Challenge Modes and Item Scaling Tech
Character and item level scaling as you're referring to is tech that was actually added in Mists of Pandaria. This tech is what allows us to have a feature like Challenge Modes, in which we can scale your gear down to a specified level. The same is fairly easily applied to character levels.
Have we done everything we could possibly do with this tech? Absolutely not.
Do we want to throw it into everything we can just so players can run whatever they want at any level, without regard for a specific reward structure or progression system? Absolutely not.
As an example, we'd love to implement a feature where you could, say, at level 90 group up with a friend who's level 15 and run Deadmines together, and the dungeon difficulty for both of you would be relatively equivalent. But we're not going to do that before figuring out a proper system for rewarding both the high- and low-level players for their time.
We've also discussed the idea of allowing players to, for example, form a raid group of 10 players at level 90, enter Karazhan, and be scaled down to roughly level-70 character power.
This type of tech is great, but we can't throw it around arbitrarily just because we have it. We need to carefully consider ways it can be incorporated into a fun system that still feels rewarding in some regard.
It's safe to say the scaling in Challenge dungeons is just the beginning. (Another example on the horizon is Proving Grounds.) If these types of features are successful, and we see players calling for more scaling to allow them to run content without just zerging/overpowering it, we'll absolutely look at additional ways it can be applied -- what I said above should be more than a hint that we already are.
Would that mean that if it were implemented, that we would no longer have access to the soloable raid content? Or would this be an option? Similar to Normal/Heroic modes.
Those are exactly the types of questions we've been stockpiling and pondering internally when it comes to brainstorming how tech like this can be applied to different facets of the game!
It's not only stat scaling people. Talents have been reworked extensively. Considering that 1-70 content had a a lot of threat mechanics, pots were on a general cd, buffs stacked, aoe tanking was risky without discipline, crushing blows...
You are talking about retuning every instance in the entire game.
This is also a great point I forgot to mention in my first post. If we literally just said, "okay, everyone can run any dungeon or raid and you'll be scaled to its intended level," it might be fun for a while, but it'd feel very broken, inconsistent, and without direction. We need to offer proper support for such a system so that there's some kind of consistent gameplay, which means it's not a trivial task -- as I said before -- such that we can just loosely apply the tech to the affected area and expect healthy results, hehe. (
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
New Character Models Contradictions
So what's with the change in priority?
Tom and Rob are both correct, and combined, pretty much sum up the thinking that's ongoing within the World of Warcraft development team. Are having new character models a high priority for the team? Yes! We have discussed this with the developers numerous times and they are definitely excited about making this happen.
Keep in mind the rhetorical questions that Rob stated with his response. A high-priority task such as this demands a lot of resources. With the work that was needed for Mists of Pandaria and is needed for the upcoming content patches, character designers have to prioritize their work. Thus, we REALLY (yes, honestly, truly, really) want to get this done, but it's something that will require a lot of time and people to do. (
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Pet Battles Update – Hotfixes
As Mists of Pandaria continues to unravel its mysteries, there are bound to be a few bugs that crop up from time to time and we’re working diligently on getting each one addressed. For the pet battlers among you, here are some of the hotfixes we’ve recently applied to the game:
- A bug has been fixed that caused turn inputs to sometimes be skipped, causing only one pet to take action that turn
- Conceding in a random PVP Pet Battle should now count as a loss
- State-dependent abilities should no longer have their effects reversed (example: Maul should correctly require that the target be Bleeding)
- Many balance changes have been implemented (example: Build Turret now has a 2-round cooldown, up from 1)
In addition, we’re investigating a possible issue with traps not upgrading and will get it resolved as quickly as possible.
Thank you for your continued feedback and bug reports. We appreciate your enthusiasm for this new feature, as well as the time you’ve taken to discuss the Pet Battle system!
Is there any word about the issue that some new alts especially pandas can't learn pet battle training and thus can't buy the special pet for their race from the pet battle trainer?
Yes, this should be fixed now.
nope it's not fixed
I've just been informed that this is being looked into now. (
Official Forums)
Pet Battle Training Cost
If you want to keep the cost, increase the level needed to buy it. New and low level players will get confused by this feature. It's already bad enough having people beg you for gold so they can buy some overpriced glyph or green gear.
Increasing the leveling requirement isn't a reasonable solution. If you're a more experienced player and you want to roll a new character, we don't want to keep you locked out of pet battles. Since the system is account-wide, we want you to have the option of participating in pet battles while you level.
We still don't think the same should apply to new players. The gold cost is a clear indication that you need some level of experience with the game and the economy in order to access the feature, even though it's unlocked at level 5. I don't know why this would be more confusing for new players, as I've seen many assert in this thread, than giving them access to a series of random quests that don't enhance their characters, are almost completely separated from character leveling progression, and require a modest number of pets that they may not have.
Reading through the thread, so far I haven't seen any clear indication in anyone's post that they are, in fact, new players who feel limited by being unable to access this feature. Most of what I'm reading comes from more veteran players weighing in on what's right and what's not right for new players.
And to be clear, we don't hold a monopoly on knowing what is or isn't potentially something that may confuse (and perhaps even drive away) a new player. But we do have the advantage of being able to carefully analyze years and years of data which reflects how the average new player approaches the game, the things that trip them up, the things that make them feel like their progression is barred, etc.
What I do know is that a lot of posters in this thread -- even those who claim to be very casual -- take their knowledge of the many core aspects of WoW gameplay for granted. If you look at the way the 1-20 experience has evolved and been streamlined over the years, it should be quite clear that it's a direct reflection of design decisions we've made to try and better ease new players (especially those without MMO experience) into the game, based on a lot of research on our end.
Someone earlier in the thread pointed out that, when we first introduced dual spec, the cost and level requirements were meant as a barrier to entry to ensure leveling characters didn't feel like it's something they should spend their gold on asap. We later drastically reduced the gold and level requirements when we felt more confident about this not being an issue. The same could be true for the cost of pet battles. We'll certainly take player feedback into account -- though, as I mentioned, hearing almost entirely from players not adversely affected by this gold cost, as opposed to new players who are, leaves us with very incomplete actionable intel -- and we'll evaluate whether or not the current cost is necessary.
For those who implied that our change over time on dual spec should've been a learning lesson, keep in mind what we say all the time: we prefer to introduce a new gameplay feature or piece of content with slightly conservative implementations, and then, if necessary, loosen the restrictions or increase accessibility over time. That's held true for everything from raid tuning to Transmogrification restrictions. If we get things wrong and a feature is too accessible or too easy, to the point that it's negatively affecting overall gameplay, it's much meaner of us to then tighten restrictions after the fact. (
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Mists of Pandaria Questing
While I think the person you were responding to is being melodramatic, I do have to say... having just finished playing through the Valley of the Four Winds, absolutely *no* quest there made me feel heroic. When I wasn't doing farmwork, escorting around a little girl and collecting muddy water, cleansing rolling plans of oversized Rabbits, or hunting wildlife for sport... I was slaughtering innocent Curious Water Sprites to get ingredients off their bodies to fund some Panda's drinking problem.
I am kinda not getting the "heroic" vibe from that.
Great discussion so far! I know I'm coming back late, but I've read the entire thread, and I wanted to come back to talk about a couple of things.
It seems to me that the Valley of the Four Winds offers a chance to get to know some of the residents of Pandaria in a more personal way. You help them with their day to day struggles. You get a glimpse of how they live their lives. After all, the
Jade Serpent flies you there, she tells you that it's an opportunity to learn about how the people of Pandaria live.
Still, while the concerns may seem a bit pastoral at first (I would like to take this opportunity to speak up in favor of puntable marmots), they become much more urgent as you come to the conclusion of the zone, and I think that some pretty heroic stuff happens as the quest lines there come to a conclusion. If the tone present in the Valley of the Four Winds isn't quite your speed, you can head over to the Krasarang Wilds for a different feel. There will also be plenty more opportunities for heroic deeds in Kun-Lai Summit, the Townlong Steppes, the Dread Wastes, and the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
Did a quest in a group last night and noticed I was getting 0 xp per kill. my chat log said (mob dead=2000xp-2000xp penalty) I was pretty pissed about that.
That's extremely odd. There's actually a small experience bump for grouping. Can you remember which quest you were on?
Also, while it’s true that partying up and doing the quests in the zone will result in less experience over all, it should result in faster experience gain. So, a bit less total experience, but better experience per hour.
Assorted reputation grind concerns.
I think it's worth mentioning that, for the most part, the really important stuff from reputations in the past came at Exalted. In Mists, 'power' rewards that come from reputations are available a bit earlier. The rough run-down as I understand it works like this:
- Honored unlocks 450 blue items that you buy with Justice Points and profession recipes
- Revered unlocks 489 epics that you buy with Valor Points and more powerful recipes
- Exalted unlocks the more unique non-power rewards: mounts, tabards, weapons and armor intended for Transmogrification, etc.
The thing that annoys me about these threads is that the devs take them seriously. Here is a guy who only wants to pvp commenting on things like story and cut-scenes.
Devs.. please listen.. it doesn´t matter what you do, these types of players will never be happy
I believe that all our players matter: PvPers, raiders, questers, achievement seekers, collectors, parents playing with their kids, etc. etc. etc. There's not one kind of player and often a single player embodies many different motivations; the World of Warcraft is populated by an incredibly diverse community.
When someone says "I don't like this" that's actually okay. At the risk of making a real world analogy, I wouldn't expect someone to walk into a restaurant and absolutely love everything on the menu. Still, if someone isn't enjoying part of the experience, I want to find out why. Maybe there's just a misunderstanding at work, or perhaps there's something more fundamental in play. Regardless, without criticism (constructive criticism, simply saying x, y, or z 'sucks' isn't helpful), it's harder to grow. I believe that there are certainly cases where having a discussion about a point of contention can be really valuable for everyone involved. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
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When are gathering nodes and mobs going to be sharable? Would alleviate many of the issues with CRZ.
Those may not be the right answers, but I'd agree that seeing other players should be a good thing not a hassle.
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