TLDR: Can anything be done in 5.2 to 'fix' stealth? Is it even 'broken'? Post your thoughts/answers.
A lot of my guildies and I have recently been discussion Stealth, as a mechanic. Consensus seems to be forming that as a mechanic in WoW it is fundamentally 'broken', that is, its value does not offset its pitfalls.
Many believe the reason for this changes, depending on scenario, but most agree that it has something to do with the core concept as it stands in WoW.
Post in this thread any thoughts you may have to the topic. We would like to hear your thoughts and have your voice sway the conversation.
At this point, this is how I see it.
Stealth (Advantages)
Mobility: Move to within range of a target, allowing not only 'first strike' but 'melee range' advantages.
Avoidance: Avoid combat altogether using stealth, be it by sneaking past NPCs during Challenge Modes or remaining stealthed as enemy forces ride by in rBGs.
Stealth (Disadvantages)
"One Shot": Once stealth is broken and combat is engaged, stealth serves little purpose. You cannot 'control' or 'damage' the enemy purely through 'stealth'. Furthermore, whilst cooldowns exist to get back into stealth during combat, Stealth is generally an 'out of combat' mechanic.
Boss fights: Stealth serves no purpose on bosses. None. To date, no real boss mechanics require stealth or truly benefit from it. This makes sense, since, in general, stealth is not a mechanic available to all classes. Similar to 'CC being useless on bosses', after all, you cannot CC a boss.
Stealth in WoW (failures)
One of the core concepts that is discussed, is the failure of stealth specifically in WoW. Other games have successfully incorporated stealth (a well known RPG mechanic) into the game. For example, observe 'stealth' as a concept in The Elder Scrolls (take, Skyrim, for example).
One of the key successes for stealth in Skyrim, is that you do not gain XP from killing NPCs. The reward structure and 'level up' structure of the game is independant of how many monsters you killed. You could go through an entire dungeon and get all the available XP, without killing a single mob.
Obviously, this allows for a much deeper 'stealth' game.
However, in WoW at a fundamental level, you need to kill something to progress. The game is focused and balanced around this. However, such fundamental ideas may perhaps then impact the version of 'stealth' that can be implemented in WoW. Hence, the argument.
Solutions:
Upgrade Stealth: Upgrade stealth as a core mechanic. Make it do something else or overhaul it in some way. This is probably a long term goal (next expo level)
Upgrade Boss fights: Upgrade encounter design to be more 'complex', allowing (for example) multiple routes to the goal. Imagine a boss fight that requires a 'stealth team' consisting (perhaps) of druids and rogs. Tanks (as we know) are already 'requirements' for boss fights (similarly are healers) since they make up the 'holy trinity'. Expanding this 'requirement' will allow certain other 'mechanics' to shine, for example, stealth (and perhaps, on a different axis, control).
So far, neither of these solutions can work today, since, they are things that can only happen at a 'massive overhaul' level. It is partly due to this fact that consensus is building amongst my guildies. They just do not see it as something that can work anymore, at least, till next expansion.
TLDR: Can anything be done in 5.2 to 'fix' stealth? Is it even 'broken'? Post your thoughts/answers.