Arena Rating Changes, Algalon Loot, Blue Posts

[Boubouille]

Arena Rating System & Requirement Changes

, but keep in mind the tooltip will continue to show the requirement as 2200 until patch 3.1.2.

As a result of the above improvements, this change will prevent an excessive number of players from reaching much higher ratings and acquiring the highest grade of weapons in-game. The increase in rating requirements is designed to keep the number of players able to obtain these arena weapons on par with the number of players who are able to obtain the same grade of weapons from Heroic Ulduar.

When Arena Season 7 launches we plan to return the highest rated season 7 weapons back to 2200 while also ensuring that the difficulty in achieving that rating is closer to what is intended, yet of similar difficulty for all brackets (rather than being easier for 2v2).

Algalon Loot Table Now Partially Shared with Other Bosses
I already mentionned it yesterday and this is now official, bosses have been hotfixed and now drop Algalon weapons in hard modes. The new loot discovered in the past few days is:

• Constellus (1H-Mace - Spell MP5) dropped from Hodir in Hard Mode.
• Fang of Oblivion (1H Dagger - Phys.DPS) dropped from the Iron Council in Hard Mode.
• (New) Dreambinder (Staff - Phys.DPS) dropped from Freya in Hard Mode.
• (New) Skyforge Crossbow (Crossbow - Phys.DPS) dropped from Thorim in Hard Mode

Starshard Edge (Dagger - Spell) and Legplates of the Endless Void are also part of the Algalon loot table but were datamined on PTR and on the official Armory and might drop from Algalon only. (Until someone proves me wrong)

We made a hotfix yesterday to several hard mode loot tables in order to spread around Algalon's weapon drops to make the items more accessible. Algalon still has loot that is unique to him, but the acquisition of the weapons in Ulduar won't be so soul crushingly difficult and ultimately unfair to certain class/builds.

So it turns out that we don't hate you.

Casuals win again : (

Blue posts

Hotfixing the game
In both game design and software development, simple changes are usually superior. Complicated changes require more testing, can introduce more bugs, and can have unintended consequences that often aren't seen for months down the road. The simplicity of a change can't trump all other considerations, but it often figures prominently.

In my experience, "band aid" gets thrown around as a pejorative term when a player had a pet idea of how they thought something should work and is disappointed when we don't implement that solution. These are often, but not always, the same folks who argue that X needs to be totally redesigned or "Blizzard doesn't know what it wants to do with my class."

I think sometimes players might also mistakenly conclude from a simple fix that we didn't spend much time exploring the problem or that their problems aren't worth us taking much time out of our busy day.

Simple changes that are potentially confusing or clearly temporary are not ideal. (I'll use the Exorcism change as an example here with hopes of not derailing the thread.). But at the same time, they do allow us to make a change quickly without having a problem drag on. (Source)

Player vs. Player
Classes representation in Arenas
We will continue to work to make sure classes and specs are not too dominant nor too weak in Arena matches. I don't want to turn this thread into a "your class is OP", "no u" rugby scrum. Hunters are something we are paying close attention to. I don't think it's intuitively obvious if any specific nerfs went too far, or just whether the Arena environment is different now than it was last season. Changing one class often has effects on all the others. It's not as simple as just buffing one or nerfing one because those changes will likely cause another class or comp to rise or fall. (Source)

Blizzcon
Blizzcon In-Game item and Goodies Bag
We will likely talk about a goodie bag in-game item in the future (though there are no guarantees of course), but based on the past we don't do this until after the ticket sales and we are much closer to the con happening. Tickets first. (Source)

Blizzard Store waiting lines
Honestly we have made improvements on this every year based on the previous year, but it always ends up not quite where we want. If I remember the first BlizzCon right some people were in line for like half the day, so 3-4 hours is technically an improvement - but yeah, we want it to run smoother too so we'll keep working on it. (Source)

Classes
Val'anyr proc and RNG
On the issue of the proc being RNG, yes you are correct. RNG is part of the game. You sometimes get a big crit on a heal when you most need it and sometimes you waste those crits. We are not terribly sympathetic to the argument that healing has to be 100% predictable and dependable to be useful. We understand some players would prefer a game with even less emphasis on random elements, but we think random chance (within reason) adds excitement and interest to WoW.

Non-heals, such as Power Word: Shield, don't contribute to either proc. That is just the way the item is set up. If you are a Disc priest who ends up with Val'anyr, I would suggest trying to maximize your actual heals when the bubble is up. We are going to make the heal provided by the glyph of PW:S able to cause the procs, though typically items that heal will not cause the procs.

As a few players have pointed out, Thunderfury looked like a pretty mild tanking weapon if you didn't see the proc in action. Like that weapon, you should want Val'anyr for the proc, not the stats. We aren't at all worried that healers capable of acquiring this legendary are going to find it lackluster. (Source)

Race-specific skills for classes
At one point in time priests had some different spells based upon their race. What we found is that it's very difficult to keep the balance in that situation and we tended to get a large number of Dwarven priests on the Alliance side, while getting a decent mix on the Horde side, but slightly favoring Undead. While race is meant to be unique, it's not your class and we don't want it to be a major deciding factor in what race you choose for any given class.

So, I wouldn't really look for us to head back to that style of class/race synergy. (Source)

Druid (3.1 Skills List / 3.1 Talent + Glyph Calc.)
Furor doesn't increase mana
The issue you describe with Furor isn't a bug. It increases your mana pool not your current mana. We don't want you to be able to shift to gain mana.

Heart of the Wild did have this problem for awhile. We fixed that case by just having it increase mana period and not just in certain forms. Unlike Heart of the Wild, Furor is available to (and often a staple of) many druids. It would just be a buff to Resto and Feral druids.

It does mean that Furor doesn't really benefit shifting in and out of Moonkin form (say in PvP). For a druid that stays in Moonkin most of the time, it's still a good talent. (Source)

Paladin (3.1 Skills List / 3.1 Talent + Glyph Calc.)
Exorcism vs. Hunter pets
Exorcism worked on demons and undead before, so the only real change here is versus hunter pets. We don't think this is a gigantic problem given that we've already said we plan to redesign how Exorcism works. If hunters are too weak in Arena, it's unlikely that Exorcism is the cause. (Source)

Retribution burst damage
I have answered this recently. We want to make Retribution less about unloading multiple cooldown-restricted abilities all at once. We aren't ready to discuss our specific plan yet or we would have already done so. (Source)

Shaman (3.1 Skills List / 3.1 Talent + Glyph Calc.)
Elemental Shaman Damage
Here are a few possibilities:

• 1) There is some bug related to dual-spec. We are fairly confident this is not a problem. It did have some bugs when 3.1 first launched, but we think we have caught them all. Therefore we think this issue is just a red herring complicating the rest of the discussion.
• 2) Elementals suffered a lot more from losing 5% crit from the Improved Scorch et al. change than did other casters. However, balance druids and some warlocks, also reasonably crit dependent, did not seem to drop.
• 3) Ulduar fights require a lot more movement, so Elementals can't cast as many spells. (I'm talking about direct damage spells here, not totems.)
• 4) There is some bug with Lava Burst or another spell that we cannot yet locate. We have looked at this a few times and everything seemed to be working correctly, but we can't completely eliminate this as a problem.

As I have said in the other, longer thread, we need to understand the cause of the problem before we go making any shotgun style changes that may or may not fix it. I will also point out that the Ulduar set for Elementals is a pretty decent upgrade. You should be in a better relative position with full Ulduar gear than you were with full Naxx gear. (Source)

Warrior (3.1 Skills List / 3.1 Talent + Glyph Calc.)
Juggernaut too powerful?
Juggernaut is something we're keeping an eye on. We introduced it specifically to give warriors some much-needed PvP potency and don't want to immediately nerf it back to being a non-entity.

New World of Warcraft Wallpaper
A new wallpaper has been added to the official site.

StarCraft II Beta Test Opt-in
This isn't World of Warcraft but ... We're just a bunch of Blizzard fanboys anyway.

" page in Battle.net account management to go through the new beta opt-in process and upload a snapshot of your system specs. During this process, you'll also have the opportunity to opt in to future betas for other Blizzard Entertainment games. Please note that even if you've opted in to our betas previously, you'll need to complete this new process and upload your current system specs to have a chance to be invited.

For more information, see the FAQ -- or create a Battle.net account / Battle.net account to opt in now. If you have an unused beta code from BlizzCon 2008 or WWI 2008, visit this site to enter your code.

[mikena]

cant wait till my guild has the legendary mace ^^

[donvitogwaa]

first

aaaaaand enjoy your ban noob

[valashe]

first

Enjoy your vacation. :


The more and more they talk about changing Ret paladins, the more I get nervous...

[Shámbulancee]

lawl more rating changes? why the hell cant they just make it like it was in the s4 system, did any1 ever complain, '' aww why cant i get brutal at 1400!'', no they got on with it, this just sucks ass, btw any1 notice tier 1 and tier 2 weps r very close to same stats?

[Bonkbonk100]

"Casuals wins again"?

What is he? Some sort of hardcore pre-TBC raider?

[Mahtamori]

Assuming the wallpaper's meant to be alliance on left and horde on right, the blood elf (green eyes) rogue doesn't make sense...

[cchsballa06]

Assuming the wallpaper's meant to be alliance on left and horde on right, the blood elf (green eyes) rogue doesn't make sense...

they look amber to me

[juelz]

yay now druids can stop complaining that they don't have a tanking upgrade from naxx

[juelz]

Assuming the wallpaper's meant to be alliance on left and horde on right, the blood elf (green eyes) rogue doesn't make sense...

Its Varian and Thrall, and their respective camps, Varian keeps a Belf with him

[NotafamaDruid]

Arena is serious business.

[Sturmbringe]

We made a hotfix yesterday to several hard mode loot tables in order to spread around Algalon's weapon drops to make the items more accessible. Algalon still has loot that is unique to him, but the acquisition of the weapons in Ulduar won't be so soul crushingly difficult and ultimately unfair to certain class/builds.

So it turns out that we don't hate you.

Casuals win again : (

In before massive "Hardcore" "leet" QQ and lots of "casual" bashing. This time I won't miss the QQ, as I have developed the habit of checking MMO champ forums early in the morning when I get to work.

[gilfanon]

"Casuals wins again"?

What is he? Some sort of hardcore pre-TBC raider?

Learn2understandsarcasm... He's pre-empting the inevitable flood of 'OMG blizz caving to casuals again, I was so going to get that weapon from Algalon and now any noob can get their hands on it' posts. He clearly understands the WOW community very well...

[Herecius]

Holy mother of monkeys I want that crossbow.

[cchsballa06]

Juggernaut is something we're keeping an eye on. We introduced it specifically to give warriors some much-needed PvP potency and don't want to immediately nerf it back to being a non-entity. [/blizzquote]

"The Exorcism change, largely made so that paladin damage wouldn’t decline once they moved from the undead-rich Naxxramas to the undead-poor Ulduar, gave them extra damage in PvP that we didn’t feel paladins needed."

"I started with "That's a fair point" because the OP mentioned that paladins have more to contend with than just maximizing damage. They do have heals, bubbles, cleansing and similar mechanics going on. That is why I said we can't take something as complex as a rogue's combat system and shoehorn it in for Ret.

But we can (and most likely will) change up the basic Seal, Judge, DS, CS, Exorcism buttons so that they can't all be brought to bear at once AND to make pushing those buttons a little more interesting from the paladin's point of view.

The model of "I bring burst" is not a good one for the game. You can counter stuns and bubbles and heals and even people running away from you. You can't counter someone unloading five digits of damage within just a few GCDs. That makes the combat shallow and frustrating. We're not convinced that is all Rets are about (because they do have heals, bubbles, cleansing and similar mechanics), but if we think the damage mechanics are too easy to counter, then we will compensate in other ways.

This isn't anything you will see get hotfixed in next week. I am more trying to explain our thought process so that the Exorcism change makes a little more sense in context. "



i'm just posting this because i don't think blizz knows what kind of crap they are getting themselves into...they've really dug themselves into a hole with the paladin

i understand it's very hard to balance a class as long as you are gonna give it 2 things...high damage and decent healing(of course paladins do have the best damage reduction ability in the game too lol)...and i guess that's why there is so much commotion with paladins...

and like most paladins know...besides judgement of justice(lol easily dispelable/purgable/trunket/freedom/cleansable or w/e you want to get out of it if you need to) is a rets only real pvp utility...against another player that is..i forget the name of the spell that reduces the other players stats...but that's dispelable too..you could kind of say that that is a paladin's version of a warriors ms...except a warriors ms is not dispellable and i think(vindication?) is....2 other plate wearing melee pvp classes have distance closers...warriors and dks...paladins do not...druid cat has a distance closer, and rogues do as well(something to look into...shamans may need a better move as well for pvp to help them out a bit)
idk just a little rambling

[cchsballa06]

Learn2understandsarcasm... He's pre-empting the inevitable flood of 'OMG blizz caving to casuals again, I was so going to get that weapon from Algalon and now any noob can get their hands on it' posts. He clearly understands the WOW community very well...

winner winner chicken dinner...seems like there is a actually somebody on this forum with an good common sense lol and social skills to boot...

learn to understand sarcasm....make it a website

[good diu bro]

lawl more rating changes? why the hell cant they just make it like it was in the s4 system, did any1 ever complain, '' aww why cant i get brutal at 1400!'', no they got on with it, this just sucks ass, btw any1 notice tier 1 and tier 2 weps r very close to same stats?

Yea, didnt they just said PVE weapons are dominating arenas just a few day ago?
Now they are makin the situation worse, cus less of us can reach the s6 weapons which arnt even that good compared to na25 or ulduar siege area weaps...

[sdkphoenix]

yay now druids can stop complaining that they don't have a tanking upgrade from naxx

Thats definately the new BiS for kitties. The lack of armor makes this a questionable upgrade.

[bbr]

Nice crossbow.
Probably Best in slot for rogues as well
/wink wink nudge nudge

Also, nice that SC2 beta is starting, hopefully Diablo 3 will follow soon after!

[welcome.gg]

And I thought it is my low fps rate causing me making so low dmg. Glad to see I am not the only one experiencing some problems.