Performing well in a game doesn’t have to be a job.
Blizzard is more at fault in making it feel like a job with how restrictive and punitive the covenant system is.
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All of my vulpera characters, regardless of class, will be Night Fae just for that fox form they get.
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To be honest we all know the one people will pick is the one that gives best DPS. When those numbers are known then youll get your answer.
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Then perform well, that doesn’t need a sim to make your choices.
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I have decided very firmly to not decide. Since I have a plethora of alts, I will play four of them (one from each armor class) and play all four storylines. The classes I chose to go with which covenant was decided by which transmog works best for each character. #punt
Think outside your little box.
Should they degrade the RPG aspects of choice in order to design the game around a small number of players?
The ‘perfection stats’ players will pick whatever is best, and they don’t care about fun. They will torture themselves with the worst kind of degenerate gameplay and builds… etc for efficiency.
No, they game should NOT be built around those people.
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doing the hardest content the game offers, and therefore being the most optimal is what all of the top-end playerbase people enjoy. It is a shame that you cannot understand that.
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The first non-Covenant related storyline quest in Shadowlands that has been datamined is one featuring Tyrande. So it’s happening.
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Because when you start doing harder content with groups, it is, in fact, expected of you.
If you choose sub-optimal talents, stats (if you have a choice, I know you don’t always have the option to be picky about this early on), and a poorly matched Covenant for the content you want to progress in, it will all negatively impact your performance.
IF you play well enough and keep up out of sheer skill with your spec and knowledge of the content, you’ll get by. But numbers are numbers, which means you will have to be performing (most likely significantly) better than most of the others in any given group to do so, whereas you’d just need to be vaguely average if you chose the optimal talents, stats, and covenant.
It doesn’t really matter for leveling, world questing, world bosses, normal/heroic/mythic 0 dungeons/earlyish Mythic+ dungeons, LFR, and Normal Raiding. But it can start being the difference between success, failure, or simply not being accepted to groups at all in higher M+, Heroic+ Raiding, and presumably higher Rated PvP.
Of course this is assuming you’re pugging. If you have a group of friends or casual guild that is willing to overlook suboptimal performance, that’s fine, as long as you understand you’d be helping them more by switching it up.
And to be clear, it’s not being locked into a choice that I have the biggest issue with, it’s that the power-based choice is tied to a story-based choice.
Let me choose the story I’m most interested in.
Let me choose the power most beneficial to me.
Make changing either of those things a chore, that’s fine.
They could have made that happen. They could have made different spell graphics to match your story choice. But they didn’t.
17 Likes
Then don’t make it one… nothing Blizzard is doing is making it a job.
They are giving you 4 choices for how you play your character, you’ve already made a choice for your class and race - choice is fantastic.
Blizzard has been blasted for two expansions for randomness, now you get a choice and you are still whinging ?
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Paladin screams Kyrian but I will probably have to end up going Night Fae just to not feel gimped in arena.
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Night fae!
If everyone was the most optimal, they would all be one class, one spec, with the same set of gear all on one faction with one race and the same talents.
Be rational dude - it is a game.
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RP realm player I see
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This issue is caused due to peer pressure. Be Optimal or GTFO. This is not design issue its community issue. Blizz will do the same thing they did with corrupted effect . Give you a taste then nerf the hell out of it 
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Covenants shouldn’t be swappable. Choices need to matter.
Stick to your decision Blizzard, no changes to covenant factions.
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not true, you need some diversity in your comp depending on the boss. only having to play one character per class somewhat allows that to happen currently. with how things are working out, you will need 4 characters per class you plan on maintaining, which is just dumb in order to try and be the most optimal you can be for a given fight (especially since we know nothing about the next tiers bosses, etc)
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I’m picking whichever one makes sense of each of my alts. I’ve got enough of them, they can try out each of the covenants.
So, in order to be able to play “optimally”, you’re going to run 3 “sub-optimal” characters through the same content? You’re going to force your group to put up with running the content three extra times with your “sub-optimal” characters just so you can serve those same groups well?
I mean, you do realize that your BiS items are still going to come from the same places they do now right? Each of your characters is going to have to run M+, raids, Torghast and probably PvP to be “optimal”.
If you’re gearing four characters, you’re not serving your group well. You’re making them do four times as much work as well. Especially if you’re all worried about how “poorly” you perform with those “sub-optimal” characters. Since clearly they have to put in more work to carry your “sub-optimal” characters.
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Night Fae, coming for that moth mount baby. Top tier.
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I am torn between them and Venthyr. For my Warlock anyways. He’s the one I care about most.
1 Like