April 19 Tinker Reveal

[Calfredd]

Bard or nothing...

I dont like tinker

That's nice Billy.

[TheWorkingTitle]

Thank God the extremely fringe, vocal minority of tinker cultists have to slither away whence they came now that they've been BFTO and horrifically mocked by the April Fool's Patch Notes. Good. Riddance.

[Ielenia]

As long as you intend to keep shifting them, there's no way for you to honestly represent them yourself either.

There is no shifting. From the get-go, my point has been concise: one of the biggest hurdle for a tech class is that its core concept is already present in a feature that is separate and independent of classes, which would mean that the class does not possess the knowledge associated with the profession.

We do know that they planned to limit it down to 8 classes at start, which is the reason why they decided to cut many of their concepts down. Otherwise there would have been what, 27 classes?

With Wrath, we also know the reasons why Necromancer and Runemaster were cut. Xelnath's blog details how the DK became playable, and how it was put into an internal 'vote' (involving a 1-to-1 discussion with designers and talking out the pros and cons between Runemaster and DK) with the DK eventually winning through, given to Corey Stockton to design. The end result is a DK with elements of the Runemaster and Necromancer added back into their concept.

With Legion, we know that the Demon Hunter was planned for a long time, but not made playable. It was technically never 'cut', but if you consider this was a concept that existed as far back as being considered in the original 27 classes, then in a way you could consider that being 'cut' in Vanilla and finally making its way back into Legion. And along the way, Xelnath had planned to absorb the DH completely into the Warlock, an idea he pushed for but others pushed back on. Again, detailed on his blog.

You wrote a lot, and yet didn't explain anything. All you did was confirm that, yes, runemasters and necromancers were out-voted, but didn't go into why they were out-voted. Saying "they discussed the pros and cons" is meaningless if we don't know what were those "pros" and "cons".

With all the information we have on class design behind the scenes, where do we see Professions being any significant factor on deciding what classes become playable and what doesn't? There isn't any.

We have zero information that isn't vague. Again, "discussing pros and cons" doesn't mean anything if we don't know the pros and cons. For all we know, one of the "cons" for the runemaster could be that Blizzard maybe planned to introduce a "rune-shaping" profession in the future, but later on abandoned that idea, etc.

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If your point was that class>race cycle every expansion have been broken already and thus makes sense why Shadowlands has no new race or class, then sure.

My point is that saying "the pattern says X, therefore X is how it'll be in the future" is wrong, no matter if you're talking about race introduction, class introduction, number of specs per class, "good/bad/good/bad expansion", etc.

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We weren't guaranteed anything in shadowlands.

Of course we weren't. Just like we weren't guaranteed a class in Legion. Or a race in MoP. Or new race/class combinations in Cata. There is zero guarantees. Not even what Blizzard says about future expansions is a guarantee (Remember "Path of Titans" progression?).

Hence why acting like perceived patterns are absolute guarantees is wrong.

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Pretty sure you misunderstood my post, I was agreeing with you…

Right. If so, I apologize. Too many people here are making the weirdest arguments, like you don't need to have extensive knowledge in technology to deal with technology that requires extensive knowledge in the subject to develop, create and use....

[Calfredd]

Thank God the extremely fringe, vocal minority of tinker cultists have to slither away whence they came now that they've been BFTO and horrifically mocked by the April Fool's Patch Notes. Good. Riddance.

You and I both know that's not how this works. You-know-who will come back from vacation and continue on with this new "evidence" until April 19th and either be a bad winner or return to the shadows for like a month if the demon hunter announcement is anything to go by.

[ro9ue]

Either they're being cheeky because Tinkers are actually next... or they are laughing at entire concept itself.

We'll find out April 19th.

[Triceron]

There is no shifting. From the get-go, my point has been concise: one of the biggest hurdle for a tech class is that its core concept is already present in a feature that is separate and independent of classes, which would mean that the class does not possess the knowledge associated with the profession.

And what is that point from?

Are you saying this as a personal opinion, or are you implying this is some sort of universally applicable matter of fact? Nothing in the lore seems to support this argument.


How are you defining this as being a hurdle, and why should anyone else recognize it being a legitimate hurdle at all?

You wrote a lot, and yet didn't explain anything. All you did was confirm that, yes, runemasters and necromancers were out-voted, but didn't go into why they were out-voted. Saying "they discussed the pros and cons" is meaningless if we don't know what were those "pros" and "cons".

Right. We don't know. Therefore there's no reason to make assumptions based on what we don't know.

I've pointed out what we do know, and what we know is that the Developers internally weigh various factors when considering a new class.

Your argument doesn't fit in with what we know about how classes are designed, therefore I'm asking you how you're making your conclusions.

[Nightshade711]

Either they're being cheeky because Tinkers are actually next... or they are laughing at entire concept itself.

We'll find out April 19th.

If Tinkers come I’m expecting it to be under a different name kinda like Brewmasters becoming Monks bc of the joke.

Also if they do come it’ll mean that people will analyze tf outta blizzard April Fools jokes until the end of time.

If they don’t come next xpac I won’t be surprised. Wouldn’t be too bummed out either, unless we don’t get any new class next xpac at all.

[Calfredd]

If Tinkers come I’m expecting it to be under a different name kinda like Brewmasters becoming Monks bc of the joke.

Also if they do come it’ll mean that people will analyze tf outta blizzard April Fools jokes until the end of time.

I'm not against Tinker but I really hope they aren't added because leak season is already a pain but this? This would just be many more levels of obnoxious!

[Elflover99]

If Tinkers come I’m expecting it to be under a different name kinda like Brewmasters becoming Monks bc of the joke.

Also if they do come it’ll mean that people will analyze tf outta blizzard April Fools jokes until the end of time.

If they don’t come next xpac I won’t be surprised. Wouldn’t be too bummed out either, unless we don’t get any new class next xpac at all.

I think they realize that Tinker has negative connotations with the small races. It's going to be Artificer, Engineer (the profession renamed) or something similar if it is in fact a class.

[Jericho21]

Bro, if this were legit you'd have been contacted by Blizzard's Legal Team by now and your Battlenet account banned.

[ro9ue]

New Class: Leaker

The most popular real-life class has finally come to the fantasy world of Azeroth! Available to all races, the Leaker provides an exciting connection to the history of the definite future of the game itself. Leakers are a pure support class that can choose between two ranged specializations: Near-Term Guarantee and Distant Assurance.

As a Leaker, you’ll follow the other players in your group and buff their spirits with tales of a well-known and interesting activity that is almost certainly on the horizon. You’ll heal your allies with promises, and when each encounter ends, your name and appearance will change so that the next round of authentic predictions you cast will increase in persuasiveness.

So like... what was the point of adding Tinker? Reads just fine if you take it out. There were other class ideas "leaked" like Dragonsworn and stuff. Idk, seems like they are deliberately having some fun and Tinker is next.

[bagina]

So... Tinkers BTFO?

[datguy81]

After seeing the Aprils fools joke. Tinker is DOA thank god

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New Class: Leaker

The most popular real-life class has finally come to the fantasy world of Azeroth! Available to all races, the Leaker provides an exciting connection to the history of the definite future of the game itself. Leakers are a pure support class that can choose between two ranged specializations: Near-Term Guarantee and Distant Assurance.

As a Leaker, you’ll follow the other players in your group and buff their spirits with tales of a well-known and interesting activity that is almost certainly on the horizon. You’ll heal your allies with promises, and when each encounter ends, your name and appearance will change so that the next round of authentic predictions you cast will increase in persuasiveness.

So like... what was the point of adding Tinker? Reads just fine if you take it out. There were other class ideas "leaked" like Dragonsworn and stuff. Idk, seems like they are deliberately having some fun and Tinker is next.

They are poking fun at all the leaks saying tinker

[ro9ue]

They are poking fun at all the leaks saying tinker

So then Dragonsworn is confirmed lol?

[Nightshade711]

After seeing the Aprils fools joke. Tinker is DOA thank god

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They are poking fun at all the leaks saying tinker

Moreso poking fun at bards in my opinion (pure support class with one of the specs focusing entirely on buffs, lol)
While making fun of “leakers” in general. “your name and appearance will change so that the next round of authentic predictions you cast will increase in persuasiveness.”
Also the name is probably “tinker leaker” is probably based on the fact that most expansion “leaks” say the tinker is the next class and probably have been since expansion leaks started being a thing.

[pacotaco]

That 'tinker' doesn't even really do tinker stuff. They just run around with a gun zapping people.
I expect tinker to only have two specs (the turret building one and the mech tank)
Or the third one building like medical bots and/or being alchemist related.

There are 3 clear Tinker specs on both (alliance and horde) tinker groups:
- The tank runing on a mech
- The helaer with the turrets and healbots
- The Dps with the bombs and zaps

[Nightshade711]

There are 3 clear Tinker specs on both (alliance and horde) tinker groups:
- The tank runing on a mech
- The helaer with the turrets and healbots
- The Dps with the bombs and zaps

Personally think the “dps with bombs and zaps” isn’t enough for a spec.
The abilities on the “zapping” NPC aren’t as fleshed out as the other two and doesn’t seem like enough to separate them from Hunter.

I’m expecting the mech and a construction based spec (turrets, mines, robots etc) for the two specs.

The third spec could in theory be alchemy based and with the healing robots and such…
But there are still issues with that from a gameplay perspective that would need to be worked out. It sounds like you wouldn’t be able to normally interrupt them, similar to a hunter
What spell school is “Build healing robot” or “Syringe gun”
Having an uninterruptible healer would demolish PvP balance.

Because of that the more construction oriented spec would have to be DPS. (Unless they either let an uninterruptible healer exist or let tinkers non-magical abilities be interrupted)

[pacotaco]

Imagine if they actually cared and went and added like 3 new classes.

Mind you: you normally need to tie them to the theme of the expansion. What 3 classes can they do that share a common theme (or something close)? Because I can only think Dark Ranger and Necromancer, and the ideal expansion just ended.

[pacotaco]

Pointless bitching incoming, but what self-respecting adventurer would EVER consider calling/introducing themselves as a "tinker"? I physically cringe every time I am forced to read it on these forums.

Blizzard, I don't disagree with the concept of such a potential class, but PLEASE...please don't give it such a childish and insulting name if it happens to get developed.

Well, the king of the gnomes has the title of High Tinker, and there's a group of goblins called the "Tinker Union".
I don't see the name bad, but maybe it's because english is not my first language ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Literally just look at either tinker island expedition team, and you have your answer. All three specs are right there out in the open.

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These people don't realize that since WC2, there have been gyrocopters, submarines, and zeppelins --- Tech has been a part of Warcraft since the second game. Dwarves used guns and mortars as well as Siege engines in WC3.

Examples of Tech as early as WC2:









High Fantasy was eroded nearly 30+ years ago.

Yep, Warcraft was never high fantasy, although it has its roots on it. The closer term for its genre is "Dungeon Punk" https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DungeonPunk

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Bfa had your mechagnomes and that boat has sailed 2 years ago. Same for necromancers in shadowlands.

First step in healing is the acceptance of the situation.

Yeah, I also think DR, Necro and Tinker are not very probable right now.
I'll say maybe Night Warrior (Warden + Sentinel +PotM) and maybe Blademaster are the ones more probable wih representation in game, heroes of WC3 and HotS, and a more defined outline of how the class could work.
Then we have Bard with just some hints at existing, and Dragonsworn that currently has no indication on existing in-game (just in teh TTRPG)

[wushootaki]

Of course we weren't. Just like we weren't guaranteed a class in Legion. Or a race in MoP. Or new race/class combinations in Cata. There is zero guarantees. Not even what Blizzard says about future expansions is a guarantee (Remember "Path of Titans" progression?).

Hence why acting like perceived patterns are absolute guarantees is wrong.

But the pattern isn't whether or not we get somenthing --- it is when we've gotten a class post-launch, it's been a class from WC3 hero units. The pattern is still there, 100% unbroken. 3 for 3.

Your pattern of when we get things and what they are (a new race or class) has no bearing on the fact...read again the FACT, that the last 3 classes added with mmo adaptations of the WC3 hero units Death Knight, Demon Hunter, and Pandaren Brewmaster.\

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Personally think the “dps with bombs and zaps” isn’t enough for a spec.
The abilities on the “zapping” NPC aren’t as fleshed out as the other two and doesn’t seem like enough to separate them from Hunter.

I’m expecting the mech and a construction based spec (turrets, mines, robots etc) for the two specs.

The third spec could in theory be alchemy based and with the healing robots and such…
But there are still issues with that from a gameplay perspective that would need to be worked out. It sounds like you wouldn’t be able to normally interrupt them, similar to a hunter
What spell school is “Build healing robot” or “Syringe gun”
Having an uninterruptible healer would demolish PvP balance.

Because of that the more construction oriented spec would have to be DPS. (Unless they either let an uninterruptible healer exist or let tinkers non-magical abilities be interrupted)

I would see the dps spec adapting an updated version of searing totem as their cannons. Area denial with dps coming from the cannons. If you look at Gazlowe in HotS, he also has a bomb that detonates after a short delay, and a laser cannon from his chest.

So we can have a bomb aoe, that you press again to destroy (again feeding into area denial for pvp with the turrets), or it just goes off after a set amount. You could also have an ability that throws out a zap bot that deals electricity in a fixed radius. It's gun would be its auto-shot, and you can add things like incendiary ammo, or any of the other magical bullets that engineers used to be able to craft back in the day.

As for the healer, it wouldn't be uninteruptible. You still have to reload a gun, and if there is anything like a channel heal, it makes sense you'd be able to interupt it. I also expect something akin to Ana's bio-grenade, as Goblin Alchemist already had an acid bomb. Conversely, they could even make it melee. Give it robo-goblin to up its melee capacity, and have it's healing spray be a melee range exhaust mechanic that heals people in a radius around it. It can keep the grenade, and figure out a melee version of Disc's dmg to heal conversion. Healing bot also runs around and does smart triage.