You decide: New class, Class skins, 4th specs, or New combos

[Raetary]

All i want is Elune themed priest spell effects.

If it requires a Class skin feature to exist, then yes please.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Ugh, i don't know what way of thinking led you to believe Druid was a good basis for a tinker class skin. And although I'm all for seeing gnomes and mechagnomes as funny mechadruids... wouldn't you rather have it associated with Shamans ? Lightning would need no change, totems can become turrets and enhance spec would be a neat technobarbarian. Plus you'd only need to give shaman to gnomes to make it work perfectly.

I'm really not a big fan of Paladin Dragonsworn either. None of their spells feel very dragony. Sure it's cool to have a dragon knight in plate. But mages have a wider variety of spells that could just use a little coat of paint to make it work. Or maybe you could go with a Paladin skin for Red and Black Dragonflight and a Mage skin for Blue and Bronze. Green have enough of their fantasy put into druids, so they're fine that way.

The idea here is that you offer them as a new class option and just cheap out on the class design aspect by reuse another classes mechanics, that means whatever druids and paladins have would be irrelevant besides skill A "activates in melee range, costs x resource U and gerates y resource W". If you take away the graphics and the flavor text all the classes operate similarily, with a few deviations. As I said previously, and the OP even mentions, there are different ways to treat class skins. A dragonswon would have no cross over paladins other than the patch notes for balancing, they wouldn't share mounts, artefact skins or class order halls. They'd be their own thing without the need to expand the class balancing matrix by another row and column.

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Yeah... No I don't feel it working for Divine Storm. Neither for the tank spell with the three hammers you know. I get this feeling that you'd need to change the spell visual too much for it to be recognized. And I think that's the main risk with class skins. We almost didn't get transmog because it impaired pvp.

That ship has fucking sailed years ago now. The shape of a character is meaningless these days. Your UI tells you what you have to do with an enemy.

[DatToffer]

... What? Where did that come from? Do you have a source? I never, ever heard about that. How does cosmetics impact gameplay in PvP?

Well, pvp players could quickly identify an opponent and evaluate their lvl by checking the gear they were wearing. Transmog made it harder. And I think it was an argument against changing player skin for so long.

It is also a reason why we get so much cooldown on the transforming toys.

The idea here is that you offer them as a new class option and just cheap out on the class design aspect by reuse another classes mechanics, that means whatever druids and paladins have would be irrelevant besides skill A "activates in melee range, costs x resource U and gerates y resource W". If you take away the graphics and the flavor text all the classes operate similarily, with a few deviations. As I said previously, and the OP even mentions, there are different ways to treat class skins. A dragonswon would have no cross over paladins other than the patch notes for balancing, they wouldn't share mounts, artefact skins or class order halls. They'd be their own thing without the need to expand the class balancing matrix by another row and column.

That ship has fucking sailed years ago now. The shape of a character is meaningless these days. Your UI tells you what you have to do with an enemy.

Yeaaaah... I still think there should remain some consistency. And that class skins shouldn't completely replace the identity of a class. because if you change the visual of the spells too much then what ? You start making raid and pvp tier for the class skins ? Or you just roll as usual and your class skins doesn't fit any of the gear you can loot ?

[Cosmic Janitor]

i never will get how someone be soooo stupid to even ASUME in the SLIGHTEST a 4th spec.

Blizz completely sucks to balance 36 specs and you think they wanna add another 12 ???

Also they did for the last added class (DH) just 2 specs, because of lower investment and running out of ideas. at least i asume this. and now you think they add 12 new specs ???

ppl even for just 5% believe in this, are so absurd naive and dellusional, that its sheer crazy.

Balancing is really not that hard. All of them aim for some rough number. Blizzard just doesn't care to adjust these numbers properly for all skill and item levels. Some classes scale just way better than others, which is something you can catch during the design phase, but instead they leave it untouched until it becomes problem. Often it's also not even class balance itself that sucks, but just the way encounters favor one niche over another. This becomes quickly apparent in tiers where affliction and shadow reign supreme, and even without knowing the fights I can tell you that there is probably spread 2 target cleave and heavier movment.

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Yeaaaah... I still think there should remain some consistency. And that class skins shouldn't completely replace the identity of a class. because if you change the visual of the spells too much then what ? You start making raid and pvp tier for the class skins ? Or you just roll as usual and your class skins doesn't fit any of the gear you can loot ?

Again where have you been the last few years? My items haven't actually fit my class since late legion.

[DatToffer]

Again where have you been the last few years? My items haven't actually fit my class since late legion.

Is that supposed to be a reason to get a class skin that won't fit any of the rest of your dressroom ?

[Capultro]

i LOVE this post

[Cosmic Janitor]

Is that supposed to be a reason to get a class skin that won't fit any of the rest of your dressroom ?

You make it sound like this would be an insurmountable issue, the majority in your dressing room alredy is unspecific plate gear in the first place. Of the rest even the paladin exclusive stuff is often hardly that specific to paladins and more themed around the dungeon it is from, there are obviously some notable exceptions, but you can usually get them as off-set pieces I find in my DK's transmog tab as well. Also I doubt the multi-billion dollar indie company Blizzard would be incapable of replacing a book on my shoulder plates with a little dragon.

[Hastis]

blizz gonna add those class skin to is cash why not you can buy always wia wow tokeen xDDDDD

[DatToffer]

You make it sound like this would be an insurmountable issue, the majority in your dressing room alredy is unspecific plate gear in the first place. Of the rest even the paladin exclusive stuff is often hardly that specific to paladins and more themed around the dungeon it is from, there are obviously some notable exceptions, but you can usually get them as off-set pieces I find in my DK's transmog tab as well. Also I doubt the multi-billion dollar indie company Blizzard would be incapable of replacing a book on my shoulder plates with a little dragon.

On the contrary I think there's a lot of things this multi billion dollar WON'T do for character customization.

But you guys really had me confused here. I thought class skins were supposed to be things to add flavor to a class fantasy, not to replace it by shoehorning fan class concept.

It's like you guys were so tired of the fanmade class fights (which btw are ridiculous because fanmade class concepts are supposed to be fun and creative, not realistic and plausible) that you tried to resell them as class skins.

[Cosmic Janitor]

On the contrary I think there's a lot of things this multi billion dollar WON'T do for character customization.

But you guys really had me confused here. I thought class skins were supposed to be things to add flavor to a class fantasy, not to replace it by shoehorning fan class concept.

It's like you guys were so tired of the fanmade class fights (which btw are ridiculous because fanmade class concepts are supposed to be fun and creative, not realistic and plausible) that you tried to resell them as class skins.

That is why I said I would have split that option up. The recent thread mostly focused on the recycling angle, but many people only associate the slight flavor angle. The OP also mentions both, which kinda muddles the water and therefore the poll itself.

[DatToffer]

That is why I said I would have split that option up. The recent thread mostly focused on the recycling angle, but many people only associate the slight flavor angle. The OP also mentions both, which kinda muddles the water and therefore the poll itself.

Yeah. I didn't follow the class skins threads too much because I don't find there's too much potential to it, so I was surprised you guys went this far.

[Twistnectar]

I'd be happy with any of it at this point TBH. I won't lie, I miss looking forward to a new class every other expansion (as was the theme for a bit). BUT, Blizzard has enough on their plate i'm sure with current balancing issues (not that I still think they shouldn't make another class, I definitely think there's more room for additional classes).

Anyways, if we can't have a new class I'd love to see class / race restrictions lifted. Soo much in the game has changed in the QOL realm and this would just be another QOL change. I've never been into lore, and for those that play for lore i can understand how they would be, upset? I just want to play my favorite class as my favorite race. I see no harm if someone being a Blood Elf druid if they wish, or a Tauren rogue, as goofy as that might seem.

[Triceron]

Might as well add them as a spec within a new class.
.

If people are okay with Gnomes who aren't undead being Dark Rangers, then sure, thats possible. I think my idea works better to control the exact races and lore as a New class would, without the need for 3 completely new specs to do so.

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Yeah... No I don't feel it working for Divine Storm. Neither for the tank spell with the three hammers you know. I get this feeling that you'd need to change the spell visual too much for it to be recognized. And I think that's the main risk with class skins. We almost didn't get transmog because it impaired pvp.

If shape mattered at all then Void Elves would never be a thing for the Alliance. Let's face it, you',re using an argument that holds no water in Modern WoW. Even Blizzard has pretty much said fuck it, let em play what they want. You want Upright Orcs? You got it.

[DatToffer]

If people are okay with Gnomes who aren't undead being Dark Rangers, then sure, thats possible. I think my idea works better to control the exact races and lore as a New class would, without the need for 3 completely new specs to do so.

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If shape mattered at all then Void Elves would never be a thing for the Alliance. Let's face it, you',re using an argument that holds no water in Modern WoW. Even Blizzard has pretty much said fuck it, let em play what they want. You want Upright Orcs? You got it.

It's not Blizzard who doesn't care. Remember that void elves didn't look like blood elves and weren't supposed to, as stated by Ion in a interview.

It's only after months and months of constant whining from the high-elf «community» that they decided to roll back on their original stance.

So if you expect a similar result, be prepared to act like a huge child and look like an annoyance to everyone else. Or maybe pray for a new scandal to be revealed, because that's a big accelerator for fan service.

[Cosmic Janitor]

It's not Blizzard who doesn't care. Remember that void elves didn't look like blood elves and weren't supposed to, as stated by Ion in a interview.

It's only after months and months of constant whining from the high-elf «community» that they decided to roll back on their original stance.

No one would have been able to distinguish a void elf or a blood elf in full armor at first glance, neither in Legion nor now. The only thing that really matters is the red name above their head or the color/symbol of their class in instanced PvP.

[DatToffer]

No one would have been able to distinguish a void elf or a blood elf in full armor at first glance, neither in Legion nor now. The only thing that really matters is the red name above their head or the color/symbol of their class in instanced PvP.

Technically true. Doesn't change the fact that Blizzard doesn't compromise character identity unless pressured to.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Technically true. Doesn't change the fact that Blizzard doesn't compromise character identity unless pressured to.

They already compromised that when they added heritage armor.

[AngerFork]

Voted for New Class, though I would've also voted for New Combos & maybe New Specs had I realized in time that it was a multiple choice poll. Downside of checking forums first thing in the morning.

WoW has IMO could absolutely use a new class. It strikes me as no surprise that the expansions we mostly fondly come back to remember (Classic, BC, WotLK, MoP, & Legion) are the ones where we got a new class to play with. New classes provide a bit of an adjustment to how groups are set up & give plenty of other new tools to play with in team design. Even for those that don't main a new class, there's still stuff to learn for things like Darkness & Revival that just weren't there to be considered beforehand. Plus, new classes tend to be great story drivers as well as strong marketing tools to get hype up for the next expansion, especially when it comes to things like pre-orders & pre-patches. Legion Order Halls could be an issue here, but there are ways to work around it.

Class skins I feel like would be cool short-term, but long term would likely fade into the background. How often do you hear people talk about Warlocks with green fire these days, which is a current class-skin like example in the game? I'll see Warlocks using different fire colors, but I can't think of the last time I've heard anyone talk about the feature itself as opposed to the quest chain to get it. Plus, this would likely hit into how glyphs work currently & could be a hindrance for the Inscriptionists if done wrong.

New/4th Specs could be good, but I do feel that would be a lot of work for Blizz to balance when they already have trouble. If they struggle to make 36 specs relevant in all content while minimizing homogenization, jumping that number up to 48 is not going to make things better. This would also have the same order hall issue that new classes do, though slightly less as they would be more based upon weaponry rather than a full order hall. I do feel a few new specs could be interesting, such as Shaman Earth Tanks. This might even be a good way to throw in single-spec classes people are asking for, such as Dark Ranger.

New race/class combos absolutely should be added & likely will be at some point, but these are more quiet usually. Gnome Hunters were a bit of a throwaway feature of Legion, even though there was a quest NPC that specifically showed why Gnome Hunters were now a thing. This likely wouldn't create a ton of marketing buzz, but could go a long way towards player enjoyment. Some fairly easy examples that the story already supports would be Night Elf Paladins, Zandalari Warlocks, Worgen/Goblin Monks, & Tauren/Draenei Rogues.

[DatToffer]

They already compromised that when they added heritage armor.

But heritage armour are all about race identity.

[Teriz]

Voted for New Class, though I would've also voted for New Combos & maybe New Specs had I realized in time that it was a multiple choice poll. Downside of checking forums first thing in the morning.

WoW has IMO could absolutely use a new class. It strikes me as no surprise that the expansions we mostly fondly come back to remember (Classic, BC, WotLK, MoP, & Legion) are the ones where we got a new class to play with. New classes provide a bit of an adjustment to how groups are set up & give plenty of other new tools to play with in team design. Even for those that don't main a new class, there's still stuff to learn for things like Darkness & Revival that just weren't there to be considered beforehand. Plus, new classes tend to be great story drivers as well as strong marketing tools to get hype up for the next expansion, especially when it comes to things like pre-orders & pre-patches. Legion Order Halls could be an issue here, but there are ways to work around it.

I agree with this. New classes also offer the potential for new mechanics and gameplay opportunities (partially why those expansions were so memorable). DKs, Monks, and DHs all offered that, so no doubt the next new class would be more of the same.