Pardon me if this post seems more disjointed or chaotic than my ramblings usually are. I am only on my second cup of coffee, am functioning on about 4 hours of sleep, and I had my finger broken in an incredibly complex handshake with Reala. Also, there is the added distraction of hoping my new camera is delivered today, so I am camping my mailbox like Jadefang’s spawn point.
Also, a disclaimer; this is NOT a rant. I am not rattling my saber, shaking my fist at Blizzard, and demanding my pony from Ghostcrawler. This is just an airing of concerns, most of which have been stated by others much more eloquently than I could ever hope. So please, put down the pitchforks and torches.
My cause for concern centers around hotfixes and the impending 4.1 patch. Keep in mind, I am entirely casual, unabashedly an alt-oholic, and completely of the understanding that what is on the PTR may never see the light of day on live realms.
My first concern is Blizzard’s latest trend with hotfixes. Granted, my play time as of late has been incredibly limited due to Mardi Gras and Saint Patrick’s Day, (which we call down here in the French Quarter “Amateur Night.”) I like the concept of being able to fix what needs to be fixed on the fly, but a few weeks ago there were hotfixes for hotfixes that had previously fixed something that was hotfixed. When you have to use the “Oh Shit” button to fix something that happened the last time you used the “Oh Shit” button, I think that is indicative of a potential design philosophy problem. Yes, I know a Blue poster ( I can’t remember who it was, and looking it up on a Blue Tracker will distract me from spawn-camping the Mailman,) said that this was addressed, but the potential is still there. In my opinion, I think hotfixes should only be used to fix something that is broken. Like the cogwheel bug on the Headless Horseman event, a bugged quest or raid mechanic, or a class ability just plain old not working. Things like class balance issues or damage output passes should be patched, with a PTR testing cycle and a good look at the data to prevent giant swings in class abilities. While I understand there are a great many raiders and PVP’ers out there, there are even more who won’t see the inside of a raid or an arena, and I have never been a big fan of improving the lot of the few at the expense of the many. I would like to see them put “Hotfix” on a cooldown. Or possibly have to get a signed permission slip from Ghostcrawler before they can put a hotfix in effect. Maybe a ready check type of mechanic? I am just throwing out ideas here.
And now, patch 4.1. Or what we know of it anyhow. I haven’t pored over the various iterations of patch notes, as I said, a little busy here. But one thing I did see caused quite a knee-jerk reaction in me. ”Shield Bash is being removed from game.” I’m sorry, what? One of my highest level alts is a warrior, and I love me some shield bash. I understand that it is being removed to balance around PVP, which I have opinions on that I won’t go into on this post, but really? This is one of those things that kinda defined prot warriors for me. Am I gnashing my teeth and pulling my hair out over this? No. But I am looking at it whilst arching my eyebrow and scratching my head. I know they had a lot on their plate with the redesigning of the world and all, but I thought that the class overhaul happened with the redesigned talent trees. I totally understand having to relearn your class a little each expansion, but these mid-expansion revamps seem a little much for me. I want to spend more time playing, and less time relearning my class. Maybe I am just waxing nostalgic, or getting old and grumpy and resisting change. I accept change, believe me. That doesn’t mean I won’t huff about it a bit.
In the end, none of this will have me running from WoW, screaming at the top of my lungs for Blizzard’s collective heads on pikes, or Trion to not be in Azeroth anymore (see what I did there?) I still love me some WoW, these are just things that float around in the space where my brain sometimes resides.
Opinions? Flame wars? Requests for posts of kitties and puppies being cute?
Happy Gaming!
Oz
Since I stopped playing my Warrior I’ll admit I’ve not kept up to date on their patch notes.. but really? Why would they remove Shield Bash? Surely it’s a good thing if the tank can silence?
I can’t help but feel that it’s another PvP change making its way into the game and ruining PvE.
The hotfixing in general seems to have gotten out of hand this expansion. I’m surprised about some of them, to be honest. Some things they hotfix a day or two after a patch, and you can’t help but think “really? you didn’t notice that hunters were one-shotting people on the PTR?”
Oh and I totally want puppies and kitties being cute.
Saga, apparently Prot warriors are doing too well in PVP with interrupts and silences. Right now on the 4.1 PTR, Pummel is now usable in any stance, and Gag Order now only affects Heroic Throw. So yes, these are definitely PVP changes affecting PVE.
A blue posted on the forums about the data they were getting from the PTR wasn’t a broad enough sample to make it a reliable gauge for implementing changes. I kinda thought that was what the entire purpose of the PTR ? Okay, not the ONLY purpose, but a major function?
And I will dig up some puppy and kitty cuteness. I am sure there is some of that somewhere on this internet thing.