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Direct posts from /r/wow in your telegram!
Blizzard's balancing team are failing customers
I'm aware that I'm not the first to post about this, and hopefully I won't be the last, but I want to make clear how important this discussion is when faced with a subscription service like WoW. I want to preface this by saying that nerfs and tuning are fine. I have played this game since launch in 2004, and it is extremely important that over and underperforming specs are noticed and swiftly acted on to ensure the entire community can feel competitive and enjoy content like raiding, m+ and pvp without feeling burdened by the poor state of their class.
The context: I'm approaching this from the perspective of an Elemental Shaman. It was very recently calculated that the latest set of changes across this week and on reset will amount to a total 24% ST nerf, and 16% M+ nerf to Elemental's performance.
The viewpoint: This is an absurd and baseless nerf that is not represented in ANY available data. It is a more extreme version of what we saw with Holy Palas a few weeks ago with the nerf that was reverted before release. Baseless, and confusing. Warriors and Fire Mages have experienced similar treatment, and it is simply not good enough.
The details: It is my position that since the release of TWW in particular, Blizzard's approach to balancing specs has become completely absurd and lacks any forethought or roots in data. There are several examples of this in recent weeks, but the most egregious must be the current set of nerfs due to hit Elemental this week. I want to make clear that Elemental required tuning, but I challenge anyone to find me a data set that shows Elemental was 24% ahead of the rest of the field in ST damage.
The nerfs have more problems though. Here's a list of issues that need to be recognised:
\- Elemental is plagued with unfixed bugs that are altering how the spec performs. These nerfs do not take those into account.
\- Elemental has just received a rework where our stat priorities entirely changed. Mastery, our once weakest stat, is now our top stat. Based on nerfs this coming Tues/Weds, haste will drop below crit, after being our top stat pre-rework. People have been taking loot from vaults, rolling need in their groups, and enchanting and gemming with their gold to meet the changing requirements of the spec. This is a ridiculous situation to be in where within the space of a week it has changed again.
\- Elemental is in a privileged position right now whereby we have a number of possibly viable specs in ST. Testing was/is ongoing and new builds were coming out for both SB and Farseer hero talent trees. The nerfs that come in hit all of these builds indiscriminately, whilst making changes that destabilise the balance between these various options. This is a fundamental step backwards from what we want; choice and agency.
\- Feedback had been comprehensively provided and rich, useful discussions were ongoing in the Elemental Discord with theorycrafters and sim-masters throughout the entire beta for 10.0.5. The fact we're seeing such gargantuan shifts in balance now, after it went live, speaks to a lack of methodology behind closed doors.
The data: I want to preface this data by saying that I have narrowed the scope to after the lightning rod nerfs and bug fixes that have already gone through. I have also selected 90th percentile to eliminate most of the lower performing players who are still learning the new versions of the spec.
Sikran Mythic data, filtered for past 24 hours at 90th percentile
Data for Nexus-Princess, as well as aggregate data across m+, paints a similar picture. We are strong, but we are not broken-strong, and we are not 24% ahead of anyone in any form of content. As it stands, we are about to not only be nerfed below the range of specs getting buffs this coming reset, but are likely to be bottom by a sizeable margin.
Summary: This is where I want to finish. A plea to the
Hallow's End just started and I had CRAZY idea!
https://redd.it/1gd5zut
@r_wow
I was cleaning up my bags wondering why the merchant doesn't want this dumb vanilla belt
https://redd.it/1gd6fod
@r_wow
New to the game and got my first character to lvl 80! :)
https://redd.it/1gczcvz
@r_wow
Introducing the $1000 bruto 15 seater! (Previous post got removed, added in-game assets with some photoshop magic this time)
https://redd.it/1gcwohx
@r_wow
We have nice new mail icons on the character list, how about showing when a character has a vault to loot? Here's a quick mockup
https://redd.it/1gcoxg5
@r_wow
You can get a 30% exp buff
https://preview.redd.it/7aaft9x8o3xd1.png?width=118&format=png&auto=webp&s=209908a73bb7e8e438d1f9a821bff6d99e486452
I just saw a post where it said 20% but dont forget to get your hallows end buff which also gives 10% to rep and exp. You can gain it in the main cities, where you have to throw a torch at a straw puppet
https://redd.it/1gckrn4
@r_wow
Girlfriend painted me the WoW logo 🔥
https://redd.it/1gcliee
@r_wow
Minmax as the meaning of life
https://redd.it/1gcjds9
@r_wow
Oh you're not american and wanted this mount? WELL...SUCKS TO BE YOU... (F&@K YOU BLIZZ)
https://redd.it/1gcjfz8
@r_wow
Blizzard, can you make these things sell for a copper? So annoying have to drag+click+accept to destroy them.
https://redd.it/1gcc4fi
@r_wow
Trader's Gilded Brutosaur: "adorned with a 20th Anniversary themed harness encrusted with gems representing World of Warcraft’s expansions"
https://redd.it/1gc5qw1
@r_wow
Jason Schreier wrote a book that explains why Blizzard hates the mount
https://redd.it/1gc2y0x
@r_wow
As someone who is exclusively pugging high keys at above 3k IO, it astounds me how toxic people are
Was doing a Necrotic Wake 13 pug today, had a very smooth run that was near flawless. We got to the last boss with 5 and a half minutes remaining which is plenty of time, and the boss is relatively easy. Unfortunately, the tank got immediately one shot right off the bat, and then died again immediately afterwards to another one shot after being bresed, and the key was bricked.
Sucks, shit happens. Nobody in the group raged which was nice (in comparison to a NW13 that got bricked today 45 seconds overtime), and after talking to the tank for a little while, he told me I was the most chill guy he had ever met doing high keys. And it really makes me think, why can't more people have this attitude?
Like yeah, shit happens. A key gets bricked. That tank just pulled way too much and bricked the key, that healer forgot most of his buttons existed and let people die even though they were using defensives, a dps didn't use his kick on that pull and we died to mass tremor, someone stood in a frontal and died and we didn't have a bres. The point is, there is not a person here who can tell me they've never bricked a key, myself included.
Bricks happen, mistakes happen, and even the best players in the world make mistakes - and the people pugging season title, we're a long shot from the best players in the world. So why do we all see the need to flame people who made a mistake in a key? It's wild, it makes no sense. But I'd say in 80% of bricked keys I'm in (and the vast majority of keys in the 13+ range on pugs are bricked), it ends up with people hurling insults and telling someone how bad they are at the game. Yeah, our time is valuable too, but raging at people achieves nothing, what do you gain from it? I get pissed too when a get keys bricked, but if you feel the need to take your anger out on someone in the key, then you just need to step away from the game.
Be constructive if you want to be critical of a mistake, instead of being a dick. You live and learn, or more often die and learn. People learn from their mistakes, and if you give them the opportunity to do so, maybe they're going to be a better player than you think, and maybe you'll see them in your runs in the future where the keys aren't bricked.
https://redd.it/1gda0i6
@r_wow
New datamined flying mount coming up next month. Only $999.99.
https://redd.it/1gda9bx
@r_wow
I got told to post my get-up here
I get quite a few random whispers in town and when I'm in LFR.
Probably my favourite transmog out of all my characters as it seems to make people laugh and I'm glad to bring a smile to people's IRL faces :)
Zing on.
https://preview.redd.it/mnn2s7jk08xd1.jpg?width=668&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a776fb5e496c6de55d5ff8721bad959f8737307
https://redd.it/1gd2e1p
@r_wow
I don’t know who needs to hear this… but we are not required to stay in a key to carry your friend who doesn’t want to grind like the rest of us.
https://redd.it/1gcyqh8
@r_wow
Spend $90 for an AH mount, only to afk on it outside of the main AH..
..it’s kind of genius from Blizzard. The irony is lost only on the mount owners.
https://redd.it/1gcy5nq
@r_wow
I just got kicked from TW Deadmines as dps, reason was "void elf scum"
Tank wiped us twice by pulling multiple rooms. Right when I clicked release I was removed from the party. I whispered the warlock, asking what the kick message said and it was "void elf scum". Is anti-void elf a thing? My opinion is that if I was doing decent dps and not messing up, then kicking because of character race is griefing.
https://redd.it/1gcu2qv
@r_wow
I'm currently the only one playing Mount Mania
https://preview.redd.it/8uy3uwatc5xd1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=3ef1f252c35cf07234cd0fe0341b503c940f2c91
I might actually win for once.
Edit: I lost. Someone came in on round 14 and had both round 14 and 15's mounts.
https://redd.it/1gcs1ns
@r_wow
I would be far less negative towards the monetization of WoW and the cash shop stuff in general if I knew that money was being put into supporting the game and the team behind it.
I've seen many people the last few days wondering why there's so much toxicity towards the cash shop and the monetization of WOW.
For me personally, it's knowing that the none of the money from this goes into the game itself. We're not going to see better customer support and we're not going to see stronger QA.
I really feel like if the AI customer support stuff and automation slowed down substantially and we stopped having patches like 11.0.5 release in an atrocious buggy state, there would not be this much vitriol towards shop mounts and outside game promotions like there has been the last few days.
Edit: Many are saying that I'm being clueless saying the money isn't going back into the game and I encourage you to send in a ticket to support and get a real human being working on their CS team to respond. You would be the less than 1% who do. I also encourage you to go an entire day without finding a bug that hasn't been known about for an extended period of time that internal QA would have found with ease. These would be examples of putting the money back into the game but it doesn't happen. We have AI robot automated customer support and the QA department repeatedly gets laid off and cut over and over. The AMOUNT of dev teams they've purchased and studios they've overtaken is meaningless when the QUALITY of things like customer support and quality assurance have gone down.
https://redd.it/1gcrvqk
@r_wow
Remember remornia, what happened to her? Is her story ended now?
https://redd.it/1gcptyi
@r_wow
I play Pack Leader with 50 alpacas in stable, just to maximize how many I can throw out in combat. This dialog made my day.
https://redd.it/1gci9a1
@r_wow
145€+ of in game cosmetics released in 4 days for the 20th anniversary
In 4 days we got :
Grindy anniversary event with bugs and class tunning not on point
80€ mount
30€ mount pack
Funko-pop + Pet for 16€
20€ pet (charity)
New mount locked behind US food
That 145€+ worth of in-game stuff in four days to celebrate WoW's 20th anniversary, two months into a 40€ expansion, with a subscription of more than 10€ per month.
Most of these could have been rewards for the anniversary, but we got HD T2, which is good for nostalgia, but the colors feel out of place for some classes and recolored mounts.
It's crazy how fast they can lose the goodwill they built up.
https://redd.it/1gck1mz
@r_wow
Forget the Bruto - the New Most Expensive Mount in WoW is the Flying Spectral Tiger on Chinese Servers
https://www.icy-veins.com/wow/news/the-new-most-expensive-mount-in-wow-flying-spectral-tiger-store-mount-on-chinese-servers/
https://redd.it/1gc60gj
@r_wow
Saturday Achievement and Loot Thread
Let us know what you got this week! Achievements, meta-achievements, mounts, pets, actual loot drops, gold thresholds, or other things that you can say, "Oooh, I got this" and be excited about. Post them here! Screenshots are encouraged but not necessary.
https://redd.it/1gcei3a
@r_wow
Take inspiration from this hero
https://redd.it/1gc2lc5
@r_wow
You used gold right? Right babe?
https://redd.it/1gbymza
@r_wow
