Update #2 - Yes, Patch 4.0.6 is next week, stop asking.




Luck of the Draw Buff
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)
In case you aren't already aware, Luck of the Draw is the name of the buff you get for grouping with random people using Dungeon Finder. It currently provides a 5% buff to damage, healing, and health if you have at least one random player in your group. With patch 4.0.6, we are increasing this buff to 5% damage, healing, and health per random player, up to a maximum of 15%.

In the process of working on this change we actually discovered that the Luck of the Draw buff has not been working in Cataclysm at all, save for a few specific dungeons. This means that the difficulty in almost all normal and Heroic dungeons for those using the Dungeon Finder tool was higher than expected. Still, with that issue corrected in 4.0.6, we feel the bump up to 15% for three or more random players found through the Dungeon Finder is a necessary change.

The intent of Luck of the Draw is to help make up for the lack of coordination, communication, and familiarity that pick up groups suffer relative to organized groups of guild members and friends. Cataclysm dungeons, especially on Heroic mode, are quite challenging and ask for more group organization than the Wrath of the Lich King dungeons did. Therefore, Luck of the Draw became relatively weaker in Cataclysm. I'm painting the picture with unfairly large brush strokes here, but in general, Heroic dungeons are of appropriate difficulty for organized groups, but just brutal on Dungeon Finder groups. Players wonder, and rightly so, why Dungeon Finder supports Cataclysm Heroic dungeons at all when the chance of success is so low.

We think buffing Luck of the Draw is a good way to go about correcting the difficulty differences because it makes things slightly easier on PUGs without depriving the organized groups of a fun challenge. We also think the bonus is modest enough that it won't encourage organized groups to split up and just PUG instead - - the success rate for PUGs relative to organized groups is just that far behind. We still think you'll have more fun and a greater chance of success running dungeons with friends, but when that isn’t possible, we hope this change will make Dungeon Finder a more pleasant experience. Also remember that patch 4.0.6 is adjusting the difficulty of some bosses that are particularly unforgiving, such as Ozruk in Heroic Stonecore, though to be fair, we are buffing some underperforming encounters as well. In addition, we are offering larger Justice Point rewards for players who just prefer the faster pace and greater success rate of normal dungeons, and by the time 4.1 comes out everyone will have access to more powerful gear, making the older content even easier. But then there'll be new challenges to face!

We'd like to thank everyone who has provided us with feedback. We do listen, even if we don't immediately deploy every design change suggested by the player community. Our intent is to make the game fun for a wide variety of players, which can be quite a challenge when you have a community this large and this varied. We hope you continue to enjoy the game, and look forward to sharing more changes (and a few surprises) in the months ahead.

-Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street is the lead systems designer for World of Warcraft and was attacked by a coati as a child. (True story.)

All Rated Battleground Weeks Now 10v10
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)
We’re in the process of developing a hotfix to push before next Tuesday that will change all 15vs15 rated battleground weeks into 10vs10 weeks.

Looking at participation, the 10vs10 rated battleground weeks have been far and away more popular than the 15vs15 weeks. The difference in organizational requirements as well as battleground map popularity have been a couple big factors that have led to the 10vs10 weeks seeing a great deal more action. By making this change and supporting the popular option we hope to encourage even more players and teams to participate, as they won’t have to wait out every other week, or struggle to beef up to 15 players to match the requirement.

We also have plans to adapt additional battleground maps in the future to work in the 10 player bracket to increase the variety of maps available.
This article was originally published in forum thread: Luck of the Draw Buff started by Boubouille View original post
Comments 559 Comments
  1. Dch48's Avatar
    Blizzard does not "cater to whiners". They monitor situations closely and they have seen what most of us have known from the beginning. Heroics are just too hard for pugs. Believe me they have statistics showing the failure rates for different group compositions and that's why they have done this. I think it's a brilliant solution and I applaud it whole-heartedly. I just wish it would have been in place from launch day.
  1. kduv889's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by VanishO2 View Post
    Or to finish your Glory of the Hero? Or because not everyone burns the entire game on the 1st month? Guess one of the hardest achievements got 10% (or 15% as they want you to believe) easier (or 50%, 10% for each player).

    Because some ppl are bad and QQ a lot over the "internetz", you're forced to burn the game faster and faster before they nerf the game down and you don't experience the game as they designed it.

    Wonder why ppl think that if a support forum is full of QQ, it would mean that the entire player base is QQ about that. Don't see why ppl would go to a forum (made to get support for problems) to post "gratz for the game, nicely done" tons and tons of time.

    It's like going to a company's support forum like ASUS and say "omg, their product sucks hard, check it out, there is only ppl with problems here!" because every single customer without problems needs to go there to post "product XXXXX working as intended, thanks". Ok...

    I think that Cataclysm was better than WotLK, but never felt like I should go to their support forum to spam all the topics (or creating new ones) to let them know it so they don't think all their "12 million players think it sucks".

    The excuse for increasing it saying that they need to increase it for cataclysm is so damn poor... as if my gear stayed like 264/277 instead of 346+... so that means the next xpac, we should expect something like an extra 15% over their current %? LOL
    There you go again, trivializing the entire game while this change effect ONE aspect of the game not the entirety
  1. Punks's Avatar
    Love it, may actually lvl more toons now....
  1. Gmollster11's Avatar
    For those complainin, its a GREAT thing. This makes gearing/leveling alts easier, and allows more people to get through dungeons with just a little less stress, not to mention more COMPLETE runs.
  1. kduv889's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Pasture View Post
    I don't understand why people are complaining. Chances are you're already out-gearing the heroics and they're already not a challenge. You're complaining that the game will be easier for other people who aren't you. Why do you even care?
    quoted for truth.

    ---------- Post added 2011-02-04 at 10:50 AM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Gmollster11 View Post
    For those complainin, its a GREAT thing. This makes gearing/leveling alts easier, and allows more people to get through dungeons with just a little less stress, not to mention more COMPLETE runs.
    quoted for truth.
  1. Susej's Avatar
    What
    bothers me more is when wannabe elitists whine about those changes. You had your close to TBC difficulty. But if you are so good to faceroll heroics why you mind if casuals have some fun? You want everyone to need 5 hours a day to play this game? Cant people have fun loging for 2 raids a week and beside this 1 hour a day? If you are so pro why dont you look yourself and flip the switch to heroic raid mode?
    First off. It takes a very, very, very minimal amount of coordination to manage heroics. With interupts, and CC. A heroic should never take more then an hour or two depending on what instance it is.
    People who "Faceroll heroics" are doing anything but rolling face. they are Chain CCing mobs destroying ones that aren't CC'd with interupts and stuns.

    The thing that upsets me the most is this Bandaid like fix. THIS WILL NOT HELP BAD PLAYERS GET BETTER. It will only let the Warth mentality of "if you cant win it, wait till they nerf it" run wild.

    If you can't understand why this change is frustrating then you're part of the problem with this games player base.
  1. mmoc2b5ad7a33a's Avatar
    Well that buff is fine for me can tank and heal with mine alts withot to worry about gear hehe(i`m really bad healer btw)
    I wonder why you even carry about most of you do not do heroics anymore with their mains
  1. VanishO2's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Dch48 View Post
    Blizzard does not "cater to whiners". They monitor situations closely and they have seen what most of us have known from the beginning. Heroics are just too hard for pugs. Believe me they have statistics showing the failure rates for different group compositions and that's why they have done this. I think it's a brilliant solution and I applaud it whole-heartedly. I just wish it would have been in place from launch day.
    So ppl could leave the game earlier for not having anything else to do except from the same lolruns they were alread bored from 2-3 years of WotLK.

    They tried to change it for a reason, now they're going back because they really don't know what they're doing, wich happens a lot since WotLK (like pvp balance). They just can't handle ppl saying bad words to them in their forums.

    Just check their comment on the 10v10 over 15v15 rated bg discussion. 2v2 arenas were more popular than 3v3 and 5v5. So they should go all the way for it because it's "the popular option"??? Most players do normal raids instead of heroic ones, so, let's scrap heroics from the map? ok...
  1. johnnysd's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Miku View Post
    Why would they buff pugs and not guild groups, blizz. Sigh. Seriously? Sigh. You make an expansion where you talk about how everyones gonna need to be in guilds and guild groups and you make people work together to get guild bonuses and 2 months later penalize people who are in guild groups? Fail. Total Fail. D: There goes CCing as well, why CC when we have a 15% buff on? Actually, I'm starting to think this whole ICC buff thing is going to ruin wow =| First ICC was made a joke, now heroics(but only if you pug.), who wants to bet 2-3 months from now we will be seeing a 20ish% buff in BwD and BoT? =|
    I think that what you said IS the problem. A significant amount of people do not want to be forced into one of way playing - namely to join a higher end raiding guild and do everything with the guild. The problem Cataclysm is having is not with difficulty, it is the fact that the difficulty is in the wrong place. It gets way too difficult way too early, and it requires way too much grinding to be geared to start raiding. It becomes more like work than a game. WOTLK had it better -the difficulty gates existed in the raids iteslf -at certain bosses like the keepers in Ulduar, or PP and Sind in ICC, but it allowed average players to experience much of the content. Then for the elitists there were hard modes and other achievements with higher level gear that they can get.

    But Cataclysm is saying, you WILL join a big guild if you even want to ATTEMPT to raid, and you will be knocked over the head with difficulty right from the beginning. And for those saying that WOTLK was completely faceroll there are still some SERVERS that are getting regular LK25 kills realm first just recently. It was no where as easy as people make it seem.

    I have been in both high end guilds, and been completely guildless for a while as well as mid-range guilds. The biggest difference I saw was not necessarily in skill (though that certainly exists) but in the familiarity of playing with the same people all the time. Having the same strategy and predictability in fights, knowing how people will position themselves, what mistakes they are likely to make etc....

    In the last guild I was in, a lot of people said I was the best healer they had played with. In some Cata PUGS I have been called the worst, with people wondering if I e-bayed my character.

    Heroics are neither as easy as they seem when you play with guildies, nor as hard as they seem with an average PUG, but if Blizzard is going to err they should err on the side of as many people as possible seeing the content in the game, with the difficulty gates moved much much deeper into the end game content, where they can still offer valid rewards for the elite players of the game.
  1. Verdris's Avatar
    Making things easier is the laziest way to make a player feel better about their performance. Instead of teaching idiots to become better players, Blizzard just makes things easier so idiots won't learn from their mistakes.

    An idiot is an idiot no matter how easy you make the content. And the rest of us, who adapted to new mechanics and stepped up to the difficulty (and ENJOYED the experience), will still have to deal with those idiots.

    Wrong approach, Blizzard. Wrong approach.
  1. Gahgoots's Avatar
    All the people claiming that they faceroll heroics need to keep in mind that Blizz has the true statistics. And, as they mention, pugs have a high fail rate. Obviously they have the real data, and all you others are simply stating your personal experience (1 person!). If pugs had a high fail rate, then this tweak will help.
  1. Susej's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by kduv889 View Post
    There you go again, trivializing the entire game while this change effect ONE aspect of the game not the entirety

    THESE THINGS DO TRIVIALIZE THE GAME BECAUSE POOR PLAYERS WILL DO "BETTER" ONLY IN THEIR 15% ZONES.

    They will NOT LEARN TO PLAY.

    They will LEARN TO GET CARRIED BY A BUFF.

    Which is TRIVIAL TO EVERY ASPECT OF THE GAME.

    For people like MYSELF WHO PLAY WELL. When i invite someone to BH 25 who pulls 9k dps while the rest of us are doing 15-16k.

    I didn't raid ToC ICC. But when i was informed blizzard was buffing every asepct of players by 5 % a week. I lost my respect for blizzard.

    When i started Cata and died in heroics. I felt like a hero trying to over come the bosses and monsters. Not any longer. I will feel like a little bitch lapping up blizzards sweet sweet buffs.

    ---------- Post added 2011-02-04 at 06:58 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Gahgoots View Post
    All the people claiming that they faceroll heroics need to keep in mind that Blizz has the true statistics. And, as they mention, pugs have a high fail rate. Obviously they have the real data, and all you others are simply stating your personal experience (1 person!). If pugs had a high fail rate, then this tweak will help.
    While i agree that high fail rates is an issue. The issue should be delt with on a personal level with the players that are failing. im almost 100% sure that you don't join a heroic and all 5 people are fails. You join a heroic. Your high kick timer from your lack of patients is what makes the group fail. NOT BEING ABLE TO REMOVE THE TRASH FROM YOUR INSTANCE IS A PROBLEM.

    BUFFING THE TRASH IS NOT THE SOLUTION.
  1. VanishO2's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Gahgoots View Post
    All the people claiming that they faceroll heroics need to keep in mind that Blizz has the true statistics. And, as they mention, pugs have a high fail rate. Obviously they have the real data, and all you others are simply stating your personal experience (1 person!). If pugs had a high fail rate, then this tweak will help.
    If they had, the game wouldn't have balance problems, for example.
  1. Gahgoots's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Verdris View Post
    Making things easier is the laziest way to make a player feel better about their performance. Instead of teaching idiots to become better players, Blizzard just makes things easier so idiots won't learn from their mistakes.

    An idiot is an idiot no matter how easy you make the content. And the rest of us, who adapted to new mechanics and stepped up to the difficulty (and ENJOYED the experience), will still have to deal with those idiots.

    Wrong approach, Blizzard. Wrong approach.
    You sir, are an idiot. Players improve by experiencing content. No one improves boss tactics by fighting a training dummy. Don't you think most players are going to get better if they're A) able to get into an instance quicker, B) run instances more often, and C) actually down bosses?
  1. Susej's Avatar
    If blizzard gave a fuck about anything other than keeping the cry babies playing they would not do this.

    ---------- Post added 2011-02-04 at 07:01 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Gahgoots View Post
    You sir, are an idiot. Players improve by experiencing content. No one improves boss tactics by fighting a training dummy. Don't you think most players are going to get better if they're A) able to get into an instance quicker, B) run instances more often, and C) actually down bosses?
    Sir if you have been playing poorly for 4 years. I don't think a 15% Damage and health buff will help you learn ANYTHING.
  1. VanishO2's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by johnnysd View Post
    I think that what you said IS the problem. A significant amount of people do not want to be forced into one of way playing - namely to join a higher end raiding guild and do everything with the guild. The problem Cataclysm is having is not with difficulty, it is the fact that the difficulty is in the wrong place. It gets way too difficult way too early, and it requires way too much grinding to be geared to start raiding. It becomes more like work than a game. WOTLK had it better -the difficulty gates existed in the raids iteslf -at certain bosses like the keepers in Ulduar, or PP and Sind in ICC, but it allowed average players to experience much of the content. Then for the elitists there were hard modes and other achievements with higher level gear that they can get.

    But Cataclysm is saying, you WILL join a big guild if you even want to ATTEMPT to raid, and you will be knocked over the head with difficulty right from the beginning. And for those saying that WOTLK was completely faceroll there are still some SERVERS that are getting regular LK25 kills realm first just recently. It was no where as easy as people make it seem.

    I have been in both high end guilds, and been completely guildless for a while as well as mid-range guilds. The biggest difference I saw was not necessarily in skill (though that certainly exists) but in the familiarity of playing with the same people all the time. Having the same strategy and predictability in fights, knowing how people will position themselves, what mistakes they are likely to make etc....

    In the last guild I was in, a lot of people said I was the best healer they had played with. In some Cata PUGS I have been called the worst, with people wondering if I e-bayed my character.

    Heroics are neither as easy as they seem when you play with guildies, nor as hard as they seem with an average PUG, but if Blizzard is going to err they should err on the side of as many people as possible seeing the content in the game, with the difficulty gates moved much much deeper into the end game content, where they can still offer valid rewards for the elite players of the game.
    Nope... if that happened... things would only get worse from Ulduar... not what happened with ToC and ICC. Not to mention the nerfs to Ulduar.

    Cataclysm don't say that you need big endgame raiding guilds since they went all the way to make 10man better than running 25man raids. You don't need that kind of guild to do normal modes, to experience the content.. they're the same, except for dificult.
  1. mmoc0d8e6c2903's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by VanishO2 View Post
    So ppl could leave the game earlier for not having anything else to do except from the same lolruns they were alread bored from 2-3 years of WotLK.

    They tried to change it for a reason, now they're going back because they really don't know what they're doing, wich happens a lot since WotLK (like pvp balance). They just can't handle ppl saying bad words to them in their forums.

    Just check their comment on the 10v10 over 15v15 rated bg discussion. 2v2 arenas were more popular than 3v3 and 5v5. So they should go all the way for it because it's "the popular option"??? Most players do normal raids instead of heroic ones, so, let's scrap heroics from the map? ok...

    Don't pug! See that was your advice now take it.
  1. Gahgoots's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Susej View Post
    If blizzard gave a fuck about anything other than keeping the cry babies playing they would not do this.

    ---------- Post added 2011-02-04 at 07:01 PM ----------



    Sir if you have been playing poorly for 4 years. I don't think a 15% Damage and health buff will help you learn ANYTHING.
    You're missing the point, but I guess you're "entitled" to your own opinion.
  1. Jokerjesus's Avatar
    It is a good change for people who pug a lot. Half the heroics I have gone to on my enhance shaman have broken a part after a 35 minute wait. Hopefully this fixes some of those problems and makes people want to push onward instead of leaving a group or refusing to explain a fight to someone.

    On a side note everyone seems to forget that the next raid tier will probably see 2-3 new heroics (I assume more revamped Azeroth dungeons) and they will be much more difficult than the current heroics and probably will drop 359 blue heroic gear.
  1. Ayarea's Avatar
    Still doesn't help if people only do so much damage, or die from AoE stuff...

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