What I mean by this is if you played a Mage back in the day you weren’t limited to just Frost abilities playing a Frost spec. You had access to Fire and Arcane magic making the class more complex which to me is more fun than just being locked into using Frost only abilities.
Classes now feel like a gimped version of their former selves.
I hope one day class design goes back to what it once was instead of this locked in spec design.
It moved to where it is now with help from a lot of complaints over the years that every single spec wasn’t viable for what people wanted to do.
Not 5% low viable like, now. More like 70% low.
It’s caused a shift from a class, and having a most viable build per class to now per spec. With emphasis on having specs feel different.
Is this the same class design that felt because I am a shaman, I needed my DPS taxed?
We are talking about the same class design that had strict cookie cutter builds you were required to also use…right?
There are cookie cutter builds now, what do you mean? Least back then you had more customization as to how you wanted to build your spec around that cookie cutter spec.
Your damage is taxed simply because you’re a hybrid.
I am saying its the same.
And damage being taxed simply because someone is a hybrid was one of the worst design decisions they ever made. Thankfully they realized how idiotic it was, and moved away from it.
If you want to raid you played the FOTM spec. Not sure what game you played.
I don’t think you cookie cutter means what you think it means. Go look at logs and look at the diversity we have. That didn’t exist before. And nah, I’m good. The changes have been for the better. I never wanted corruption as a destruction warlock and I don’t miss it.
Yes, but at least back in the day you had access to abilities now locked into your other specs.
Another example of this would be as an Arms Warrior, I had a cookie cutter build to optimize my DPS but if the tank needed help I could throw on a shield and tank for a bit with abilities I once had now locked into Prot. I didn’t get the full arsenal of Prot but it was there. Enough to make you feel like you’re playing the class and not just a spec.
Oh no i am well aware. Only time I have felt like a BC ret Paladin wishing for some holy abilities was doing Quaking and Bursting in Waycrest Manor.
Ok? What about the players that enjoyed it? They don’t matter?
Just wait for classic, they’ll never move back to interesting class design again in modern wow.
Why should a hybrid be on the same level as a pure dps? The tax was there for a reason.
Why should it not? They stripped the hybrid spec of so many skills locked to the other roles.
I get that, that’s the point though. Once they went down this road classes started feeling hollow imo.
nope. Spec was always a thing. Even back to WotLK, when a hybrid spec was all the rage for Warlocks.
Because we also had a heal. Most classes in Vanilla did not have this ability. I was fine with that compromise. Raids used to appreciate your functionality. Nowadays you do one or the other.
Why should the rogue automatically do 5-10% more dps than me, when we are both there to dps?
Yes a spec was always a thing, but as a Destro Lock you had access to demonic abilities and rot abilities. You weren’t just a Destro Lock.
The old way was better. Before we had cookie cutter builds, OP classes, and interesting choices. Now we just have two of those things.
There has always been cookie cutter builds, OP Classes and no choice. Guilds and raids always required certain builds.