PTR 4.0.6 Notes Update (Jan 19th), Blue Posts, Fan Art, Holiday Dessert

[FattyXP]

May already be fixed in the next ptr patch... why do the people making these things NOT know that?
Blizzard doesn't even know whats happening with its own game anymore... sigh.

[eylieen]

i support sexy left handed belf huntress chick. i also really want to know what deathwing's wings are made out of (if anyone says 'death' i'm going to choke), they look like some kind of delicious toffee that i must have.

[Kalx]

Vengeance of VanCleef has been redesigned. It is now a stacking buff that increases damage dealt, size, and attack speed, and stacks up to 40 times. Vanessa will begin casting this as soon as she jumps back onto the boat after detonating charges.

I'm really interested in seeing a gigantic vanessa slapping the tank

[sylpheed]

I'm really interested in seeing a gigantic vanessa slapping the tank

disturbingly hot

[machado]

i support sexy left handed belf huntress chick. i also really want to know what deathwing's wings are made out of (if anyone says 'death' i'm going to choke), they look like some kind of delicious toffee that i must have.

fairly certain that its sculpted sugar. still looks delicious.

[Vinton]

Honestly... who even judged those cakes? Also, if those are the winners, I'd hate to see the ones that got left behind.

[igtenos]

Those are the most awesome cupcakes ever. The zul'jin one maybe me chuckle. The boomkin one is cute. <3

It might not be easy to achieve 100% balance, but they aren´t even close. Some classes are useless in PvP and others bordering on OP.. How hard is it to give classes the same amount of silences, interupts and stuns? Devs will have you believe it is hard as shit, but with a marine biologist as lead systems designer it´s no wonder really. Bottom of the barrel devs work for Blizz and on wow it seems.

Pretty hard apparently. I mean look at the disparity between interrupts. Skull Bash (feral) has (talented) a 10s CD... while my mage's is 24 on Counterspell. That doesn't even count all the other ones. But to be honest I wouldn't want their job. So many different possible ways you can totally screw up the balance between classes. A mere 5% variance up or down can result in your class becoming the most hated OP class ever (think early LK DKs) or the worse class/spec since lolret from TBC or getting sunwell'd for half the expansion.

[Deleted]

Those are the most awesome cupcakes ever. The zul'jin one maybe me chuckle. The boomkin one is cute. <3


Pretty hard apparently. I mean look at the disparity between interrupts. Skull Bash (feral) has (talented) a 10s CD... while my mage's is 24 on Counterspell. That doesn't even count all the other ones. But to be honest I wouldn't want their job. So many different possible ways you can totally screw up the balance between classes. A mere 5% variance up or down can result in your class becoming the most hated OP class ever (think early LK DKs) or the worse class/spec since lolret from TBC or getting sunwell'd for half the expansion.

Things that testing and their basically non existant QA department should catch. The things that get by these guys to live is sometimes amazing. Instead we, the paying customers, are beta testers.

[DrgnDancer]

It might not be easy to achieve 100% balance, but they aren´t even close. Some classes are useless in PvP and others bordering on OP.. How hard is it to give classes the same amount of silences, interupts and stuns? Devs will have you believe it is hard as shit, but with a marine biologist as lead systems designer it´s no wonder really. Bottom of the barrel devs work for Blizz and on wow it seems.

And how quickly would everyone scream "OMG! Homogenization! Everyone is the same! Ack!" if they do do that? Not to mention it's not an effective way to balance. Every class does different amounts of damage, how will you account for that? Plate wearers take less damage from physical attacks, is that fair? Hunters and Melee are unaffected by silences. You could give a Mage a million silences and he couldn't stop a Rogue. Give him four roots and that same rogue is in much more serious trouble. Similarly you can root a caster all day and not really accomplish much, but a few silences will make his life pretty hard for a while. What about breaks for CC or stuns? Do they all have to be the same too?

In short, your solution is blatantly over simplistic, would piss people off, and would accomplish nothing to increase balance. I suppose the reason you're able to make makes fun of GC's Marine Biology degree is because you're actually the lead designer for a much better and more balanced player vs player game? If so, let me know which one so I can avoid playing it.

[slashboomkin]

Yeah, moonkin cupcake ain't afraid of no stinkin' deathwing cupcake...
Why tauren and nelfs would be wanting a new swift flight model is beyond me, the current ones are fine.

[Deleted]

And how quickly would everyone scream "OMG! Homogenization! Everyone is the same! Ack!" if they do do that? Not to mention it's not an effective way to balance. Every class does different amounts of damage, how will you account for that? Plate wearers take less damage from physical attacks, is that fair? Hunters and Melee are unaffected by silences. You could give a Mage a million silences and he couldn't stop a Rogue. Give him four roots and that same rogue is in much more serious trouble. Similarly you can root a caster all day and not really accomplish much, but a few silences will make his life pretty hard for a while. What about breaks for CC or stuns? Do they all have to be the same too?

In short, your solution is blatantly over simplistic, would piss people off, and would accomplish nothing to increase balance. I suppose the reason you're able to make makes fun of GC's Marine Biology degree is because you're actually the lead designer for a much better and more balanced player vs player game? If so, let me know which one so I can avoid playing it.

The example wasn´t literal you douche. It was merely an illustration of 1 place the game is way out of whack. Some classes have their silences/interupts whatever on 1 min CD while others have 14sec, it doesn´t take a genius to see that. Had you read my previous post you might have discovered that i´m not asking for 100% balance nor homogenization of classes, merely pointing out that they are so far from balance that it´s not even funny.

And yes, I happen to know a bit about development and QA/testing. Now if you can´t see that some of the stuff that actually makes it to live should have been caught already in development, well that´s your problem not mine. But way to be a smartass about it.

And I wasn´t making fun of him being a marine biologist, wich is awesome. I was making the point that having someone who doesn´t know a line of code as lead systems designer on the worlds biggest MMO is foolish considering he was making drawings on the first game he was hired for, comprende or should I draw you a schematic. Reading comprehension can be hard when nerdraging eh.

[shekspeare]

why does Aion has beautiful and excellent balance? why do they can make it? are they smarter?

World Of WarCraft - release in USA - 2004
Aion - release in USA - 2009

buff-nerf-buff-nerf-buff-nerf-buff-nerf (espesially with that Explosive Shoot - damn, I laugh every time with changes of this spell - up, down, up, down - every patch - EVERY)
realy fun playing, yeah? so interesting.

and what about that Inner Rage? is this a spell or a talent? can't undarstand. it's not even a passive bonus. what is that? becouse, it's suck. realy. the most silly ability from all classes 80+. oh, wait. this is not an ability...
not enough of fantasy to create new normal useful ability? can't you make something new for class? quite the company! you are useless then.

is that so hard not to drunk or not to smoke while creating balance and testing PTRs or what?
and not to listen little pussy kids-whiners-mages-gnomes/goblins?
just quite half of all your teams - this is the question, guys.

sorry for my language =))))

[Deleted]

Honestly... who even judged those cakes? Also, if those are the winners, I'd hate to see the ones that got left behind.

Go back to watching Mysweet16 n designer cakes instead of whining your nonsense here, there's nothing cool about what you did.

[Nythiz]

Things that testing and their basically non existant QA department should catch. The things that get by these guys to live is sometimes amazing. Instead we, the paying customers, are beta testers.

What are you expecting. A finished product? This isn't a single player game that you can expect to be in somewhat finished state when you buy it.

MMOs are always in development, there is always new content incoming and new bugs that need to be fixed. Of course you're always a beta tester, this product is never really finished.

[nrpl712]

I cry a little every time I see Ret's damage comparison on the charts..

[Nathiest]

You miss the blue post in the same topic that address the Inq bug. It's a bug.

[kldozer]

Drums of War no longer lowers the rage cost of Piercing Howl.

thats what rogues QQ post are for

[CopperBot]

The hunter image is awesome! Anyone know the artist?

[tenzing21]

It might not be easy to achieve 100% balance, but they aren´t even close. Some classes are useless in PvP and others bordering on OP.. How hard is it to give classes the same amount of silences, interupts and stuns? Devs will have you believe it is hard as shit, but with a marine biologist as lead systems designer it´s no wonder really. Bottom of the barrel devs work for Blizz and on wow it seems.

Ghostcrawler, really I do. I used to live in Austin. But um, marine biologist... yeah. Mebbe he has slept with the fishies oncest too often. Classes are so far from balanced it's crazy. Fire frost arcane are nowhere near each other, feral does shit dmg compared to balance, ret does no dmg, Surv is the only viable hunter, shamans seem to be missing 4-6 spells... The list goes on and on. And not a fix in sight, rather talk about nerfs. Le sigh.

[Deleted]

Ghostcrawler, really I do. I used to live in Austin. But um, marine biologist... yeah. Mebbe he has slept with the fishies oncest too often. Classes are so far from balanced it's crazy. Fire frost arcane are nowhere near each other, feral does shit dmg compared to balance, ret does no dmg, Surv is the only viable hunter, shamans seem to be missing 4-6 spells... The list goes on and on. And not a fix in sight, rather talk about nerfs. Le sigh.

I try and comprehend your post, and Bantokars many posts, I really do.

But I all I see is a bunch of QQ, to put it bluntly. Sure, this game is not completely balanced in PvP, but it's not that balanced in PvE either.

Let's review the facts here a little bit.

We have 10 classes, 4 of which have 3 damage dealing specs (4x3=12); 4 of which have 2 damage dealing specs (4x2=8) and 2 that have one (dedicated) damage dealing spec (2x1=2). Right there, we're talking 22 different specs, all that - in your eyes - needs to be balanced so that they can be equally competitive, whilst still staying unique enough to be different.

Still seems like an easy task?

Let's throw in the fact that these classes also need to be balanced in PvE. A minor buff to a class in PvP may very well lead to a major buff in PvE, which also throws off the balance.

So, to balance 22 different specs, in a way that doesn't make the spec worse than other specs, but still not too powerful, and at the SAME TIME staying relatively balanced in PvE, isn't so hard? Do you really think that?