Yup, another talent tree thread. Let’s just put this out here now. TL;DR - the new talent tress aren’t an actual issue. The issue lies in the WoW player base and the incessant need for “optimization”.
So, now that that is out of the way, here’s my actual post.
Just coming back to WoW after being gone since 4.1, I have noticed that a seemingly large number of players here are complaining about the new talent tree system. Honestly, not entirely sure why either. So far, to me, the talent trees look like a new and improved version of the talent trees of old. Let’s also remind people that, when we had these trees (up until WOTLK), WoW was also at its peak popularity. Talent Trees just scream RPG, allowing you to customize how you play your character. However, the complaints still exist.
Most of the complaints I have seen fall into one of two categories.
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Talent trees are “forcing” the player to waste points re-getting core abilities.
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Talent trees are the illusion of choice and will let people play bad builds.
These complaints fail to understand what (in the history of WoW) talent trees actual are, and how important buildcraft can be for an MMORPG. In WoW, talent trees have always been a way for a character to gain “core” abilities for their class. Yes, we also had the trainers/spellbook, but think about talent trees for a moment. Forever in WoW, when you play a class, you HAVE to pick a spec for that class. This pick was meant to be impactful and meaningful to how you would build your character. Therefore, “core” abilities; abilities that were greatly needed for your spec, were found in the talent tree. You spent points to acquire those abilities. These trees are going back to that concept, while building on borrowed power abilities that players have gotten over the years. Starting from the very beginning of your character’s journey, you will be investing points into your talent tree. You will gain those “core” abilities just like how you did back in WOTLK. After those first tiers, which are filled out in the lower levels, you get further into the variety and spices of the talent tree (similar to how it worked back then too). These are the points that will be spent at later levels. So, for max level players complaining that you will waste points “re-getting core abilities”, you are forgetting the entire LEVELING portion of the talent trees. Talent trees are NOT just end-game build crafting, but they are also how your character progresses and evolves as they level up.
Secondly, build-craft is very important for an MMORPG. Maybe many of the people complaining don’t remember the insane build crafting back in classic. However, it was possibly one of the most enjoyable features in the game (for me) to build and craft my character exactly how I wanted it. Buildcraft gives players that sense of customization that RPGs thrive off of. And yes, people will make bad choices. People who say “I like (insert ability here) over that choice”. That is not a bad thing. Letting people build their characters how they want is a good thing. And if you don’t want to play with someone running a bad spec, you simply don’t have to. Buildcraft can help increase the lifespan of a game between content patches. For proof, just look at ESO and GW2. Possibly the 2 biggest buildcrafting MMORPGs on the market. The buildcrafting scene is huge in those games, and is one of the things that people always tout as being a huge draw for those games.
Players today seem to cut “fun” out of every equation when it comes to WoW. Instead, the mindset seems to place more emphasis on optimization or rewards above anything else. Blizzard has a hand in this, but I still think this rings true. If a choice isn’t “optimal” then, to some, it seems there is no choice at all. If there’s the chance that playing with a bad spec hinders me getting a reward, then nobody should run it and it shouldn’t exist in game. But, this completely removes the sense of fun from many aspects in this game. People who are advocating for the talent trees want one simply thing; fun. It is FUN to theorycraft and buildcraft. It is FUN to mix and match and try out new builds. It is FUN to evolve my character how I want. Giving the players that option is not bad, it is good. At the end of the day, WoW is a video game, and video games are meant to be fun. Giving more of the playerbase something that they can have fun with (Talent Trees), can only be seen as a positive.
Of course, the trees aren’t perfect. But, until proper testing happens, it makes sense that they wont be. While Blizzard never has had the best reputation for listening to players, it APPEARS as though they are trying their best to listen now with DF. Luckily, talent trees can be easy to fix/mix around, and should the devs decide that they need some tweaking, hopefully they will tweak after alpha/beta. On that, only time will tell. However, as a whole, talent trees are a welcome change to the game, and the complaints from people only really show the issue with the player’s mindset, not with any real issue on the trees. If you have read this entire wall of text, congratulations! Here’s a virtual cookie! 