New abilities on the GCD

[Mafic]

Lets not bring up ability pruning. That's a whole other beast and probably Blizzard's worst design decision in the game's history.

This. This is very minor compared to ability pruning.


Also, to the poster who mentioned this is an effort to make WoW console compatible. You just may not be wrong.

The GCD changes are intentional as they are trying to hide ability pruning by trying to make all your remaining buttons more meaningful. It is simply a gimmick and the GCD changes simply slows down the game and classes still feel empty because of three straight expansions of pruning.

[Jastall]

cast sequence macros aren't necessary to have perfect rotation and logs, it just saves you some clicks client-side.
Whereas burst macros were necessary for many DPS classes, Arms Warrior being the only one I personally have endgame experience with as I main Disc Priest. Bladestorm + Battle Cry is a prime example. No, I cannot name off every single one across every spec, so work with the example.

As for your second question, no idea, but they are likely casualties to Blizzard adopting this new philosophy and hitting every cooldown regardless if it had macro usage or not.

So because players were using a completely legitimate in-game feature to gain some DPS, it's worth the collateral damage of making the game a lot worse to play and affecting parts of the game that have precisely nothing to do with the problem that you (fail to) solve?

This is the game design equivalent of disabling headshots in a FPS because some people can't aim.

[Sorshen]

Dash on a 1.5s GCD, Heroic Leap/Charge/Infernal Strike .5s... what the fuck.

[Al Gorefiend]

So because players were using a completely legitimate in-game feature to gain some DPS, it's worth the collateral damage of making the game a lot worse to play and affecting parts of the game that have precisely nothing to do with the problem that you (fail to) solve?

This is the game design equivalent of disabling headshots in a FPS because some people can't aim.

I think its more the result of Blizzard not wanting people to rely on third-party websites to maximize their character's performance. They've been on a crusade to kill sites like icy-veins and askmrrobot by literally dumbing down as many variables as they can that involve math, addons or needing a volunteer statistician to publish haste cap formulas.

First they killed talent trees, and stated they did so because people just went online to see which ones were the best and never changed them. Then they killed off reforging because people just went to askmrrobot everytime they got a new piece of gear to see what to gem it with and how to reforge it.

Now, burst macros are next on the chopping block. If two equally geared Arms warriors aren't performing equally because one googled "arms warrior macros legion 7.3" and the other one didn't, well Blizz wants to end that.

[Jastall]

I think its more the result of Blizzard not wanting people to rely on third-party websites to maximize their character's performance. They've been on a crusade to kill sites like icy-veins and askmrrobot by literally dumbing down as many variables as they can that involve math, addons or needing a volunteer statistician to publish haste cap formulas.

First they killed talent trees, and stated they did so because people just went online to see which ones were the best and never changed them. Then they killed off reforging because people just went to askmrrobot everytime they got a new piece of gear to see what to gem it with and how to reforge it.

Now, burst macros are next on the chopping block.

If so, that's a completely stupid way to go on about it and won't work at all (and also happens to be a really pointless goal as well). People are still going to want to know how and when to use their abilities, which talent to use, what stats are best, what Azerite bonus is best, etc. Macros are only one page on Icy Veins and it's far from the most important one, some specs barely if ever use them. Unless Blizzard dumbs the game down so much that ilvl is the only stat and every class just has one button labeled Deal Damage, people will always go for third-party sites.

Not to mention Legion was probably the most third-party website reliant expansion they ever did.

[Daffan]

Garbage xpac confirmed. Luckily I have FF14, Gw2, and BDO to play instead.

Y would u pick GW2 other then some-what cool world play.

[Better]

I disagree strongly with adding tank defensives to the GCD. It'll probably result in a lot of mistakes from newer tanks in the first few months. It's also currently pretty inconsistent with what defensives are/are not on the GCD. Seems like longer CD tank Defensives, and what Blizzard classifies as Active Mit aren't maybe?

[Al Gorefiend]

Unless Blizzard dumbs the game down so much that ilvl is the only stat and every class just has one button labeled Deal Damage, people will always go for third-party sites.

Don't give them any ideas.. By 10.0 we'll have just strength, int and agility, all have 1000 HP, and 3 abilities labeled "light attack" for 10 damage, "medium attack" for 50 damage, and "heavy attack" for 200 damage on a 1 min cooldown.

Not to mention Legion was probably the most third-party website reliant expansion they ever did.

Probably why they're knee-jerking so hard.

[infinitemeridian]

Wow, click an ability you press maybe once a minute and now you have to wait 1-1.5 seconds to press another...are we serious right now? We're literally complaining over SECONDS?

This is such a nothing burger, 99% of the playerbase (meaning you guys) will get used to this in about 5 minutes.

[Jastall]

Don't give them any ideas.. By 10.0 we'll have just strength, int and agility, all have 1000 HP, and 3 abilities labeled "light attack" for 10 damage, "medium attack" for 50 damage, and "heavy attack" for 200 damage on a 1 min cooldown.



Probably why they're knee-jerking so hard.

Yeah but see, I'm OK with some amount of knee-jerking. Removing Legendaries? Completely support it. Removing tier sets? Not a big fan but if Azerite is a suitable replacement that allows PvP/WQ/M+ players to get their own version, so be it. Making ilvl matter more than secondaries? If it avoids Arcanocrystal related shenanigans I'll accept it as a necessary casualty.

This is not necessary at all, it's just stupid, there's no upside to putting movement and defensive abilities on the GCD.

[Eviltroll]

I posted this on a Wowhead thread, but I will share this here too since it is very much relevant.


I love World of Warcraft and I always will, and even though I haven't been actively playing for over a year, I still keep up with the game religiously. As someone who has kept up with this game practically daily for 10 years, I am continually baffled by the poor choices the developers make in their ceaseless efforts to reinvent the wheel. It's not that this one change is necessarily any worse than others, it's the constant changes like this that continually irritate the players that are tired of seeing frustrating changes that in effect piss everyone off far more than they do succeed in improving things that don't need improving.

These changes are unnecessary. The changes to loot rules were unnecessary. The changes to mob scaling that went beyond the scope of leveling were unnecessary. Countless other changes that have been made that change fundamental rules that long time players never imagined that one day would be put in jeopardy over seemingly fruitless pursuits.

It's seemingly never ending. Even if you want to play the game, or look forward to playing, you can't be sure that the developers won't up and decide to reinvent how fundamental elements will work, that completely change the things you have had years to get used to. I get it, and it's beyond frustrating, and so when I see comments and posts made from people who are dramatic and upset, I completely 100% understand where they are coming from. People are allowed to be human. Some disagree with that because they are painfully insecure even over what some random internet person might say about their comments.

It sucks when you want to enjoy something, but you're dealing with schizophrenic developers that seem determined to make waves over god knows what. It almost feels like the developers shake things up to ensure that things are always broken, so that they will still have a job in the days to come.

QFT
PS : add the constant layers of RNG over RNG both lootwise and for gamplay!

[Al Gorefiend]

I disagree strongly with adding tank defensives to the GCD. It'll probably result in a lot of mistakes from newer tanks in the first few months. It's also currently pretty inconsistent with what defensives are/are not on the GCD. Seems like longer CD tank Defensives, and what Blizzard classifies as Active Mit aren't maybe?

an extra 1 second to wait for the GCD will only be felt at absolute bleeding edge content, like 2200+ arenas with stunlock bursting or mythic raiding with encounters like Maiden of Vigilance.

[Better]

an extra 1 second to wait for the GCD will only be felt at absolute bleeding edge content, like 2200+ arenas with stunlock bursting or mythic raiding with encounters like Maiden of Vigilance.

No, I just ran a dungeon with it, and the extra 1.5 sec was noticed the entire time. Keep in mind this means it can't be used as an instant reaction to something unexpected happening. What I didn't expect however is how terrible the changes are for leaps.

[peki]

Blizzard is, albeit very late, realizing that a lot of designs in WoW that has snowballed to the point of reducing the experience of the game has to be changed back a bit, even if this extraordinarily pampered community will whine about it. Game design is luckily not a democracy, or else this game would have shut down it's last server back in 2007.


Abilities not being on the GCD should be a rare exception where it makes sense, not done purely because it's beneficial to players to be able to pop defensives, or use movement-abilities with zero regard to the GCD on their main abilities. Getting hit by an oh-fuck amount of damage SHOULD be followed by that small panic window where you can pretty much do nothing for half a second, mashing Ice Block or whatever. That gives the situation some semblance of impact in combat, not having muscle-memory to instantly press x button when health is below 20%. That is NOT the exact same thing.


Small things like this, all over the game, has been snowballing out of control for years and years, not because it necessarily gives the best gameplay experience in the end, but because players are as a whole unable to know when things are getting out of hand. I like to use the example of being able to vote for how much loot a boss drops. How many items per boss do you think it'd take before a majority of players would vote "no" to add even more items per boss? How long does it take before people realize it isn't fun to have your entire roster geared after 1 clear, even if it's "fun to get gear" and "getting loot is the whole point".


Changes to leveling follows the same recipe as this really. Necessary rollbacks of snowballed designs that together is creating a game where everything gives this feeling of "I have a RIGHT to have my way" which is poisoning this game. Some of the responses to this change is very much a pinnacle of it. How DARE these devs go against the forums? How DARE they slow down combat even though a majority isn't supporting it? How can they possibly go through with a change that isn't a buff to everyone?


Well, I guess the answer can be given in just a few words.
Players: Short-term satisfaction
Game design: Long-term enjoyment

This needs to be stickied on the front page. Everyone sayin BFA is looking shit because of the gcd change, fucking babies who have had their hands held for years now.

[Gungnir]

an extra 1 second to wait for the GCD will only be felt at absolute bleeding edge content, like 2200+ arenas with stunlock bursting or mythic raiding with encounters like Maiden of Vigilance.

What?
You cannot seriously, in any imaginable way, think that this won't be extremely noticable in every day life.
Want to burst as a frost DK? That's 4.5 seconds of waiting until you can actually start DPSing.
Do you genuinely think that no one will notice that when doing regular content? Either you're severely underrating the intelligence of the average player or you're extremely casual and don't actually play the game.

[GreenJesus]

an extra 1 second to wait for the GCD will only be felt at absolute bleeding edge content, like 2200+ arenas with stunlock bursting or mythic raiding with encounters like Maiden of Vigilance.

GCD is 1.5 seconds.. if you didn't know that then it is obvious why you don't care. Casual.

[Jastall]

GCD is 1.5 seconds.. if you didn't know that then it is obvious why you don't care. Casual.

To be fair most specs will have it reduced by Haste to a degree. In reality your GCD is closer to 1-1.2s

[Ielenia]

How big of an brainlet do you have to be to think it's a big decision deciding which one out of 10 buttons to press.

So you've reached the point of using insults, now?

What's the point of having all offensive buffs off the GCD? You'll just blow them all up at the same time so might as well just make it a single ability. As for the defensive buffs, what's the problem? It's not the tank's job to do high DPS.

[Mister Cheese]

Yes!!!
I am glad they are not listening to the "bitch and moan" crowd, we need more of this!

- - - Updated - - -



A lot of people like the changes, we have some ppl that don't, mostly here on the forums.

Dude this is an awful change that drastically slows things down and makes shit a slog. Questing was already a slog. Going through Zuldazar and having to hit each cooldown methodically is a huge pain in the ass when it's been off the GCD for 5 years. This is not a good change. This disrupts gameplay heavily.

I see a lot of defensive GCDs on here. Which is fucking dumb considering they said in their last post that they didn't want to give some classes an unfair advantage on the defensive department which is why they removed gust of wind from shamans. I guess now if you see a big hit coming and your defensive is on GCD you're fucked then? That's terrible.

[Ielenia]

That is probably one of the worst arguments I've seen.

It was intentional hyperbole.

You don't have to slow down the game to a goddamn crawl in order for it to be "tactical", you just have to have the fucking tools for a game to be tactical which we also lack so I am not sure why you are advocating that this change is positive.

Same thing as my last post: if offensive buffs are all off the GCD, then that means they'll all be used at the same time for maximum burst, so might as well just merge them all into one single ability.