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[vocab]

Every class got gutted. Blizzard doesnt give two shits about what anyone thinks. Every design philosophy for modern blizzard goes like this.

Is it fun?

Yes. Remove it.

No. Make it the highest damaging ability, and force them to use it a lot.

 

[Aeana]

I keep getting linked to threads like this one.

http://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20748505218?page=1

Anyone who has worked on a title knows - that's not how it goes - there's no single person who makes a class great. There's no mystical conspiracy here. However - will that message even reach them or will they be happier with their pitchforks left alone?

I should I even feel a sense of responsibility to respond to this? It was three years ago I stopped working on locks.

I understand the desire to engage with people and tell your story if you can, but the majority of gamers grossly misunderstand the development process. They worship singular individuals and give them all of the credit for anything good in a game and they quickly find a scapegoat for anything they don't like as well. Most of these people will never change their minds, so the best you can do is just tell the story and hope that at least some people read and understand.

 

[Shahadan]

I keep getting linked to threads like this one.

http://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20748505218?page=1

Anyone who has worked on a title knows - that's not how it goes - there's no single person who makes a class great. There's no mystical conspiracy here. However - will that message even reach them or will they be happier with their pitchforks left alone?

I should I even feel a sense of responsibility to respond to this? It was three years ago I stopped working on locks.

I don't know who the fuck you are or even exactly what you are talking about (I get you participated in the designing of the warlock class at some point I guess) but yeah, they won't care and they'd rather have their pitchforks.

See Ghostcrawler and Metzen. Or any well known person in any company. People could/will hold them responsible for everything despite evidence of the contrary. They don't know shit about devleopment or design and still won't shut up about it.

If you have something to say just say it and don't give a shit if they get it or not, they won't, or will revert to their premade idea in a week.

 

[Einchy]

If there is a story there, I'm sure fans would love to hear what went on behind the scenes. A lot of times, no one is really sure what is happening or why Blizz does what they do, so It'd be interesting to know what kind of discussions are going on internally when a class gets changed like Locks did.

 

[dimb]

I should I even feel a sense of responsibility to respond to this? It was three years ago I stopped working on locks.

Well, the guy who posted that thread is level 97, so three years ago might as well be the last time he played his Warlock anyways. I would imagine people who feel disillusioned with the direction of their class for such a long period of time will not feel better about things with or without more background on how or why stuff works. Insight into the the process of reworking Warlocks would be really cool though. I was always curious if there were design philosophies in the game that prevented stuff like Demonology tanks.

 

[Freyjadour]

I keep getting linked to threads like this one.

http://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20748505218?page=1

Anyone who has worked on a title knows - that's not how it goes - there's no single person who makes a class great. There's no mystical conspiracy here. However - will that message even reach them or will they be happier with their pitchforks left alone?

I should I even feel a sense of responsibility to respond to this? It was three years ago I stopped working on locks.

Tell them to try playing Rogue for 12 years.

 

[Absoludacrous]

I keep getting linked to threads like this one.

http://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20748505218?page=1

Anyone who has worked on a title knows - that's not how it goes - there's no single person who makes a class great. There's no mystical conspiracy here. However - will that message even reach them or will they be happier with their pitchforks left alone?

I should I even feel a sense of responsibility to respond to this? It was three years ago I stopped working on locks.

It would be interesting to hear, but people engaged enough to understand how the development process works are going to be turned off by the Hamlet soliloquy you're wrapping it in.

Tell it or don't. Some people might care. Most won't. That's game development (or any kind of development, really).

 

[Rhaknar]

I understand the desire to engage with people and tell your story if you can, but the majority of gamers grossly misunderstand the development process. They worship singular individuals and give them all of the credit for anything good in a game and they quickly find a scapegoat for anything they don't like as well. Most of these people will never change their minds, so the best you can do is just tell the story and hope that at least some people read and understand.

Every class got gutted. Blizzard doesnt give two shits about what anyone thinks. Every design philosophy for modern blizzard goes like this.

Is it fun?

Yes. Remove it.

No. Make it the highest damaging ability, and force them to use it a lot.

I rest my case :3

 

[Xelnath]

Tanking is a sensitive area - the moment anyone can tank and threatens to replace or add a niche of tanking to the game, it requires a lot of attention.

In the case of Warlock Tanking.... it was really an itemization issue that guaranteed it, but the bigger point was that the class design team as a whole wasn't ready to get behind the idea.

So we made it into a toy glyph for dungeons that started out having its raid-quality mitigation nerfed.

 

[Rizzi]

Warlocks not being able to banish demon hunters in their demon form is silly.

 

[Sölf]

Warlocks not being able to banish demon hunters in their demon form is silly.

Well, you also can't shackle undead players. Which was possible in Vanilla Alpha, as far as I know.

 

[Xelnath]

Well, you also can't shackle undead players. Which was possible in Vanilla Alpha, as far as I know.

20 second stuns on players were ridiculous, just like 30 second polymorphs. Does anyone even remember when Soul Fire had a 4 second stun on the end of it?

 

[Sölf]

20 second stuns on players were ridiculous, just like 30 second polymorphs. Does anyone even remember when Soul Fire had a 4 second stun on the end of it?

There definitly were some, in restrospect, pretty retarded things. xD

Rogues being able to completely stunlock and kill you in classic... not sure if that's "skill" or just bad design (and I played rogue in classic).

Oh and I also think most people will just project you on the Warlock design. No matter if there were 5, 10, 20 or more people involved. I mean, Jay Wilson was the sole reason why D3 was bad, right?

 

[Xelnath]

I think that was actually the whole cornerstone of rogue design.

 

[King Gilga]

Well, you also can't shackle undead players. Which was possible in Vanilla Alpha, as far as I know.

You could shackle lichborned DKs as well as garg, don't see why meta'd DH's should be any different.

Tell them to try playing Rogue for 12 years.

Please, at least rogues are still fun compared to the snooze fest shit show Warlocks and Hunters have become.

 

[twobear]

yes hello game designer person, i have a question;

why did you remove the vanilla wow frost mage ability to proc freeze off normal frostbolts

and as a followup question, how much did the melee classes pool together to bribe you to do it

 

[carlsojo]

Yeah guy you cracked the code, Blizzard has been actively trying to destroy Warlocks as a class. That's a real game design goal. Fuck right off with these garbage battlenet posts.

 

[borghe]

I wonder if I should buy a couple of heirloom upgrades to make my Monk invasion leveling even faster. I only one upgraded heirloom (and the 50% monk bonus)

I'm half tempted on my warrior. And he's 95... after a make for 8 levels and a shaman for 28 levels leveling without full heirlooms is painful. Even just 10 levels. I have them up to 90.. it I need the 10K for the XP armor.

 

[BearPawB]

I have always played Warlock as my main.
I don't think there is grand conspiracy. But that doesn't mean I don't think Blizzard have massively fucked up this class

 

[Anoregon]

I have always played Warlock as my main.
I don't think there is grand conspiracy. But that doesn't mean I don't think Blizzard have massively fucked up this class

Same. It's more than a little silly to believe there is actually some specific, vindictive agenda, but at the same time that doesn't mean the current state of the class isn't very questionable.

 

[LAUGHTREY]

I was thinking pretentious.

I went back and read all his other post mortems, it's really interesting to see how the design philosophy in that company is, and how they sort of training wheels'd him for a little and then let him do his own thing, which was netherspite. A pretty memorable fight but he says that it was too mathematical and you had to perform the steps just right. I think one of them was written in LUA too, whatever that means. I thought that was the addon scripting language.

Most of the best WoW encounters are the ones where they make a set of abilities and then let the players figure out how best to do it imo, or at least give that illusion that they're figuring out their own special way.

Mannoroth and Xhul are pretty special in that regard.

It reminds me a lot of designing a D&D campaign. You set up a story and monsters and just let the players take care of them their own way.

Same. It's more than a little silly to believe there is actually some specific, vindictive agenda, but at the same time that doesn't mean the current state of the class isn't very questionable.

The one week warlocks were good and then immediately 'fixed' vs the entire tier mages were good definitely stings a little though.

 

[cdyhybrid]

Just got the Drake of the North Wind from Vortex Pinnacle

Was running it for missing transmog appearances!

 

[M.D]

I'm half tempted on my warrior. And he's 95... after a make for 8 levels and a shaman for 28 levels leveling without full heirlooms is painful. Even just 10 levels. I have them up to 90.. it I need the 10K for the XP armor.

I had 1-90 and 1-100 upgrades from the quest thing and accidentally spent them both on my chest.

GG

 

[Negator]

Poor Xelnath gonna get bombarded with questions.

I just want to say, thank you for all your hard work.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Whoa, I've just been reading Xelnath's blog for an hour, and then he pops up in here. Hello! I enjoy your game dev entries on your blog very much. I love the transcripted conversation between yourself and Mike Heiberg concerning BC development - it gave a lot of insight into how the collaborative process works at Blizzard. Very informative read.

For what it's worth, my brother plays (played) a Warlock and stopped playing about... three years ago. So I suppose I should thank you on his behalf for making the class fun to play back then.

On another note, I made this thread about Quel'thalas on the story forum. It's such a simple concept, but it's something that's always bugged me. I'd love an Old QT instance.

 

[Sajjaja]

Alright so I boosted an Orc Enhancement Shaman to 100. Pretty cool, very flashy and sounds meaty.

So I did LFR Archimonde and no mount? Can someone explain how it works lol.

 

[LAUGHTREY]

Anyone who has worked on a title knows - that's not how it goes - there's no single person who makes a class great. There's no mystical conspiracy here. However - will that message even reach them or will they be happier with their pitchforks left alone?

I believe you and everything, but the way it works is:

Warlocks were boring/bad/unfun ->You became the "face" of warlock development in MoP-> Warlocks became fun/good -> You were let go -> Warlocks became boring/bad/unfun again.

So if you want to clear it up I'd certainly appreciate it as a Warlock main since WotLK, but the days where we got cool new spells like Cataclysm or Fire and Brimstone or Kil'jaedens cunning and have new and unique spells and a gameplay style unique from Mages and Spriests are long over. It felt like a lot of experimentation was going on, now we're just being "refined". It feels a little more than coincidental, no matter what you say.

Even the entirely new Demonology spec has gotten kind of a lukewarm response from most people. Demonic Empowerment really should be Metamorphosis as a global buff to our demons instead of a maintenance/snapshot buff. Just because Demon Hunters have it now doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to have it as well. Illidan did metamorphose in the first place because he consumed the skull of a Warlock after all.

Alright so I boosted an Orc Enhancement Shaman to 100. Pretty cool, very flashy and sounds meaty.

So I did LFR Archimonde and no mount? Can someone explain how it works lol.

It has to be Normal or above.

 

[Sax Russel]

The one week warlocks were good and then immediately 'fixed' vs the entire tier mages were good definitely stings a little though.

Obviously demo being too strong because of T18 and the class trinket that will only work during the pre-patch time is srs fucking bsns.

Also I love this bit in one of the recent interviews "Since then, the team has tried to post about upcoming class changes a couple of days before they go live, even holding back the hotfix if messaging hasn't gone out." Almost made me actually laugh out loud since Roaring Blaze was "stealth" nerfed right after, with only a half ass note with incorrect values being edited into the hotfixes after the fact. (Also, communication from Blizzard and warlocks? lol good one.) Destro really needed that nerf though. It was obviously much too strong right guys @_@. Or maybe it's a pre-emptive nerf for 110 performance/the T19 bonus. Glad we're getting that out of the way in advance.

I've played a warlock since launch and of course I don't think there's some grand anti-warlock agenda, but the only feelings I have for how they've handled the class going into Legion are disdain and contempt.

 

[Sajjaja]

It has to be Normal or above.

Oh LFR isn't Normal? I didn't knwo there was a difference. So how do I join a normal one?

 

[SolVanderlyn]

This is just me, but Locks feel like watered down versions of other classes to me. Haven't tried Demo, but Shadow Priest is a more fun Affliction and all Mage specs are a more fun (and simpler without being less engaging) spec to play.

 

[Anoregon]

This is just me, but Locks feel like watered down versions of other classes to me. Haven't tried Demo, but Shadow Priest is a more fun Affliction and all Mage specs are a more fun (and simpler without being less engaging) spec to play.

It sure isn't, lots of people have similar complaints. Spriest is basically just a better version of aff, fire mages are objectively better than destro in every way, and demo just feels half-baked. Like they gave up on iterating on it halfway through the alpha.

 

[LAUGHTREY]

Obviously demo being too strong because of T18 and the class trinket that will only work during the pre-patch time is srs fucking bsns.

Also I love this bit in one of the recent interviews "Since then, the team has tried to post about upcoming class changes a couple of days before they go live, even holding back the hotfix if messaging hasn't gone out." Almost made me actually laugh out loud since Roaring Blaze was "stealth" nerfed right after, with only a half ass note with incorrect values being edited into the hotfixes after the fact. (Also, communication from Blizzard and warlocks? lol good one.) Destro really needed that nerf though. It was obviously much too strong right guys @_@. Or maybe it's a pre-emptive nerf for 110 performance/the T19 bonus. Glad we're getting that out of the way in advance.

I've played a warlock since launch and of course I don't think there's some grand anti-warlock agenda, but the only feelings I have for how they've handled the class going into Legion are disdain and contempt.

Yeah, Mages go nuts the second they get their legenary ring, Warlocks do some damage when it means nothing in the pre-patch and they actually get nerfed within days.

And Warlocks don't exist in a vacuum though right? They're competing for their spot with Mages and Shadow Priests as the cloth dps classes now that no one brings special utility over anyone else.

Which, Mages have been ridiculous since...always, and especially HFC. It wasn't 18 warlocks killing iron reaver in 15 seconds, that's for sure. Shadow priests right at this second are ridiculous

Oh LFR isn't Normal? I didn't knwo there was a difference. So how do I join a normal one?

It goes LFR > Normal > Heroic > Mythic.

Normal is the old fashioned way. Gotta find a group. Hit i and go to the premade group finder. I wish you luck.

 

[Metroidvania]

It has to be Normal or above.

Wat.

Moose is Heroic or Mythic, unless we're talking about a different mount, or I missed some change in the pre-patch I wasn't aware of.

 

[M.D]

I want the Mythic Archimonde mount but I'll never have it

 

[Tenebrous]

Decided with my new tanking partner what we'll each be leveling. I'll be going Prot Warrior, Guardian Druid, Blood DK, which I'm happy with...

Speaking of Prot Warrior, I'm almost done with my newbie Weakauras if anyone wants to test them out. There are some sounds, though...

 

[biaxident]

So how is farming zandalari warbringers these days? I'm about 4k from revered with klaxxi wanted to fast track it. I've seen corpses at spawn points, but really don't want to just camp a dude out for an hour waiting (cuts into my afk invasion time to get weapons for the classes I probably won't play for like 8 months).

 

[CodeNfX]

I just reactivated. How do I find where the invasions are?

 

[Sajjaja]

I just reactivated. How do I find where the invasions are?

Press M, click on a continent, you'll see an invasion icon over a region.

 

[CyberPunked]

How do I change my talents as a Demon Hunter? Is there Demon Hunter trainers?

 

[Aeana]

I'm still having a super difficult time deciding on which healer to main. Mistweaver is sooo fun, but I don't like meleeing and I know that to be 100% effective I'm gonna need to be in there using blackout kick and rising sun kick to restore some mana and reset thunder focus tea. (._. )

How do I change my talents as a Demon Hunter? Is there Demon Hunter trainers?

Same as any other class. Press N and go to the talents tab. You can change them whenever you're in a rested area.

 

[CodeNfX]

Press M, click on a continent, you'll see an invasion icon over a region.

Thank you!

 

[LAUGHTREY]

Wat.

Moose is Heroic or Mythic, unless we're talking about a different mount, or I missed some change in the pre-patch I wasn't aware of.

Oh yeah, heroic is correct.

 

[Sajjaja]

Man my ilevel is so low I ain't gonna get invites into these Archi runs lol. LFD on Illidan takes pretty long...even as horde.

 

[borghe]

It's very boring, but it's massively faster. I'll be glad I took advantage of it once it's gone.

I am trying to do it on my paladin... and honestly.. I am happier just paying the $60. It's not like I'm being "Authentic" with invasion spam.. and while I made 72-100 on my shaman in like 2-3 days (calendar, not /played), doing that on my paladin for a total of 5-6 days? Again, just better off paying $60 imho.

edit - my paladin is currently 36. I started off the invasion 1/2 spam at 23.. so I've already done 13 levels.. can't see myself doing another 64.

edit 2 - leveling a healer-less fury warrior is the worst thing ever. I hate it and it's enough to turn my off from the class... wtf..

 

[Aeana]

I am trying to do it on my paladin... and honestly.. I am happier just paying the $60. It's not like I'm being "Authentic" with invasion spam.. and while I made 72-100 on my shaman in like 2-3 days (calendar, not /played), doing that on my paladin for a total of 5-6 days? Again, just better off paying $60 imho.

Even paying the $60 I'd feel weird not getting to 60 first for the profession level boost, even if profession levels don't mean very much in Legion. Just seems like a better value to do that.

 

[borghe]

Even paying the $60 I'd feel weird not getting to 60 first for the profession level boost, even if profession levels don't mean very much in Legion. Just seems like a better value to do that.

heh.. this is actually what I was considering.. spending the 2 days to get to 60 first. but not beyond that.

 

[GenericBadGuy]

Really having fun with WoW again after all this time. I'm glad its working out and already got a few 100s to have going into Legion, although DH is sort of cheating and I actually didn't like the class much other than double jumping around. Enhancement is still fun and versatile as hell, and I don't miss totems.

I love the toy box, which is something that I didn't have back when I was playing WoW before. Unfortunately all the toys I want seem to be from rare mobs and they are never there when I look...not sure how to rectify that situation. Even at like 1:30 in the morning there is nothing up.

I also surprised myself with how much I was digging archeology (sorry). Going from 1-700 seems rough but its leveling fast and I want the toys from it.

I do not like Garrisons, so I'm glad I skipped them. I'm annoyed that a lot of fun items are tied into it and I would have to heavily invest in them to get the items. I've been away for years so I don't have a lot of gold.

 

[Absoludacrous]

Ok, warrior to 100. Just missing mage, shaman, druid, and monk. Don't think I have it in me to do any more invasions though. I feel like that fat kid in Matilda, only instead of chocolate cake it was XP.

 

[piratepwnsninja]

Question since I've never had reason to do this before...how/where do I upgrade my heirlooms? I'm assuming since they only say 1-60, I only get the XP bonus until 60, too.

 

[Absoludacrous]

Question since I've never had reason to do this before...how/where do I upgrade my heirlooms? I'm assuming since they only say 1-60, I only get the XP bonus until 60, too.

You need separate items to upgrade them to 90, then another that goes from 90-100. You can buy them from the heirloom vendor in IF/UC, I believe they're the first items listed.

There are other ways to get them, like timewalking vendors and stuff, but the heirloom vendors are the most straight forward.