Big class changes in 8.1

[Thelxi]

It would be pretty funny if they made it a selling point for 8.1

[yjmark]

Because before it was mostly numbers tuning. But this time, the small indie company doesn't even managed to finish some classes. They already said that they simply forgot or didn't listened to the community at several classes (spriest, shaman in general) and that they are broken and need a redesign, but couldn't finish them until the release.

They need a total overhaul, not just numbers tuning this time around. And it seems that blizzard already given up on spriest for example, since there are nearly none changes in the last few patches.

You are reading way too much into it. Those classes are nowhere nearly as broken as you are stating (i.e. they are playable, but just not as fun for many). And Blizz just said that they do want to make them better, but it won't be for 8.0. They have not given up on spriests. They have not given up on Shamans. They just didn't get the redesigns done in time for 8.0. This happens to multiple specs at every expansion, and happens throughout the expansions too. Ex - SPriests were in a pretty bad place for most of Legion. Feral Druid got a makeover mid Legion. This kind of stuff happens. It's not the end of the world or an indicator that Blizz is doing anything different than what they always have.

FYI - I'm basically saying that Blizz never gets all classes and specs right. This is nothing new.

[Armourboy]

What's annoying is that they keep changing things but they set up the game so it's hard to change mains. Let's be honest. There's a large number of people who aren't overly tied to one main and enjoy being able to play multiple characters. And I'm often a pug tank, so "FOTM" isn't just about big numbers, it's about playing the spec that I know I can be most self reliant on.

We're just supposed to sit there and ride the roller coaster on one character, hoping that they are randomly kind to our class. It's annoying.

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Yeah... no. Disc priests were absurd, and warlocks were so OP that there were blue posts about how they didn't want to nerf them after releasing content because guilds had become reliant on their op dps.

Once again, there is a difference in tuning and design. Both of those were numbers issues, not so much how the class was design.

[SirCowdog]

They have not given up on Shamans. They just didn't get the redesigns done in time for 8.0

And in what way is that actually acceptable?

There's no excuse for just not finishing an entire class before launch, much less more than one class.

[yjmark]

And in what way is that actually acceptable?

There's no excuse for just not finishing an entire class before launch, much less more than one class.

Happens every x-pac. Classes go through changes. Some are clunky at launch. Not sure why it seems like such a surprise.

[SirCowdog]

Happens every x-pac. Classes go through changes. Some are clunky at launch. Not sure why it seems like such a surprise.

The question was not if it was surprising. It was why it's acceptable.

Just because Blizzard has always screwed it up doesn't mean it's right. You should consider that carefully.

[shaunika123]

Warlocks and DKs are fine, same with most other classes. Shaman really is one of the only specs in major need of reworks, maybe havoc dh.

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[xpose]

Warlocks and DKs are fine, same with most other classes. Shaman really is one of the only specs in major need of reworks, maybe havoc dh.

Hunters have lost their identity. Blizzard has no idea what to do with survival. They should honestly scrap it and it seems like they have no real creative design for beast mastery. It's apparent no one there plays a hunter

[yjmark]

The question was not if it was surprising. It was why it's acceptable.

Just because Blizzard has always screwed it up doesn't mean it's right. You should consider that carefully.

Meh - I don't think it's that big of a deal. I'd rather they released the x-pac instead of holding it back for a handful of specs to get optimized (and yes, I do play one of the specs that everyone is crying about - spriest). Everything is still playable.

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Hunters have lost their identity. Blizzard has no idea what to do with survival. They should honestly scrap it and it seems like they have no real creative design for beast mastery. It's apparent no one there plays a hunter

I love BM. What exactly do you dislike about it?

[Deleted]

You are reading way too much into it. Those classes are nowhere nearly as broken as you are stating (i.e. they are playable, but just not as fun for many). And Blizz just said that they do want to make them better, but it won't be for 8.0. They have not given up on spriests. They have not given up on Shamans. They just didn't get the redesigns done in time for 8.0. This happens to multiple specs at every expansion, and happens throughout the expansions too. Ex - SPriests were in a pretty bad place for most of Legion. Feral Druid got a makeover mid Legion. This kind of stuff happens. It's not the end of the world or an indicator that Blizz is doing anything different than what they always have.

FYI - I'm basically saying that Blizz never gets all classes and specs right. This is nothing new.

Indeed it is nothing new and just shows how incapable they are at improving their expansion development (especially balancing) process after more than a decade of experience. The thing is that alpha/beta testers actually do give valuable feedback and suggestions but most of the time Blizzard just chooses to completely ignore them. A good example of this would be the Legion Feral Druid changes in 7.3 that had already been suggested before the expansion even launched.

[Unholyground]

I keep seeing all these threads pop up, and all I can think of is how stupid it is to pre-order, or even buy in at launch. The more and more I see of how unfinished these expansions are, the more this becomes true.

It is worth it just to get the flying prerequisites done.

[SirCowdog]

It is worth it just to get the flying prerequisites done.

Or you could wait until you can actually see ALL the pre-reqs, and do them with the benefit of catch-up mechanics. :/

[Unholyground]

Or you could wait until you can actually see ALL the pre-reqs, and do them with the benefit of catch-up mechanics. :/

That is true, I think 8.1 is going to be like 4 months in ( They are already working on it internally ) so that is probably the best time to come back.

[Saverem]

They always put out small emergency patches through out the first few weeks of a new expansion as a sort of a bandaid until they can make the bigger changes in the .1 patch.

If your class is doing too poorly (or too good) expect to have their numbers adjusted in the first few weeks of 8.0.

[Armourboy]

They always put out small emergency patches through out the first few weeks of a new expansion as a sort of a bandaid until they can make the bigger changes in the .1 patch.

If your class is doing too poorly (or too good) expect to have their numbers adjusted in the first few weeks of 8.0.

Which has absolutely nothing to do with design and it not being right, which is the entire topic of this thread.

I mean why is it acceptable to people that they can expansion after expansion not do what they should be doing in alpha/beta?

[CMyTA]

Warlocks great? You know, stacking Unstable Afflictions isn't fun. Just like Voidform for shadow priests, aka Archon form taken from Diablo.

[davesurfer]

I know a priest needs it and I say warlock cause they just nerfed them down. And like said blizzard is known to kill fun classes weeks after they release them

My wife plays Disc and says that they are the best they have been at the start of an expac that she has seen.

I play blood DK and it feels way better than the start of Legion.

[Saverem]

Which has absolutely nothing to do with design and it not being right, which is the entire topic of this thread.

I mean why is it acceptable to people that they can expansion after expansion not do what they should be doing in alpha/beta?

You do realize design/mechanics rework is NEVER DONE, right? Classes/specs/abilities are CONSTANTLY being reworked through out almost every content patch since the game's inception.

[davesurfer]

You mean Legion was great....a few months in after they'd cleaned up the launch issues, corrected some of the bullshit with Legendaries, released a few more mythics, allowed the order hall missions to actually be completed, re-enabled flight, opened up Artifact Research to a point where it wasn't a miserable grindfest, and finally cleaned up some of the class imbalance?

This is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. BfA will be exactly the same: Not even worth buying until 6+ months in when they unfuck everything they break at launch.

And yet you will be playing

[yjmark]

My wife plays Disc and says that they are the best they have been at the start of an expac that she has seen.

I play blood DK and it feels way better than the start of Legion.

FYI - Shadow priest is where all the complaints are coming from. Most folks have said that Holy and Disc are really fun.