Spell Batching in Classic

Lørence-tichondrius · March 29, 2019, 1:10am

I made a survey to see what people are gonna be playing. I will probably play the least voted on race/class combo

https://marktatsu.typeform.com/to/xTYgLQ

I will be posting the results in a couple weeks.

For the Horde.

Rpj-kul-tiras · March 29, 2019, 1:10am

This is delightful news. Light bless your lil’ ol’ heads!

Eaglesgift-ravenholdt · March 29, 2019, 1:37am

Yesss. The old shatter combo is back.

Veskr-sargeras · March 29, 2019, 1:43am

Hell ya brother

Ghost-darkspear · March 29, 2019, 2:01am

Looks like it. The backend change they did to fix this (which was during MoP era I think) was such a massive improvement to combat flow all around. Really sad they are rolling this back. Raging about failed vanishes is not something I’m excited to experience again.

Lørence-tichondrius · March 29, 2019, 2:08am

I had to use a different site since the first one stops at 50 respondents.

https://marktatsu.typeform.com/to/xTYgLQ

I will be posting the results in a couple weeks.

For the Horde.

Chroníc-emerald-dream · March 29, 2019, 2:11am

Do share how the pros out weight the cons in pvp for this please.

anon28815018 · March 29, 2019, 2:20am

I don’t need to explain why getting the spell processing right to help preserve the game “outweighs” anything.

Also it’s do*

Good lord, that’s an eyesore.

Zeliek-moon-guard · March 29, 2019, 2:33am

Kaivax:

Since we first announced World of Warcraft Classic, we’ve seen questions about spell batching. While we never really eliminated spell batching in WoW, we did change how (and how often) we process batches of actions coming from players, so you’re less likely to notice that processing in today’s game. We’ve been working to ensure that in WoW Classic, the gameplay of activating spells and effects will not differ from the experience of playing original WoW.

It was relatively common in the original game to see a warrior Pummel a mage who simultaneously and successfully Polymorphed the warrior. The mage suffered Pummel damage but no spell-school lock, because the mage didn’t get interrupted. This could seem paradoxical, but it could happen because the Pummel and Polymorph were both in the same batch, and were both valid actions at the start of the batch. For the most part, things like that don’t happen in modern WoW, but they still can. We’ve made improvements to batch frequency, and the game is much more responsive than it used to be. Still, if you manage to get both a Pummel and a Polymorph into a tiny processing window in modern WoW, you’ll experience the same behavior as in original WoW.

As with many other areas of WoW Classic, authenticity is our primary concern. It used to be the norm that combat flow and PvP balance were defined and tuned in a game where spell messages were resolved less frequently. There was a single game loop that processed all messages sent and received every server tick. Nowadays, the game processes multiple loops for messages of differing priorities. Spell casts are high priority, and have been for a long time.

For WoW Classic, we’re moving spell casts to a low-priority loop that will cause them to be processed at the frequency that best fits how the game actually played in version 1.12. Two mages will be able to Polymorph each other somewhat reliably, resulting in two sheep nervously pacing around at range. Two warriors will be able to Charge one another, and the end result will be both warriors standing stunned in each other’s original location.

We think it’ll be fun to see those sorts of things happening again.

Will this have an effect in recreating the experience of forcing on-crit talents activating when spamming the sit action? Enrage, interruption immunity talents, Reckoning, etc. At the very least do the developers have a view point on this aspect even though the original developers tried to remove this functionality?

Thanks for everything you guys do for us. I may not like the direction Blizzard has gone (or has been forced to go) over the years, but I’ve always been a fan.

Caelle-exodar · March 29, 2019, 2:38am

As other have said it wasn’t really something I was worried about, but I have no issues with it. Just one more thing that makes it play like it did.

For all of those that don’t like it, it simply isn’t about what is good or bad gameplay, it’s about how it was regardless of whether you think it sucked or not.

Lørence-tichondrius · March 29, 2019, 2:45am

If you finish your cast you finish your cast. You dont just get beat because the other person has faster connection so they can get into a quicker batch than you.

I made a pole to see what everyone is playing in Classic. https://marktatsu.typeform.com/to/xTYgLQ

I will be posting the results in a couple weeks.

For the Horde.

Odeley-bonechewer · March 29, 2019, 2:48am

Hello Blizzard my old friend…I’m falling in love with you once again…

Nekrage-auchindoun · March 29, 2019, 3:09am

We NEED to know whether or not we will be obtaining the Hinterlands or Searing Gorge quests at launch.

This greatly changes leveling plans.

Dawnspirit-wyrmrest-accord · March 29, 2019, 4:05am

This is the spell batching thread, not the classic content thread

Beefköw-blackrock · March 29, 2019, 4:13am

Just imagine if blizzard cared for retail wow the same way that they’re treating classic.

Nekrage-auchindoun · March 29, 2019, 4:15am

It’s what I say it is.

Humphrey-malganis · March 29, 2019, 4:16am

Great news, hoping everything is on track for a summer release!

Zeezprah-bleeding-hollow · March 29, 2019, 4:28am

Is this what happens when I Lay on Hands someone, it goes on cooldown, but the person still dies? This would explain a lot and make me less mad about those LoH’s that just disappear into the void and waste a 10 min CD.

Dawnspirit-wyrmrest-accord · March 29, 2019, 4:45am

Yep, that is what happens.

Amberlin-stormrage · March 29, 2019, 5:13am

ohhhh
you just wait