Poll For The Day: Which class does Blizzard hate the most?
by Adam Holisky 
Apr 19th 2009 at 11:00AM
The patch 3.1 changes have not been sitting well with some players. Death Knights are up in arms about their nerfs, and Mages are feeling as rejected as ever.And Warlocks? Who plays those anymore. I received a free level 70 Death Knight in exchange for deleting mine. True story.
All kidding aside, I personally don't think Blizzard has it out for any one class. But I know that many in the community don't share my feelings. And while nerfs are never personal (aka, Ghostcrawler doesn't say "That damn Holisky, just because he posted this article we're going to nerf Shamans!"), they are often taken quite personal by the player base.
So for today's important poll (all polls are important after all): what class does Blizzard hate the most?
| Death Kngihts | |
|---|---|
| Druids | |
| Hunters | |
| Mages | |
| Paladins | |
| Priests | |
| Rogues | |
| Shamans | |
| Warlocks | |
| Warriors |
Filed under: Polls, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
Donaghy Apr 19th 2009 11:06AM
Where's the none option?
Bitterbal Apr 19th 2009 11:23AM
Exactly. People will most likely vote for the class they themselves are currently investing time in.
Any objectivity goes out the window as soon as ones personal game play quality is being threatened.
Kakistocracy Apr 19th 2009 12:08PM
True, a "None" option would lend perspective (and a "Nun" option would tell us a bit about the psyche of the author)
While I don't disagree with the conjecture that many people will vote for their pet class as being hated (or is it "Hated", in this case, the distinction isn't use versus mention, but figurative rather than literal), it seems as if the best methods by which to prevent this would be to have people who are objective on the merit of not playing the game (nor having any association with people likely to complain about the treatment of a class in the game), get entirely different people who think in a manner far removed from the pedestrian, or perhaps double the number of choices ( "DK, which I play" "DK, which I do not play"...), and simply exercise some skepticism when adding the "which I play" results to the "which I do not play" results.
Calophi Apr 19th 2009 12:42PM
Agreeing with you here. I'd like to vote "none" also.
Aedilhild Apr 19th 2009 12:49PM
None. This is silly.
World of Warcraft is one of the most active examples of large-scale emergence in operation today. Gameplay mechanics are practically defined by millions of interactions between independent players who, through social and functional reward systems, compete in a kind of "survival of the fittest" -- many seeking every possible numerical or physical advantage.
No set of rules governing ten classes for ten races, entailing hundreds of actions and many thousands of possible complementary or conflicting combinations, will survive in that environment for long.
Blizzard is always reassessing and re-evaluating for the purposes of balance and, in maintaining integrity of the system, ensuring quality of the product.
Why anyone would doubt the company's good faith is beyond me, although I suspect it's a result of having never been in the company of designers.
Shinn Apr 19th 2009 4:55PM
WTB NONE OPTION. Dammit Alex what's the deal here? Sparking QQ?? Let the noobs do that, give us a proper article. Very disappointed at this, most articles on this site are hands-down straight quality.
This... this is just stupid.
AlexW573 Apr 19th 2009 7:26PM
To borrow a phrase from Slashdot (and before that Calvin and Hobbes)...
Where's the none option, you insensitive clod!
DeathwishXIII Apr 20th 2009 12:51AM
Not true! My only character is a warrior but I voted Warlock, they got it worst this patch, poor bastards.
Also: any DK player who complains about their class getting nerfed should be shot in the face.
happydays Apr 20th 2009 4:34AM
Since there wasn't a none option I voted once for everyone.
James Apr 19th 2009 11:07AM
Numerically Priests have received the most nerfs
Saranthe Apr 19th 2009 6:21PM
I main a priest myself, and yes, we have been nerfed quite a lot. I do think that Blizzard... I won't say HATES us, but just isn't as interested by our class. And the result of that is not that we get underpowered, though I would like to see some buffs to the class, but that we just aren't very interesting. What did Wrath add for us? Well, Dispersion, Mind Sear, Guardian Spirit, and Penance. I've never rolled Disc, so I can't speak to that, and all of those are solid spells... but none very exciting or interesting.
That's what happens, I believe, when Blizzard isn't as interested by the concept of your class... you just don't get as many cool things. I think, for instance, they find mages fascinating, though they worry about making them unbalanced. So they get things like Mirror Image, Frostfire Bolt, Living Bomb, Arcane Barrage- no matter how powerful or not these spells are, you must admit they are interesting and fun. I feel that Priests haven't gotten too much of that lately.
But then, I do well realize that the grass is always greener, and that having my only 80 as a Priest means I will be envious of other classes no matter what. I mean, Guardian Spirit I listed as not being that exciting... but I dunno, it's pretty powerful and cool. Double heals, and preventing someone from dying when their HP hits zero? That's pretty awesome. And the new Divine Hymn is deeply appreciated. I just wish Shadow had some fancy toy, is all. Something flashy, something rockin'.
terryjr91 Apr 19th 2009 11:09AM
It has to pallys. they nerf us, then op us then everyone else hates us then they nerf us again. It just keeps happening.
RetadinMan Apr 19th 2009 12:44PM
True. Thats why I respecced Prot, its generally stable.
Wolftech Apr 19th 2009 1:37PM
I have been Prot since I rolled my draenei Pally at BC launch (my main is and always will be my mage). I even leveled prot...
Why? I guess I'm a masochist.
Hal Apr 19th 2009 6:08PM
Heh, as a Prot Pally, I feel like the new patch was a present. Why?
Never-ending Divine Plea. It makes Spiritual Attunement unnecessary and ensures that I'll never have to worry about managing mana during extended combat. Sweet!
Jason Apr 19th 2009 11:09AM
Warlocks. Without a doubt. They've had 2 years solid of nothing but nerfs. At this point they should just take fear away entirely. It's useless now.
Raz Apr 19th 2009 5:18PM
While numerically, your statement may have some truth to it, we warlocks have never really hit the point of "underpowered."
Warlock nerfs kept coming because they'd throw a batch at us & we were still better than most other classes after the dust settled- and if you think Fear's useless, you're using it wrong. I can throw one fear & kill my target either before it wears off, or before they can run back to me. Maybe try the glyph if you're having too many issues.
I think if anyone has a right to complain, it's mages- I can't blame them for hating us ;)
The common belief on why warlocks have stayed consistently ahead in terms of balance is that the lead character designer's main is a lock & while that may be a rumor, it's probably true ^_^
Jason Apr 19th 2009 7:49PM
Perhaps I should clarify. I am talking mainly about PvP. Fear is useless when you either have a racial out of it or a trinket. And it was just nerfed again.
Jm Apr 19th 2009 11:09AM
Shamans and priests have never been nearly OP
Outlier Apr 19th 2009 11:43AM
I see you are unfamiliar with EARLY wow vanilla Enhancement Shamans... google it