Originally Posted by
Eapoe
As I said, SV wasn't nerfed, it was changed. They took Kill Shot from the spec in WoD. WoD was released and that was the only change from MoP to WoD. Again, that was a change. To compensate for it, it peaked (damage) at heroic dungeon gear and scaled poorly from then on. Blizzard never nerfed the spec in WoD to suddenly make it bad. By the same token, they never buffed it either to make up for the damage it lost due to removal of KS and weapon damage scaling you get from MM.
SoO was actually in MoP, the xpac before WoD. To elaborate further, I was also mistaken about SV in SoO in thinking it was the best spec, but it was actually outdone by BM hunters (especially when it came down to mythic raiding).
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As I've stated previously, I also enjoyed SV thru all xpacs, but that doesn't change the popularity of the spec thru it's history of the game. Popularity is decided based on what is played (pertaining to this forum), and based off of what was played thru 95% of WoD, most of Wrath/Cata, and the end of MoP, SV has remained one of the least popular specs (as far as what was played for progression raiding). Since that's the basis of most of this thread, it stands to be pointed out.
Trust me, I miss old SV, and have even said I wish they would have just made a 4th spec for the class to be melee. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy the new SV. I am having a lot of fun with it, find it rewarding and fun to play, and most of my posting is pointing out the stigma new SV is receiving and the flaws in thinking about it, as well as stating that if it stays melee and becomes a commonly played melee spec over time, then all of the naysaying in this thread is pointless. Not saying that's what will happen, but determining it as a failure is something that can not be determined this early in the xpac.