The recent Dev. insight from Ion Hazzikostas hits some pretty important points (unlike most of the Q&A’s) and the most important one in my opinion by far being about class design.
He finally talks about pruning and how the negative feedback which players have been giving constantly on the class development forums etc. basically since they first heard of pruning in the WoD alpha has been shifting Blizzard’s internal view on the topic.
He admits that they’ve gone way to far with with the ability removal while stating that removing some of the abilities was indeed a good decision.
He also states that they were to focused on the raw button count as a measure of complexity which led to the big pruning waves at the start of Warlords and Legion.
He makes the example with the mage ability Alter time which has been removed since WoD, “a fun, super flavorful thematic ability that allowed for some masterly skillful plays and also allowed for some masterly skillful ways of getting yourself killed if you misused it” (a direct quote from the video). He than mentions that most a lot of players probably ignored that ability and didn’t even had it bound, which is fine he says.
That realization of his really gave me hope, the realization that there is room for abilities not every player understands or can utilize to it’s fullest potential because this is what I have been missing from any Q&A since WoD release.
Those utility abilities were the most fun, alter time, symbiosis, spectral guise, banner + intervene/safeguard just to name a few.
I had lost all hope for retail because of their design philosophy over the past 5+ years and I saw no light at the end of the tunnel but now there is a small glimmer, what do you guys think ?
is there a possibility we could see a class design level comparable to MoP/Cata in the future, or do you think this is just a lot of hot air and we will be looking at another expansion of disappointment ?
I have faith in the Man Emperor of Mankind, and I have faith in the Light. After 10 years of having to completely re-learn every aspect of my class every expansion, sometimes twice an expansion… I’ll believe in positive class design when I see it.
I don’t beleive a single thing they say until they actually make the changes. They love to talk the talk but fail to walk the walk far more often than not.
Don’t get me wrong I’m probably just as skeptical as you since I thought that WoD would be the all time low when it comes to class design at it could only go up from there and then they released 2 expansions with exactly that: even worse class design.
But the fact that he is admitting their mistake and his line (I’ll quote it again, this time tho it’s me quoting me quoting him)
the fact they admitted that this is a major problem in current WoW (the biggest in my opinion) and even seem to understand some of the reasons why people hate it so much gives me that 1% hope.
I would like to believe them and that they will reverse course but this is something that has been going on since MoP. It is hard to believe after this many expansions they finally have heard the outcry over it.