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  1. #1

    Were there actually people who didn't like spec identity?

    Spec identity turned 12 classes into 36. Who actually was against this? Were people asking Blizzard to give this up?

    I can understand some people not liking the identity Blizz chose for some specs, like losing 2H Frost or ranged Survival specs... but we gained a ton of replayability from it.

    Are we going to lose our 36 unique specs as a result of this "depruning"?
    Last edited by Nomads; 2019-11-06 at 05:24 PM.

  2. #2
    Yeah, I thought it was perfectly fine.

  3. #3
    i know, right? damn, these 2 expansions have been quite fun to play, every spec felt different from the others, unlike some years ago.

  4. #4
    "class identity!!!" people are just parroting inane talking points they hear from classic youtubers and other forum posters, they're all anti-pruning yet scream for specs to be homogenized and made redundant all so that 36 unique play styles can be reverted back into 12. braindead logic

  5. #5
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    Hated it. I'm a paladin not a glowing arms warrior. Legion killed class fantasy.
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  6. #6
    It was terrible. Ruined my favourite classes.

  7. #7
    Never understood the desire to go back to an inflated spellbook with spells you don't use. What is the point of having fireball as a frost mage? Any buffs that they add (like auras) will be useless since content will be designed around have that extra effect. The things that truly matter, like kicks for healers, are dangerous and can have really bad effects on pvp and mythic+.

  8. #8
    Ah, just what this forum needed. Yet another why-did-daddy-Blizzard-choose-to-give-me-candy-corn-instead-of-a-fucking-pony echo chamber.

    OT: Class identity sucked in BfA and I'll gladly enjoy my new buttons if it means Tinkers never get added to this game.

  9. #9
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    I THink each spec will still have their abilities that make them unique but the class will have a bigger pool. Example. (not accurate ,just a idea) In Legion a Paladin with 3 specs had 10 spells every class could use and 15 spells unique to the spec. Now they want each class to have 20 spells they all can use and only 5 unique. Same number all around just the class has more to it over all. I would even go as far to say some specs only have 2 or 3 unique abilitys that make up the spec, MM having aimed shot for example where the others don't.

  10. #10
    It's all down to execution. There's little point discussing slogans. The main problem with this issue is that some people would want to have abilities from all specs in every spec. I hope this won't be the case because it will just make the game more confusing to new / less experienced players.

  11. #11
    I didn't dislike spec identity so much as I disliked losing my class identity. I might be an arcane mage but suddenly losing access to frost and fire spells was offputting to me. Especially in cases where I might have my school locked out and I can't do anything whereas prior to the change, I could fallback on my fire and frost spells until arcane was available again. Back in BC I also liked that as Arcane I HAD to use my non-arcane nukes when I needed to regen mana because of AB spam. I felt like I had a broad array of things I could do even if there was only one that I excelled at. Getting back some non-arcane spells feels good to me even if they only have a niche use.

  12. #12
    Have faith in the Blizzard developers - they know what they are doing and have been doing it for a long time now.

  13. #13
    Pruning was a terrible idea beyond a few abilities.
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  14. #14
    The problem is Spec identity took away from the class as a whole in some regards.
    Though this really began in WoD with pruning, taking away "bloat abilities".

    Some of these abilities like Shattering Throw, where niche abilities that many didn't use anyway.
    But for those who did, suddenly a lot of depth was pulled away from their class.
    While theres others, e.g. Heoric Strike which is whole topic of its own.

    Legion then took it further, in the name of "Spec identity". Using warriors as an example again, arms and fury losing Shockwave. Suddenly being denied abilities you've had for years for "Spec Identity" is something fair to be upset about.

  15. #15
    Spec identity turned 11 classes who were good to play to 34 "eh" specs. Not counting Demon Hunters here since they were introduced when they started the whole spec identity thing.

  16. #16
    I'm for spec/class identity. Granted my preferred class works better at maintaining a class identity while also having diverse specs (rogue).
    With this "unpruning" the dev's have given themselves a monumental task, this is likely the real reason why we aren't getting a class. So many abilities have been baked in to classes or worked into talents that as they start reintroducing them they will have to roll back classes to how they were years ago.

    Regardless, there are a lot of people acting like this will be a return to form without realizing that their class is probably about to get broken and then not fixed until 10.0 or 11.0.
    Legion did way more to prove you can have class identity while maintaining specs that are diverse. This is going to be a step backwards.
    I have a feeling this will be one of those "vanilla was harder" moments when this goes live.

  17. #17
    I loved that they turned them into more of a spec identity in Legion. Never had so fun gameplay wise personally like I did in Legion. I rather have a pruned spec that is good to play than a unpruned class with spells that are so situational that you leave them in your spellbook and thus make the spec clunky, without proper identity.

    I am an Arcane Mage. I like to perfectionize the art of the Arcane, not dribble into sub-magic schools like fire and frost. I like my Frost Death Knight, because it's all about using the icy winds of Northrend to defeat my enemy.

    I thought the artifact weapons gave each spec an identity, and they kept much of those specs in BfA, but it would be better if we got the traits/ability from the weapon in BfA as well. But of course, they had to do something new. Early to say what class identity will mean in SL though. Maybe they surprise me and the abilities we get back will have some good interaction with the respective specs.

  18. #18
    My biggest issue with pruning has less to do with "class identity," and more to do with the removal of niches in the name of trimming down perceived bloat.

    I liked 2h frost or 1h fury, for example. I don't see how bringing either of those back interferes with the spec identity they've created for frost or fury, respectively.

    Another example is the removal of the Holy Paladin spell Denounce, which was virtually never used in PvE, but was a great utility spell for PvP (shutting down a warrior's burst was fantastic).

    I'm not convinced depruning and removal of spec identity -have- to go hand-in-hand. Whether it happens anyway is a design decision on their part, but there's lots of things which were pruned that didn't have anything to do with class v. spec identities.

  19. #19
    ...this site never fails to amaze me

    MMO Champion for the last 5 Years: AMG the pruning is terrible everyone sucks EVERYTHING Sucks

    Blizz: WE ARE REMOVING PRUNING

    MMO Champion now: AMG THEY ARE REMOVING THE PRUNING WTF BLIZZ WHY DO I NEED FROSTBOLT AS A MAGE TAKE BACK EYES OF THE BEAST GAME RUINED

  20. #20
    I like spec identity, but I also like class identity, and I hope they can find a decent balance of both.

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