Your reason on why you want covenants locked is because it would “feel” different, even though it would in fact be literally the same as before, except that it would allow people to switch talents more easily. You aren’t required to switch covenants, if you want to roleplay into being locked to a covenant, go ahead.
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I’m sure 30 other people have already said the same thing, but racials have very little impact on your gameplay, if any. Covenant abilities and soulbinds will have a large impact. Apples to oranges.
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Honestly with less than 60 days to release I’m much more interested in blizzard’s response to all the covenant drama than players slinging mud back and forth over it.
Only blizzard’s decision really matters in the end.
i keep posting this but it keeps being relevant to the discussion…
#PullTheRipCord
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Would not be feasible in a world where switching was the norm, unless there was a tangible benefit to sticking with one.
Give me a stronger ability and some loyalist perks and I will be fine with you switching.
Well Blizzard will do what they always do. Run with the system until 9.2, 9.3, then they’ll pull the ripcord and tell us how “they’re listening to our feedback”.
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Since hearing about our third system of borrowed power, I was thinking a section under the main talents, with the obvious borrowed power abilities/passives from each expansion, and you can choose 2-3. Mix and match from each version of borrowed power. That way, at least we wouldn’t somehow magically lose all of this power every time.
So you would make an already constrictive system even more constrictive? Give me a break. You can’t stand that people want to play the game differently than you do, so you want to lock them all behind the same choice.
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See though, my idea would make us both happy. Can’t even get you guys to agree to a simple compromise. Looks like you guys are the real selfish and unreasonable ones.
As Ion argued…“loosening the Restrictions” in fact causes less choice as the BIS mentality takes over completely.
Here’s the thing though. I agree with this insofar as the signature covenant abilities go. Like racial abilities, they are utility spells. Having a utility spell that changes based on your covenant choice is fine. It’s flavor. Some will min-max, but most will just pick the covenant they like the best.
The covenant class abilities are damage-dealing abilities that will impact how you play your class. They carry significantly more weight than a utility spell like a racial or signature covenant ability.
If it were down to aesthetics and just general personal preference, I would be going Night Fae. However, Night Fae’s warlock ability is an AoE drain life. I’m a destruction warlock that does primarily PvE. I have no need or desire for AoE drain life. Normal drain life sits on my bars, rotting away. It gets used maybe once in a blue moon if my healthstone, health potion, and mortal coil are on cooldown.
Necrolord, on the other hand, is my least favorite covenant based on aesthetics (so far). However, it gives me a big single target nuke. Cool! I’m a destro lock! The whole reason I decided to play this class is because I like being a turret that throws out nukes. Setting aside “min-maxing” and the fact that it is objectively better for my dps, this spell fits the play style of my spec. It has a spot in my rotation. I’ll actually get to use it regularly.
I think dismissing these abilities as just an extra bit of flavor that only the min-maxing one-percenters care about is a bit short sighted. The class and spec you chose to play is the single most influential choice you make in this game. It impacts how you play and how you interact with the world around you. But with these class covenant abilities, I feel like my choice is being undermined. I have to choose between taking the covenant I’m drawn to for RP and aesthetic reasons vs the one that fits the play style of my spec.
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But you can’t stop that. You can’t get rid of the meta. BiS mentality has existed since the beginning of WoW and it will never go away. So why make things even worse?
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You misunderstand.
I know full well BIS mentality will always exist…within restrictions.
Therefore if you add restrictions the BIS mentality is curtailed further
I will however agree that Covenants should be all about utility as opposed to combat.
Honestly, I don’t like how people deliberately minimize (or maximize) numbers on the forums to support a particular point.
According to Bloodmallet, the difference between the best race for BM Hunters (Human) and the worst (Nightborne) is 98752 and 96,874.
So it’s not 1%. It’s more like 1.9%.
If I run a quick sim on OP, he sims for about 21k with a DPS variance of 9.9%. Meaning that even at his gear level (411, no corruptions, etc), there is STILL a greater DPS variance in just playing regularly and getting lucky/unlucky with procs than there would be for an extremely geared player going from the best racial to the worst.
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But the class abilities ARE combat abilities. That’s the whole problem. It’s just the signature covenant abilities that are utility.
I made an active choice to be a pandaren, and sacrifice some DPS in order to have a melee range CC that isn’t affected by spell immunity. I don’t have to fear cloaked rogues as much as other mages do in PvP but in terms of raid DPS my race is not BiS.
I am just proposing an alternative pathing as opposed to allowing covenants to be changed like underwear
But a CC is a utility. While there are BiS utility abilities, they aren’t nearly as impactful as damage dealing abilities. Sure, they impact dps, but it’s a small amount.
The class-based covenant abilities are damage dealing abilities. They have a substantial impact not just on your damage, but the way your class plays.
I would LOVE to stick with one covenant forever (Kyrian preferably), but only if the talents weren’t a part of it.
That is what I like most about it. I like that my Venthyr mage will fight differently from that Kyrian mage I come across in PvP, even if we are both the same specs. I like that level of uniqueness and character identity potential it gives.