Originally Posted by
Broloth
I also agree with this idea.
It would definitely take "relearning" of the classes to get into what your "PvP" spec is all about, but that's a short term sacrifice for a long term reward. I say take it a step further. Give healers two extra specs, a PvP healing and a PvP DPS spec. You could then take these specs and make them unique from their PvE counterparts.
For example the mage is supposed to be all about the Arcane, and in most combat situations, they have to balance using all of their magical prowess to win, Arcane, Ice, and Fire. Build the PvP Mage spec to use a combination of Arcane, Ice and Fire spells in its every day damage dealing agenda.
Now, yes, you will be implementing an upwards of 17 - 18 new specs into the game, and this will be a lot of work, but us pvpers, we're patient enough, I mean, we've been dealing with the constant imbalances of PvP for almost 8 years now.
This seems like something that could be an amazing driving point for a future expansion, especially considering how much work would have to go into it, but at the end of the day, your mage and rogues will have their three specs they want to PvE in, and then that one spec that they know they can go to for PvP because of how much easier it would be to balance the spec.
You could even take a radical approach and almost homogenize a lot of the specs. I don't think players truly despise homogenization as long as its done correctly. Especially in PvP where players want to be as close to the same as possible anyway, in terms of skill vs. reward.
Making every healer class play the same in PvP, but being dramatically, aesthetically different isn't necessarily a bad thing. Now a healer doesn't have to worry about rerolling to another healing class because their healer is underpowered and the other healer is overpowered.
Your Death Knights don't have to feel like they have to reroll warrior because their survive-ability and burst aren't as good.
This also gives the players the option to PvP with whatever class they want, instead of what ever class they have to to be on top. I like the lore and aesthetics of a Death Knight, but I'm rerolling warrior so I can dominate in PvP until the next set of balance changes comes out that puts a different class on top.
Keeping resilience and PvP power in the game will assist with keeping PvE items out of arenas and battlegrounds, and will give everyone an equal footing. If someone is less skilled but more gear, you can still beat them because their class doesn't give them an additional advantage over you.
At least, that's my two cents. I'd love to see something like this implemented. it would be a lot easier to Balance three specs (melee dps, ranged dps, and healer) than 34, and with the right art assets for each class, players can still feel like their different enough from other classes while still performing the same.