Adding more Battlegrounds to the game
We’d like to. We certainly haven't forgotten about the PvP community at all and we do a lot of PvP oriented behind the scenes work right now. While not very much of that effort is channeled into creating new maps at the moment, we would definitely like to increase the variety of Battleground and Arena maps that are available in the future. That's where things get sticky, though. One might think that creating a Battleground is a pretty simple process (they look simple, right?), but it's not.
Part of the reason is that Battlegrounds are like ducks. A duck looks like it effortlessly glides across the water, but their little feet are actually working madly beneath the surface to make it happen. Battlegrounds are the same way. They may look simple -- even static -- to a casual observer, but in reality there's an incredible number of very complicated processes going on behind the scenes. Part of the reason for this is due to a lot of technical hurdles that need to be jumped to make them perform as seamlessly as they do, battle after battle. As a result, it's actually extremely difficult to design Battlegrounds, partially due to the technical limitations that are currently in place.
The other part of the reason is that Battlegrounds (and Arena maps, for that matter) require a higher degree of polish than a PvE map does. If a bit of geometry causes you to hang up, or blocks line of sight in a dungeon or raid, then in the majority of circumstances you can probably just work around it until it's fixed. If the same flaw exists in a bg or arena map, then that imperfection might be exploited for an unfair advantage, which runs contrary to the spirit of fair competition we want in that kind of PvP. We know that a lot of the PvP community is ultimately more interested in having perfectly balanced and bug-free maps to play on, than they necessarily are in having new maps to play on.
The other thing to keep in mind is that, while boss mechanics might differ from raid to raid, broadly speaking all dungeons and raids have the same rule set (that is, they have raid locks and you have to run back to the portal when you wipe and so on). BGs and Arenas tend to have highly individual rule sets. The result is that, in addition to the factors I’ve already mentioned, we also have to craft every BG essentially by hand every time. We’d like to develop a tool to create PvP maps in the same way we have a tool we can use to create bosses or a tool we can use to create items. Such a tool would let us create BGs and other PvP-oriented maps more readily. That's something that we're working toward now, but it's time consuming and exacting work, and still quite a ways off.
Still, ultimately we think all this effort will pay off, and we're confident that you'll feel the same way. In the meantime, there are still plenty of players of the opposing faction to send back to the Spirit Healer, and we hope you can continue to have fun making red dead wherever you find it. (
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Need > Greed > Disenchant
Need: I need that piece of gear and will wear it/use it in my appropriate spec
Greed: I do not need that piece of gear and will probably not use it. I will most likely Vendor it or perhaps wear it "for pretty"
Disenchant: I don't even want to bother vendoring this. I would rather the materials that is made up of. I have great use of the disenchanted item than the original
I think this is a pretty fair diagnosis of the current functionality. I'd also note though that group communication is really important. If you're unsure about whether or not you should be rolling Need on an item instead of Greed/Disenchant, communicate with the party and let them know of your intent.
The system for rolling on items isn't perfect and doesn't have built-in functionality for off-spec rolls, etc., but part of this is because we expect there should be at least some base level of communication between the players, particularly if anyone in the group is running dungeons for items and not just the points. (
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Communication prevents a lot of heartache in dungeons I find ;)
Agreed. And for what it's worth, I'm sure we could implement enough rolling options that we could effectively remove any need to ever communicate with the party about what your intent behind each roll is -- the intent would be made clear by the button you press. Sometimes more options aren't always good though. We want the system to be useful and sensible, but not so comprehensive that it ends up being muddled and complicated.
We think the current options are pretty sufficient. If you need the item for your current spec, roll Need. If you can use the item for off-spec, roll Need, but perhaps wait for everyone else to roll first, and/or let the group know why you want to roll Need. If you have an enchanter in your group and you can use mats, roll Disenchant. If you don't need the item or the mats, or you don't have an enchanter in the group, roll Greed for a chance at some extra gold.
Even while queuing for random dungeons solo, I've virtually never run into any major loot disputes or issues. Particularly at this point in the expansion, a lot of players are running Heroics primarily for the JP/VP. Most players understand why you're rolling Need with little to no communication necessary. It's not hard to ascertain, for example, that a DPS death knight is rolling Need on a tanking item for off-spec, and not just to be a jerk. Provided that death knight is accommodating to the tank in the party before rolling, or at least makes an agreement with the tank in advance that they can roll against each other, it's all gravy. ;) (
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Do I need to read the new book to figure out what's happening in-game?
We work to make sure that there is balance between what you can learn in game versus the books. That said, the books do allow a bit more insight than you normally could get via the game, but that has to do with the fact that books and games (while they can both deliver story) tell the story in different ways. Hopefully, for those that don't choose to read the books, they can learn what they wish or need in the game itself. For those who have the time and inclination to read the books, they can get a bit more back story and depth that they may not feel is complete enough for them in the game. (
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
Death Knight (
Forums /
Talent Calculator /
Skills/Talents)
Death Strike Hotfix
The Death Strike hotfix was intended as a buff to single target Blood DK damage. Normally it’s not a big deal if one tank class does slightly higher or lower damage than other tank classes (as long as threat isn’t a problem), but when you have mechanics that greatly inflate tank damage, then it can be a bigger problem.
We discussed buffing Heart Strike or other attacks, but one of the concerns we commonly hear from Blood DKs is they feel torn about spending runes on Death Strike versus other abilities, and we didn't want to change their rotation in the middle of a patch, just modestly buff their damage. (
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
[...] For clarification's sake, we intended to increase critical strike chance. Improved Death Strike was not changed, merely buffed.
The hotfix was applied quite recently, so those of you who did not notice the improvement last night are correct. You can see the updated hotfix note here: (
Blue Tracker /
Official Forums)
- Improved Death Strike now provides 40/80/120% bonus damage, up from 30/60/90%, and a 10/20/30% critical strike chance, up from 3/6/9%.
Recent Blue Posts
Mount Up for the Northrend Cup!
Mount Up for the Northrend Cup!
Mount Up for the Northrend Cup!
Did Blizzard just hotfix an ilvl requirement onto Awakened LFR?
MMO-Champion
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Also why do one of the pics look like a DK on a pogo stick?
Originally Posted by Ragu
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