The everlasting “Bring the player, not the class” Discussion (src)
Very interesting thread.
I don’t want to stomp on any of the discussion, so I will just add a few things.
1) We like this change overall, but it is a change. There are going to be some rough edges to smooth out and tweaks to be made. I ask you to defer any of the cheeky “why am I paying to beta test the game” responses. It’s an MMO. Things evolve. You want us to make changes when things are off. Believe me.
2) We don’t want to see anyone sitting on the curb in PvE or PvP. That definitely includes the pure dps classes. If someone isn’t getting into dungeons or raids, we’ll make some adjustments. If someone isn’t viable in Arenas, we’ll make adjustments.
3) We’ve taken our first steps in the buff consolidation plan. More will be coming as we see the plan in action.
4) The fact that we haven’t always made such adjustments in a timely manner is brought up a lot, which is totally fair. But I hope our recent actions suggest that we want to be more proactive on this moving forward.
Class Direction (src)
I think new players do need some help in choosing a class. I don’t think that’s what this thread is about though. This is about descriptions of classes that are sufficiently detailed and robust that players can evaluate whether or not the class abilities and mechanics are delivering on that design. Our stance is that you guys shouldn’t worry about that. You should worry about if the abilities and mechanics are working (e.g. “I can’t beat druid”) and if they’re fun (e.g. “my rotation is too complicated.”)
If players are finding something not fun or not functional, they should just mention that. You don’t need to cross-reference those to whatever our design intent is. What is our design intent behind a particular boss or the stats on a piece of gear? Does it matter? Might it even make the experience a little less enjoyable if the curtain was pulled back so far? You should evaluate loot on whether it’s an upgrade, whether its stats are good for you, whether you will ever really use that “click on use” ability, and maybe even if it looks cool or has a fun name. You don’t need to know why we chose to put Strength or Crit on the item. I’m trying to argue the same thing for classes.
Vision for Classes (src)
I get that. I just don’t think a concise description is going to give you that. Really the only thing that will is reading a lot of forum posts or just leveling that character. I think the kinds of character definitions that are being asked for will be used more like the examples in this thread of “the paladin is supposed to be a holy warrior” or “the shaman is supposed to be able to tank.”
I’ll try a couple here just for grins:
Hunter – you are the master of ranged combat. Your damage is mostly physical and done with a ranged weapon such as a bow or gun. You have a loyal animal companion that can help you in combat. You can place traps to try and constrain enemies.
Marksman – you focus on ranged combat.
Survival – you focus on traps and defenses.
Beastmaster – you focus on the strength and abilities of your pet.
Paladin – you combine Holy magic with melee weapons. You can tank, cause damage or heal. You have several defensive and reactive spells that can help keep you alive.
Holy – you focus on healing, especially single-target heals.
Retribution – you focus on dealing damage.
Protection – you focus on being able to mitigate damage so that you can protect your group.
In my mind those are so vague as to be unhelpful and you’d need a couple of paragraphs on each to really get the direction of the class and spec. But maybe I’m mistaken. When we make a major change to a class, we do attempt to telegraph it.
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