Rogues, The Broken Class

#0 - Dec. 21, 2007, 5:36 p.m.

Why is it that in WoW, as the game progresses, rogues become less and less roguely? You know something is fundamentally wrong with the class when everyone uses maces and swords in both pve and pvp. The class icon itself is two dags... they should probably just replace it with a mace and a nerf bat though. They should remove backstab and ambush from the game

The devs intentions look like they used to be to have rogues be dual wielding, dagger using, light armored yet high mobility, high dps ninjahs. That's what a rogue is and with the latest buffs to shadowstep, ambush, and deep sub, it looks like they're desperately trying to figure out how to make the rogue be a !@!@ing rogue again. However, and this is a big however because it's the very reason you shouldn't even be a rogue right now, Blizzard doesn't know what to do with the class.

Massive fast paced burst damage. The very concept of it is something the devs are against. So unfortionately for you rogues who've played from day 1, you've been playing a class that the game itself doesn't like. They introduced resilience to counter everyone's damage output because it was getting way too high back in the Nax days. Crits were rampant, and people were dying in literally seconds. A good MMO wants PvP to last a while so that both players can play their little game of chess and have the more skilled opponent be able to show that he outplayed you. That's how it should be. So now everyone has 400 resilience. That's nice for every other class, but the rogue's entire design was based around that quick up front burst. You think they'd give shadowstep a resilience ignore or something I don't know. So what do the rogues do? Switch to sustained dps, they switch to their PvE specs, pick up some weapons that don't get screwed by resil and use it in PvP. Rogues have found a temporary work around with whats available and blizzard seems to be fine with that. You're not even playing the class how it was designed to be played. Half of its core abilities are just sitting in your spellbook because blizzard doesn't know what to do.

The only thing you have to look forward to as a rogue is eyonix's promise that they'll look into it by the time wotlk starts and hopefully have it balanced by then. All that means though is that they'll have a hero class that's been designed around the learnings of the rogue's downfall. And I can almost guarantee it won't have stealth.

Nethaera

#49 - Dec. 21, 2007, 9:06 p.m.

I have to say, that I've never been a supporter of the term "broken" since it tends to imply that something just doesn't work at all. I don't view rogues as being broken.

I don't want to necessarily get into any kind of comparisons of other games to WoW so please don't take this in that direction from what I'm going to say.

There has always been a sort of fear that people have in many games when it comes to rogues, their capabilities, and what they stand for. I've played rogues myself for many many years including in my paper D&D days. I've encountered all kinds of bias when it came to how people perceive the class and what it should be. Even the act of pickpocketing has sparked heated controversy and debate.

Rogues in World of Warcraft are a robust class, and while some revile them for their abilities, I feel they are a great contribution to the game.

Rogues aren't broken in the way some people say they are. While it's understandable people want stronger, better, faster, or whatever other word you want to add in here, they are still a great class among the many. They have their own strengths and weaknesses that help round out the game as a whole.

I know the term "broken" is brought up when someone is trying to make a strong statement for change, but it's not the most constructive term. We like seeing inside the thoughts of the community that go beyond the surface and blanket terms just don't do that. Game balance overall is important. That means that we need to make some hard decisions about what should and shouldn't be. Every class has their points about what they feel could be better for them. We understand that. We even have the feedback post at the top of this forum for gathering that feedback. Please, continue to use it and other threads to share your thoughts.

Nethaera

#52 - Dec. 21, 2007, 9:10 p.m.

Q u o t e:

Dammit. i cant find anything said to take out of context and scrutinize then complain about over the weeks to come.

I'll try harder to give you something next time. ;)

Nethaera

#60 - Dec. 21, 2007, 9:14 p.m.

Q u o t e:

I would say a better term would be misdirected. The rogue class really didn't go in the direction most rogues saw it going in the good ol' 60 days.

I'll accept that as a better term, but only based on individual perception.

Nethaera

#88 - Dec. 21, 2007, 9:33 p.m.

Q u o t e:
She's a Blizzard cm with no rogue WoW experience.

Please don't make assumptions. I have experience to one degree or another with all of the classes. What I don't have in experience I can gain knowledge from the experiences of others. Where my experiences are different from others, I maintain an open mind about their own experiences and take it in.

We prefer not to assign class representatives so that we all can be a part of what is happening with many aspects of the game. We stay well-rounded and "tapped-in" to the pulse of the community better that way.

Should you wish to send further ideas or feedback on it though, we'd be happy to get an email at wowcmfeedback@blizzard.com .

Nethaera

#130 - Dec. 21, 2007, 11:29 p.m.

Q u o t e:

Hey Neth,

I have really only played a rogue class. I'm sick of getting nerfed and becoming a free HK for priests, mages, warriors, resto druids, shamans, paladins and warlocks.

Perhaps you could suggest another more robust class that I could play to be more competitive in arenas.

Play what you enjoy. No one can tell you what you should play except you. If you're not enjoying your rogue, then find something else to play. If you still love your rogue, then find what parts of it you enjoy most and what aspects of the game you enjoy most and work on finding ways to enhance it.