Since the release of patch 4.0.6, we?ve been keeping an eye on healers and how they are performing and are currently in the process of making some additional adjustments.

Priests

The cost of Power Word: Shield is being increased by 33%. While we wanted Discipline priests to be able to utilize this spell more often and with better results, we also did not want it to be the main spell (and often the only spell) used while in groups. We don?t find this to be a particularly compelling playstyle and have found that it encourages players to avoid using other spells such as Penance. We believe that using a shield in a tight moment is totally appropriate, but we don?t want it to be incredibly efficient to do so with more frequency than that.

We realize that by making Power Word: Shield slightly more expensive for Discipline priests to cast that it might cause Holy priests to avoid using it. To that end, we are adding mana savings into the Body and Soul talent. The tooltip will not reflect this change until a future patch, however. Ideally, Holy priests should not notice much of a change to the Power Word: Shield costs.

Shaman

We are also applying a hotfix for Purification for the Restoration shaman passive from 10% to 25%. We think that shaman healing per second is not as competitive with other healers and while we hoped to bring down Holy priest and Holy paladins (in particular) in 4.0.6, which we did, shaman still appear to be behind. In this case, it is simply easier to buff Restoration shaman rather than nerf everyone else or rebalance the encounters.

In Addition- Restoration Druids and Restoration Shaman

We agree with the sentiment among some players that Restoration druids and Restoration shaman are lacking in the healing cooldown department. The shaman buff and Power Word: Shield adjustment above should bring all healers reasonably close in terms of throughput. The decision on who to bring then might end up being dictated by the strong cooldowns offered by paladins or priests. This isn?t the kind of thing we can address via a hotfix, but it is something we are looking at for the next major content patch.

As always, we appreciate your continued constructive feedback and will do our best to keep you informed of ongoing developments.

Vault_News posted:

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The cost of Power Word: Shield is being increased by 33%. While we wanted Discipline priests to be able to utilize this spell more often and with better results, we also did not want it to be the main spell (and often the only spell) used while in groups. We don't find this to be a particularly compelling playstyle and have found that it encourages players to avoid using other spells such as Penance. We believe that using a shield in a tight moment is totally appropriate, but we don't want it to be incredibly efficient to do so with more frequency than that.

We realize that by making Power Word: Shield slightly more expensive for Discipline priests to cast that it might cause Holy priests to avoid using it. To that end, we are adding mana savings into the Body and Soul talent. The tooltip will not reflect this change until a future patch, however. Ideally, Holy priests should not notice much of a change to the Power Word: Shield costs.

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posted:

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Priests

The cost of Power Word: Shield is being increased by 33%. While we wanted Discipline priests to be able to utilize this spell more often and with better results, we also did not want[u/] it to be the main spell (and often the only spell) used while in groups. [u]We don?t find this to be a particularly compelling playstyle and have found that it encourages players to avoid using other spells such as Penance. We believe that using a shield in a tight moment is totally appropriate, but we don?t want it to be incredibly efficient to do so with more frequency than that.

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Blizzard posted:

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In this case, it is simply easier to buff Restoration shaman rather than nerf everyone else or rebalance the encounters.

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vn_vigilante66 posted:

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BUT THE HEALING CHANGES IN CATA MADE IT BETTER! YOU GUYS ARE JUST TOO DUMB TO KNOW IT YET

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Sociop posted:

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Here is the problem with WoW;

posted:

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Priests

The cost of Power Word: Shield is being increased by 33%. While we wanted Discipline priests to be able to utilize this spell more often and with better results, we also did not want[u/] it to be the main spell (and often the only spell) used while in groups. [u]We don?t find this to be a particularly compelling playstyle and have found that it encourages players to avoid using other spells such as Penance. We believe that using a shield in a tight moment is totally appropriate, but we don?t want it to be incredibly efficient to do so with more frequency than that.

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The arrogant jackass dev's have made it about what "they" want and what "they" think, or what "they" believe when it never has been nor ever was, nor ever should be about them, what they want or what they believe!

What the customer wants, what the customer thinks or what the customer believes should be the only thing that matters, instead they are sitting on the customer twisting their arms forcing them to comply with how they (the dev's) want them to play.

I think they (the dev's) have lost complete sight of their roll as insignificant servants of their customer and believe they are gods whose job is to command some 12 million players.

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heiromancerdrackus posted:

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I gotta say, I definitely was starting to feel my Shaman lagging behind in healing. Particularly now that getting a tank with 180K+ effective health is common, it took a lot of healing for me to fill that guy back up.

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Sociop posted:

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Here is the problem with WoW;

posted:

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Priests

The cost of Power Word: Shield is being increased by 33%. While we wanted Discipline priests to be able to utilize this spell more often and with better results, we also did not want[u/] it to be the main spell (and often the only spell) used while in groups. [u]We don?t find this to be a particularly compelling playstyle and have found that it encourages players to avoid using other spells such as Penance. We believe that using a shield in a tight moment is totally appropriate, but we don?t want it to be incredibly efficient to do so with more frequency than that.

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The arrogant jackass dev's have made it about what "they" want and what "they" think, or what "they" believe when it never has been nor ever was, nor ever should be about them, what they want or what they believe!

What the customer wants, what the customer thinks or what the customer believes should be the only thing that matters, instead they are sitting on the customer twisting their arms forcing them to comply with how they (the dev's) want them to play.

I think they (the dev's) have lost complete sight of their roll as insignificant servants of their customer and believe they are gods whose job is to command some 12 million players.

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Rezzinu posted:

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[quote=Sociop]Here is the problem with WoW;

And the sad part is, people are still paying the developers salaries via $15 a month (x12 million).

It's amazing to see the difference between two game's developers. Any MMO and WoW. WoW doesnt give a damn about the customer anymore because they have what they want. They have already become rich off of you so they do what they want with the mentality of, "It's our way or GTFO." While any other MMO developer listens to their playerbase understanding we, the players, chose the path of their success.

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_Kewk_ posted:

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Rezzinu posted:

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[quote=Sociop]Here is the problem with WoW;

And the sad part is, people are still paying the developers salaries via $15 a month (x12 million).

It's amazing to see the difference between two game's developers. Any MMO and WoW. WoW doesnt give a damn about the customer anymore because they have what they want. They have already become rich off of you so they do what they want with the mentality of, "It's our way or GTFO." While any other MMO developer listens to their playerbase understanding we, the players, chose the path of their success.

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Great example. No really. Put up all the failed and currently failing MMO's against the industry leader and say the failed devs are the ones who got it right. LOL. Do you guys even think before you type?

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_Kewk_ posted:

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Great example. No really. Put up all the failed and currently failing MMO's against the industry leader and say the failed devs are the ones who got it right. LOL. Do you guys even think before you type?

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HunterTalon posted:

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I feel like Kate Beckinsale invited me over for a night of unbridled passion (her words, not mine), then when I got to her place she proceeded to strap on a Big Black and bent me over her Bentley...

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Vault_News posted:

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We realize that by making Power Word: Shield slightly more expensive for Discipline priests to cast that it might cause Holy priests to avoid using it. To that end, we are adding mana savings into the Body and Soul talent. The tooltip will not reflect this change until a future patch, however. Ideally, Holy priests should not notice much of a change to the Power Word: Shield costs.

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Pacorra posted:

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Vault_News posted:

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We realize that by making Power Word: Shield slightly more expensive for Discipline priests to cast that it might cause Holy priests to avoid using it. To that end, we are adding mana savings into the Body and Soul talent. The tooltip will not reflect this change until a future patch, however. Ideally, Holy priests should not notice much of a change to the Power Word: Shield costs.

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My Holy Priest has not used PW:S since the 3rd heroic he ran, back in Dec. It will take a lot more than "not much of a change" to consider it again.

The WoW team has made mistakes in the past (like when they murdered BM hunter a couple months into WotLK), but this massive balance rollercoaster is by far the worst they have ever done. It absolutely feels like a B team, running around like headless chickens with no idea whatsoever about class dynamics and actual play.

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Ferrydust posted:

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You don't apply 2 fixes per problem!

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slythetove posted:

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_Kewk_ posted:

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Great example. No really. Put up all the failed and currently failing MMO's against the industry leader and say the failed devs are the ones who got it right. LOL. Do you guys even think before you type?

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Actually...

DAoC's death warrant was signed once they decided they knew better than the players.
EQ's was the same. See also "The Vision"tm
SWG was the same.

Once a developer decides that they are going to force you to play the way they feel you should play in spite of thousands upon thousands of complaints it's all down hill from there.

--Sly

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Unstruck posted:

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Activision took over. People with a lot of money and zero soul make stupid decisions that everyone has to listen to.

That's how most "good things" go "bad."

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heiromancerdrackus posted:

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Unstruck posted:

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Activision took over. People with a lot of money and zero soul make stupid decisions that everyone has to listen to.

That's how most "good things" go "bad."

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Morhaime does not report to Kotick. He reports to Kotick's boss at Vivendi, who has a controlling stake in ATVB.

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Spookysheep posted:

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Some of the top fortune 500 companies in history have gone out of business due to delivering what they want instead of what the customer wants.

I guess blizzard uses a planned obsolescence model, which may be the most economical thing to do in the mmo gaming world. Or, they are just plain stupid.

I guess time will tell.

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zukat1 posted:

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For those that can't afford more then one monthly script why not make it to where they are leaving one for the other soon possibly. Can't think of any other reason to put a B team on their moneymaker myself.

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• WoW 1.0 release = success. Continues succeeding wildly for two years.


• BC release = more success.


• WotLK release = more success. New products at company require the primary talent. So,


• Primary talent moves on to new products. Sustaining team picks up responsibility for WoW.

Azure-TheBlueOne posted:

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^

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The_Korrigan posted:

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The addition of the damned arenas is the worst thing that happened to WoW since its release in 2004.
The full moron at "Bliztard" who thought that "PvP in a bowl" would be fantastic for a MMORPG should be fired.

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Ugh_Lancelot posted:

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zukat1 posted:

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For those that can't afford more then one monthly script why not make it to where they are leaving one for the other soon possibly. Can't think of any other reason to put a B team on their moneymaker myself.

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Well, really, I think we've probably mislabeled things with the whole "B Team" reference. At least partially. Let me clarify. This is the product model I'd expect for something like WoW:

• WoW 1.0 release = success. Continues succeeding wildly for two years.


• BC release = more success.


• WotLK release = more success. New products at company require the primary talent. So,


• Primary talent moves on to new products. Sustaining team picks up responsibility for WoW.

So, you have 14 million or so people playing the most popular MMO. It works. People love it. The tiny minority of hardcores are whining about "too easy" and such, but the other 95% love the game as is. More people than ever are experiencing end-game content (if not hardmode stuff). Life is good.

When the sustaining team moves in, their one and only job is to sustain the profitability of the game for as long as possible. If everyone and their dog is playing the current game, you think _VERY_ hard before making any fundamental design changes whatsoever. Your job is to _continue_ keeping WoW firmly in the black, not using it as an experiment to see if you can attract new players or "fix" bugs that 14 million people don't think are significant enough to unsubscribe.

So, as a sustaining dev, what do you do? You keep all major systems firmly on the rails of what has _proven_ successful. You add content that follows or very carefully tweaks the current, successful design. Buff a little bit here and nerf a little bit there to fix new/inventive stacking issues you didn't really imagine or didn't have time to fix in previous releases. Add some new bosses with some new combinations of abilities but that use the same base mechanics as the rest of the game does today. Fix cosmetic issues and long-standing bugs that haven't bubbled up to the top half of the priority queue. Add artwork.

As a sustaining dev, you do NOT fundamentally redesign the entire premise of the talent system, even if you think it will ease balancing things (which it won't). You do NOT attempt to "rebalance" the entire game via massive changes in scaling and heal-vs-damage-vs-health profiles. You do NOT add or remove mechanics that have been fundamental to how classes played over the very successful history of the game.

Where the "B Team" epithet might hit the mark is if you have the sustaining guys thinking they're all that and a bag of potato chips instead of the graveyard maintainers. Nobody wants excitement in the graveyard. It's been working fine. Don't f**k with it. You're here to make sure the game's decline is a fairly flat, predictable model -- not exponential because you jumped the shark repeatedly.

At least, that's my take on things. We'll revisit things this coming Christmas and see how the current model is holding up.

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-Peo- posted:

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You guys don't get it.

You are all wrong.

World of Ghostcrawler says so.

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Ugh_Lancelot posted:

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zukat1 posted:

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For those that can't afford more then one monthly script why not make it to where they are leaving one for the other soon possibly. Can't think of any other reason to put a B team on their moneymaker myself.

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Well, really, I think we've probably mislabeled things with the whole "B Team" reference. At least partially. Let me clarify. This is the product model I'd expect for something like WoW:

• WoW 1.0 release = success. Continues succeeding wildly for two years.


• BC release = more success.


• WotLK release = more success. New products at company require the primary talent. So,


• Primary talent moves on to new products. Sustaining team picks up responsibility for WoW.

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Ugh_Lancelot posted:

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zukat1 posted:

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For those that can't afford more then one monthly script why not make it to where they are leaving one for the other soon possibly. Can't think of any other reason to put a B team on their moneymaker myself.

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Well, really, I think we've probably mislabeled things with the whole "B Team" reference. At least partially. Let me clarify. This is the product model I'd expect for something like WoW:

• WoW 1.0 release = success. Continues succeeding wildly for two years.


• BC release = more success.


• WotLK release = more success. New products at company require the primary talent. So,


• Primary talent moves on to new products. Sustaining team picks up responsibility for WoW.

So, you have 14 million or so people playing the most popular MMO. It works. People love it. The tiny minority of hardcores are whining about "too easy" and such, but the other 95% love the game as is. More people than ever are experiencing end-game content (if not hardmode stuff). Life is good.

When the sustaining team moves in, their one and only job is to sustain the profitability of the game for as long as possible. If everyone and their dog is playing the current game, you think _VERY_ hard before making any fundamental design changes whatsoever. Your job is to _continue_ keeping WoW firmly in the black, not using it as an experiment to see if you can attract new players or "fix" bugs that 14 million people don't think are significant enough to unsubscribe.

So, as a sustaining dev, what do you do? You keep all major systems firmly on the rails of what has _proven_ successful. You add content that follows or very carefully tweaks the current, successful design. Buff a little bit here and nerf a little bit there to fix new/inventive stacking issues you didn't really imagine or didn't have time to fix in previous releases. Add some new bosses with some new combinations of abilities but that use the same base mechanics as the rest of the game does today. Fix cosmetic issues and long-standing bugs that haven't bubbled up to the top half of the priority queue. Add artwork.

As a sustaining dev, you do NOT fundamentally redesign the entire premise of the talent system, even if you think it will ease balancing things (which it won't). You do NOT attempt to "rebalance" the entire game via massive changes in scaling and heal-vs-damage-vs-health profiles. You do NOT add or remove mechanics that have been fundamental to how classes played over the very successful history of the game.

Where the "B Team" epithet might hit the mark is if you have the sustaining guys thinking they're all that and a bag of potato chips instead of the graveyard maintainers. Nobody wants excitement in the graveyard. It's been working fine. Don't f**k with it. You're here to make sure the game's decline is a fairly flat, predictable model -- not exponential because you jumped the shark repeatedly.

At least, that's my take on things. We'll revisit things this coming Christmas and see how the current model is holding up.

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