First there was dot shock. Then there was a new PTR build, and for a time, all was peaceful. Now, witness the birth of a new era of Shaman protest: re-rolling. Yes, the Shaman forums are abuzz with posters pledging to re-roll any class but Shaman, on Auchindoun, Horde side. And yes, they have named their guild none other than <Dude Wheres My Shaman>. I'll forgive them the lack of an apostrophe, if only because I really like the movie.

To be honest, I don't have enough Shaman experience to know much about the issues here. But I do know a neat idea when I see it, so I logged on to Auchindoun with a newly-minted, creatively-named character, and conducted a very fun group interview with all the ex-shamans there to find out what they were so riled up about. Chat log after the cut (edited for length and grammar -- there was a lot of them, and they were more than happy to talk).

Eliahhecht: OK guys. So, why are you here?
Donakora: I'm here because I want to make a statement to Blizzard.
Fynal: our way to tell blizz they f-d up
Xur: the constant nerfs are just too much and in fact I am waiting on warhammer
Donakora: That silence revert issue is a step in the right direction- But it's far from solving all of our problems.
Donakora: I mean, look at enhancement for god's sake.
Solid: yes all trees need to be raid viable, with the implementation of 2.3. elemental will be obsolete for raiding
Xur: I pay money every week to see the guy I played with for 2 years be set back time and again
Eliahhecht: OK, so what would make you guys happy with the class again?
Eliahhecht: or is it too late at this point?
Donakora: Balance. Just make us bring something to the table that actually sets us apart.
Fynal: totems....gah
Siar: For PvP it's an issue of control
Humnpaladin: Enh to not rely on luck, Ele changes to be reverted, totem system overhaul.
Xur: STOP nerfing DPS, and do not lie about simple math that proves the new Lightning Overload mechanics are a buff
Siar: Totems are immobile, costly, and too many of the best ones are in the same totem tree
Makaveli: and enhancement shamans need a move other then the pvp trinket to get rid of snares/CC, or a CC
Bffeynoix: shamans are currently the only class with out a snare/stun/some way of getting distance in pvp
Siar: It's extremely hard to get groups as any other spec than resto
Donakora: To put it simply, group PvP in this game is about CC and Anti-CC right now. That's simply the way it is. All of the best classes in arena have CCs.
Eliahhecht: So as far as PvE goes, your perception is that all three trees are beaten by other classes?
Clingy: yes, i'll drink to that
Siar: I'd say Resto is the one on par with others
Eliahhecht: Are Shamans in a worse place now than, say, 2.1, or pre-BC?
Makaveli: they could actually contend with the best before BC
Donakora: Before BC, our chain heal mechanics brought something absolutely amazing raid viability
Eliahhecht: Alright, let's see...Mike informs me that Warriors tried something similar, with this whole rerolling thing, and got in trouble for that. Are you worried?
Octo: no
Donakora: [The warriors] crashed the server. We're doing nothing against the ToS.
Humnpaladin: i'll eat a month long ban to see shammies get buffed
Xur: that is part of the problem here ... we PAY [Blizzard] ... and we get crapped on time and again ... I understand you have to cater to the majority but damn...
Eliahhecht: Oh, here's one. Do you think Blizz did anything wrong with their forum moderation during the whole dot-shock thing? I've heard conflicting stories.
Siar: I think a few threads got caught in the crossfire, but...
Abnormality: i got banned for actually proposing a new DoT
Siar: I think they just need to read a little more carefully and moderate specific posts
Makaveli: and talk to the shaman community more and stop lying to us

So there you have it. The reason the re-rollers are re-rolling. What do you think? Do they have a point? Will you be joining them? As of when I logged off, they had over 250 members, and more were joining every few minutes.

[thanks, Smacks]

Edit: The good folks at the Shaman forums would like me to post their summary of the issues as an alternative viewpoint. Elbera puts it as follows:

Elemental DPS is being nerfed despite being told 2.3 would be a buff, it is only a buff to undergeared players, which seriously will hurt Elementals raiding viability. All the 41 point talents are currently dispellable, which severely limits their usefulness.

Enhancement is currently unable to close gaps in pvp against classes that can kite, short of using a trinket cooldown. Warriors, Rogues, and Feral druids (melee) all have ways of closing the distance to a class. ALL shaman specs are currently able to be locked down by stuns and any form of CC for the entire duration of a fight, and all their spells are in one tree with the exception of 2 shocks.

Tags: anything-but-shaman, auchindoun, patch-2.3, shaman

Filed under: Shaman, Events, Virtual selves