Aside from my personal dislike of them tying aesthetics with pragmatism (do I want to look good or be good?), this is what I see as the biggest issue with their “meaningful choices” stance. If you make a choice for a specific reason and they can unilaterally give that reason to a different covenant, you’re not making a choice anymore; you’re playing dice and hoping you don’t get snake eyes.
Well of course give them ideas and assistance. I should’ve said that in my statement. I agree and have plenty of my own grievances with their vision of the game as well. I meant since they are finishing alpha let them know in beta while more end game is there and playable. I just don’t have the same issues with soulbinds and covenants that others do either.
It’s why I’ve said that passing judgment before launch on which is the “best” Covenant runs foul of the fact that the first 4-6 weeks there are almost always buffs and nerfs across the board.
ERgo, I’ll choose based on thematics.
That and across the entire expansion, every covenant, just like specs, will get buffs and nerfs. The smartest thing to do is find one and stick to it. Because while others are hopping covenants … you’re pushing your progress in your covenant closer to the pinnacle.
Especially since you’d have to get NEW conduits to slot into your soulbind if you change covenants. Which means time wasted on getting back up to speed.
Sure, it means you won’t be 100% optimal, but … if you switch every time there’s a nerf … you’re just burning time to rebuild … every time a nerf comes in.
Now if there were multiple nerfs to an already poorly performing covenant … then jumping ship is probably a good idea. But jumping ship after one nerf? What happens if you jump from say Kyrian to Night Fae … and then next patch they nerf Night Fae?
Two patches of nerfing Kyrian … yeah, probably smart to leave Kyrian behind.
Yup aren’t you looking forward to need multiple characters to do anything besides your main role doesn’t it sound like so much fun?
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Just watched Bellular’s video on soulbinds and conduits. On one hand, the system gives players a lot of choice and potential replayability. On the other, on the surface it doesn’t seem very intuitive so most players won’t won’t be able to navigate the system without outside help.
So more choice (play the game) vs. clueless frustration (quit the game). Guessing Wowhead and Icy Veins are going to get a lot of traffic during Shadowlands.
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Are you denied groups because you’re playing a class other than outlaw rogue, havoc DH, BM hunter, or fire mage? Occasionally, I’m sure. But you can still get into groups just fine.
I expect covenants won’t be a major barrier for the pug world. Especially since they may be harder to inspect than what class you play is.
Exactly. People are gonna lean on Raiderio as usual. This sky is falling stuff is so tiring
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WoW doesn’t need to always be a game where you swap on the fly constantly to fit the needs of a group. If people don’t invite then they’re just being ridiculous. I like that it is such a crucial decision and has to make people think about what they’re going to do. Why does everyone always seem to need to have their hand held to play games nowadays. Just pick what you like and have fun? Is it not that simple?
We can HOPE its that simple.
Blizzard however has a big issue with keeping things relatively balanced.
And THAT is a huge concern for many. They have issues balancing specs and constantly fail at that. So yeah … people are worried and they’re justified to be worried.
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There are four covenants and you get to choose one out of those four, no limits, no restrictions. There is no mechanic where you are limited/restricted to choosing between three or two choices; it is four.
It’s an MMORPG there are no wrong choice, only wrong-headed people.
No. The covenant you join is going to endow you with several perks and they expect your loyalty in return. If you are not willing to be loyal, you don’t deserve any perks.
Except there are wrong choices.
Just like in DnD … if you have a low STR, buying heavy weapons limits how much you can carry. It can also slow you down because you are Encumbered. This hurts both YOU and the entire PARTY.
So YES, there are indeed wrong choices you can make in an RPG.
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Before they implemented a seasonal affix entirely designed to remove their necessity? Yes. And they still kinda are.
Not all groups, but yes there will be a lot of race/class combos that many group makers look at and will only take if they have the right covenant for skips.
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I swear this system looks worse and worse the more stuff you add
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Until they designed an affix specifically to make Rogues not mandatory for M+ groups, yeah, they kinda were.
And they’re still really good even now.
Literally all the time.
Fire Mages have more parses on Mythic N’zoth than 16 of the 24 DPS specs in the game combined.
Mages, Rogues, DH’s and Hunters represent almost 75% of the DPS population in the high end M+ system.
There’s a huge gap in performance between classes and you’re delusional if you think people don’t discriminate based on that.
If your basis for balance is “well, my guild takes me in 6’s as a Spriest!”, then you’re looking at the wrong level of play.
I recall Blizzard making changes to Mythic+ dungeons because people found ways to cheese things. Typically via Stealth. So they added in requirements besides kill the boss in some cases. So yeah, if they can find a way to do the run faster, they will indeed want people with Covenants that let them clear it faster.
I mean, I may not do mythic+ (due to lack of interest) but if I did do mythic+ I would certainly want to get it done as quickly as possible. Which means I’d favor Covenants that could let us skip things.
OP was asking for pug groups though. OP is unlikely to be pugging Mythic N’zoth and +27 keys.
I’m not talking 26’s though. I’m talking 20+'s.
Which are pugged literally all the time.
Instead of being able to make choices on a content by content basis throughout 2 years of an expansion - like you said, you’re limited to one choice of 4 covenants.
That’s a HUGE limit and restriciton.
Actually they will. They won’t discover that knowledge themselves but it’s a pretty safe prediction that wowhead and similar sites will compile the information for them.
No, they won’t-a! What? You think you’re some kind of Jedi, waving your hand around like that?