#90 - Jan. 25, 2013, 7:03 p.m.
No, what I would like is something that actually changes how I play my character, particularly making it different than how another balance druid might play his character. Perhaps a tier might consist of a movement speed increase, a small reduction in damage, or a small heal for every step I take. Compare that to my first tier: a movement speed increase or two teleport-like abilities on cooldowns.
Just a simple and quick example I came up with in a very short time frame.
We generally found that we had to theme tiers to a particular mechanic. For example, a small heal in a tier with movement abilities would feel mandatory for a Guardian druid who likely cares a lot more about living than moving. There are exceptions. The mage tier 2 has a movement ability, and absorb and a heal.
I'm going to have to leave this conversation as I have some work stuff to attend to, but I will say things like this are always subjective and some people are looking for dramatic differences in rotations or whatever when they choose a talent. Overall though we are seeing far more diversity in the new talent trees than we ever did with the old.
Balance is one of those specs with less diversity than others, which is something we're trying to address in 5.2. But when you look at say tier 2, about half of Balance druids have Nature's Swiftness and about half have Renewal. Regardless if every tier has the three most amazing options for your personal favorite way to play the game or not, there's no refuting that the new talent system is providing meaningful options, it is encouraging diversity in builds, and we'll be continuing to support it through balance tweaks and tuning adjustments.