Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

I think at one point in time it WAS a relic of the past.

But now MMO trends are moving back towards "Lets throw in some RPG elements and give you some freedomin the class again."

And while cookie cutter specs of classic were a failed attempt at that, it doesn't mean the idea couldn't be revisited .

It was never a relic I feel like. It was always there, this idea of "what if we had an RPG that was an MMO," Blizz just decided there was more money to chase emulating MOBAs and Looter Shooters. Heck Western RPGs are increasingly reliant on talent freaking trees to design your player character.

Just now suddenly the winds are blowing at the MMO's back rather than its front and Blizz is like "hey maybe these 'build your own hero' games aren't so bad."

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The chances of things being THAT unbalanced are going to be rather slim. That's akin to "Everyone in the raid decided to just roll and bring a healer" types of extremes and not a realistic example.

And yet I look at the Jailer rankings and see two classes so blatantly out-performing everyone and like 1/4 of them that are blatantly under-performing.

[rhorle]

The chances of things being THAT unbalanced are going to be rather slim. That's akin to "Everyone in the raid decided to just roll and bring a healer" types of extremes and not a realistic example.

But you will have to face choices like that the more options there are. Because some of those options might not be optimal or very good choices. There have been times in the past where simply changing specs would boost DPS by a few thousand. It might seem small but you add that into the rest of the group and boss mechanics and it could mean the difference between a wipe and a kill.

As a group leader you would have to build your group with that in mind. Or the talents themselves will be mostly an illusion of choice and not very meaningful in order to give most paths viability. Blizzard still struggles to balance things now would doubling (or more) the amount of work be better?

[Zankai27]

DPS/DPS/Healer? I wonder if we're getting red + black + bronze for specs? Doesn't that fit with Teriz's ideas from hots?

Sort of? Teriz's idea had a Black tank, so not quite, but hopefully there's a little of everything in there. I'd bet on a Bronze DPS spec so there's that at least. Unless we get like, a Black spec with Dragoon inspiration, that would be pretty *close* to Teriz's idea?

What classes do we think Dracthyr will get?

I dunno their lore yet, but they're supposedly native to the Dragon Isles; I want to say anything with vague draconic connections?

Warrior, Mage, Rogue, Druid, Shaman, Evoker...uhh....Paladin? Probably not Demon Hunter, I assume. Maybe Monk?

[Yunravel]

The race is so ugly and blend that in the end, I miss we didnt got drakonid lol.

Like, I wasn’t hoping for anything and I’m still disappointed

[Ferlion]

It was never a relic I feel like. It was always there, this idea of "what if we had an RPG that was an MMO," Blizz just decided there was more money to chase emulating MOBAs and Looter Shooters. Heck Western RPGs are increasingly reliant on talent freaking trees to design your player character.

Just now suddenly the winds are blowing at the MMO's back rather than its front and Blizz is like "hey maybe these 'build your own hero' games aren't so bad."

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And yet I look at the Jailer rankings and see two classes so blatantly out-performing everyone and like 1/4 of them that are blatantly under-performing.

And outside of mythic raiding, which most people do not want to do, nor do they actively do.. It doesn't really matter. Most people aren't going to play well enough to reach that level of DPS disparity, regardless of class.

[Mferna]

This really felt like the longest buildup for an xpac announcement ever. And I mean, it technically was, let’s hope dragonflight will do a game we all love so dearly justice and be a success. Fingers crossed..

[therumblings]

Sort of? Teriz's idea had a Black tank

I'm guessing there would be no tank because it's a caster class.

Warrior, Mage, Rogue, Druid, Shaman, Evoker...uhh....Paladin? Probably not Demon Hunter, I assume. Maybe Monk?

Sounds about right, the names Dracthyr Evoker definitely will take some getting used to though lol

[Zankai27]

I'm guessing there would be no tank because it's a caster class.


Sounds about right, the names Dracthyr Evoker definitely will take some getting used to though lol

I could see it having some kind of melee spec, or maybe they go wild and it has a spell DPS and ranged physical DPS? That's pretty unique. Blue-inspired Arcane Archer?

I think the Dracthyr'll take some getting used to in general since they're such a new concept. I wonder if they didn't go with Drakonids because we've never seen them transform into other races and are so damn bulky, so they made something new?

Honestly I'm super pumped; if Evoker has a healing spec anywhere near as fun as HotS Alexstrasza, I'm all in.

[FossilFree]

He said Evokers were a thing before he even mentioned the talent stuff though, all of these leaks originated from him. Evokers are most likely gonna happen, I just suspect he poorly conveyed the exact fantasy of the class. I'm really hoping it's basically a renamed Dragonsworn and not an arcane mage.

He confirmed in a post that what evokers take from arcane mages is evocation, equating it to warlocks losing metamorphosis. He didn't say they took their spells.

It seems like mages will lose the mana management aspect of arcane and that mana management will be built into the three specs of evokers, and all 3 specs (supposedly dps/dps/heals) will use evocation.

I'm thinking the class will have blue dragon direct damage, green dragon dots, and red dragon heals.

[therumblings]

I think the Dracthyr'll take some getting used to in general since they're such a new concept. I wonder if they didn't go with Drakonids because we've never seen them transform into other races and are so damn bulky, so they made something new?

Drakonids don't have wings, some have tails, they also are a little bit too bulky, but still possible. I'm guessing they just went for a brand new dragon race to be some sort of middle ground between dragon and humanoid. I'm not too upset with it but something about the head is weird to me.

[rhorle]

And outside of mythic raiding, which most people do not want to do, nor do they actively do.. It doesn't really matter. Most people aren't going to play well enough to reach that level of DPS disparity, regardless of class.

Skill only causes the disparity to grow though. The less skilled you are the more you rely on other things to boost your success. Talent choices, raw numbers, gear upgrades, raid nerfs, etc are all things that help over come the skill hurdle. Having talent options that negatively impact your performance only causes the lack of skill to be more apparent.

This is also the case when specs have more complicated rotations. The skilled players can easily pull it off but the not as skilled players can't and feel like their class is broken. We've had examples of this in the past that Blizzard has used for why they changed rotations. If I recall correctly it was one of the driving factors for Warlocks to have meta weaving changed but it has been so long I can't recall anything specific.

[therumblings]

I feel like this is a missed opportunity to have an epic 5 spec dragonflight class, like Bronze Healer, turning back time, Red Healer, casting fire healing spells, Blue spellblade type spec, and a Black tank and maybe Green for nature damage since Balance Druid is more astral.

[TriHardBanEvader]

MODS CAN'T STOP ME.


The new race is ugly as fuck and looks out of place, like the style literally does not match the other races, it's that horrendous, I hope it's fake.


As for the class, I hope it's a melee / ranged hybrid and not just a copy pasta mage. Having something between a mage and a druid with dragon forms would be the perfect middle ground, I want to tank as a black dragon

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I feel like this is a missed opportunity to have an epic 5 spec dragonflight class, like Bronze Healer, turning back time, Red Healer, casting fire healing spells, Blue spellblade type spec, and a Black tank and maybe Green for nature damage since Balance Druid is more astral.

For sure, they skipped out on a class in Shadowlands so they could at least give us one HUGE class this time that can fit many different playstyles

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

I feel like this is a missed opportunity to have an epic 5 spec dragonflight class, like Bronze Healer, turning back time, Red Healer, casting fire healing spells, Blue spellblade type spec, and a Black tank and maybe Green for nature damage since Balance Druid is more astral.

I mean at this point I'd be satisfied if it at least had 3 specs.

But I'm expecting if we do get a new class tomorrow it'll be just 2. DPS and Healer.

[therumblings]

I'd be satisfied with even a one spec class if it means we can play as dragons and use different flights abilities. I am hoping the Evokers are just that.

[ExiHext]

Have the dracthyr leaks been confirmed? You guys produced more than 100 pages since I went to bed, didn't catch up.

[TriHardBanEvader]

I mean at this point I'd be satisfied if it at least had 3 specs.

But I'm expecting if we do get a new class tomorrow it'll be just 2. DPS and Healer.

I mean if we just get another lazy 2 spec class again then I'm just not gonna play the game, simple as that.

FF14 already gives me everything I need from an MMO, if WoW doesn't offer up anything compelling then I am not going to return, and I know it's the same for tens and even hundreds of thousands of other players as well.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Have the dracthyr leaks been confirmed? You guys produced more than 100 pages since I went to bed, didn't catch up.

So it's kinda weird.

Did you see that leak of the Druid Talents + Restoration Talents?

That's been posted in different ways 3 times now, plus a 4th that seems to mention it in text.

So.... I guess the race is looking pretty suspiciously right?

But that doesn't confirm any of the Dracthyr or Evoker stuff, merely the person who leaked that also backed up the Druid Talents as legit.

[Ferlion]

Skill only causes the disparity to grow though. The less skilled you are the more you rely on other things to boost your success. Talent choices, raw numbers, gear upgrades, raid nerfs, etc are all things that help over come the skill hurdle. Having talent options that negatively impact your performance only causes the lack of skill to be more apparent.

This is also the case when specs have more complicated rotations. The skilled players can easily pull it off but the not as skilled players can't and feel like their class is broken. We've had examples of this in the past that Blizzard has used for why they changed rotations. If I recall correctly it was one of the driving factors for Warlocks to have meta weaving changed but it has been so long I can't recall anything specific.

Sure, and if that's something the group as a whole minds, then that's the time to do something about it. There's this idea that people are going to come into the raid and be selfish, when it isn't necessarily the case. For the most part, 10 or 15% DPS isn't going to make or break a raid at the level most people play at. And if it is, the skilled people who just enjoy playing in a relaxed setting will step it up for that fight and make up the difference.

The simple fact is, most of WoW raiding is just paying attention. I'm super lax this expansion. I've swapped specs like, 4 or 5 times this raid tier alone as people move around. It's just not that serious.

I'm in a group that fits a relaxed playstyle. We kill or we dont, it's more important we have fun. If you ain't enjoying what you play, then there isn't a reason to play it.

Beer league and all that

[Corin]

Those Dragon models look like complete outsourced garbage. hope its fake