Wiping Classes of all Skills and Abilities

[sandmoth12]

What if blizzard completely wiped every skill and ability from all class, and completely redesigned every class from a clean slate for the next expansion?

To me class are the core of the game because nearly every major and minor thing a player does he does is with his/her class. To me the classes have stayed the same for way too long. Sure we get new skills and mechanics from time to time, but when was the last time that you heard from blizzard in a patch note "we completely redesigned X class". Exactly, because have never heard that. It's time for a paradigm shift.

Wow is plummeting in subs. If there was ever a time for big changes, then it's right now.

[OscaR]

then the next expansion would take another 2 years at least to come out.

[roboscorcher]

OK, give an example. How would you rebuild this system? Asking for a change and actually making the change are two very different things.

[sandmoth12]

then the next expansion would take another 2 years at least to come out.

Then that's worth it to make the game fresh again.

[Rivin]

Well, the core gameplay of most (or all) of them wouldn't change; Blizzard seems pretty happy with that. I think what we'd mostly see if that happened is a lot of the utility spells being condensed or removed, which could be healthy for the game in general, but which I also think will happen to some degree anyway.

It sounds like what you're hoping for is a completely revamped combat engine, which would require far more work than just redoing every class's spells.

[Terahertz]

Then many players would quit. People stay with classes because they enjoy the playstyle. Change the playstyle and you'll be taking HUGE risks.

[sandmoth12]

Then many players would quit. People stay with classes because they enjoy the playstyle. Change the playstyle and you'll be taking HUGE risks.

Many players are already quitting, so we just stay the course?

[huth]

What you're ignoring is why people are quitting. Classes not changing enough very likely isn't the reason for pretty much everybody.

Then that's worth it to make the game fresh again.

There wouldn't be a game to refresh in two years of zero content. Not to mention that a change of this magnitude would likely kill the game anyway.

[Banzubie]

but when was the last time that you heard from blizzard in a patch note "we completely redesigned X class". Exactly, because have never heard that. It's time for a paradigm shift.

Didn't locks just get completely reworked at the start of this expansion? Pallies got a massive overhaul in wrath. This has been done before with specific classes.

[Grubjuice]

Warlocks were rebuilt from the ground up and it was quite controversial, but the results were spectacular
not every class needs such a drastic redesign, but some do

particularly the pures (Rogues and Hunters [absolutely], Mages [not so much])
and also some very sloppily designed legacy specs (Enhancement and Elemental)

[Angelicat]

Er, WoW is a very old game, and I wouldn't say that subs are "plummeting". They still have more subs than is needed for an MMO. They do "redesign" classes as it is - in fact, most classes get pretty big changes going into every expansion. Not enough to be a completely new slate but not small enough to be called the same either imo.

What you are asking for is essentially creating a whole new system that would take ages to rebalance (their current balance took years to get to this point and although it's getting better as time goes on, it's still nowhere near perfect at all) for what? Freshness? WoW will never be fresh just because of how old it is, regardless of what Blizzard does that isn't short of just making a whole new game.

[sandmoth12]

Well, the core gameplay of most (or all) of them wouldn't change; Blizzard seems pretty happy with that. I think what we'd mostly see if that happened is a lot of the utility spells being condensed or removed, which could be healthy for the game in general, but which I also think will happen to some degree anyway.

It sounds like what you're hoping for is a completely revamped combat engine, which would require far more work than just redoing every class's spells.

So basically, class redesign is a lot of work and blizzard doesn't want to do it because they are happy with it. But just because blizzard is happy with it doesn't mean everyone is happy with it, and it may not even mean that the majority is happy with it. Sounds like blizzard may need to just swallow their pride and accept that the people don't like their class design philosophy even if they do.

[muto]

I hate what Blizzard did to Demo in Mists.

Hell no.

[Deleted]

Many players are already quitting, so we just stay the course?

and what makes you think a complete rework of classes would increase the subs again?
don't get me wrong, some (if not most) classes really need an overhaul, but i doubt it would affect the subs in such a way that they would suddenly increase again

[Arbs]

I feel people are the making the whole sub lost thing bigger than it actually is, there are many things that could make people quit that may not be cause of the game itself, but Life for them is changing & maybe they can't pay for the game.

Many factors at hand here that may not even be the state of the game that has them leave the game, but how long people have played & they just want to move on, friends may of left. We can't always the blame game for people leaving, we don't know what goes through there mind & why they made the decision, it could be anything.

[cyqu]

Many players are already quitting, so we just stay the course?

ok, you just completely disregarded roboscorcher post asking for you to give an example. i'm assuming you can't so you would rather just fight everyone disagreeing with you.

[Matt0193]

Didn't locks just get completely reworked at the start of this expansion? Pallies got a massive overhaul in wrath. This has been done before with specific classes.

Massive? Not really. They added Holy Power at the last minute and only in in Mists did they make it intuitive with the addition of Boundless Conviction. It was basically Combo points, get 3 and spend it. Anything less is a waste. At least now you have more fluidity for Ret/Prot with Haste lowering the GCD along with everything giving HP as well as nothing having a cost greater than 3, allowing you to fill in more downtime with stocked HP. I'd say it was an overhaul over the course of 2 expansions, rather than 1.

OT: I'd support this largely because PvP is an arms race, each CD that's added for Offense needs to have more counters provided in the forms of CC or have more Defensives, likewise any defensive CD needs to have ways to be forced. I'd much rather the race be reset and potentially balanced properly. That said, it would be done from a PvE stand point so it would probably end up fucked again. Ideally balance the game from a PvP perspective then design bosses around those numbers, rather than flail about trying to balance PvE numbers.

[OscaR]

Sounds like blizzard may need to just swallow their pride and accept that the people don't like their class design philosophy even if they do.

how many are these "people" ?

[markdall]

What if blizzard completely wiped every skill and ability from all class, and completely redesigned every class from a clean slate for the next expansion?

To me class are the core of the game because nearly every major and minor thing a player does he does is with his/her class. To me the classes have stayed the same for way too long. Sure we get new skills and mechanics from time to time, but when was the last time that you heard from blizzard in a patch note "we completely redesigned X class". Exactly, because have never heard that. It's time for a paradigm shift.

Wow is plummeting in subs. If there was ever a time for big changes, then it's right now.

Too big of a change, they would have to come out with WoW 2 in order to pull that off. Otherwise, your character wouldn't feel like your character anymore. It also wouldn't feel like your character anymore. You'd lose attachment to it, and likely stop playing.

I hope for a WoW 2 with better item level inflation management, in-game simulated physics, but hopefully a very similar combat system. If I can dodge attacks it's suddenly more of a platformer, which I have no interest in playing at an MMO level.

[sandmoth12]

ok, you just completely disregarded roboscorcher post asking for you to give an example. i'm assuming you can't so you would rather just fight everyone disagreeing with you.

So if the game is losing subs, then we should keep things exactly as they are. I don't understand that logic because it makes no sense. Typically, if a company is losing revenue, then they try to change to meet the demands of the consumer. The world is in constant change and resisting that change for your own personal comfort is a death sentence for people and businesses alike. Sounds like you are just afraid of change to me.