Where I Think Classes Went Wrong

Then stop. Seriously, all you’ve done is a couple NORMAL 5 mans, 2 raid finder raids, and then a bunch of world quests. You know there’s a ton of group content to do, right? Questing has always been primarily a solo part of the game. Dude, just do the content and it would completely solve your problem. You only feel like you’re playing a single player game because you’re intentionally avoiding all the group content.

I mean if your gonna call that homogenized( which does a terrible job describing any classes rotation in retail)

Take the same brush to vanilla or else you are just glorifying your own hypocrisy.

How many “rotations” does this describe?

  1. cast filler
  2. repeat 1.

Or

  1. cast big spell
  2. cast filler tille big spell is ready.
    Repeat.

Cause that covers pretty much every classes dps rotation in vanilla.

Forgive me if people who are actively committed to retail aren’t exactly the most useful sources of “what people hate” about Retail. They’re still playing enough to care about posting so they can’t hate it all that much.

Uh… I have? Like you said, all I’ve done is a couple of random things in BfA. Aside from pursuing the lore aspect and getting flying, from a perverse insistence on joy in Druid Flight form, all I’m doing in WoW right now, is reliving 1-60 zones in preparation for Classic.

Go back a while in that review of my gameplay. Dial it back to say TBC/Wrath/Cata/MoP where I was a hardcore raider. And then quit raiding because the community became a shadow of itself and remains so…

Homogenized refers to the style of play and the toolset.

E.g. Every single healer has a raid cooldown, and can dispel magic, and all significant dispellable debuffs in raids are Magic. It doesn’t matter if you bring a Druid or a Priest or a Shaman or a Paladin, because they can all remove magic and use their raid cooldown.

e.g. Rebirth used to be the only way to resurrect someone in combat. Now Druids have Rebirth, Death Knights have Raise Ally, Warlocks have Soulstone, and Hunters have two different pet classes who can Combat Rez.

So because the 5% utility is the same and 95% of the main rotation is vastly different they are homogenized but in vanilla when the 95% rotations are IDENTICAL but the 5% are slightly different they are unique… good to know you can be objective.

I didn’t even start down the healer’s main heal abilities. Druids have had a bit of a renaissance recently, but during the Nourish years, we were basically a Priest with an extra Heal+HoT.

As a cow I would expect you to know the meaning of homogenized, which you clearly do not.

6 Likes

Most MMOs are good except for the players.

I do, its the hypocrites in this forums that seem to not understand what it means.

To be fair assassination rogues have the same roation since tbc.

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druid and shaman cant dispell magic on allies.

A Druids Nature’s Cure says you’re wrong, and have been for many expansions. A Shaman’s Purify Spirit would like to discuss a few things when you’re done there.

I think it’s a change in design perspective.

Classic: They designed the classes from a fantasy perspective, thinking ‘what abilities would this class have?’ and then added them, gameplay be damned.

These days, they design classes from a number crunch and balance and gameplay style perspective, and as such, lose any shred of flavor for them.

They don’t feel like an RPG class, but a tool, because that’s how they’re being designed these days.

“This class will have a whack-a-mole RNG proc playstyle, which sets it apart from this other class which will have a build-and-spender playstyle. Isn’t this fun guys?!”

Puke.

It’s primarily from a “Role” perspective.

Healers all have a Magic removal capability, at least one HoT, at least one instant direct heal, at least one Cast Time heal, at least one AOE heal, and a damage mitigation/protection cooldown.

Tanks all have a Taunt, weak ranged attack, AOE threat generator attack, a direct cooldown or charge based single target attack, etc.

Rotation and homogenization are distinct.

Homogenization is lack of noticeable difference between classes. Giving Paladins to Horde and Shaman to Alliance is one example.

Giving Shaman lust to mages and hunter pets and scrolls is another.

Disarm, Mortal Strike effects, Execute, Fear Ward, hard spammable Cc, the list goes on.

Every class in Retail is basically the same as every other class with far less distinctiveness.

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If you honestly believe that you are not being objective.

This happened to dungeon keeper as well.

In the first dungeon keeper they designed all creatures from a natural perspective, giving them abilities and stats that made them feel like an actual creature. It was then up to you to utilize them in ways you best saw fit.

In dungeon keeper 2, they designed creatures from a roles perspective: this one is a blocker, this one is a dps, etc. And as a result, the creatures feel like gears, tools, rather than actual creatures.

It’s the sort of terrible design you get when you let competitive players balance and design your game. They are blinded by a pursuit for perfect balance, but that’s not what makes a game good or fun.

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It became the norm when Blizzard decided in Wrath that levelling was not content, it was just introduction to the new raiding tier’s lore.

If you honestly believe classes are distinct in retail and not homogenized you are not being objective.

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The rotations were only really similar between Mages and Warlocks. Maybe Balance Druids, too, if you ever see one.

Aside from that, the rotations in vanilla manage to be distinct despite very few abilities actually being used.

  • Druids (Balance) - Spams one ability the entire fight, not allowed to use debuffs usually. Similar to Mage and Warlock.
  • Druids (Feral) - Similar to Rogue or Warrior, by design. They’re supposed to be copies of those classes in animal form, capable of swapping between them as needed, but not capable of doing everything either class is capable of.
  • Hunter - Timing Aimed Shots and Multi-Shots between auto attacks. Nothing similar.
  • Mage - Spam Frostbolt or Fireball. Similar to Balance Druid and Warlock.
  • Paladin - Maintain self-buffs, auto attack, judgment. Nothing similar.
  • Priest (Shadow) - Spam a channeled ability, maintaining a DoT if you’re lucky. Nothing similar.
  • Rogue - Build combo points, spend on finishers. Nothing similar.
  • Shaman (Elemental) - Maintain group-buffs, spam Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning on Cooldown. Nothing similar.
  • Warlock - Spam Shadow Bolt. Similar to Balance Druid and Mage.
  • Warrior - Auto attack or get hit to build rage. Spend rage to deal more damage. Nothing similar.

Casters were the only thing similar to one another.

Now in retail, take the classes that used to be unique in their rotations. How many are still unique? None.

How many classes/specs had a DPS cooldown in vanilla?
How many classes/specs have a DPS cooldown in BfA?

How many DPS classes/specs had healing in vanilla?
How many DPS classes/specs have healing in BfA?

How many DPS classes/specs had defensive cooldowns in vanilla?
How many DPS classes/specs have defensive cooldowns in BfA?

Homogenization is a sad reality of retail’s numerous expansions, and yes, there were some similarities in the classes and specs in vanilla. That doesn’t change the fact the similarities increased while the distinctions decreased throughout the years.