, 2008, 4:11 p.m.

Q u o t e:

They're making your work on a Saturday eh?

I'm just keeping an eye on things since there are some realm issues being handled. Being a part of a Community Team means you're there 24/7 just in case you're needed.

I also happen to have internet and a computer at home. It makes it easy. ;)

Nethaera

#102 - Feb. 9, 2008, 4:48 p.m.

Q u o t e:

Translation: Neth's realm is down as well, so she's coming to the forums to commiserate with the rest of us saps.

Mine is available actually. My character is dead because I was alt-tabbed out. ;)

I don't know how people expect me to respond to accusations of lying, bluffing, and hyperbole about what our plans are or are not.

Being that this is an MMO, balance is always an ongoing goal. To claim that there is conscientious choice to make one class overpowered over another for the sake of driving subscriptions is a bit ludicrous.

I can't promise what changes are on the way, because if those ideas change, people will be disappointed. I'd rather stick to giving out the information I can as it comes along. We have more things planned that we will be adding to the patch. I don't have a time frame to share with you on additions and changes but it will be over the course of testing. I can't say 'this class' is up first or even how much anyone can expect. I'm not going to pin myself to that. ;)

You can choose to believe that we are paying attention to what players feel are top issues or not, just keep in mind, we take in feedback from many venues including internal data. We'll be making changes when we feel they are the right changes to make and even then, may have to tweak those changes for balance.

Constructive feedback is always welcome. Other less constructive and destructive posting is not.

Nethaera

#121 - Feb. 9, 2008, 5:01 p.m.

Q u o t e:

You'll have to excuse us Neth, but in the past it's almost always the fact that the initial patch notes will be 80% set in stone. It sounds like you're changing things up a bit, and I can honestly say that if you made some sort of official sticky that outlined the change in the PTR process, a lot of this heartache and whining you're seeing now could have been averted.

Talk to us. It helps.

I'll take the suggestion to the rest of the team. We actually have been saying these things for awhile now, but apparently, many people have missed it.

Unfortunately, stickies don't always guarantee that they will be read either.