Patch 9.1.5 PTR - PvP Item Level Table Updated, Ion Hazzikostas Tweets

It makes sense, but it's interesting how quickly they effectively abandoned the idea of Covenants as flavor/story vehicles. If the idea was to have a strong identity for players by making a "meaningful" choice of Covenant, it's a bit weird that the FIRST new tier already did away completely with Covenant-specific stories and had everyone do the same thing.

That seems to me a stark contrast to the initial rationale behind Covenants during SL reveal/early SL, which is weird considering that at that point the Korthia story would probably already have been developed. So they knew from the start that the very first big patch they'd abandon the idea of separate Covenant stories, which makes their insistence upon strong Covenant identity during early SL a bit suspect.

Don't get me wrong - I'm happy with the 9.1.5 changes. It's just a little strange that they'd apparently planned for this direction from the start.

Every interview, every response, every time he speaks; "We hear you, we're listening. We agree. We can do better. We're working on it". That is all he ever says. Nothing direct, no real answers and no specific dates. This guy must have a world record for using the most words to say nothing.

Glad they fixed the conquest gear ilvls. The base honor set changes (and the base increase to 213) is huge too.

Ho my god...

-We want covenant to be a meaningfull choice
Well it's stupid gameplay wise
-No it's meaningfull, it's important for the fantasy to have those kind of restrictions.
Remember you are the maw walker, the one who will help saving the universe. All covenants are allied and facing the same problems so you will help them all, but you have to chose only one and help only that one, and all the others won't help you. So... gameplay restriction because of lore!

First patch happen

- Well no, it's based on the story; the story progressed, now it does not need to be meaningfull.


So let's rephrasing a bit:
-We have a stupid idea because of stupid reasons.
it's stupid
-No
First patch happen
-It was stupid no more restrictions!

And in one sentence:
-We needed a carrot for the next patch, so we put those restrictions at start so we could remove them later. We do that every expansion. Be ready for the next stupid idea for the next patch !

This series of Tweets is like listening to someone pouring a drink, a perfectly normal activity that's done all the time while explaining exactly the reason they're justified in pouring the drink.

It's astonishing that in four tweets, after doing the thing the community has been asking to do for a year, he didn't say a single word to admitting he's wrong and instead just doubled down that he knew better from the start and that this decision now has got nothing to do with the community but instead that he deemed appropriate.

Absolutely amazing Ion, keep being you.

Originally Posted by TyloBedo

Glad they fixed the conquest gear ilvls. The base honor set changes (and the base increase to 213) is huge too.

Until you realize that you'll need double the amount of honor to upgrade through all these additional ranks, which everyone will complain about and they'll just ignore for a month or two.

Originally Posted by Ion Hazzikostas

I read basically everything that crosses my feed and often spin up conversations within the team based on thoughtful feedback I see here. 100% agreed that we can and should do more to add depth and progression in the outdoor world.

You say you're listening, but your actions suggest otherwise. We're still waiting for:

• Alliance High Elves (NOT purple abominations with tentacle hair nobody asked for. I mean fair skinned, blonde haired, blue eyed, non-tentacled haired legit Alliance High Elves).

• Player housing.

• Reputation storylines to return. Nobody asked for world quest grinds.

• Mage Tower.

• Better transmog system.

• Actual content, not grinds.

Etc.

We've been asking for these things for years and years, and yet you don't give what your paying customers want. We are unpaid beta testers who test your shitty Artifact grinds and RNGendaries and Azerite power and Chorghast and tell you that they are not fun in the hopes that you will change it before launch (that's the whole point of PTR and beta testing, right?), and when the expansion launches, lo and behold the systems are still shitty and nobody likes them and people quit the game and you wonder "why didn't people like shit we shoved down their throat? No, it's not us who are wrong" and you wait a year before you find make a little tweak. Too little, too late. You plug your fingers into your ears and pretend that all is well and that it isn't you who is the problem, but "entitled customers who don't understand that we know better than them!".

This guy said it best:



- - - Updated - - -

And for goodness sake, can you guys actually TALK to your paying customers again? Remember when Honlika or Ghostcrawler used to reply to people on the forums? The devs were actually talking on the same level as their customers. But you guys only ever give press releases and interviews every few months that show just how utterly divorced you are from the desires and feelings of your customers.

Originally Posted by tylobedo

glad they fixed the conquest gear ilvls

lol .

Originally Posted by Val the Moofia Boss

• Alliance High Elves (NOT purple abominations with tentacle hair nobody asked for. I mean fair skinned, blonde haired, blue eyed, non-tentacled haired legit Alliance High Elves).

*ahem*

All that's left is hair color and a few extra hair style options, both of which are coming in this next patch.

Rest i mostly agree with.

The pvp gearing changes are a joke. I don't think they could've made the change smaller or more inconsequential if they tried. Big fat double down on the current state of PvP and their design direction.

I'm genuinely a bit surprised at just how minor this is. This is a bad omen for the future if anyone still held out some hope.

Originally Posted by bluesock

It's astonishing that in four tweets, after doing the thing the community has been asking to do for a year, he didn't say a single word to admitting he's wrong and instead just doubled down that he knew better from the start and that this decision now has got nothing to do with the community but instead that he deemed appropriate.

Absolutely amazing Ion, keep being you.

Classic Ion, really, which leans this for me towards 'We haven't learned a damned thing, the new bosses told us to lighten up for this patch, but we're gonna do it all again." And finishes with his standard "We need to do better" nonsense. I don't even have the energy to be mad at him anymore, lol. He's just a spreadsheet with legs.

For everyone who is hoping 9.2 and 10.0 will be a fresh, exciting sea change for the dev team...I'm sorry. I really feel for you.

I'm so sick and tired of the same excuses again and again, ffs Ion...

AAAAAAAAHAHAHHA OMFG sheep still falling for this exodus damage control, as if they finally care. Lose your money sheep

If those twits weren't bs enough, the amount of people gobbling them up is astonishing.
The "I'm right, you're wrong" mentality will never leave this game as long as he's in charge.

Originally Posted by OokOok

AAAAAAAAHAHAHHA OMFG sheep still falling for this exodus damage control, as if they finally care. Lose your money sheep

This is the quality insight I come for on MMO-C.
/Popcorn
That being said, I'm at least interested in the new Druid travel forms. Sounds like they're Cov based given the snippet of info.

Originally Posted by OrangeJuice

Every interview, every response, every time he speaks; "We hear you, we're listening. We agree. We can do better. We're working on it". That is all he ever says. Nothing direct, no real answers and no specific dates. This guy must have a world record for using the most words to say nothing.

Well, he used to be a lawyer, it makes sense he's good at spinning nothing.

i call bs on this. lore was one of the main reasons for making people choose covenants cause "it's an rpg! cause lore!"...



a lesson that should've been learned 3 and a half years ago with bfa. either ion and his team are extremely slow learners or this is lip service. once again, i call bs.



this issue wasn't one made by ion and his team since the issue started in wod and snowballed from there. that said, we already have cross faction pvp ques. might as well let people pick a faction to represent and use those cities, but still allow everyone to play together just for gameplay reasons. without going ham on a faction divide (like they should've with bfa), i don't think this is solvable otherwise.



i call bs on this one too. people were giving the same feedback for almost a year regarding covenants before shadowlands even launched and it was justified with lore and MeaNInGfUl DeCIsOnS. if twitter if where you go to listen, then why the heck does the forums exist? the people who use the forums are the passionate players. the people on twitter are usually slack-tivists and people who don't actually think ideas through. there are those on the forum but twitter is far worse.

i also call bs on wanting to provide more meaningful and in-depth world content. the world has only gotten smaller and smaller under ion. this is blatant lip service too.

so in all, ion gave 4 lies/deflections and has a pass on the fifth because he didn't actually cause it. at least admitting some fault would've earned some kind of praise from me but he did not.

Progression from the open world sounds terrible. Didn't we learn from isle of giants onwards that any " hard" world content always ends in raid groups aoe farming it?

I felt a connection and attachment to something more, something greater than simply being a tauren druid or a pandaren monk or a nightborne mage. A unique path, a special identity, a story, representing something specific in the game and world, is an rpg element we don't see and one that I felt was strong and defining. I can still pretend I am more dedicated and loyal and so on, but the fact that game doesn't require it anymore, is kind of sad.

I still feel shaman should be horde and paladins should be alliance, because of the aesthetics and so on. There's something special about traditions, ideals, beliefs, heritages, histories, affinities, adeptnesses, customs, food, music, clothing style, architecture, tribes clans, peoples, kingdoms, bases, alliance, horde, and so on, identity and belonging, being linked to specifics. I don't consider these things restrictions, I consider them homes. The more our individual an rpg elements blur and become meaningless, the worse I think for wow's health, appeal, and longevity.

Not long from now, people will wish we had a path(s) that we choose that we can carve out our own place in the world and further enrich out character and story with. Which is what I thought they were doing with this type of alignment. I felt the choice was meaningful and personal, and special. I think in the future when people request a way to progress their character and represent something that other people don't, such as this one, the developers might think well they tried and people whined, didn't appreciate that kind of path.

I think it's cool to look at another character and know they're representing this or that based on the armor they choose to wear, such as covenant-specific pieces, but now anyone can where anything and nothing matters or has any deeper meaning or importance. I consider that sad and a loss for the game, world, and us all. I think people are too entitled to instant gratification and getting their way upon disliking something, rather than see the unique capabilities and potential immersion and beauty and be able to wear something because you are involved with a culture, group, faction, etc, and therefore have earned the blessing to prove you are part of them and have chosen a path, a path that sets you apart in small but important ways, from everyone around you.