Inflating item levels - 2.1bil bosses by end of expansion

[gend]

Hm I could have sworn in one phase of testing I had seen H Mel'Jaraks HP at ~2,200M. I could be wrong tho.

[Tenjen]

numbers increase and ratio's remain similar

[Keoren]

Both are arbitrary numbers that have been assigned as an abstraction. There is no such thing as "down to earth" here.

Down to earth is a very subjective concept in the first place so of course there are numbers fitting the description. To me that refers to numbers that are not unnecessarily big, and to some extent can be connected to the usual RPG design.

I am not scared of big numbers as some seem to assume. I find them unfitting and ugly.

[Homsel]

We don't need any kind of "stats crunching".

Who said we need one? This link is just a proof that the devs think about their programming and its consequences.

you know that Gara'jal fixates, right? >.>

You know how he decides on whom?!

[Ishayu]

This is a huge problem in my opinion. It's not just that the numbers are too big to fit into 32-bit signed int (the engine uses 0 HP for dead and -1 for Ghost, so I know it's signed); there is a more important reason.

The numbers now are getting so large that it is becoming difficult to identify what attacks are hitting you and for how much. Telling the difference between 3 and 4 digits is much easier than telling the difference between 5 and 6 digits. The numbers have to lose precision due to writing things like kilos.

I've decided to make an addon that divides all numbers displayed on screen that have anything to do with mana, health, damage, and healing by 30. I can change this number any time I like.

Takes care of the problem handily.

In my opinion they need to do a great item squish before the numbers become literally unreadable. Either that, or they have to add an option that allows you to divide displayed numbers by something you specify, like my addon does.

EDIT: This is what it looks like: http://i.imgur.com/3poJ3Ug.jpg

[Xeraxis]

This is a huge problem in my opinion. It's not just that the numbers are too big to fit into 32-bit signed int (the engine uses 0 HP for dead and -1 for Ghost, so I know it's signed); there is a more important reason.

The numbers now are getting so large that it is becoming difficult to identify what attacks are hitting you and for how much. Telling the difference between 3 and 4 digits is much easier than telling the difference between 5 and 6 digits. The numbers have to lose precision due to writing things like kilos.

I've decided to make an addon that divides all numbers displayed on screen that have anything to do with mana, health, damage, and healing by 30. I can change this number any time I like.

Takes care of the problem handily.

In my opinion they need to do a great item squish before the numbers become literally unreadable. Either that, or they have to add an option that allows you to divide displayed numbers by something you specify, like my addon does.

EDIT: This is what it looks like: http://i.imgur.com/3poJ3Ug.jpg

If you can't tell what is hitting you and for how much that isn't a number issue it's a ui issue.

[Ishayu]

It's not that I can't tell per say. The number is just difficult to read. It takes too much time.

You're correct it's not a numbers issue but a UI issue. However, the numbers are the part of the UI which is causing the problems.

Divide the numbers by 30 and the problem goes away. Instantly. Didn't change anything else.

[Attsey]

Bosses' HP are already represented by floating point numbers. There is nothing special about 2.1 bil number really. We can go much-much further.

We don't need any kind of "stats crunching".

.

But why would you not want to. The numbers are becoming ridiculous.

[Xeraxis]

But why would you not want to. The numbers are becoming ridiculous.

Ridiculous compared to what? Hell in the grand scheme of things the numbers we currently have are very minuscule.

[Ishayu]

Ridiculous compared to what? Hell in the grand scheme of things the numbers we currently have are very minuscule.

In the grand scheme of what? You're being completely nonsensical.

Numbers just have to be large enough to convey a sense of power but small enough to convey a sense of meaning. Each distinct value should be meaningfully different to the next. When you start to shorten away 3 digits of your arbitrary game-numbers because they don't matter at all you know that you've got a problem.

[esnar]

Why are people so scared of large numbers? :S

Higher numbers make sense, IMO. It shows just how much stronger you are getting as you play. Do you think 10/25 people with only 15k HP and maybe 2k DPS would have been able to defeat something like Deathwing? Or Ragnaros? No, you need to be this powerful hero to take on the enemies that you do. Otherwise it makes no sense.

People defeated ragnaros with 6k health and a few hundered dps lol

[Ishayu]

There seems to be this perception from people that higher numbers always convey greater power.

They don't necessarily. Having a higher number relative to others conveys your power, but having a higher number while everybody else also does doesn't. The reason why you get the sense of progression when improving your character is because your number grows compared to everyone elses.

There's a very apt comparison which can be made: If everyone had the powers of superman, would he still be superman?

[Squirl]

Some people in my guild have a theory that they're doing this because they're not doing progressive nerfs (or vice-versa). Insane stat inflation is essentially equal to a progressive nerf.

[huth]

In the grand scheme of what? You're being completely nonsensical.

Numbers just have to be large enough to convey a sense of power but small enough to convey a sense of meaning. Each distinct value should be meaningfully different to the next. When you start to shorten away 3 digits of your arbitrary game-numbers because they don't matter at all you know that you've got a problem.

No, not every value needs to have a meaningful difference. It's perfectly fine if anything beyond the first 3-4 digits doesn't really matter. Shaving of the last 3 digits because they don't really matter is not a problem.

You're forgetting one important part here: Numbers need to be big enough that gear upgrades feel meaningful and people do not just keep on using their previous expansion high end gear.

[Ishayu]

No, not every value needs to have a meaningful difference. It's perfectly fine if anything beyond the first 3-4 digits doesn't really matter. Shaving of the last 3 digits because they don't really matter is not a problem.

You're forgetting one important part here: Numbers need to be big enough that gear upgrades feel meaningful and people do not just keep on using their previous expansion high end gear.

I disagree. Discouraging people from taking gear from the last expansion does not mean making numbers absolutely hilariously massive. It's the most immediately obvious way to do it, yes, but it's far from the best.

[Mormolyce]

Assuming there is such a cap on HP, it's just a matter of re-casting the variable :P

Yes boss HP will likely be in the trillions next expac. It's going to feel very silly. Already does a bit.

[Reyzzz]

Some people in my guild have a theory that they're doing this because they're not doing progressive nerfs (or vice-versa). Insane stat inflation is essentially equal to a progressive nerf.

Actually true, more powerful gear removes the need to nerf content.

[asharia]

this tier started at 489 btw. LFR and crafted gear is just watered down raid gear. and 463 blues are NOT t14...

[Aquamonkey]

Blizzard already has a solution for this problem they introduced in DS... add more tentacles.

[h4rr0d]

Or they will just assign an extra interger to handle the health overflow. It would literally only require 1 extra CPU cycle per health check. Performance loss for the average computer would be about a millionth of a percent.

I've got a GTX 570 OC, i7 2600k @ 4.8GHz, a lot of RAM and WOW + OS on a SSD. Major addons I'm using are DBM, Recount and ELV UI. In a 25 man raid I get 100+ fps when idling, but midfight in AoE/bloodlust phases I drop down to 40 fps. If nothing cheeky is happening my midfight fps in 25man raid is ~60. Are you sure we can handle more cycles without losing too much performance without serious serialization?

It's going to feel very silly. Already does a bit.

First time I entered BT as lvl 90 (and after long long time as well) I couldn't believe how low HP everything had.