Another day, another Level 12 alt trolling the Warlock Forums with a "QQ NERF" thread. Except that this particular thread is currently at 8 pages long and involves some pretty interesting discussion. The OP suggests that adding a cast time to Lifetap would be a good way to help balance the Warlock for PvP play. However, many 'locks point out that it would also gimp PvE DPS, and would have varying effects on each talent tree and what not. Definitely a read worth looking into. And yes, even if it entails sifting through some standard "gtfo noob" spam.Have fun. =)
1 comment:
As I can't currently get on the wow forums (I'm at work), I can really only comment on one thing that really irks me:
Blizzard absolutely should not consider nerfing classes to maintain PvP balance. In doing so they inevitably cause difficulties for players in the PvE environment.
While for some players PvP is the be-all, end-all of endgame, I would argue that (at best) PvP only represents half of the level 70 experience. In reality, it represents a much smaller fraction than that. Look at the number of PvP arenas compared to the number of end-game raid instances. Look at the total amount of PvP gear available to players in comparison to the amount of obtainable PvE gear in the game. Hell, look at the time commitment required to complete a full week of Arenas compared to the time required to complete a full week of raiding (clearing Kara, Gruul and Mag's if you're at the t4 level, clearing SSC and TK at the t5 level, and clearing BT and Hyjal for t6). Blizzard's even on the verge of releasing an entirely new raid instance with the Sunwell patch. You can make some pretty logical arguments that PvE is just as important of an endgame focus for Blizzard's developers as PvP (if not more important).
I'm not downplaying PvP. I know that Blizzard needs to try to appeal to all players and not just serious MMO gamers. I know that they're constantly trying to diversify the endgame experience so that all level 70s can have something fun and interesting to do and not just those who have the time, attention span, or interest for raiding.
PvP is quite fun, actually. I just have to take issue when people ask for changes to character classes without thinking of the repercussions in the PvE environment. Putting a cast time on skills like Lifetap (and presumably Dark Pact) will hinder warlocks' raid DPS significantly, especially for those bosses that require a lot of movement on the part of ranged DPS. Are people really that selfish and short-sighted that they're willing to nerf warlocks' ability to be effective in endgame so that they can further reduce warlocks' PvP DPS?
Come on, take of the blinders and realize that cries of "nerf warlock" are really just beating a dead horse at this point. Fear, silence (via felhunter), and seduce now have diminishing returns. The oft-lamented Death Coil is on a long enough cooldown to really only make it an "oh shit" button. The Ruin talent in the destro tree has had its power significantly reduced with the advent of resilience. DoTs also do less damage because of resilience, making affliction far less effective. Speaking of affliction, the main reason to spec heavy affliction (Unstable Affliction) now doesn't even proc off of being dispelled by skills such as cloak of shadows and pally bubble. Warlocks can't even effectively drain life any more against MS warriors, a class that can already regularly own clothies in one-on-one battle.
People have gotten their wish. Locks are, at best, on par with the top classes in arena, thanks to numerous nerfs our "OP" status no longer exists in reality. Now we're just average, but people still cling to the old "locks are OP" mantra.
The solution to fixing class imbalance in PvP should never be to nerf a class. It only serves to piss off the members of the class and (as we've seen of late) allow members of other classes to continue complaining and calling out for more nerfs even long after "balance" has been restored. The solution is to buff classes that are at a disadvantage to make THEM more effective at dealing with their weaknesses... not to nerf the ones that are already effective.
Wow, that became a rant really quick. Sorry 'bout that.
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