Do we NEED a new class for 10.0?

[Teriz]

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Q: Affect purchase?
A: If there's no new cool feature like races or class I'll be subscribed for less of the expansion, I think. I'll probably dip out of patches faster and with more frequency. For now I don't see myself not trying, but long-term I think less commitment is there. It's easier to unsub when features like that aren't keeping me coming back.

I put that question in because the lack of a new class definitely affected my decision to pre-purchase shadowlands. I got the game for free via my work, but if that didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have purchased Shadowlands. Meanwhile, I did pre-purchase the previous expansions.

[MrKnubbles]

If they don't add a new class or new specs then they'll have to make some serious changes to existing classes and specs. The specs I've been playing have hardly changed since Legion prepatch. It's pretty lame.

[TheRevenantHero]

Shadowlands has shown the dev team for WoW is utter trash now so I don't trust them to create a new class that will be any kind of good.

[Ringthane]

Yes, we need new classes, more options is always better, while deep down i would love to simpyl say "just keep the current classes and balance them!" like they said they would for shadowlands, that has no where near the hype and excitement of a new class.


More classes=more options = more players = more happy players cause they have more chances at the spec they wanting being in the game




of course they could also just add more specs to the game, that also fits, literally just more options is better, and more classes, or more specs is a great way to achieve this.



you look back to history and people love "x spec from Y patch' and its because of the playstyle usually, for me wotlk demo lock, fucking loved it, yet its gone to never return, because they changed it in attempt to try something new, now if we had more specs/classes in the game, the likelyhood a spec would play like that spec that i like, would go up.



Do we NEEED a new class, no we dont need anything new other then zones, raids, dungeons, etc when an expansion comes out.
would it be amazing if we did? yes, yes it would.

Too many choices can lead to option paralysis, though, so there may come a point at which too much is just too much. Besides, how do you keep coming up with new classes that are different from old ones?

[kenn9530]

Unlikely. The FOTM cycle keep players occupied. This shitty balance is a feature, not a bug.

If they wanted to keep classes balanced, there would be far more incremental number tweaking instead of the wild buffs/nerfs cycle.

Blizzard are uselss at class balance and that is 100% fact, its not a feature they are just shit at balancing as is clear over all the years WoW has operated.

New classes just make other classes/spec get pushed to the back burner and end up being terrible for multiple patches.

[clevin]

This is a good question. Would those Monk, DH, and Dk players be currently playing WoW if those classes weren’t in the game?

Unknowable. Even a survey wouldn't tell you because people are notoriously bad at saying what they would do (they often say they would/would not do X but when they actually have the choice, they do something else).

Further, does Blizzard look at that and wonder if there’s a class that they could add to the game that isn’t covered by existing concepts, bring in that new class and draw in new players that wouldn’t have been there previously?

I highly doubt that there is a significant number of people who have not played WoW but who would if only $CLASS was present. It's possible some people would come back to play a given class but again, that's incredibly hard to know, esp if you wanted to separate out people who would have come back anyway from those who would only come back because a given class was present.

For example, my guild say a player come back after NINE YEARS. Life had happened in the interim, but she came back now because SL sounded interesting. She's still playing a priest.

[Eapoe]

For some players there is a need, for others there is not one.
Some players could need a new class to keep the game interesting for them. Some players get immersed more in a class than any other aspect of the game. If they get tired of the class they enjoy and get no enjoyment from the others than a new class could be a need for them as it would make the game enjoyable again.
For other players it is merely a want to have something new. Not a necessity but something that could help the enjoyment.
Personally, I don’t believe we need a new class but can admit it could be interesting if done correctly. As is, most of the suggestion I’ve seen, such as Necromancer, Bard, or Tinker, would borrow too much from other in game aspects or not be done correctly to make me think they’d be good ideas.
For example, a Necro would borrow or take so much from the DK theme that DKs would lose abilities or the 2 classes would have copy abilities that then upsets the playerbase because they aren’t as strong as the other class has. Some players want a support/buff class with Bards, but then it becomes an issue of the perfect amount. You now lose 1-? raid spots because you have to have the perfect amount to cover all the buffs, as well as time them for certain intervals to have up the optimum time.

TLDR: personally we do not need new classes; however, new classes could help the game stay fresh for existing players and potentially attract new ones.

[clevin]

When new experiences intended to make everyone happy don't turn out well (like Garrisons) isn't the potential for disaster worse than a new class? Everyone stands to have a bad time if a new major feature targeted at everyone does bad. But if a new class does bad, not as many people suffer.

Conversely, if a new feature works, it benefits everyone, not just the people who rolled a new class.

[Mellrod]

and what would fresh gameplay actually give us?, another stupidly op class for 2xpacs which blizz cant balance?

Yes that, and fresh gameplay.

[Razion]

Conversely, if a new feature works, it benefits everyone, not just the people who rolled a new class.

Yeah. I think the game can afford to take the risks when it has had the more stable successes for a while.

The game has taken a route of going half and half on these for a while. After WoD, Legion had a new class, but it also had Artifacts/Halls. Then BFA had Allied Races/Azerite. In SL though, we have Torghast/Covenants. Maybe the Covenants were meant to be a more safe pick, but it doesn't feel like that with how controversial they've been. I've liked Covenants so far and been unhappy with Torghast, so maybe I'm being selfish but I think a safe road of two races or a class would be in the interest of building up the goodwill to take risks later. Maybe more people aren't unhappy with Torghast, but that's where I'm at right now.

[Teriz]

TLDR: personally we do not need new classes; however, new classes could help the game stay fresh for existing players and potentially attract new ones.

Great post, and I largely agree.

[Jonnusthegreat]

No. Ideally, we would get a class homogenization patch so that i.e. leather wearers can respec to any leather class.

[Fearlof]

I don’t think we need more classes don’t see the point in adding another class with even more game breaking mobility that the previous two.
I just want the current game with way more balances coming in sooner not waiting to balances things until the current content ain’t relevant anymore.

[yamix]

I’d be happy with new specs. Gladiator, battle mage, spell breaker, etc...

[Azaile-]

need.. not really from a gameplay point of view, but new classes bring a ton of fresh play styles to game. Maybe we need like a cataclysm but for classes. things need a huge shake up as is we have 4 possible specs, healing, tanking, range and melee. Personally i think its time for some level of subclasses, or advanced classes. Personally i would love to see some classes that may not fit the archetypes, id like to see classes that deal heavily with buffing and unique area effects.

[kansor]

Yes, we need a new mail class and especially a new Intellect mail class to balance out the armor types. We also need a new RDPS to balance out all the MDPS added with the last 3 classes. Tinker fits the bill so that's what I'm hoping we see. After that, I don't see a need for any more.

[AngerFork]

1. Does WoW need a new class for 10.0? In other words, do you feel that the lack of a new class in this expansion hurt the game, and another expansion without a new class would hurt the game further?

Need is a strong word here, so I won't go as far as to say it's needed. But I do think a new class would go a long way towards making the next expansion more interesting. New classes give a chance for a different play style to come into WoW, something we may not have done in WoW to this point. DKs gave a tank specifically meant to destroy casters and self heal, Monks gave a class with a more active playstyle to all parts of the trinity, and DHs gave us a class with movement like we've never seen. Without a new class, we'll have the same set we have now which while fun will eventually wind up feeling more stale over time.

2. Do you think a new class in Shadowlands would have made this expansion better/more interesting?

I do. A new class could've given us some great ways to learn bits of the Shadowlands that we haven't already gotten into lore-wise. Imagine how Maldraxxus would be through the eyes of a Necromancer just starting out. What could you learn in the House of Rituals or House of Constructs to carry you further? Or playing as an Ascended, going on the path and experiencing the start of the anima drought. New Races can help tell these stories as well, but they don't tend to have the new playability of a new class.

3. If there is NO new class introduced in 10.0, will that effect your purchase of the next expansion?

Not overall, I'll still buy it and play it. After all, I met my wife in WoW, so it has a special place in my heart. But I do think it might hold me back from pre-purchase and it could make me less interested in the content throughout the expansion. Just look at how the pre-purchase bonuses felt between Legion (DHs?!? I NEED one!) vs. BfA (New races to unlock, that's pretty exciting) vs. Shadowlands (Allied Race DKs? Meh.). A large part of any new race/class being added to the game is the extra hype & marketing each brings in. Without that hype, pre-purchase just doesn't feel the same.

The last class to enter the game was Demon Hunter in 2016. If there's no class announced later this year when the next expansion is set to be announced, that would mean that we won't be getting a new class until 2024 at the earliest. That would be 8 years without a new class in WoW. I'm curious what effect do you think the lack of a new class would have on the game for that stretch of time.

Overall, I think it would lead into a sort of malaise about WoW, especially when it comes to news coverage. How exciting can 8 dungeons, 4 zones, a new raid, and borrowed power system #4 sound for something new? A new race or two could add something, but I think you'd need a knock out hit like Ogres or Ethereals to really get that excitement. A new class would help to give WoW a refresh it could desperately use as well as let the player base know the current team isn't afraid to add in something that will stick around past the current expansion (which IMO feels questionable these days).

[Fearlof]

Which means we can get new classes so we get fresh gameplay.

How’s adding more classes ever going to help? So we can have 80% of the community play that one class because it’s OP?

[Kumorii]

How’s adding more classes ever going to help? So we can have 80% of the community play that one class because it’s OP?

It brings fresh gameplay... Why are people making the statements more complex than they are?

I like trying new things out, that simple.

[Mestalis]

The vast majority of players haven't even played half of the classes already in the game, so no, I'd venture to say that we don't "need" a new class ever again.