#0 - Oct. 31, 2006, 5:29 p.m.
I think it is time that we get some real answers about the intentions the devs have for this class in the expansion and the near future. A lot of people are already saying that they are leveling alts for the anticipated coup de grace to the Druid class, which should raise red flags in the eyes of the developers. Instead the devs have been relatively mute. So -- let this thread (and others like it) serve as the medium for serious discussion.
- * At least one Bliz dev said Druids aren't a true hybrid in practice;
* Bliz treats us as a hybrid in the extant itemization;
* Bliz then adds a massive nurf to Shapeshifting in the BC beta, when shapeshifting is conducive to the hybrid play Bliz initially espoused, evidenced by the hybrid itemization of the gear Bliz does give us;
* Bliz continually nurfs Feral (both Bear and Cat), multiple times each in the beta already (pursuant to their argument that a specialized Druid doesn't deserve to be treated as a commitment -- which it most certainly is -- to playing a particular spec?)
The Druid cannot possibly be considered to be balanced as-is. Adding some Feral talents to the Feral tree, and then slapping us with the Shapeshift mana cost nurf carries a conflicting message with it:
Blizzard cannot seem to decide whether they want us Shapeshifting in order to fill multiple roles or not.
'Our Feral-Balance trees should be weaker than say a Rogue or a Mage, even if we spec deeply into them, because we have the ability to shift out and perform other roles like healing' -- but then you place a gigantic price tag on doing exactly that?
What's going on here?
Problem: the community feels it needs these boosted BC talents to begin to compete with other classes (especially in a raid environment -- IOW, it feels these talents are compensation for the already extant weaknesses of the class, which makes them non-competitive) whereas the devs feel adding these boost talents requires that they come with "counterbalance" (that these talents need to be paid for with additional hindrances in turn). This would be valid if we were in danger of being overpowered, or if we were already a viable alternative to other classes, but at current this idea would be laughable. Add to the fact that the community feels our concerns fall on deaf ears.
The result is that the community is close to a vote of no-confidence, and literally views our due class boosts as being already nurfed, or being at the expense of additional intolerable nurfs.
What needs to happen?
The devs need to start talking to each other, since the devs don't seem to agree on where the Druid is going. Hence the Shapeshift nurf.
Proof of this:
The Shapeshift nurf doesn't even make sense within the context of Blizzard's vision of the Druid, to say nothing of the community's!
Either you want us:
- 1. To stay in one form (which is why you are nurfing Shapeshifting, i.e., making it impossible to Shapeshift multiple times in rapid succession due to the mana pool cost versus a fixed cost), or
2. You want us to be Shapeshifting all the time, "in order to fill multiple roles" (and pursuant to the hybrid gear you give us with +heal +dmg +Feral --all the while saying we aren't a "true" hybrid).
You cannot have it both ways!
You must decide on one interpretation of the Druid class and stick consistently to it.
The fact that you have not done this is evidenced by these kinds of conflicting changes and nurfs, culminating in the Shapeshift nurf. Peter isn't talking to Paul here. And this kind of ambiguity and lack of consistency is what frustrates most of the community. (Have you noticed that the community is calling for scaled talents, and the only thing we've got that actually does scale is a massive nurf?)
In the words of the one poster, our abilities are "prohibitively available". This means they aren't available for use all the time in the manner, say, a Paladin's are. Zelon < Destiny > (Silver Hand) had this to say:
Q u o t e:
There is diversity without purpose throughout the [Druid] class. It clearly was designed FROM the lore and not from a gamers perspective.
Hybrids are already limited because of the various stats neede to excel at different aspects. However they took that to the next level with Druids and made them unable to access their other abilities in their forms and placed a huge cost on those forms.
As a result the MOST EFFECTIVE druids from a power standpoint are resto druids who largely try to stay in their caster form - and spec to maximize caster form. These are the guys you want to bring on raids if you actually think about it.
This is ridiculous because you end up with all these forms and abilities that you don't really use in the end game and that's where alot of people spend alot of their time. Druids are the one broken class in WoW.
The Druid is a class unique in the game, insofar as they require both spec and gear to be viable in any given Shapeshift. A Druid must shift to make maximum use of the relevant skills, and have the relevant gear, so a choice to spec fully into any particular form must carry tangible benefit to counterbalance us for the lost access and drastically reduced efficacy of our other skills. Bliz therefore needs to figure out what it wants:
Hybrid?
If you want us to play hybrid (as is suggested by things like the AQ40 Genesis Raiment and much of the Feral rep gear we currently have) then either:
- * Make Shapeshifting more managable over time by removing this absurd Shapeshift nurf;
* Be transparent in your decision to supply us only with hybrid gear for the purposes of hybrid play (situation unchanged: people will just continue to collect disparate gear that supports the shapeshift); and
* Be transparent in informing the community that you have no intention of supporting specialized full-Feral or full-Balance specs.
Specialized?
If you don't want us playing hybrid, and you do want us staying in our chosen specced form (which is suggested by the Shapeshift nurf) then:
- * Supply Feral-Moonkin specific gear that works -- not this "no strength but with some AP" gear that is going to be swallowed by the Rogues. Where is our "transparently and obviously Druid" strength gear?
*Where is our fix in the expansion that addresses the fact that "scaling" for a Druid = continually ungrading gear? Where are our Feral-Balance talents that scale with level, so that we can start to compete with the other classes as a specialized-spec character should?
* Repay the Druid in some form with a tangible benefit for commiting to a 31-41 point spec into a tree. This means a serious examination of the Feral tree in particular is in order. The skills we have in trees outside our spec are negligible in efficacy anyway, and we cannot use them unless we shift out, so our specced form should carry evident benefits in return for the investment.
Instead, at current, we literally have nurfs on nurfs, with almost nothing paid out in return; what has been paid in the BC comes with even larger nurfs, which is illogical, contrary to Bliz's vision and policies on the Druid, and totally obscures what Bliz is up to.
In short, all we are asking for is transparency. We need to talk.
We also need explanations, since what has been done to the Druid in the BC makes no sense within the prior context of the class. The vision of what the Druid is, what he should be, and what he is going to be in the expansion needs to be clarified, solidifed, and then steadfastly adhered to by the devs -- because at current it just isn't, resulting in the scope and context of the class visibly slipping.
The community should be viewed as a resource to assist in the process, so let's get talking. Not knowing what it going to happen is probably what is generating most of the frustration, and leads to an attitude of no-confidence. I think we have been remarkably calm as a community so far, and this needs to be met, in spades, by the devs.
Cheers,
-Krem
