It would have been a lot more exciting to watch the top guilds progress through these on each server. Instead the top guilds have had 8 weeks to practice on PTR.
I think you really over estimate the people that raid on the PTR
I think you underestimate how many people have done PTR or watched someone already do it on PTR through YT or Twitch. The excitement is gone, everyone has already seen it. They should have let it be discovered and progressed on live and not 6-8 weeks of PTR. By the time T5 releases, it will already be on farm for the top guilds. It would have been a lot more fun to watch these guilds progress on live and not mow through content week 1 (aka week 9 on PTR)
1 Like
its not running on the 15 year old client⊠Look at all the naxx bugs.
Hardcore players would practice on private servers anyway so it really doesnât matter.
The % of ppl who would practice on pserver vs readily available on PTR is drastic. Where is the fun of everyone getting to practice the ânewâ content for 8 weeks before its actually liveâŠ
1 Like
There really isnât a point in racing for a world first. All the content was cleared years ago, you should be enjoying it not racing through it. Alternatively if you only care about racing then measure your success via speed runs. Either way practicing on the PTR is no different than booting up a private server and doesnât matter at all.
Itâs not about racing world first, its about having guilds progress on live servers. I think you underestimate even casual guilds logging into the PTR. It would have been a lot more fun and challenging content and kept players coming back week after week if they could progress on live. Instead most guilds are doing that on PTR instead. Once T5 releases, all that fun was already on PTR and its time to raid log again.
2 Likes
I agree. The top guilds have always practiced on private servers/the PTR and yes this is old content.
Still, this is kind of the perfect storm, we have raiding guilds with not much to do and a really long PTR so even non-hardcore guilds are getting their progression on the PTR. Like my guild we raid 6 hours a week and we donât ask anything else but when there isnât enough to do itâs either raid log for a lot of people or use the time âproductivelyâ by practicing. I imagine a large number of âsemi-hardcoreâ guilds are doing this.
Why not just release SSC/TK, it was available at launch in original TBC. Why do we need to wait for everyone to get full BIS before we release the next phase? Let guilds grind their teeth on some content on live servers and not full clear T5 week 1 after practicing on PTR for 8 weeks.
1 Like
Because Arena. If they release T5 now it means PVE gear will far outshine the available PVP gear. Initially they did have Phase 1/2 covering arena season 1 which would have meant SSC/TK being released earlier, but PVPâers complained and they adjusted the schedule
Originally you had
Phase 1 - Arena season 1
Phase 2 (ssc/tk) - Arena Season 1
Phase 3 (Bt/Hyjal) - Arena Season 2
Phase 4 (ZA) - Arena Season 3
Phase 5 (SWP) Arena Season 4
but now it looks like Arena season 3 will be the bridge season. But also means they have to wait longer to release SSC/Tk and even then S1 is going to be about half as long as it was in OG TBC.
Just wait until ZA which is basically a TBC version of ZG. Stretching out that forgettable place long enough to jam in an entire arena season is going to kill off so many guilds.
3 Likes
Well the good news is now Season 3 will bridge Phase 3 and 4 instead of just being Phase 4, so they wonât have to. I guess we suffer now so we suffer less later⊠but for the overall health of the game Iâm not sure thats a great move⊠Maybe itâll help by not killing the momentum though?
Why do we care about matching S1 length to original if we arenât going to release SSC/TK on launch like original?
4 Likes
Its not just about matching them to the original but also just making them consistent. Itâs gonna be kinda weird to have one arena season thats 3 months long, then others that are 6 months long⊠But also, almost no one was actually clearing SSC/TK during the OG Season 1 so the impact on arenas was pretty minimal. If they had released it at launch for classic youâd definitely have people with T5 weapons etc already which would give raiders a distinct and significant advantage over âpure pvpers.â
I still dont buy this argument for a second. Not one bit. Resilience has always been the key stat for PvP. Itâs the entire reason people have been flipping out over honor rates from BGs and arena pts from the rating changes. If PvE gear was viable and resilience didnt matter, people wouldnât care so much about PvP gear and just use T4 gear in arena. But it does.
And if you just point to something like a PvE weapon, then it would be hypocritical to ignore the reverse scenario. By releasing season 2 gear with SSC/TK they just made a PvP weapon BiS in PvE. The season 2 staff is now phase 2 BiS for warlocks, ele sham, boomkin, fire mages, & frost mages.
1 Like
True, but I think overall its a lot less impactful. But yea, as an enhance arguably our BIS OH weapons are PVP for next phase as well.
Blizzard needs to end S1 and release P2 soon. Give a 2 week window of S1 ending/P2 starting before S2 starts (this gives players time to clear some of T5). Iâm sure my guild is not the only one going through attrition of people quitting because there is not much left to do. Gruul/Mag only take 45 mins each week. Iâve done SSC/TK on the PTR and the tuning feels good. Giving players a challenge and something to work towards and progress on for a few weeks would have been fun and rewarding. Instead, Blizzard leaves SSC/TK on the PTR for way too long and even casual guilds are doing all their progression on PTR. End S1 and release P2 on the 7th or 14th and start S2 on the 21st or 28th. Blizzard is killing the game and driving players away by excluding content that should have been out on release.
1 Like
Yeah thatâs not true at all, most donât even mess with the PTR, if you are bored with t5 already before itâs released thatâs on you
1 Like
Iâm not bored of T5 at all and never said that. I just wish guilds could have progressed on live servers rather than doing it over the last 8 weeks on PTR. PTR being out this long is ruining P2 and the challenge it could have brought