Let's Talk Racials.

[Debased]

One of the most interesting changes in WoD was going to be the balancing of racials. Finally competitive players could play what they want and the factions would also be more balanced in this regard. Well that's simply not true and it simply did not happen. Which I find incredibly disappointing. From a Horde perspective Undead have been heavily nerfed, again. Yet Undead will remain the go to PvP race alongside the nerfed Orcs. Trolls will still be a very dominant PvE race. Orcs will still likely come out on top for permanent pet classes. No meaningful changes whatsoever. Just nerfs.

The Human racials are still unquestionably going to be overpowered particularly in PvP. Night Elves still have shadowmeld, and now a 2% passive speed boost, and bonus stats. Making them too superior to essentially all Horde races. Gnomes too will be superior to Horde races. Of course it's slightly subjective but generally speaking it's the case, and it doesn't just apply to the aforementioned races.

So what has changed? Alliance still has superior racials. We'll all be rolling the same old races if we are competitive about our gameplay, Horde side, and on the Alliance there are clear winners too. I can't believe there has not been more talk about this utter disappointment. And of course racials don't matter to everyone, but when you're a min-maxer or on a very competitive level it does matter and it is frustrating.

Why didn't Blizzard just bite the bullet and remove any racials that effect combat whatsoever?

Racial Patch Notes

[Hyve]

Because Combat Racials add flavour, and that is what makes a game enjoyable.

Not everything has to be mathematically identical, that's boring, but the new racials go a very long way to ensuring there is better balance. They're not perfect, but I'd much rather have imperfect racials then see them removed.

[Debased]

Because Combat Racials add flavour, and that is what makes a game enjoyable.

Not everything has to be mathematically identical, that's boring, but the new racials go a very long way to ensuring there is better balance. They're not perfect, but I'd much rather have imperfect racials then see them removed.

I can understand how combat racials add flavor and it's certainly less pertinent in PvE but as it stands if you're interested in pursuing 2k+ rating you will have to roll the same old same old or you'll find yourself at a considerable disadvantage. I'm glad every race is at least competitive raid viable now though. Tauren have had it rough.

[Hyve]

I can understand how combat racials add flavor and it's certainly less pertinent in PvE but as it stands if you're interested in pursuing 2k+ rating you will have to roll the same old same old or you'll find yourself at a considerable disadvantage. I'm glad every race is at least competitive raid viable now though. Tauren have had it rough.

Without wanting to sound harsh; Then what's the point of the thread?

You already accept that the Racials are in a good spot compared to their past, and that while there is still some imbalance it's not as severe. Personally, even as a fairly top end player I've never felt the need to re-roll to improve myself. Sure, I don't play at the 0.01% but a lot of people really over-estimate the impact of racials.

Certain races have ones that are best suited for PvP, or PvE, but that's how the game has always been. The difference between PvE & PvP has always caused imbalance. Like I said, they're not perfect but I'd much rather they stay where they are now, then Blizzard attempts to get them perfect and ruin their flavour.

[taishar68]

I wonder what percentage of the player base will always choose the optimal race for various end game activities; based on Blizzards current design concepts, it doesn't appear to be high enough to lose the "flavor" of having different races with different buffs for the sake of balance.

Which has to be frustrating to the hardcore min-maxer...the changes to stats are also impacting that meta-game as well...now, I think I will like those changes, simply because while I am not a hardcore player (at least skill-wise), I do like to be as optimal as I can be, and perhaps these changes (or lack of them, in some cases) might help folks like me from going too insane when the OCD kicks in.

[Permatree]

I feel like every race should get every man for himself, or it should be removed from humans. In the case where they give it to everyone things like Escape artist and WotF would need to be reevaluated (and probably removed). Other than that, Blood Elf master race (female trolls only for drood), so I could care less =P.

It would be nice if everything was even, but for most people it doesn't matter. As for people who progress at a pace where it matters and can actually take advantage of the minute difference it makes, they seem to be OK with just all rolling whatever the highest simming race is (world first > being Belf). In the grand scheme of things I'd rather they focused on class balance than racial balance.

[Deleted]

People who blame their failure on racial abilities really need to take a step back and look at what they're doing wrong. They're not a game-breaking factor by any means. If you're that concerned about a 0,5% performance increase or something equally miniscule then I don't see why having to play the same race is an issue. Since obviously the priorities aren't with enjoying the game as much as they are about getting the best numbers.

[Debased]

You see like I said my concern is hardly with PvE because in PvE it generally comes down to numbers, and a 0.05% boost or whatever will not make a world of difference because chances are you're not playing well enough for it too. Even amongst the best of us. Now in PvP a racial like WoF or Shadowmeld rocks the boat.

[Imnick]

I'd be pretty happy if the racials didn't do anything except give cosmetic bonuses, I don't think "1% crit" is really particularly flavoursome.

[Seezer]

I'd be pretty happy if the racials didn't do anything except give cosmetic bonuses, I don't think "1% crit" is really particularly flavoursome.

Look at Swtor. Pure cosmetic bonuses that nobody gives a shit about. But something like berserking, even in WoD has flavor. Same with Blood fury. And now it's alot more. Racials are small additions. A spice. That's flavor. It's not supposed to be "OMFG LOOK AT ALL DIS FLAYVOR!"

[Wyrt]

I'd be pretty happy if the racials didn't do anything except give cosmetic bonuses, I don't think "1% crit" is really particularly flavoursome.

1% crit might not have much flavor but things like Shadowmeld, Stoneform, and Gift of the Naaru certainly do.

[Baconeggcheese]

Look at Swtor. Pure cosmetic bonuses that nobody gives a shit about. But something like berserking, even in WoD has flavor. Same with Blood fury. And now it's alot more. Racials are small additions. A spice. That's flavor. It's not supposed to be "OMFG LOOK AT ALL DIS FLAYVOR!"

Problem is that its not balanced well at all, so for certain classes and good players it becomes OMFG LOOK AT ALL DIS FLAYVOR and other people are awkwardly sitting there not getting to taste.

see berserking for this entire xpac.

[Spotnick]

Berserking was OP due to snapshotting, with snapshotting gone it lost a lot of its value.

It's still good, but it's not a major factor, plus they removed the beast damage racial which was the real reason why everybody went troll at the beginning of Throne of Thunder.

Anyways, racials are not final as far as I know, they are still thinking about Every Man for Himself, and said they would add a healing factor to the undead racial, and I'm still not convinced that night elf one will make it live.

[Malacrass]

In a perfect world we would only have racials like Shadowmeld and Rocket Jump. Abilities that might get you out of a nasty situation, abilities that make you feel "woot, I'm a Nightelf, Goblin, class x... BITCHES!"

Things like faster herbing could stay too, I guess. But 1% crit? Please.

[Baconeggcheese]

In a perfect world we would only have racials like Shadowmeld and Rocket Jump. Abilities that might get you out of a nasty situation, abilities that make you feel "woot, I'm a Nightelf, Goblin, class x... BITCHES!"

Things like faster herbing could stay too, I guess. But 1% crit? Please.

Agreed.

@spotnick: For good players actives are pretty much always better than passives if tuned even mildly balanced.

I honestly wish they'd just take the damned things out or do what mala said and make them more about flavor than dps... they really don't promote being able to just play what you want when you're taking things seriously. Oh and they're definitely still changing them, humans just got versatility instead of what they had which is pretty freaking lame.

[Enosh]

So what has changed? Alliance still has superior racials.

PvP: 3/4 WoW ladders (US and 2 asian ones iirc) are completely horde dominated, the sole exception being EU
PvE: all the top guilds went horde for racial reasons

and your conclusion from that data is that alliance racials are OP?

[jackofwind]

Give everyone Every Man For Himself and remove trinkets, or remove Every Man for Himself and make Humans use trinkets.

I guarantee all the complaining about racials will disappear. And truthfully it's kind of dumb when you severely gimp your character in PvP by not being human.