Why do Mages never have tons of changes in Patches/Expansions?

[matrix123mko]

Do arcane missiles benefit from arcane charge in Shadowlands? If so, I am happy.

[Cosmic Janitor]

We don't see 2 bosses right next to each other often, because that would make Frost super OP on that boss.
.

I never got that tbh, because it's totally okay to make (destro)/affl/shadow op on 2 boss fights with spread out bosses or bosses with long lasting adds.

[hambone2626]

Isn't there something to be said on change for the purpose of change?

fire mages is shit and to reliant on a pair of bracers, mirror image and phoenix flames being in the rotation is a good change

[shise]

What for? all 3 specs are fun and high performance. Let it be.

[Mozu]

Pretty much this. But I guess that is WoW on this forum for you. Even when a specc works, somebody needs to make a post crying about it. But whatever - even when mages were dominating pvp and whatnot, somebody made a thread here that mages need to be fixed because they are too weak.

Which should just go to show you that performance isn't the only metric that people care about. Some people actually may want to enjoy playing their class, despite it dominating or not. Shocker, I know.

[Makabreska]

But they do get changes. Arcane (most struggling spec) just received a ton of talent reworks, on top of other things from earlier patches. Fire with Hot Streak and Frost with Shatter have been working just fine for years. Why change them?

[Sparklelord]

mages have seen plenty of changes along the years,you know what has goten almost ZERO changes?resto shamans,literaly since tbc we have been a chain heal bot

Bus shock has come full circle.

[Sw1tch]

I think changes for the purpose of change adds novelty to the game and incentivizes people to look forward to playing the class/etc. I suppose you could call Covenant abilities that.....

Idk, everytime I see "Spell Changes" or PTR Changes for shadowlands, Mage is *never* there. I get excited once I get to Hunter, then nope right to Monk. Time and time again.

[blankfaced]

Have mages actually seen a spec change on par with any of the other pure dps? Demo is nothing like it used to be. Survival the same. Outlaw the same. Certainly a lot of people don't like them, but the "classic" feel specs are still there to a degree. I don't care if they take fire and turn it into a damn healer at this point. Mages are the most stagnant and unchanged class in this entire game. And it's very much showed over the years. I thought i was a MAGE FOR LIFE! Nope, turns out if everyone else get's fun new stuff (especially when they take something you had (frostfire bolt) give it to another class (warlocks) then take yours away) it gets old really really really fast (they even had a chance to bring it back with SL.) Mages have lost a lot of identity over the years, and it's showing hard. Like the alcoholic aunt that smokes 2 packs a day hard.

The wards should have been one time use reflects instead of just bringing back what they were. Arcane Explosion is the only good thing coming for all of us, and even then it's just for pvp and breaking stealth. Mages just need a bunch of utility brought back to the class that isn't there anymore. I'm not talking "necessary for raiding" utility, more "I'm a mage so I can do this." Like when mana mattered and we could make gems for ourselves and had evocation type of utility. Or when fire had Blast Wave and it knocked back. Or when Fire Blast stunned on occasion. Everyone could have shatter and Deep Freeze. Mages have lost so much utility along the way they just feel so hollow and shallow now.

They get very "focused" on a few classes each expansion. It shows. It costs them players unfortunately.

[ihate2beapessimist]

Because Mages dont handle change well, theyd rather just keep what you all seem to be enjoying than deal with endless tears.
Most of the cool stuff added for mages is in the form of borrowed power, thats why you arent seeing it. The classes with huge sweeping changes are fundamentally flawed.