Important Blue Posts for Jan. 14th

Pet mechanics changes is on the list
Yes, I have tried to post several times that the way pets receive buffs from their masters is inconsistent. We need to take a holistic look at stats, especially those like hit, spell pen and haste. It doesn’t make sense, for example, for a pet to receive a percentage of your spell hit. Where are they ever going to get the remainder of their hit from?

Many classes have pets now, and those classes have different stats to provide to those pets. While locks and hunters (and DKs to a lesser extent) are the most dependent on having a good system in place, the whole paradigm just needs to be reexamined. It is on the list. (Source)

Engineering – Scrapbot in Patch 3.0.8
The Scrapbot will indeed gain the ability to repair in a future patch. (Source)

DPS comparison between classes
The context is everything. If players are comparing themselves to a dual-wielding DK doing 7000 dps, yes then of course they are going to feel like their dps is puny. But in that example they are comparing themselves to a class in a broken situation. If we notice that players with low or high numbers always have a certain spec then it might lead us to find a bug in the spec. Assassination rogues are a little low at the moment because there was a bug in Master Poisoner for a long time that nobody detected. When we fixed it, their dps dropped. Some fights greatly favor certain classes or specs. Patch is great for classes that can blow their cooldowns to great effect. Warriors like fights like Thaddius with lots of free rage generation through damage. The context is everything.

We like numbers and it awesome that the WoW community is so good at providing them. Just don’t leap to conclusions that the numbers can’t support. (Source)

New spells VS. old ones
I think there is some truth to that. We also just get better at designing abilities. The newer spells often (not always) have a more specific purpose, are less clunky or just more fun. This goes for some of the talents too. Warriors compare stances to presences unfavorably and I think there is some truth to that too. (Source)

Player feedback and developers on forums
We generally use “developer” to mean someone who works on the game itself, as opposed to people in other departments of Blizzard who support production of the game. Blizzard is a place where feedback is very important though, so people throughout the company still tend to have a pretty big impact on game design.

I am a game designer, and specifically I am the lead systems designer for WoW. Game designers are not artists or programmers, but we use the tools developed by the programmers and the assets created by the artists to get content into the game. Programmers make the game run, artists make it beautiful, but it is the designer’s job to make it fun. (Though again, Blizzard collaborates more than many studios do and I spend a lot of time talking to programmers or artists about class, mechanics or even achievement design.) I think a lot of players mistake me for a CM because I tend to post a lot more than most WoW designers. Mostly, I just don’t sleep so it lets me play WoW, work on it during the day and still have time to post. Game balance is one of the most controversial aspects of any multiplayer game, and I benefit from being able to engage the community directly. Systems design specifically is everything that is not level, story, quest or encounter design. My team handles everything from classes to mechanics to items to trade skills to achievements to UI design, and that includes the game balance.

I do want to stress that we are a team. We come to a consensus on every major change to the game. I put enormous faith in the team to make the right call and keep any of us individually from doing something stupid. Blizzard is in a position to be able to attract and retain the best talent available in this industry. Many of them are much better game designers than I will ever be. Mostly I try and stay out of their way. A great many of them read the forums. Everything you type is seen by silent blues. I see people reading the forums when I drop by their office. We talk about what they have read all the time. These guys care passionately about doing the right thing and making the game as good as they can. Your opinion is extremely important to them. Just keep that in mind every time you post. (Source)