patching ideology

[Deleted]

So ...apparently their patching ideology seems a bit off, doesnt it. How I picture it:

"Boss, we nerfed almost all spec across the board and didnt deliver on "baked in" talents in specs promises. people are pissed ...really pissed. What should we do?"

"Well ...give mages a different barrier visual and make it spectacular!"

"Good thinking boss!"

"That's what I do ...I think good ..."

[GreenJesus]

Yeh. I have no idea what they were thinking at Blizzcon saying "we are changing talents, baking talents into specs, and re-balancing specs". Who thought that would be a good idea to say when they knew they weren't going to deliver?

To be fair, they did remove Blessing of Might. Only good thing I can see from this patch.

[Zardam]

So ...apparently their patching ideology seems a bit off, doesnt it. How I picture it:

"Boss, we nerfed almost all spec across the board and didnt deliver on "baked in" talents in specs promises. people are pissed ...really pissed. What should we do?"

"Well ...give mages a different barrier visual and make it spectacular!"

"Good thinking boss!"

"That's what I do ...I think good ..."

This is a extreme oversimplification of this upcoming patch. I think the most questionable, and indeed largest, decision was to rebalance secondary stats on gear while reworking many core class mechanics. If I was a dev I would have said "Wait. Literally, maybe we should just wait and do one big balancing act at a time..."

[Teri]

They also said at blizzcon that they'd release parts of patches that were "finished" sooner, but I don't see why class tuning and nighthold is holding up the artifact knowledge vendor for yet about another month.

[Lochton]

Blizz loves to make promises they forget about 5 minutes later. You either get used to it or stop playing their games.

I am quite sure they haven't made promises, that is the playerbase whom believes that.

[Dahti]

"Let's continue to talk our developers into corners they can't get out of and have them dance on time tables that are unreal."
- Blizzard, probably

[SirBeef]

They also said at blizzcon that they'd release parts of patches that were "finished" sooner, but I don't see why class tuning and nighthold is holding up the artifact knowledge vendor for yet about another month.

Because that is part of the patch not a hot fix they want to drop early.

[Supercool]

This is the problem. They've convinced people that their word is just speculation and counts for nothing. When they come out and say we are going to <insert thing here> and then don't do it that's them breaking a promise. That's why most developers don't like to announce specifics until they're sure about them.

If Blizzard promised me the sun was going to rise tomorrow I'd start preparing for endless night.

[Orangetai420]

I get that Blizz wants to make the game feel fresh every expac, but honestly I feel like they spend the entire expansion fixing the specs they fucked up, only to tear it apart and start from scratch all over again. No wonder PvP is never balanced...

[shonist]

oh yeah, because a fx designer can do class balances :v

[Low Hanging Fruit]

I no happy so I want you no happy pretty much is going to sum this one up right?

[Lochton]

This is the problem. They've convinced people that their word is just speculation and counts for nothing. When they come out and say we are going to <insert thing here> and then don't do it that's them breaking a promise. That's why most developers don't like to announce specifics until they're sure about them.

That is also why the term 'promise' is never used, for some people would basically harvest on it if it isn't on time, or at all.

- - - Updated - - -

If Blizzard promised me the sun was going to rise tomorrow I'd start preparing for endless night.

And Blizzard would have to prepare for endless complaints because the sun wasn't up at a certain time.

[Pua]

I am quite sure they haven't made promises, that is the playerbase whom believes that.

Every time they make a statement of intent, particularly one that creates expectation, they're making a promise.

OT: Meh, they've been trying to sort out secondary stats for years and haven't been able to. Give it two more expansions and there'll just be one secondary so that they'll get it right.

[Deleted]

So ...apparently their patching ideology seems a bit off, doesnt it. How I picture it:

"Boss, we nerfed almost all spec across the board and didnt deliver on "baked in" talents in specs promises. people are pissed ...really pissed. What should we do?"

"Well ...give mages a different barrier visual and make it spectacular!"

"Good thinking boss!"

"That's what I do ...I think good ..."

Yeah, because their Art department - who is responsible for the updates to the barriers - will most definitely put their work on hold while the people responsible for the talents and speccs figure out what to do.

Not everyone at Blizzard works on the same thing. They have different department specialized on different things. Don#t blame the art dept. for the failure of another dept.

[Adlian]

Im getting the impression that most of the class balance designers are not playing the game and making changes that only sounds good.

[Lochton]

Every time they make a statement of intent, particularly one that creates expectation, they're making a promise.

OT: Meh, they've been trying to sort out secondary stats for years and haven't been able to. Give it two more expansions and there'll just be one secondary so that they'll get it right.

A promise normally comes with a statement of such to be so, else it is just another open statement. I actually think there was a topic about 'promises' before.

[Pua]

A promise normally comes with a statement of such to be so, else it is just another open statement.

That's what I'm saying. When you make a statement of intent upon which expectation is placed, you're fulfilling the dictionary definition of a 'promise'.

It's a rule of basic language; not a rule of mine.

That post from (I think) Bashiok last year arguing that nobody said the words "I promise", and thus nobody could be held to account for anything, was one of the most tragically weasel-worded, cringe-inducing and childish posts a blue ever had the gall to put onto the forums.