Ghostcrawler posted:
So when do we cross over from having “enough†cool abilities to “too many†cool abilities? The depth that comes from lots and lots of content can feel cool to a veteran player, but even for them, the intended role and nuance of every ability can become blurred. For the new or returning player, it just becomes incomprehensible.
A warrior who took some time off after Lich King and then came back to Cataclysm recently would have to relearn her rotation. Raging Blow? What’s that about? Yeah, it might be more interesting than just spamming Bloodthirst, Heroic Strike, and Whirlwind (even on single targets) like Fury warriors did in Icecrown Citadel, but it’s also just one more thing to learn. Even if the new rotation itself isn’t all that complicated, the fact that the design changed over time makes it feel more confusing than it really is at any one moment in time.
Also remember, that to be the best that you can be, you need to understand the abilities of every class, not just your own. Yikes. We designers have to be vigilant to keep complexity at a manageable level, not just for veterans who are active on the forums, but for returning players who want to see what changes Cataclysm brought to the game.
Greg “Ghostcrawler†Street is the lead systems designer for World of Warcraft. He prefers Greek mythology over Roman. Cooler names.
So when do we cross over from having “enough†cool abilities to “too many†cool abilities? The depth that comes from lots and lots of content can feel cool to a veteran player, but even for them, the intended role and nuance of every ability can become blurred. For the new or returning player, it just becomes incomprehensible.
A warrior who took some time off after Lich King and then came back to Cataclysm recently would have to relearn her rotation. Raging Blow? What’s that about? Yeah, it might be more interesting than just spamming Bloodthirst, Heroic Strike, and Whirlwind (even on single targets) like Fury warriors did in Icecrown Citadel, but it’s also just one more thing to learn. Even if the new rotation itself isn’t all that complicated, the fact that the design changed over time makes it feel more confusing than it really is at any one moment in time.
Also remember, that to be the best that you can be, you need to understand the abilities of every class, not just your own. Yikes. We designers have to be vigilant to keep complexity at a manageable level, not just for veterans who are active on the forums, but for returning players who want to see what changes Cataclysm brought to the game.
Greg “Ghostcrawler†Street is the lead systems designer for World of Warcraft. He prefers Greek mythology over Roman. Cooler names.
This is one of the big problems the game has faced since 4.0 for me. Every class changed so much that it wasn't even remotely the class it used to be. Everything from DKs to Shadow Priests. For me, having to adjust to all of the changes, some of them more complicated than others, has been a major turn-off for me.
Shadow priest AE went down the drain while we ran around constantly trying to get shadow images to pop, all the while spamming SW
to get the images to spawn. Sure, it might be more interesting than just spamming Mind Sear over and over, but it has gone over the deep end.Ret Paladins have to plan to use Holy Power to keep a buff up, all the while trying to use the same Holy Power to deal damage, again all while trying to track which proc buffs they have. All of this despite the fact that Blizzard at once point said they wanted to create a combo system for Ret, so once you used X ability, Y ability would be usable and/or cause more damage.
DKs totally lost any semblance of a rotation, and every spec was blasted with drastic changes. Instant recharging of runes definitely throws things off though since you spend more time looking at your rune display to see what's up than the actual fight. And making Blood the tank spec... really? Yeah, let's make the tank take responsibility for leading the group, watching for adds, keeping track of all mobs to make sure they aren't beating on a stupid dps, AND let's add in having to heal ourselves as well to make up for our lack of defense. Healing + Tanking = fail, and makes for OP specs that can solo things that others could never dream of. Just look at the DK videos on MMO-Champion. And I honestly doubt I could play this class without the use of the Tidy Plates Threat Plates addon.
One of the things I used to love about this game was, I hate to say it, the simplicity of it. Even then though it wasn't really that simple. You couldn't just mash buttons and expect to win, at least for most classes. You had to hit the right buttons in the right order at the right time. Now, you have to hit even more buttons, at EXACTLY the right time, and in an order you aren't too sure about without specific occurrences in any given fight. It's come down to watching the UI more so than watching the game.
I don't know, maybe it's just me and the fact that I'm getting older. But I have long since given up twitch games. I used to play WoW to relax and enjoy myself, not to hunch over my keyboard and stare at the screen without blinking for fear of hitting the wrong button at the wrong time.
Or maybe I'm just getting too old for video games. I don't think I am since I can still kick ass in SSF2T on my 3DO, but maybe my mentality of game playing is just antiquated.
-----signature-----
I'm a lurker and I know it.
Post count just means you spend too much time reading and not enough playing.
Post count just means you spend too much time reading and not enough playing.
) >>
R version.