02/16/2012 01:30 PMPosted by Sweetestmya

talking with allot of fellow Pver's and there has been allot of talk that blizz is going to reduce the amount of pve in the next expansion...

We've never quantified the amount of content coming in Mists of Pandaria, much less stated we plan to produce less content in the next expansion than we have in previous expansions. We've mentioned adding a few PvE gameplay elements in Mists.

02/16/2012 01:30 PMPosted by Sweetestmya

wow gear with no stats to make players equal

No, the point of gear with no stats is not to make players equal. IN ADDITION to the PvE gear progression you typically see in dungeon and raid tiers, in Mists we're adding PvE Challenges to award cosmetic-only sets. These sets aren't meant to replace items/sets from dungeons and raids that increase your character's power. They're meant to be hard to get, entirely optional, and another way for characters to distinguish themselves from others through their accomplishments.

02/16/2012 01:30 PMPosted by Sweetestmya

a tree that my kids could pick out

I'm sure your kid could press buttons and make a talent build under the current system too. That doesn't mean it's going to be optimal, or even viable. This type of feedback isn't very interesting or useful.

02/16/2012 01:30 PMPosted by Sweetestmya

cant we all agree that its the strive to be the best and or to be better is what Really keeps us playing this game? if it comes to be and i bust my a** and at the end of the day im not any better then the 8 year old that started playing yesterday, i will Stop playing this game! along with many other people...

My primary goal when logging into World of Warcraft isn't to be the best. If by better, you mean acquiring more powerful items or higher character levels, I guess that's part of the drive. That's not being stripped from PvE in Mists of Pandaria, contrary to the talks in which you've been involved.

02/16/2012 01:30 PMPosted by Sweetestmya

on that note there has also been talk of a world of warcraft 2, hmm now this sounds like a good idea with a great focus on PvE wouldnt this help solve everyones PvP / PvE problems?

I'm not sure I understand how the solution to the fabricated problem of a lack of PvE content -- in an expansion you haven't played yet -- is to make a completely new game. We're focused on developing additional expansion content for World of Warcraft, not designing a sequel to the first title.

02/16/2012 01:30 PMPosted by Sweetestmya

there has been so much lore that has been skipped the possibilites for this could be endless

We don't really see it as much of a problem that we have a lot of story at our disposal to use in developing new content. But we also don't need to reinvent the game to explore that lore.

02/16/2012 02:01 PMPosted by Ironicirony

Nonetheless, Zarhym, isn't the entire point of the MoP talent system that, for most practical purposes, optimal or viable specs will no longer exist? Shouldn't this hypothetical "kid" be ideally able to randomly press buttons and come up with a viable talent load-out which only differs from others in subjective "fun value"?

Sort of. I wasn't really interested in entertaining the OP's argument though, because the kid* who blindly chooses a potentially viable build isn't going to blindly know how to play the class well.

*Referring to the usage of the word in the OP's post, which I presume is defined as someone who should be too young to figure out how a WoW class is successfully played.

02/16/2012 02:16 PMPosted by Blacksavior

No, the point of gear with no stats is not to make players equal. IN ADDITION to the PvE gear progression you typically see in dungeon and raid tiers, in Mists we're adding PvE Challenges to award cosmetic-only sets. These sets aren't meant to replace items/sets from dungeons and raids that increase your character's power. They're meant to be hard to get, entirely optional, and another way for characters to distinguish themselves from others through their accomplishments.

So the idea behind players being rewarded based on the efforts is basically being tossed to the side now? It at least appears that way with features like LFR which allows players to go afk and intentionally leach off of other players and collect rewards that improve their "power", while the new challenge modes which require effort from each individual player working together as a team just rewards cosmetic rewards.

You make this claim as though the Raid Finder is synonymous with Heroic raids, in terms of providing the highest quality gear in the game. That's not the case. Even with Raid Finder and PvE Challenges in Mists of Pandaria, the best sets in the game (stat-wise) will still be rather difficult to obtain.

02/16/2012 02:16 PMPosted by Blacksavior

Just one of the factors that has players dismayed at the direction the developers are taking the game.

You'd have a really hard time arguing your last sentence on behalf of the entire playerbase. I could argue there are players who are dismayed right now that Peddlefeet's butt isn't as firm as it should be. Is that a larger argument about "the direction the developers are taking the game"?

02/16/2012 02:17 PMPosted by Hellpower

If you weren't interested in his argument, maybe responding to it was a bad idea? Just sayin.

I took eight of his words and said they didn't make for an interesting argument. No, I don't think it was a bad idea to address the other points of the OP just because I didn't find his "my kid could do it" argument interesting.

And you're not saying, you're asking (though surely I'm to assume it's rhetorical). And why does everyone need to follow up saying something with "just sayin" these days? I know you're just sayin'. You just said it!

^ I just typed and posted those words right up there.

02/16/2012 02:26 PMPosted by Tianjan

Of all the posts to spend time answering ... xD

I dunno, I think squelching far out rumors is a reasonable use of time. I think people put too much stock into what blues do or do not respond to. A response in one thread doesn't mean no one's paying attention in another.

<3

Your reason overwhelms my heart.

I'm sure your kid could press buttons and make a talent build under the current system too. That doesn't mean it's going to be optimal, or even viable. This type of feedback isn't very interesting or useful.

You are correct that the sarcasm in the original post doesnt help. Still that doesnt negate the fact developers have cut down the creative and fun part of the talent trees. A lot of player enjoyed having a lot of talents (which could be put in ANY tree). I liked to spend time on the talent calculator knit picking each talent to see what i could build. There should be nothing wrong with having a "best spec". What should be the goal is to create a system where there could be multiple best specs for each of the three trees.

I like the idea of selecting one of three abilities. Why not just make that an option within the old system. For example, reaching to the 3rd tier and have to select 1 of three abilities.

It's a fair argument and we do appreciate the feedback. Our hope, however, is that you'll get a better feel for why we're going the direction we're going once beta is out and a bigger picture of class design is accessible.

02/16/2012 02:33 PMPosted by Bowaflex

It's sad that BLizzard would give a detailed response to this borderline incoherent post, while ignoring many more well thought out and articulated posts regarding more specific parts of the game. Especially when this guy clearly does not represent even a minority of peoples opinions, it's just senseless drivel.

The world would surely be a better place if only I'd perform my job according to the wants and needs you determine. :p

02/16/2012 02:36 PMPosted by Turagent

It's sad that BLizzard would give a detailed response to this borderline incoherent post, while ignoring many more well thought out and articulated posts regarding more specific parts of the game. Especially when this guy clearly does not represent oven a minority of peoples opinions, it's just senseless drivel.

The nice, coherent, well thought out posts are hopefully just send off to HQ with a nice email saying that there's some good info in them. The blues don't post in them to keep the discussion from being derailed.

At least, that's how I think/hope it works.

In many cases it does. We're fairly constantly passing threads around via email with developers, taking questions we see on the forums to developer meetings, etc.

There are some subjects we just can't talk a lot about at certain times, like... say, a month before an expansion's major press tour is going to happen. :)