Gamers on the Street: Patch? What patch?
by Lisa Poisso 
Jan 10th 2008 at 4:30PM
If you've ever suspected that official forums posters are the squeaky wheels of the World of Warcraft, you may be right. With all the noise there about various buffs, nerfs and changes in Patch 2.3.2, you'd think that all of Azeroth and the Outland would be in turmoil. But when Gamers on the Street popped in on Doomhammer server yesterday to see what players thought about Patch 2.3.2, player response was considerably underwhelming. Replies from players on this high-population, longstanding server ranged from "What mage changes? I guess I should read the patch notes more often," to "Oh, there was a patch?"
We visited with players both Alliance-side (talkative and opinionated) and Horde-side (Horde, O Horde ... where were you?) to find out what players thought of Patch 2.3.2 specifics. (And much to our disappointment, we didn't run into a single transmute-specced alchemist who'd had a proc since the patch.) Read on for players' thoughts, after the break.
Paladins are definitely the socialites of Doomhammer -- replies from Alliance players were overwhelmingly from paladins. Still, players were all over the map when it came to an overall perception of and experience with class-specific changes.
From the Alliance
Alaraz, a 70 human paladin from <I AM LEGEND>, stepped forward with strong feelings about the mage changes.
Gamers: Hey Alaraz, what do you think about the new patch? Anything yummy for you inside, or anything that's throwing you off?
Alaraz: Since I'm Holy, there's nothing that really affected me in a good way. But the thing that's throwing me off is that all mages get ice block now, so it's gonna be way OP in arena -- and on top of that, ice mages get Icy Veins, which is gonna be even more OP. So I'd just like to say I hate mages.
Gamers: Are you on an Arena team?
Alaraz: Yeah, I got all three. I don't have a mage in (any) of 'em :P
Gamers: So do you think their ability is out of line?
Alaraz: Yep, pretty much. I know fire mages were really weak in Arena before the patch, because they had no survivability skills.
Gamers: What about rogues? I'm talking with a pally here who says rogues are giving him more trouble.
Alaraz: Meh. Rogues have a lot of stunlocks and stuff that can piss me off -- but I mean, pillar abuse works great with them. Then you have mages that blink towards you and toss up a counterspell while you're trying to heal -- there I am CSed for eight seconds. It's pretty much game over for me.
Gamers: Ouch.
Alaraz: As a pally, I got a lot of armor, so rogues don't hit me as hard, either.
But another 70 human pally, Waylonos of <Dragonbane>, reported having more trouble since the patch with rogues than with mages.
Waylonos whispers: I like the new patch, even though rogues are a little more ... powerful.
Gamers: How so?
Waylonos: One of their abilities was raised from 200% to 250% damage, which means they can kill faster! =D
Gamers: Have you run into this already?
Waylonos: In a duel, yes -- died bout 30 seconds faster.
Gamers: Any way you can counter that?
Waylonos: Um ... I guess just bubble and hope for the best, or just use Hammer of Justice.
Gamers: Any trouble with mages now?
Waylonos: Not that I've seen.
Schnooky, a level 70 gnome warlock in <Geriatrics>, seemed quite pleased by the buff to Alterac Valley mini-bosses.
Gamers: Got any feedback for us on how the patch has gone for you?
Schnooky: I'm doing quite well with it. Only thing I've been affected by is the AV bosses wearing decent armor.
Gamers: Ahh, the boss HP hotfix in Alterac Valley. How much of a buff do you think it is?
Schnooky: I think it helps tremendously for the Alliance.
Gamers: But not Horde?
Schnooky: Well, we seem to be winning more now. :D I'm sure it helps (Horde, too). I feel it definitely changes the strat a little to include Galv/Belinda every time. I like it -- makes for more battles :D As a long-time Alliance PvPer, we never go for Galv ... straight to RH ... But now he is first shot.
For the Horde!
Hordeside, players were less vocal. Most Hordies told Gamers on the Street that they either hadn't noticed any significant changes or didn't care. One mage who stopped long enough to comment noted trouble with his rogue against paladins -- perhaps he hasn't fought Waylonos, the Alliance paladin who was having trouble with rogues.
From Raisttlinn, a level 70 undead mage in <PVE PFFT PVP>:
Gamers: What do you think about the mage changes -- did you think that mages needed the change?
Raisttlinn: Well, we didn't really need it, but was nice of Blizz to do. Although, thinking about it, fire mages with Ice Block is kind of off beat. Rogues, on the other hand ... sheesh!
Gamers: Oh? What about rogues?
Raisttlinn: They took out AR/prep spec, which was uncalled for.
Gamers: Do you have a rogue -- or just sympathize with them?
Raisttlinn: Got one. :) Ruined my spec completely. Destroys a rogue's chances of taking out paladin, though. Without double Adrenaline Rush, (paladins) can heal through it easily.
QQueue
So if patch changes weren't on the minds of Doomhammer players this week, what is? In a nutshell: queues. Virtually every player we visited with mentioned the server's lengthy log-in queues. It seems that things have been hopping on Doomhammer since the holidays, and queues are showing it.
"Server queues just shot up to unreal amounts," reports Alaraz. "I'm not too sure (why). It probably doesn't have much to do with the patch, but all the people transferring to our server and starting new accounts. I mean, I had to wait in a line of 600 for over 40 minutes last night. It's pathetic." Still, Alaraz did note a bright side to the problem: "You can find a group for pretty much everything real fast."
If you'd like to visit with Gamers on the Street about what's going on in your WoW life, drop us a line.
Filed under: Mage, Paladin, Rogue, Gamers on the Street, Interviews
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jagoth Jan 10th 2008 5:27PM
As an alchemist, first transmute I did after getting patched gave me two waters for the earth.
George M. Jan 10th 2008 5:38PM
A Mage in my guild forgot to train Iceblock and died in Heroic Mech. Good Times.
Algorithm Jan 10th 2008 5:52PM
1) On the mage who seems less than excited about the class buffs, I bet the rogue was his main
2) How does a pillar work better against a melee class than a ranged caster? (it doesn't)
3) Also, a 50% increase in base (not actual) damage to a single opener is no way going to kill you 30 seconds faster (even if this is an exaggeration, it's not doing THAT much more damage)
I am going to pretend you made up those responses, because it will depress me to think that there are people running around with this sort of thought process.
Ikarus Jan 10th 2008 7:06PM
I jumped on my frost spec'd mage after the patch assuming i would have a talent point to place where ice block use to be. for whatever reason, i dont. I have the correct amount of talent points spent for my level, but i can't figure out where that point from Ice Block went. I've filed a couple tickets to talk to a GM, but both times had to log before getting a response. So i got the lame generic emails. First one said it must be my UI. they said i should uninstall all my addons. I'm no rocket scientist, but im pretty sure thats not going to give me a talent point. Secong generic email said something to the effect of "this isn't broken"....well, what do you say to that?
Gonna try again tonight. I've already respec'd a few times, pretty sure im up to about 25g for a respec at this point, im only lvl56, so im not rolling in gold from all the dailies. hope i can catch a break
davidus Jan 10th 2008 7:23PM
Are you serious. You couldn't figure this out from looking at your talent tree? You don't another talent point. Cold Snap was where Ice Bock used to be, and Icy Veins is where Cold Snap used to be. All you do is go to your trainer, and learn Ice Block.
Ikarus Jan 10th 2008 7:27PM
uh...i already had a point in both talents. maybe im missing something. but 1 point in cold snap and 1 point in ice block = 2 points. take away ice block which is now trainable and that leaves 1 point unused. it didn't automatically go into icy veins so where is it?
davidus Jan 10th 2008 7:36PM
omg...you weren't left with one point. That point was used to get the talent Icy Veins. Which is very clear if you look at the talent tree.
White Rabbit Jan 10th 2008 8:41PM
A shaman in my Underbog group last night learned a new recipe from making mad alchemist potions... or whatever those are called.
Toris Jan 10th 2008 9:13PM
I also xmuted 2 waters from an earth.
Bunnyfu Jan 10th 2008 10:17PM
And I rerolled a warrior. Bye bye HARP. :(
Galgaroth Jan 11th 2008 1:30PM
One of the things the horde in EU especially has been complaining about is the sudden AV losses lastnight 25 games -1 wins and that was a 50 min game slowly progressing - bal then sh - then ice then run up north. The allies only lost cos we deffed drek and reset him 4 times ( we did van 1st time) previously it was about 50-50 i think the buff given only to VAN and BAL is really slowing down the horde movement and since we already get bottlenecked and 2 points (at ice and bridge) we now lose the majority of the time
Extremitus Jan 11th 2008 4:34AM
Once again just the 70s represented. I dunno if that's what you ask for when you call for interviews or if nobody under 70 ever replies, but it would be nice to see some slice of mid-level or low level representation.
Charles Jan 11th 2008 9:19AM
The patch murdered our best rogues spec. He's gone to combat maces for the time being. Mages get iceblock so now they can be stupid with thier aggro in pve and I can still mass dispel it in pvp, so thier survivability still sucks. Cool things for warriors and priests? Nah, they've decided we arent a big enough threat to nerf at the time. Moonrunner queue times are non existant, except for AV, which the Alliane in our battlegroup have given up on, even though they have the tactical advantages. They've probably moved on to something more thier metier, i.e. Hello Kitty Island Adventures.
replicat Jan 11th 2008 9:48AM
I am an alchemist with transmutation as my specialization. My first transmute after the patch yielded 4 (four!!!) Life from 1 earth. That's the first time I have ever gotten a 4 proc.
Kaantu Jan 11th 2008 9:44AM
My first transmute kicked out 2 extra earthstorm diamonds for me. I for one was looking forward to this latest patch, if for no other reason than the fixes to the transmute proc rate.
Ikarus Jan 11th 2008 2:59PM
davidus, you make me feel like i've been taking crazy pills or something. I've checked my talent tree. The point did not go automatically into Icy Veins. That Talent is still gray for me. Ice block + Cold Snap = 2 talent points. Since Ice block is now, in terms of talent point cost, free, i should have a talent point still to be used, or as you said, automatically placed into Ice veins. Niether of those things happened.
I finally got through to a GM yesterday. I am not mistaken in my assumption, but there's nothing he could do for me as GM's apparently do not have the ability to reset a talent spec
ogletree Jan 14th 2008 4:08PM
I had heard about the new mage changes and was excited to see the new frost spell I had. I was in a raid and went to hit my ice block that I have had forever and it was gone. Why did they have to take it away. I had already trained it a long time ago. I am transmute spec and my first transmute from earth to water was a double. I do that every day. I don't do might because I can sell the mats for more than the might. They only go for about 80g-85g on our server. Also I had forgot about the mana stones having 3 charges. I used one and forgot to make a one as I normally do and low and behold I had 2 more hits left on it next time I needed it. This really was the Mage patch.
Dibbles Jan 12th 2008 2:32PM
I am a gnome mage and pretty much drooled when I turned on my computer to see this patch. I mostly PVE and was able to respec to accommodate the new Icy Veins Talent. 2/48/11 allowed me to get this, you loose clear casting but with improved mana gems, and normally being in with a shadow priest mana is not an issue. I saw my dps shoot up about 3% depending on how long boss fights were. I mad a nice little macro to use combustion and icy veins at the same time, even though i have a very high crit chance already this just gives me the added bonus of some guaranteed crits during increased casting time.
For PVP i respec ice to get those arenas in or if i feel like playing a bunch of battlegrounds. Even with iceblock added to trainable skills i still prefer ice over anything to pvp with, the new spell is just an added bonus.