Developer Interviews, Salvage Changes, Weekly News Recap

Update 5:01 PST - Watcher tweets about buffing under performing specs more so than nerfing Glad.
Update 3:14 PST - FinalBossTV's Interview has finished, and we have added a roundup! Please make sure to check out the full video!


FinalBossTV Developer Interview
the FinalBossTV Interview with Ion Hazzikostas and Kris Zeirhut has finished! We strongly recommend watching the VOD for more details on your class. If you are unable to view the VOD we have a roundup below!


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Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
General
  • Server engineers would go home and sleep for 5-6 hours in the middle of the day, and then head right back to work at launch.
  • A lot of problems were because particular servers had a large population of players who had quit during TBC or Wrath come back and inflate that server’s population to extreme levels.
  • They are fine with the speed at which people are getting gear from garrison missions.
  • Getting a new garrison raid mission is not based on the success or failure of a previous one.
  • They want to go back and add data for older raids to the dungeon journal but it’s not a high priority.
  • They will look into making Admiral Taylor's Greatsword transmoggable.


Items and Itemization
  • They are happy with how warforged gear works at all levels, including mythic loot.
  • There are probably going to be larger gear gaps between raid tiers compared to the past.
  • Due to the exponential curve of power, there will be another item level squish in the future, but it "is a few years out".
  • They know the Everburning Candle is over budget, but they are fine with this for now. If they had this conversation 2 months ago, they would probably say “yep, it needs a nerf” but now that it is out there and people have spent lots of gold on it, they don’t feel they should nerf it.


Graphics
  • They want to do a graphics update in the future to make it so that spell effects don’t all go to the exact same point on the body’s model and instead spread out.
  • They feel the need to increase the graphics quality with each expansion in some way, even if it is a 10-year-old game.
  • They feel that improvements could be made reduce to melee clutter from pets, such as making the Fire Elemental into a ranged guardian that still did the same damage.
  • They have a plan to “fix” toys for druids so you can see transformation items/buffs outside of PvP. Mounted shapeshifts will still take the highest priority.


Class Changes

General Information
  • Some class balance changes will go live sometime tomorrow, with number changes around 5% where needed.
  • There are only a few specs like Marksmanship Hunters and Windwalker Monks that are pulling a little too far ahead than the others.
  • When a spec is top on both movement and stationary fights, they usually need to take a look at the spec.
  • Everyone should be fairly equal in single target, although may still have niches (stationary vs movement). Once you get beyond single target, some might be good at cleave (2-3), some mass AoE, some burst AoE, etc.
  • When there was 70% overhealing, absorbs felt more important. Now that overhealing is getting smaller (and will get even smaller in Mythic) absorbs are starting to get where they feel just right.
  • They like that all the healers have different strengths and weaknesses.
  • They don’t expect there to be class mechanic changes in 6.1 or even 6.2 unless there is a large problem.
  • They feel the pruning in a lot of classes is not complete. It will take them a while to get all the classes cleaned up. Shaman still feels like it has too many damage sources. You won't see these in the 6.1 or 6.2 timeframe however.

Talents
  • Level 100 talents in general are have some serious balance issues compared against each other.
  • They do think the level 100 talents that are underperforming but fun should get a buff in 6.1 or 6.2.
  • For talents that people do not think are fun, they may just leave them alone for now and completely replace them next expansion.

Death Knights
  • They feel Blood Death Knights are using their magic too much and aren’t using their weapon enough. They need to make them use their strikes again, but it likely won’t be in the immediate future.

Hunters
  • If Hunter stacking becomes an issue in Mythic raids, they can nerf Aspect of the Fox or even remove it. It was added mainly because it was felt that Marksmanship Hunters didn't bring enough raid utility.

Mages
  • Fire and Arcane mages are pretty low. Frost is better but still on the low side. They want to make sure each spec is viable.
  • They are happy with Rune of Power. However if you feel forced into it, they want to make sure there are other options.

Monks
  • Challenge Modes revealed that Mistweaver Monks were a little low, which is the reason for the recent buffs.
  • They have no performance tweaks in mind for Mistweaver Monks.

Paladins
  • Beacon of Faith for Holy Paladins feels mandatory, and they think the other two talents need to be brought up to the same level.
  • Empowered Seals will be looked at in 6.1 along with the rest of the level 100 talents, and they will adjust it if it is too low or too high.

Priests
  • Shadow Priest’s Clarity of Power is another example of the other talent options needing to be buffed to be more in line.
  • Shadow Priests should be about multi-dotting when it comes to AoE. The amount that they can buff Mind Sear is limited because it can’t outpace Mind Flay in single target.

Rogues
  • They don’t see any data that shows Rogues need changes at this time. They feel Rogues might still be dealing with the changes to combo points, and think that Rogues are pretty well represented across their specs.

Shamans
  • Healers are pretty close on performance. Resto Shaman is probably a little low, they should get a little bump.
  • DPS shaman are probably on the low side and may get a small buff.
  • Fire Nova is possibly still too strong.

Warlocks
  • The devs are still looking at Rain of Fire and what it has done for warlock specs. They weren't happy with Rain of Fire being used as a core part of a single target rotation. In hindsight, they would have handled the hotfix differently, especially the suddenness of it.

Warriors
  • They don’t want warriors to feel they hit like “wet noodles” until the execute phase. If they end up feeling like this on fights, they will look into it.
  • Gladiator was a little too high for single target. It was out performing the other single target.
  • Gladiator should still be close to the same single target dps, but not have the same toolkit as the other specs.
  • Arms and Fury will be brought up. They want to make sure Arms and Fury are doing the same single target as Gladiator. They don’t want to force people away from Arms and Fury to Gladiator based on DPS.
  • If people are not using Shield Barrier at any level of play, they will give it another look.

Convert to Raid Developer Interview
Convert to Raid had an Interview with Ion Hazzikostas & Kris Zeirhut today. We have created a recap that you can check out below if you are not able to view the VOD!

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Patch 6.1
  • The development team did not know there would not be flying for 6.1.
  • New flightpaths and changes to them have been confirmed for 6.1.
  • The new Blood Elf models will be available for 6.1.
  • More information on patch 6.1 will be available in the near future. Soon.

Classes
  • We will see small class balance changes this Monday, before Highmaul Mythic is released. At most, a 5-10% range of changes.
  • The first week of raid data is invaluable when making balance adjustments.
  • If you don't see any changes for your spec/class, the design team probably thinks you're doing well from a numerical standpoint.
  • Shamans need a bump, they're on the low side at the moment.
  • They'd like to improve Elemental's mobile damage, but it will have to wait until 6.1 as it will require significant changes.
  • All Mages are on the low end of the spectrum, and will be receiving buffs.
  • Frost, the most played spec, is a lot lower than they'd like.
  • The necessity of Crit on Fire Mages is problematic early on. They'll figure out a way to adjust it.
  • Lots of players are playing Gladiator Warrior because of how well it is doing, and will be toned down a bit.
  • Other warrior specs should be buffed up.
  • Players gravitate towards the spec which deals the most damage, and Gladiator shouldn't be the answer for Warriors.
  • Playstyle changes shouldn't be made via a hotfix, like the recent Warlock embers change. Players need more warning before that happens.
  • They tried to remove a lot of positional requirements, which is why Glyph of Blackout Kick was removed.
  • They may have gone too far with the removal of large heals. This could be addressed in the future via talents.
  • There's a chance we'll see them ease up on class restrictions for gnomes. Gnome Hunter is probably one of the more likely combinations.


Stats
  • The team is currently happy with the role that Spirit is playing.
  • Versatility is no ones best stat, however, DPS should still be okay switching to it when they get a piece of gear that is higher item level. If that ends up not being the case, it will be looked into.
  • There have been no regrets getting rid of Hit and Expertise.
  • They like how all of the secondary stats now do something unique.
  • There are no plans to allow for rerolling of stats, outside of the current profession reroll items.


Garrisons
  • Follower benefits are currently only taken into account when you collect your work orders. This will be changed in an upcoming patch so they must be present as work orders complete to get the bonus. We will be given notice before this change goes live.
  • A change will be made so that your followers can earn experience while working in your buildings.
  • There will be internal discussion about the number of high level garrison missions you receive.
  • The change to salvage crates was made not because they're worried about you leveling up your followers' item levels too quickly, but because they don't want you to feel like you need to keep a low level follower around to make proper use of your garrison.
  • We will see more garrison content during this expansion through new missions, better rewards, higher item levels, and hidden features.

Raiding
  • The team is happy with how well flex is working. Groups aren't aiming for a specific number of people, but inviting those who want to join.
  • We're looking at a minimum of 2 raid tiers this expansion, 3 is not out of the question. Ideally, raid tiers last at least 6 months each.
  • They'd like to reduce the time between raid tiers; 13 months was too long.
  • The new LFG tool has had a huge impact on the community. People are more social.
  • Highmaul
    • Player response to Highmaul so far has been positive.
    • The team is happy with the current tuning for Highmaul.
    • Highmaul Normal has been tuned around you having 5 man Heroic dungeon gear, where Highmaul Heroic was tuned around having Highmaul Normal gear; A natural progression.
  • Molten Core
    • The revised Molten Core experience was not meant to be done more than once.
    • They wanted to make sure it stayed faithful to the old experience. While 5 minute curses may not be added to the game today, it was an important part of experiencing MC.
    • Some mechanics were adjusted as it was near impossible for 40 random people to get through them. The aggro radius on Golemagg was one of them.
    • We probably won't see any other old school raids come into the LFR format.


Salvage Changes
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
It's neither nerf nor bug, but rather intended to be a rebalancing that shifts some of the incentives away from spamming low-level missions (even after you have high-level followers), in favor of making high-level missions more rewarding.

We made two changes:

  • Level 90-94 missions will only award a Bag of Salvaged Goods (level 1 reward) regardless of the level of your Salvage Yard.
  • Successful Level 100 missions will now always reward a salvage crate appropriate for your current Salvage Yard.

Level 95-99 missions are unchanged. On balance, players who are trying to increase the item level of their followers should be receiving a similar number of follower upgrades as before, but hopefully with a bit less emphasis on logging in every hour or two to cycle through quick low-level missions.

Weekly News Recap
Here is your chance to catch up if you missed a day of news this week!

This article was originally published in forum thread: Developer Interviews, Salvage Changes, Weekly News Recap started by molster View original post
Published on 2014-12-07 07:13 PM
196 Comments
Comments 196 Comments
  1. Whiteboard's Avatar
    When you suddenly get a 645 follower mission that rewards you a weapon and you've had catastrophic weapon luck for multiple expansions, you will be logging on every 2 hours to send followers on missions to match that ilevel requirement. @_@
  1. BRO90X's Avatar
    Lots of players are playing Gladiator Warrior because of how well it is doing, and will be toned down a bit.
    Players gravitate towards the spec which deals the most damage, and Gladiator shouldn't be the answer for Warriors.


    Are you fucking kidding me? Maybe make the other specs viable. I give up on this game. Glad was my last hope.
  1. revhunt's Avatar
    The warrior situation is unsettling.
  1. Goldielocks's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by BRO90X View Post
    Lots of players are playing Gladiator Warrior because of how well it is doing, and will be toned down a bit.
    Players gravitate towards the spec which deals the most damage, and Gladiator shouldn't be the answer for Warriors.


    Are you fucking kidding me? Maybe make the other specs viable. I give up on this game. Glad was my last hope.
    Maybe they will buff arms and fury as well. It was certainly implied to me.
  1. Shudder's Avatar
    "We're looking at a minimum of 2 raid tiers this expansion, 3 is not out of the question. Ideally, raid tiers last at least 6 months each."

    And with that, they confirm another broken promise. Did anyone believe them when they said yearly expansions?
  1. mmoc324cd8e6c6's Avatar
    I had to create a account just to vent my frustration on how they are treating warriors.
    Gladiator is not a overpowering spec and is doing top end but in no way broken damage.
    Because the other two specs are currently in a shit state they feel making gladiator equally shit is the way forward? I will feel like the itemisation I have spent time and resources of my guild on will be worthless it they make it unviable like the other two specs are! Rather than nerfing (again) the strong spec, just buff the two which are underperforming so people are not pulled into gladiator!
  1. melodramocracy's Avatar
    Lots of players are playing gladiator because it's the only warrior DPS spec worth investing in. Leave it to Blizzard to see this as a sign to nerf glad, rather than buffing the other 2 crap-tastic specs.
  1. Karadros's Avatar
    I actually like playing as a sword& board warrior thematically - I thought Paladin's Retribution spec would get it before Warriors did, though.

    And as for MC not being run more than once? If that's the case, everyone should get the pet and weapon transmog enchant too.
  1. JaceDraccus's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Whiteboard View Post
    When you suddenly get a 645 follower mission that rewards you a weapon and you've had catastrophic weapon luck for multiple expansions, you will be logging on every 2 hours to send followers on missions to match that ilevel requirement. @_@
    Do level 94 missions give that ilvl, then?
  1. Epileptica's Avatar
    "Lots of players are playing Gladiator Warrior because of how well it is doing, and will be toned down a bit."

    Lots of players are playing MM Hunters and WW Monks because of how well they are doing, and will be left alone

    Go figure...
  1. JaceDraccus's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Karadros View Post
    And as for MC not being run more than once? If that's the case, everyone should get the pet and weapon transmog enchant too.
    This. I don't often complain about Blizzard, but this does not compute.
  1. Schwert's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by BRO90X View Post
    Lots of players are playing Gladiator Warrior because of how well it is doing, and will be toned down a bit.
    Players gravitate towards the spec which deals the most damage, and Gladiator shouldn't be the answer for Warriors.


    Are you fucking kidding me? Maybe make the other specs viable. I give up on this game. Glad was my last hope.
    This.

    If they nerf Glad stance AGAIN without touching Arms/Fury and the top parsing specs it's going to be ridiculous.

    I also refuse to touch the train-wreck that's arms in PvP right now and if they nerf Glad once more the spec is going to become unviable there.

    Glad stance is absolutely fine where it is; Buff Fury/Arms.
  1. Orisai's Avatar
    They should seriously consider a Garrison Mobile app.
  1. Okacz's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Epileptica View Post
    "Lots of players are playing Gladiator Warrior because of how well it is doing, and will be toned down a bit."

    Lots of players are playing MM Hunters and WW Monks because of how well they are doing, and will be left alone

    Go figure...
    No one said they will be. As a MM player I can't say I'm looking forward to Monday tuning patch. Well, this month was glorious anyway.
  1. PaladinBash's Avatar
    Good changes to warriors. They need to be kept down in line.
  1. xcronox's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by BRO90X View Post
    Lots of players are playing Gladiator Warrior because of how well it is doing, and will be toned down a bit.
    Players gravitate towards the spec which deals the most damage, and Gladiator shouldn't be the answer for Warriors.


    Are you fucking kidding me? Maybe make the other specs viable. I give up on this game. Glad was my last hope.



    Completely agree. Im playing Glad because Arms and Fury get nerfed in someway almost every hotfix so the solution if now to nerf Glad. I would say, if blizz doesn't want me to play my warrior they should just say so, however with this expansion that is pretty much exactly what they have said.
  1. Terahertz's Avatar
    Yet nothing on PvP. Oh well.

    Also this line I don't get "They tried to remove a lot of positional requirements, which is why Glyph of Blackout Kick was removed."

    Glyph of BoK made it so you'd apply the "bleed" effect of BoK no matter which position you were hitting your target. They tried removing positional requirements, yet removed a glyph which, well, removed positional requirement...
  1. cursero's Avatar
    if "The development team did not know there would not be flying for 6.1.", who decided then?
  1. markdall's Avatar
    "The development team did not know there would not be flying for 6.1."

    Bullshit. There won't ever be flying in current content, ever again - there hasn't been flying in current content since the patch in Cata that inflicted those terrible firelands dailies on us. (The Molten Front).

    At best, maybe they didn't know they'd slip on whatever new content they're planning that won't be on the main Draenor continent. They know damned good and well that they don't plan on letting us fly in any location we actually want to go.
  1. Whiteboard's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by JaceDraccus View Post
    Do level 94 missions give that ilvl, then?
    Looks like only level 100 missions, but you don't need to be level 100 to get them.. just followers that high.
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