So going by Blizzards own words the goal of Covenants is that you want to pick it because of the aesthetics and because it is your choice.
In the reality of World of Simcraft where Raider IO dictates whether you get a M+ group and Icy Vein guides it does not take a genius to see the MAJOR red flags on this new system.
One major thing holding me back from buying the new expansion is this red flag and Blizzard hubris to not listen to the playerbase.
Scenario A
Prot Paladins get certain abilities in Covenant A that give them a 5% survivability bonus vs every other Covenant. Min/Maxers are guaranteed to goto that Covenant. Casual players are guaranteed to goto that Covenant because that is where Icy Veins tells them to go.
The middle portion of the WoW playerbase goes to another Covenant and gets confused why noone wants them to tank for their M+ group or get benched because they die in a raid too quick.
In modern WoW the result will be obvious. That Covenant will be nerfed but Blizzard themselves have stated it will be a pain to switch.
Scenario B
Prot Paladins all rush to Covenant A because of the above 5% survivability bonus. What happens if Covenant B is better for Ret Paladins?
Now you are pigeon holed into a role in Shadowlands because of Covenants as it will be hard to switch and player power is tied to them.
I am begging Blizzard before Alpha releases to not tie player power to Covenants. Casual people are raising red flags and Preach is also putting out the red flag on this system.
Just make Covenants cosmetic and have something else tied to power or you are going to spend all of your development time trying to play whack a mole with Covenant abilities and have no time to focus on developing content.
68 Likes
How about waiting to see what happens. Things change from announcement till release. Some systems don’t even make it into the game. You’re “red flags” may not even exist in Alpha or they may. Blizz may also put in a way to change covenants, as they have stated they might, which will be harder to change. Just wait till the real info is released and not what some streamer rants about to get views.
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And for those of us who don’t mindlessly go where IcyVeins tells us to and don’t give a flying flip about M+ or Raider IO?
Is it still a red flag?
32 Likes
I remember that you can make your own groups in wow. Make your own damn group, quit being whiny and get people you want in your group. Don’t fall into the IO scores and min/max mentality.
23 Likes
Bit too early to really call any flags out for SL Alpha/Beta/Live yet, aren’t it?
2 Likes
your playing shadowlands now all you will end up doing is getting your rng lootbox gear upgrades on tussdays and lfr/n/h raids since most cant do mythic.
its the same game you are playing now.
The first alpha build is out, though it has yet to be decrypted.
You fall under the people in the middle who will either be forced into a certain Covenant to play the game or run to the forums and cry for nerfs.
Have you seen those people on the forums saying they cannot get M+ groups because they did not have the right corruption?
The WoW community is very time efficient on the high end. For the top guilds it is literally money because they sell runs. New people always get pointed to a discord which I promise you will include Covenants in their calculations and also Icy Veins.
For those who say it is too early then you have not paid attention to what they have said. Your ABILITIES will be tied to the Covenant you pick. That is a major red flag given what we saw in Legion and BFA.
There are ways to do Covenants so that you are not forced into certain ones to even competently play your character.
5 Likes
Systems like these shouldn’t exist, but alas it is World of Warcraft, owned by a small indie company.
Also, if players can’t be bothered to Google the better covenant for their class/spec, they probably would’ve never made it into a Mythic +3 anyway.
3 Likes
Don’t worry it’s only pre-alpha.
Don’t worry it’s only alpha.
Don’t worry it’s only beta.
Don’t worry it’s only the 1st patch.
Beta for Azeroth incoming again. Sure let’s wait for them to do nothing again. I mean it’s only happened all the time.
63 Likes
No, just don’t go complaining to the forums when you don’t get invited to that raid or m+.
If high end content doesn’t apply to you then it doesn’t really matter what Blizzard does 
1 Like
First of all, your* and second… that’s WHY HE’S POSTING NOW. It’s a preemptive strike for feedback (because… you know…they already announced some stuff about Covenants) because there’s still time before they’re too deep into committing to decisions.
9 Likes
So in summary, player choices can’t actually change anything because minmaxers.
Sounds what actually need to happen is for the effectiveness of minmaxing to be reduced substantially so the difference between Captain Optimum and Mr. Average is a small crack and not a canyon.
5 Likes
NAKED RAIDING! No gear allowed. It’s all up to skill… wait… there’d still be min/max with rotations/spell priority… all classes and specs get one button with flat effects! That won’t work either due to lat and reaction time… um… ready check starts the fight and we all just watch while the characters are run server side and we are just an audience?
The only way to remove the canyon between Capt. Optimum and Mr. Average… it to remove the player. Even with identical gear, we’re still the chaotic variable.
Totally true that you’re never gonna get rid of minmaxing, but if the devs applied some more thoughtfulness and had a more robust set of tests they could dramatically reduce the margin of benefit between options so that someone who isn’t specifically minmaxing isn’t at such a huge loss. It shouldn’t be like it is now where choosing the “wrong” traits/talents puts one at a heavy disadvantage.
1 Like
But the player is still gimped, whether they can find friends who are willing to carry them or not.
There is no player solution to broken specs that devs have decided to leave broken.
I’m calling it now. What players will have to do because of inevitable nerfs that change the optimal covenant and would force them to take a penalty because of this change is to maintain 4 characters of the same class, one for each covenant. That way they will be able to ride out those big nerfs.
Blizz will point at this and say it shows that Shadowlands is alt-friendly. Look at all those people enjoying playing their alts!
5 Likes
looks up
Is the sky falling again? Sounds like he is worried the sky is falling again?
2 Likes
Agree completely. NO choice should have the level of impact the covenants are bringing. Either let them be changed as desired (without a gated method, cost can be prohibitive) or they should not be capable of making every other choice a handicap.
Blizz will pick option 3: “Everything is fine; players just don’t understand our vision.”
Imagine if characters were locked permanently. No picking other talents, no picking other specs… you can only have one of each class… you are what you are FOREVER.
Current wow would implode and there would be riots at HQ. Why they think this method will work for the covenants is beyond me, oh wait, “vision”.
4 Likes
