Quiting Shadowlands, Chasing META isn't Fun

Classes Paladin
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Over the years I’ve enjoyed playing WoW, but I’ve also noticed something that keeps happening every expansion. META. Always one spec or build, and Legendary that are always better than any other. Do changes happen? I guess you can say, they try to “apply buffs” but really the developers don’t play the game enough to fully understand how to buff any spec or build especially now in Shadowlands it really shows. I remember Blizzard talking about allowing more builds for customizing but other builds never work, or are just far weaker. Or even being more receptive of their community which they really aren’t, they only respond if you have a lot of Green(cash). I miss the old developers who actually had fun and brought that fun into the game they themselves enjoyed, now it’s all about the cash grab for this company. Pump out content ASAP and hope they reach quota, without actually making sure the game is fun, or even have enough content that is balanced.

I personally play a Venthyr Holy Paladin, using Shadowbreaker Legendary. I love how my build is, but it’s just far weaker than the META, which everyone uses, Bastion/Holy Shock Leg. I was going for holy light spam with the conduit aoe(Resplendant Light, Double beacon) with multiple aoe CDs. I really wanted to make this build work, but sadly theory-crafting doesn’t exist anymore. There was a recent buff to the legendary, Shadowbreaker, 2 seconds longer duration on its applied buff, so no actual throughput on the legendary was an actual joke imo. I even use Light’s Hammer>Crusader’s Might on first row talent tree. I love the idea of Dropping down the hammer like Thor, but sadly it’s just far weaker vs Crusader’s Might. Before anyone says “YOUR JUST LFR” I have over 200 pulls on mythic Sire, Phase 3 30%. Let’s just say, watching other paladins in the “better” builds just makes me feel like there is no individuality in this game. You legit can’t make other builds work as well, because Blizzard legit creates their own META. Then you have people chase it and then wonder why other specs/builds don’t work. All anyone has to do is look at warcraftlogs and you legit find every single paladin, in the thousands all using same Legendaries, same builds. What’s the point of having other talent’s or even Legendaries if everyone using the same? Where’s the customization? Where’s the other builds on top? Where are the other Legendaries? Why is this the same thing every expansion?

It’s just sad and a real bummer, when someone like myself wants to build differently, but legit can’t because of the META being in play all the time making anything else completely garbage or sub-par. Blizzard keeps saying that they listen and are trying to make things better, but lets face it, over the past 15 years I’ve been playing this game. They have legit lied all the time, and in a lot of instances they straight up failed to provide the players a genuine fun game. But this is just my personal take over the years. I’ve always liked the Idea of being different from everyone, and not having to build the same, but clearly blizzard is forcing everyone to be a certain build every expansion. I’m just tired of being lied to, and just tired in general. I miss the fun, I miss the theory-crafting. I’m a raider if anyone’s wondering, always enjoyed it, but it’s just not the same.

Please don’t take it as I hate the game, I’m extremely passionate about WoW. I’ve investing literally half my life into this game, and have slowly watched it degrade over time. Let me know what you all think, positive or negative, I’ll take it. But for now I need to remove myself from Shadowlands, it’s dead to me.

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Wrong.

The top hpal for keys is a venth. A lot of the top hpals in keys are venth

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Also I looked at your armory.

You’re 8/10 m and KSM.

If you did that playing “off meta” does it even matter? You clearly found a guild that has you in the mythic raid team. You were able to get ksm…if you’re looking to progress in to 20s then maybe consider switching legendaries?

I’ve been denied in to 20s because I’m not a venth hpal

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To re quote myself again, I’m a raider, I don’t like doing M+ nor did I mention anywhere in my post about doing Mythic+. I don’t enjoy doing M+, and only did so to get Achieve/Mount, and it’s also one of the only other ways to get gear. I get it, you love Mythic+ but I didn’t even say anything about that at all in my post or did you even read it? Some people like raiding more than doing Mythic+ grind over and over. Just because I did +15 clear doesn’t mean I’m trying to compete in it. I prefer raiding as I mentioned, and again almost all paladins do use Holy Shock Legendary, or do you not use warcraftlogs?

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You didn’t mention you liked raiding more than m+ you only said how many pulls you have on mythic sire

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I’m a bit confused, so you made it all the way to M Sire with your guild while using an off-meta build, doesn’t that prove that your build works and while maybe not the absolute best it’s still effective and viable for all content the game has to offer?

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There’s a point when a player knows the limits on his build/character, and when that person is weighing down the rest of the guild because of my build. As an experienced raider, I was more or less hitting a wall majority of the time trying to make my build work while relying on others to do more heavy lifting. Sad to say this is how it works when you try other builds. Yes, I made it to M Sire, but that doesn’t prove the build truly works, and the point I’ve been trying to make is that it will never be on par with the other builds in play. It’s really difficult and stressful to make something that’s out of the ordinary work. And trying to push it’s limit you eventually run into a wall. With all being said, I’m not here to argue with people, I’m here stating why I’m deciding to leave. This is my reasons, you all can interpret how ever you see fit, but this post comes from experience and years of trying to make things that normally don’t work, work. But they never ever match the quality of other builds. They are really fun to play but you just hit that wall and start to hold others back. And with this I’m not gonna be posting anymore, got other things to focus on in my life.

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You’re me in every way of thinking. I’ve had many discussions on this board about Ret dps and theory crafting. Me thinking outside the box and challenging others to do so instead of just mindlessly following a guide.

I recently did some heroic CN stuff to help out a guild and DK off spec saw that I was slapping and also saw that I don’t use the conventional Final Reckoning build and he was kinda amazed which is sad. If I didn’t do decent dps I would’ve been ridiculed and lectured about my choice of spec. This is what the game has become. No one wants to be an individual or people are scared of what someone else will judge you for because YOU choose to use your brain and gear/spec for you and your play style.

I used final reckoning way back in December before it became popular and cookie cutter but I dropped it because it felt clunky. The fact that I thought outside the box to even consider using it was at the time laughed at because EVERYONE was doing Divine Purpose.

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The ENTIRE reason for his post is clearly saying that he hates this very mentality. Why can’t he use the legendary he wants? Why can’t he or anyone use INT gems if they want?

Just because YOU don’t choose to be an individual or think outside the box to challenge world craft logs to show that it can be done in a different way don’t mean that Healsensei, myself, or even YOU shouldn’t try to.

I personally think Dusk to Dawn legendary is a great concept and a decent second legendary if we are to equip two for progression for raid durability but I know for a fact that idea isn’t popular and who cares???

I’m already a fan of this guy for just going against the norm and performing at a high level.

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How DOESN’T it prove it works??? Logs and progression clearly show it works… you showed everyone it does. You went against the grain.

Meta can also equate that people want a easy ride to hide the flaws of themselves but that’s a WHOLE nother conversation.

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You uncovered the necessary lie about game design: balance is not something you can actually achieve. It’s a moving target: an abstract concept that a game moves closer to, or further away from, but never reaches a point where you can truly say “There, we’re done.”

If a game has any competitive element, it will have a meta. There’s no upper limit where something is “good enough” if you’re trying to get the best times, or clear the highest difficulties, etc.

The differences between two healer specs may come down to a difference of 1%, which won’t matter for almost everyone who plays the game, but at the highest difficulties, there is a big difference between a tank being 1% alive and 100% dead.

The problem is when a community decides that everyone needs to act like they’re top tier, when at the end of the line, most people are NOT as skilled as the best players, and that difference in skill is going to make a bigger difference than the 1% difference between two builds.

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Eloquent post. I totally get what you’re saying. What I am saying is that shouldn’t stop people from thinking outside the box to make the playing experience more dynamic and better or just enjoying the game

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I agree. There’s also something to be said for (at least in PvP) the surprise factor of playing an underrepresented class, and your opponents not being prepared for what you can do.

That idea is less applicable to PvE, though, which is maybe why the focus on FOTM is so intense there.

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Can we just paste this at the top of like every “complaining about the meta” thread?

As long as classes/specs are different, balance is impossible. That is never to say that it can’t be better, but for the VAST majority of players, their skill and knowledge is a FAR more important factor than their spec/build.

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He literally can, and has.

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My gods this. PvE is about getting it done. If you can do that, you win. PvP is where you need every last bit of edge you can get, but that isn’t what this complaint is about.

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Back in Vanilla, I played Holy when the vast majority of Paladins played Retribution for the Blessing of Kings buff. I made it work by scrapping together every bit of “thinking out of the box” I could.

During TBC I was in my server first guild as a Retribution paladin, notoriously one of the least-desired specializations.

During WotlK I trailblazed the way for Ret/Hunter/Shaman and Retribution PvP.

Before Shadowlands released, I picked my covenant / build AGAINST recommendations. It ended up being the right covenant anyways.

…You, on the other hand, pleaded to authority about what “stat the top players stack” then when told the truth that the answer is more complicated than “what’s the best stat?” buckled down in your little box.

You’re a hypocrite, your narrative reeks of cognitive dissonance, and you’re a clown.

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This is partly true. PvE has tiers and increasingly difficult settings. Something that gets the job done at the lowest difficulty might not at the highest.

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I’m not talking about a formula for completing something, I’m saying once you figure out what your group needs, and can perform that action, nothing changes, unlike competing in PvP.

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I think we misunderstood each other.