Your pick for the next WoW class; 2021 edition

[Hastis]

tinker is my most dont want to add class to the game ever. I would like to see some cloth user maybe range class

[Biomega]

This argument always flips around to other players disliking the large size to the player disliking the small size. It's truly an overblown and silly argument.

Perhaps you've never raided as a melee. Rest assured that crowding and visual bloat is already a problem melee players are complaining about WITHOUT the addition of a class that turns into a giant dragon on top of them.

You may not care, but Blizzard will. This is absolutely a concern for them, and a reason to design around it.

[Ghanir]

I don't necessarily think there's a need for more classes. Perhaps the Bard but then again I would think the Bard class would most likely either feel too similar to a Mistweaver/Holy Priest or Discipline Priest (but maybe a dps variant would be somewhat original compared to what's available).

What I do think would be neat, but many have already mentioned the asinine work the devs need to go through with the already available ones, are added spec's to already available classes.


Necromancer could be either a ranged variant for the Deathknight, or a split-off & mix-match of Affliction Warlock + Unholy Deathknight. But then again, as people already know, the Necromancer feels way too similar to either of those already, so one could say that the Necromancer already exists split between those two already existing classes.


Dark Ranger could be a new spec for the Hunter, with some abilities that have existed before; like Dark Arrow (can't think of much else on the spot). Lore for it already exists, and afaik it's only previously alive rangers/hunters ressurected that pretty much become these. But then again this one also feels quite thin, with little to go for it besides what already exists.


The Dragonsworn to be sounds more like a new race than a new class. They could perhaps introduce this as a race with a related class that is unique to them? Sort of like the Panda with their Monk class which later on became available to other races.


Tinker I don't personally have much interest in & if it were to be implemented it would prob. be solely for the gnomes & the goblins (and i guess any related allied races). From my personal experience people aren't really fond/interested in these races, considering them somewhat like joke-races, even though the gnomes could be argued to be a bit more serious than the goblins but they've sort of been portrayed as such.
This is just my POV of this whole ordeal, but I'm certain it would make some people happy and they could prob. implement it with every role if they really wanted to.
A Tank-spec focusing on shielding their mech or something, with related gadgets & tech for crowd control, a Heal-spec focusing on concoctions & gizmos like the Summon Jade Serpent Statue, and a DPS-spec with god knows how many things you could come up with related to tech.
Only thing that bothers me about this spec in particular is its similarity and potential obsoletion of Engineering, and how a mech would even work in World of Warcraft.


I deliberately withheld mentioning Night Warrior because of it's similarity to Demon Hunter and thinking it's pretty much an asspull to fill the list. kek

[Trazzle]

Tinker! If not that then I'd love to see some '4th specs' introduced ie Shaman 'Earth Warden' Tank or Time Mage healer.

[Zsadist]

What's the name of that class that Maiev Shadowsong is? The Night Elf that captured and jailored Illidan Stormrage for so many years? They are called 'Wardens', correct?

"The Hunt is nothing without The Hunted"

A class that can hunt down Demon Hunters and put up a great fight, in my opinion, could be introduced. They wield awesome Umbra Crescents and would love to see them in action.



What about a third spec for Demon Hunters? Has anyone noticed those 'Light Demons' on the ship that has landed on Argus? We are coming to a Void and Light expansion soon. I have a feeling we will see more 'Light Demons'. Since Demon Hunters can turn into Demons and use Chaos magic, why not a third spec of 'Light Demon' form that actually heals and builds shields through melee combat with 'Light' magic? A melee form of Discipline Priest. Healing and building shields through melee damage instead of ranged spells. That would make a great Mythic+ specialization already added to a class that already excels in Mythic + since they were introduced. It is possible since one class, Priests, use Light magic for two specializations and Shadow magic for one specializations.

[Teriz]

Perhaps you've never raided as a melee. Rest assured that crowding and visual bloat is already a problem melee players are complaining about WITHOUT the addition of a class that turns into a giant dragon on top of them.

You may not care, but Blizzard will. This is absolutely a concern for them, and a reason to design around it.

And the point is that Blizzard can adjust design around that, so it isn't a problem.

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Only thing that bothers me about this spec in particular is its similarity and potential obsoletion of Engineering, and how a mech would even work in World of Warcraft.

A class wouldn't effect a profession at all. If anything, the similarity in themes would only help the profession by giving the latter more potential customers to sell related items to. For example, imagine Engineers being able to craft mods (colors, models, decals) for the Tinker's mechs, or crafting mods that could alter the appearance of their turrets or robots much like glyphs? Finally if Tinkers use guns, that would give another class (market) for engineers to craft guns for. I would also give the Tinker class a bonus towards the engineering and alchemy profession.

I don't see how such additions would hurt engineering at all.

Mechs could work in WoW similarly to Druid forms. Obviously given that you're dealing with a gnome or goblin piloting a machine, some different mechanics would be at play from shape-shifting.

I deliberately withheld mentioning Night Warrior because of it's similarity to Demon Hunter and thinking it's pretty much an asspull to fill the list. kek

Well I included Night Warriors because there was some serious hype behind them earlier in the expansion via Tyrande. I guess after 9.1, that hype evaporated.

[Melusine]

My vote is for none of them.

I instead vote for 4th specs. Since Druids already have a 4th spec, they will not count.

Warrior: Dueler. Like fury, except with 2 1 handed weapos.
Paladin: Crusader. Essentially, a ranged Shockadin.
Death Knight: Reaper. This spec is a 2H spec that uses 2 Dancing rune Weapons permanently.
Hunter: Ranger/Dark Ranger. A cross between MM and SV. Ranged spec.
Shaman: Earth Warden. This spec draws power from the Earth to harden their skin, and make the Shaman a tank.
Druid: None.
Monk: Bard. A ranged Monk that serves as a support dps that draws his/her damage based off the ability to make a raid team stronger.
Rogue: Ninja. I really shouldn't have to explain this, but the core premise is, these melee fighters can go out of range and do equivalent damage for a short period of time.
Demon hunter: Glaive hunter. Instead of using warglaives, they use sentinel glaives, and they can also throw that glaive. They don't get a 4th spec until later.
Mage: Chronomancer. These mages can function as healers by reversing time to undo wounds, and is the first dps spec that can dispel magic.
Priest: Inquisitor. Essentially, Shadow spec in reverse. The priest uses holy magic in light form to destroy evil.
Warlock: Necromancer. Now, instead of summoning demons, you now animate dead in order to do your deeds. When certain enemies die, they can be resurrected as undead to continue the fight once more. Otherwise similar to affliction instead of demonology.

[Eazy]

Tinker is the one that makes the most sense and could be actually distinguished compared to other options.

Bard? Sounds cool as a concept, but I wouldn't really see it in WoW.
Necromancer? Looks too much like a Warlock(demonology)/Death Knight(unholy) hybrid.
Dark Ranger? You mean the hunter with bonus skin?
Night warrior? It's a Tyrande class, not players.
Dragonsworn as a class? Lmao.

[Teriz]

What about a third spec for Demon Hunters? Has anyone noticed those 'Light Demons' on the ship that has landed on Argus? We are coming to a Void and Light expansion soon. I have a feeling we will see more 'Light Demons'. Since Demon Hunters can turn into Demons and use Chaos magic, why not a third spec of 'Light Demon' form that actually heals and builds shields through melee combat with 'Light' magic? A melee form of Discipline Priest. Healing and building shields through melee damage instead of ranged spells. That would make a great Mythic+ specialization already added to a class that already excels in Mythic + since they were introduced. It is possible since one class, Priests, use Light magic for two specializations and Shadow magic for one specializations.

I think for a third Demon Hunter spec, the bow/Fel based stuff seems the most fitting given their elven backgrounds, and the need for another physical ranged class;



I might make a thread about it.

[jellmoo]

The reasons why you say this particular poll is flawed has been addressed in other polls, and those polls still produced similar results.

I disagree. I have yet to see polls that:

- Presented a clear and straight forward question, in an unleading manner, that had any sort of consensus
- Presented an exhaustive list of options reached at something of a consensus, presented in an unleading manner, including multiple nul options
- Was put forth at multiple places, linking back to one another, to gather data from multiple sources
- Had the data thoroughly analyzed, showing trends per source
- Did any sort of analysis when it came to sample size, including attempting to work out a margin for error

The problem is that each poll shares the same flaws. It's not terribly surprising that you get similar results. And it's absolutely entirely possible to get the proper results by using poor methods. It just lacks meaning as evidence to do so.

[crakerjack]

Tinker is the one that makes the most sense and could be actually distinguished compared to other options.

Bard? Sounds cool as a concept, but I wouldn't really see it in WoW.
Necromancer? Looks too much like a Warlock(demonology)/Death Knight(unholy) hybrid.
Dark Ranger? You mean the hunter with bonus skin?
Night warrior? It's a Tyrande class, not players.
Dragonsworn as a class? Lmao.

Every time I ponder how a tinker could work, I’m brought back to the same scenario that it would just feel like a reskinned version of other classes. Some rocket ability that would be too similar to explosive shot or arcane missiles. Some channeled cone mini gun ability that’s resembles every other cone ability, just channeled. Turrets would just be reskinned dots or a generic pet.

In the end, regardless of how much some of you hype up new classes, it’s pretty evident most of you don’t play every single spec in endgame. There’s already too much homogenization and it would only get worse with an additional class.

WoW is almost 17 years old and focusing on what we already have is essential, new classes aren’t. A new class would have to make sense from a mechanics perspective and as I see it, there’s no room for creativity without ripping concepts for current classes. Screw the lore, that shit is stupid. Blizzard prioritizes gameplay over everything else, so unless a new class is mechanically unique and sound, it ain’t happening, nor should it.

[Teriz]

I disagree. I have yet to see polls that:

- Presented a clear and straight forward question, in an unleading manner, that had any sort of consensus

“What’s your choice for the next WoW class” isn’t a clear and straight forward question?

- Presented an exhaustive list of options reached at something of a consensus, presented in an unleading manner, including multiple nul options

This is an exhaustive list of options reached at a consensus based on multiple class threads over the last two years. In that time, these are the class options brought up most frequently. What class concepts do you feel were left out?

- Was put forth at multiple places, linking back to one another, to gather data from multiple sources
- Had the data thoroughly analyzed, showing trends per source
- Did any sort of analysis when it came to sample size, including attempting to work out a margin for error

And I have a sinking suspicion that if we did all of that, we’d get the same results we’re getting here.

And you would still say the poll is “flawed”.

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Every time I ponder how a tinker could work, I’m brought back to the same scenario that it would just feel like a reskinned version of other classes. Some rocket ability that would be too similar to explosive shot or arcane missiles. Some channeled cone mini gun ability that’s resembles every other cone ability, just channeled. Turrets would just be reskinned dots or a generic pet.

In the end, regardless of how much some of you hype up new classes, it’s pretty evident most of you don’t play every single spec in endgame. There’s already too much homogenization and it would only get worse with an additional class.

WoW is almost 17 years old and focusing on what we already have is essential, new classes aren’t. A new class would have to make sense from a mechanics perspective and as I see it, there’s no room for creativity without ripping concepts for current classes. Screw the lore, that shit is stupid. Blizzard prioritizes gameplay over everything else, so unless a new class is mechanically unique and sound, it ain’t happening, nor should it.

So a ranged tank, an ability to combine a turret with your mech to create a new weapon, a healing spec that doesn’t use mana, performing class roles inside a vehicle, and/or maybe even the ability to combine your mech with another player’s mech (Voltron-style) wouldn’t be new, unique mechanics?

[crakerjack]

“What’s your choice for the next WoW class” isn’t a clear and straight forward question?



This is an exhaustive list of options reached at a consensus based on multiple class threads over the last two years. In that time, these are the class options brought up most frequently. What class concepts do you feel were left out?



And I have a sinking suspicion that if we did all of that, we’d get the same results we’re getting here.

And you would still say the poll is “flawed”.

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So a ranged tank, an ability to combine a turret with your mech to create a new weapon, a healing spec that doesn’t use mana, performing class roles inside a vehicle, and/or maybe even the ability to combine your mech with another player’s mech (Voltron-style) wouldn’t be new, unique mechanics?

You didn’t propose any mechanics, just concepts. A turret is just a reskinned dot or pet. It might have a new animation, but new animations shouldn’t be justification for a new class. A new class would have to FEEL mechanically new, not look new.

[Eazy]

Every time I ponder how a tinker could work, I’m brought back to the same scenario that it would just feel like a reskinned version of other classes. Some rocket ability that would be too similar to explosive shot or arcane missiles. Some channeled cone mini gun ability that’s resembles every other cone ability, just channeled. Turrets would just be reskinned dots or a generic pet.

In the end, regardless of how much some of you hype up new classes, it’s pretty evident most of you don’t play every single spec in endgame. There’s already too much homogenization and it would only get worse with an additional class.

WoW is almost 17 years old and focusing on what we already have is essential, new classes aren’t. A new class would have to make sense from a mechanics perspective and as I see it, there’s no room for creativity without ripping concepts for current classes. Screw the lore, that shit is stupid. Blizzard prioritizes gameplay over everything else, so unless a new class is mechanically unique and sound, it ain’t happening, nor should it.

I totally understand you.

I meant the tinker from the lore perspective, because all of the other classes ideas are... just reskinned slightly ones we've already got. While the tinkerer would be most fresh and original.

[Teriz]

You didn’t propose any mechanics, just concepts. A turret is just a reskinned dot or pet. It might have a new animation, but new animations shouldn’t be justification for a new class. A new class would have to FEEL mechanically new, not look new.

A summon combining with the character to create a new ability would be a new mechanic, not a reskin.

[GMZohar1]

Alliance Tinker should come with Gnome Engineering and Horde should come with Goblin Engineering and have it NOT count towards to 2 Profession limit. Professions are somewhat useless these days so it wouldn't make that much of a difference

[Rootsbum]

Bard all the way.
With my magical lute/flute I travel around the world collecting heroic tales and stories, aided by some kind of magical force posessing my instrument (be it the elements, fae, souls, titan Wikipedia-man)

Bonus if able to play music like in FF14

Ive always loved being the simples man in fantasy games.

I would also be Ok with a mechanic/tinker reskin for druids. Heck: Even DH

[Teriz]

Bard all the way.
With my magical lute/flute I travel around the world collecting heroic tales and stories, aided by some kind of magical force posessing my instrument (be it the elements, fae, souls, titan Wikipedia-man)

Bonus if able to play music like in FF14

Ive always loved being the simples man in fantasy games.

I would also be Ok with a mechanic/tinker reskin for druids. Heck: Even DH

I’m curious; did the class thread about the Bard influence your decision?

[Easyclassictopkeklel]

what purpose do these threads have?
Blizzard devs don't care about your opinion. Blizzard devs don't read mmo-champ. And a good game dev is not dependent on some amateur class concepts to make a proper game. Spending time on creating those "concepts" and discussing them is nothing more than a complete waste of time.

[loras]

Dragonsworn is simply not a class, death knights and warlocks cover the lore and gameplay a necromancer might bring, dark rangers are just emo hunters, night warriors lack a concept beyond "empowered by Elune".

Which leaves bards and tinkers, of which Tinkers are a longstanding feature of WoW lord in both factions via gnomes and goblins, as well as representation in earlier games.
No hate for bards, especially the potential for more esoteric elementals á la Murmur is neat, but they're just nowhere near as prominent as tinkers.

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what purpose do these threads have?
Blizzard devs don't care about your opinion. Blizzard devs don't read mmo-champ. And a good game dev is not dependent on some amateur class concepts to make a proper game. Spending time on creating those "concepts" and discussing them is nothing more than a complete waste of time.

It can be a lot of fun though, but i do agree that one must be realistic about how... useful such efforts are.