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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: The effect of nerfs and buffs
by Allison Robert 
Jan 10th 2010 at 8:00AM
Blizzard's observed in the past that there's often a correlation between the perception of a class as overpowered and the number of people who choose to play it (witness the proliferation of rogues in classic WoW, for example), so it seems fair to say that at least a portion of the player base's class choice is impacted by the conclusion they reach on design decisions. Then again, my own experience in-game -- and the pattern of comment votes here on WoW.com concerning class changes -- leads me to believe that yo-yoing between classes based on which one is doing "best" at any given time is not the overwhelming trend. The Warcraft Census' numbers on class population also seem to be evening out, slowly but surely, from a little bit over 6 months ago (which was itself an improvement over very lopsided numbers in favor of death knights and paladins shortly after Wrath went live). This would seem to suggest that, over the long term, people continue to play the class they like most for reasons that survive design changes. Or is it just that each character represents such a significant time investment that most people don't think it's worth it to switch mains?
I'm sure that arena and PvP as a whole wind up driving a portion of this, but what impact do class nerfs and buffs really have? If your main was ever nerfed, did you wind up playing a different toon, or did it just not matter that much to you? If your main was buffed, was it genuinely more fun to play?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 6)
jason.mcwatts Jan 10th 2010 8:29AM
Played a Druid since open Beta. I've always ignored FOTM class changes and stuck with my Druid, through the suckiness of every spec other than Resto in Classic, to the nerfing into oblivion of my favourite Lifebloom rolling healing style. I love the versatility of the class, and even though I've got a Mage, DK, Rogue and Hunter at 80, my Druid is the class I always come back to. He's like a favourite pair of shoes or that pair of jeans that have holes all over them but are just so comfortable you can never throw them out...
And anyway, by the time you've invested enough time to gear a FOTM alt up to the same standard as your main Blizzard will have nerfed that class- it's not like Classic anymore where a given class stays OP for 6 months ('Locks I'm looking at you)...
Jarvish Jan 10th 2010 8:50AM
When I choose a class to play, its because the playstyle or something else appeals to me. I am not interested in nerfs or buffs when i start playing the class as i will spend quite some time leveling it first.
It seems odd, though, whenever I start playing a class, Blizz decides to nerf it somehow.
Hunter - the great BM nerf
Druid - the rejuv (or was it regrowth?) nerf
Pala - 3.2 ret pala nerf
Warrior - just now i have a lvl 15 warrior that was about to go Prot for LFG levelling... shield slam nerf x/
Not complaining, just wondering ;-)
btw, hunter, druid and pala are lvl 80 now... I don't stop playing them because of numbers. Just need to run a few more heroics to get the heirloom trinkets for the warrior, then he's fully decked in every heirloom applicable to him (well except for the ring).
- Jarv
Sky Jan 10th 2010 2:29PM
that's cause u play the easy classes..
BM Huntard: Check
Retardin: Check
Well maybe not the druid.
You should go roll a DK. That way youll really be in the bandwagon.
Bently Jan 10th 2010 8:33AM
I know I'm not the norm but I have 8 level 80's. So usually I play the one I really want to play @ that particular moment.
Now if the class I was playing got nerfed, maybe I would just switch to one of my other toons.
Usually I switch because I get bored of a particular playstile.
ithinkimissedmyexit Jan 10th 2010 8:34AM
Am I the only one that takes a nerf as a challenge to be a better player? :-)
I could care less about buffs and nerfs. Class gets buffed, so be it. Class gets nerfed, I see it as a challenge to improve my game. I enjoy playing my class regardless of small (or large) tweaks in class mechanics.
Josh Jan 10th 2010 8:39AM
That chart can't possibly be accurate, I swear there's always two rogues behind me.
Possum Jan 10th 2010 4:18PM
No, your just standing around in Grizzly Hills too much.
Dragosa Jan 10th 2010 8:48AM
I wonder if there is data on active classes. Seems like alot of DK's and Pally's now a days, much more than the few percent difference in the graph. Had a 10 man Rasuvius with 4 Pallys and 2 DK's , could have been a coincidence but even standing around Dal there seems to be alot of those classes.
Nari Jan 10th 2010 8:50AM
Personally? My main is my main - I've only changed once, and that was when I quit my original server for a fresh start in TBC (new character with new faction/race/class). I'm not an altaholic, I don't have a pile of spare 80s I can go "hmm, maybe I'll try this one now". I spend a lot of my WoW-time improving my main (gear, achievements), and that would make it very hard to give that up. They'd need to really, really seriously burn Disc priests TO THE GROUND then start excavating, I think.
MusedMoose Jan 10th 2010 9:00AM
The only way that a nerf could make me decide not to play a class would be if said nerf suddenly made the class not fun to play anymore. While I'm an altaholic, I've never been one to start playing a class suddenly because it's supposedly overpowered, and I wouldn't drop one because it's suddenly underpowered, unless the change that made it underpowered made it no longer fun to play.
For example, my main is an arcane mage - just hit 80 last night, oddly enough with a discovery in the Storm Peaks - and if Blizzard, say, removed the stacking effect of Arcane Blast or lowered the Missile Barrage proc to something like 10%, that would take away a lot of what I enjoy about playing the class. I love waiting for that chance to unleash Channeled Arcane Doom upon an enemy. *grin* Without that? I just wouldn't enjoy the class as much, even though I could respec.
Shima Jan 10th 2010 9:09AM
I just play what i like, and thats been always warrior, shaman or rogue...even if they nerf the hell out of them i would stick with that classes
Philip Jan 10th 2010 9:20AM
So plate classes comprise 38% of WoW?
Can't be good for the game.
Hoggersbud Jan 10th 2010 12:52PM
There are 10 classes. 3 of them wear plate. Given the boost-up factor DK's have for people with an 80 already...it's not unreasonable for them to rate more.
Philip Jan 10th 2010 1:05PM
By using your math I am to arrive at the conclusion that:
3 cloth classes: 27%
3 plate classes: 38%
No, I sense the buffing of paladins in 2.4 and the introduction of DK's in 3.0 have far more to do with this discrepancy than first believed. And I do expect for the warrior numbers to inch up, as the ICC loot becomes easier to obtain.
Rotties67 Jan 10th 2010 9:24AM
I have played a Paladin since shortly after release. I have the original Collectors edition and all the others as well. I remember the end or the original Critadin. The nerf of 1.9. I remember pretty much being forced to heal in Vanilla WoW (at least as far as Tier gear went). Now I have an 80 of almost 80 class because I like to know the basic mechanics, but I don't profess to know how to play them. I don't know the intricacies. But I tend to agree that a lot of people will switch to the flavor of the month.
An example is Rogues in Vanilla WoW. How many times did you see "Need 1 more DPS, no more Rogues" The same would be true for Locks in BC. They were gods in PvP, and everywhere. In the start of Wrath, DKs and Pallys were everywhere.
Something interesting to see with this trend though, is along the way you find people that actually love the class. They may have started as a Warrior, and gone to a Lock, and decided that was their new passion and stopped going to the flavor of the month. Sure they may still dust off the warrior on occasion, but they found their favorite class because of the perceived nerfs and/or buffs.
Me? I am still stuck on pallys. I leveled two human pallys to 60 (back when it was a grind and a half), one on a PvE and one on a PvP just to see what I would like more. I still have a stable of them. A couple 80s, a few more in the 70s. Another in the 60s. And a bunch in the 30-50s. I DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM! DON'T YOU JUDGE ME!
.....I feel so ashamed.
Var Jan 10th 2010 9:30AM
My characters are more then their class. I get attached to them and will play them through just about any nerf...until I eventually lose interest in them for other reasons.
A part of why people stick with a character through a percieved nerf may be gear as well. I don't have the time and can't be that bothered to gear up a character just because the class got a temporary op buff.
Overall Blizzard do pretty well with their balancing act.
Gozer the Traveler Jan 10th 2010 9:46AM
My biggest frustration comes down to decisions like the Prot Warrior nerf recently.
A nerf that was not for PVE reasons, but for PVP. A nerf that will have ramifications in PVE. It just highlights how much the efforts to "balance for PVP" are affecting the game play of PVE.
Since BGs and Arena is already instanced out of the real world, I wish they would just change the laws of physics and have the nerfs only apply in the PVP instances.
Or undo the changes in 5man, 10man, and 25man runs to not hurt the PVE.
Sleutel Jan 10th 2010 9:48AM
I think that in terms of influencing who plays what characters, nerfs and buffs will generally affect the most the people on the very ends of the bell curve in terms of skill: really bad players and min/maxers. A really bad player will be drawn to a class seen as "OP," to give them any edge to make up for the fact that they can't or won't learn how to play any class well. A min/maxer will probably not abandon a current main completely, but if their guild is lacking in the new leading class for a given role, they'll probably be willing to level one and learn how to play it to their raid's best advantage.
"If your main was buffed, was it genuinely more fun to play?"
My main is a Prot War, started when I first got my own account in August-ish of 2007. She's been Prot since her first talent point at level 10. Anybody who knows tanks knows that Warriors currently trail at the tail end as far as DPS goes--our threat is good (even for AOE, if you know what you're doing), but straight-up damage just isn't there. Back in TBC, it was even worse. When I hit 70, I literally couldn't do most of my QD dailies on my own: I tagged along with a Resto Druid. It wasn't until I was able to put together a DPS set to wear (while still in my Prot spec) that I could solo much of anything. And don't even ask about AOE threat--there was no Shockwave and TC was capped at four targets.
Then came the big changes before Wrath. I can still remember my first day using Shockwave--I'd squeal every time I used it. Amazing! Having TC hit everything in its radius? Yes, please! Then there was the flat-out buff to damage in Defensive Stance--from a 10% hit to only a 5% one.
My main is my main, now and always, because I love the playstyle. Buffs have made me happy in the past, and nerfs have annoyed me, but they're not going to change what character I play. I might sigh with envy at a Paladin's AD, but I'm not going to reroll to get it.
krizzlybear Jan 10th 2010 9:52AM
I've been a die-hard frost mage since I started the game in BC. While I'm sure I would have appreciated their effectiveness in molten core during the vanilla era, the majority of the time I spent playing my mage was during the time it was deemed nonviable for raiding. I stuck it out anyway, as I loved the playstyle and my water elemental so much.
The wrath expansion was quite difficult for me as it was nigh impossible to get into a raid without getting snarky comments about frost being FTL and such. I've gone against the general expectations by actually knowing how to play my class, and staying competitive with the other specs, possibly because they didn't know how to play theirs as well as I did mine.
With 3.3, I find that all my time spent on my frosty has finally paid off. The playstyle is the best it has ever been, and I am in love with my perma-squirtle. We are never apart. And with my quick adjustment to the new playstyle and its damage buff, I am even more competitive with the other specs as well, to the point of even outperforming those with lesser gear and lesser experience with their own class.
It's never been a better time to be a Frost Mage, and I will cherish these moments for as long as I play WoW.
baysaz Jan 10th 2010 11:27AM
I totally agree. I am having such a good time on my newly frosted fire mage. And in Alterac Valley in my lvl bracket (55) everyone and his uncle is a frost with his elemental out. Blizzarding huge groups during those epic fights on the road outside of Dun Baldar is the most fun I've had playing this game.
So, thanks to the buff to frost I've recovered a toon that got shelved during the great mana regeneration nerf of winter 2008/9. I'd given up on that mage because I got so tired of sitting and drinking.