I'm changing! changing....Follow

Nerf mages, buff rogues, give Theo large sums of money to do nothing.

That's the way I'd go.

I require a MOAR BEER! option as well.

FTFY.

I think it is extremely important to look at the life cycle of Cataclysm & WoW overall.


When Cataclysm was in beta the community on the beta servers were very concerned about balance, or the complete lack of it. When the release date for Cata was announced the forums buzzed about balance, there was no way they could release polished product by launch. Now, I am sure most people are thinking "no expansion is ever released without some balance issues". In TBC or WotLK there are examples of this, obviously. However even the worst of those launches paled to what was par for the course on Cataclysm.

Basically Blizzard released unfinished product and live tested balance over the course of three months. Over those three months classes and specs changed almost weekly in terms of balance, mechanics, spell rotation etc. To the point that GC had to release a post apologizing for it and promising that class balance would be finalized and they would revert to what normally happens, minor touches to tweak finished product (not balance that happens on ptr/beta servers).

I meant for PvE Maz, not for PvP lol.

Not everything. For instance, I don't want any mushrooms. You can have those.

The issue is not the change or the rate of change, but the reason for the change.

Change should always be a good thing. Change means they are fixing something or attempting to make the game more fun. (Your personal opinion of what is (or is not) fun aside.) The point of change is to make encounters less buggy, balance more in-line, etc.

However, it seems to me like a lot of the changes result from poor planning. GC suggests that the new "Hot Fixes" are an advancement in technology that allows them to more quickly address issues. I'd propose this:

Hot fixes are a great tool that they didn't have in the past, but they can also be a crutch to prop up poor planning. When good planning and due diligence is, as it always can be, interrupted by the millions of possibilities that millions of users can stumble upon - well then Hot Fixes are a good thing.

However, if developers can rush things to market or can complete only part of a Beta test because they know that they can just "Hot fix it later" - well then they become a crutch.

Hot fixes are like an eraser. They allow you to write in pencil. They allow you to move forward with the safe and reassuring knowledge that you can always fix your mistakes in a relatively easy way.

When TBC launched, they did a lot of testing because any changes would be a big deal. I feel like now we face a situation where changes are a big deal only for the player base. That's a problem. Changes, while good, are a pain in the a$$. They need to be as equally a threatening pain in the a$$ for Devs as they are for players because this ensures good work will be done during the beta testing phase.

As yourself this - If you were preparing a document to be handed in to your boss/teacher/etc.... Would you give it as much attention and put in as much effort if you knew any mistakes or omissions could be easily fixed? The answer is almost certainly 'No'. There is no reason. You gain nothing. Personal pride or work ethic will still be there. (You wouldn't submit something horribly bad.) But you may allow yourself to slack. Maybe not proof-read it. Maybe not double check your math...

I'm not saying Hot Fixes are a bad thing. But it feels like the game has been rushed to market in the last few years. In that sort of environment, Hot Fixes can quickly become crutches.

Changes were never fast enough unless it was an exploit that would be hotfixed.

Still waiting on the 'change' that would fix blinking backwards because of terrain.

Edited, Sep 13th 2011 1:51pm by Anobix

I had that problem all the way up to this last May. Can't recall specifics about exactly what was going on when it happened last but I remember the group I was trying to blink away from ended up putting me in the middle of them.

I don't think that's a glyph, it's a talent. The glyph only increases the distance you move. It's possible that that's what fixed it though, I use that glyph in my frost and fire specs.