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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 5 of 6)
kunukia Jan 10th 2010 11:14AM
I stick to my beastmaster hunters through all. At one point we were on top, now we aren't. /shrug
Brent Jan 10th 2010 12:23PM
Of course, it could be too, depending on how they gather this data (on created v played characters) that everyone playing has created roughly 1 character in each class. And my giant conspiracy is completely bogus. Basically, everyone who plays has at least one of each class. Therefore, all then classes get even distribution. But I like my fantasy concept better!
Hoggersbud Jan 10th 2010 12:55PM
The data is based purely on a person being online, nothing more. You could log on a toon 5 minutes a day, and if that's when somebody was scanning, they'd find it, but not your other toon you have on for hours and hours.
Of course, in theory with enough people conducting scans, it wouldn't be an issue, they'd get a representative sampling, but even then, there's nothing in the data provided that would allow you to determine the playtime.
Brent Jan 10th 2010 2:08PM
It would be even more remarkable and defy expectation if during the random sampling you describe, an almost equal percentage of classes was present. That is even less likely than my concept of a system of traits matching human choices of varying psychological profiles. Mine is explainable. Yours implies that some kind of spontaneous symmetry occured in a random sample. If yours is the case, then I would just have to chuck my reasoning powers and bow to the mystic dream engine that is WoW.
curzen Jan 10th 2010 11:43AM
The census page relies on an addon being run, many realms note that the numbers are unreliable due to not enough data being submitted. I really don't think that site can be considered as being reliable at all anymore.
Bronwyn Jan 10th 2010 11:56AM
Whether or not my class has been nerfed or buffed definitely does not affect my playing of that class. I play what I want to play, and thanks to dual spec I can also have a spec that everyone else wants me to play, in case the bias against frost mages in raids still makes them not want me to be in frost for the raid. ;-)
Besides, I don't level nearly fast enough to have a flavor of the month toon. Now, granted, I've got 3 lvl 80s and more on the way, but really, my mage is still my main and she likely will be for a very long time.
Tram Jan 10th 2010 11:57AM
Well, started off as a Lock in vanilla, and got tired of being called n00b lock (as they were pretty OP most of those days). So I rolled a druid and played it as my main through all of BC and loved the heck out of healing. When dual specs came out I went feral/resto just in time to feel the full weight of the Lifebloom nerf that we got for arena purposes. It was too big of an adjustment in playstyle for me and I had to give up on him.
I now enjoy my Enh/resto shaman who was my alt in BC and can't imagine playing any other class ever again. I will also say, that is the constant nerf/buffing for PVP reasons that will probably drive me away from this game. I have a perfectly good druid just sitting there because of changes made to balance Arena matches...which I don't even participate in. Oh well... /cast stormstrike =)
Moonkinmaniac Jan 10th 2010 11:59AM
Its a game. Games should be fun. It may be unrealistic, but I think there should never be nerfs. Just buff everyone else if one class is too far ahead. Like the warrior heroic leap they took out, it seemed like it would've been really fun. Just a waste to get rid of things like that. I'd never stop playing my druid because of a nerf, but if it got to the point where it was no longer fun I'd just stop playing wow.
Dragundam Jan 10th 2010 12:19PM
If you keep buffing everyone with no end in sight, the game would just be Dragonball Z instead of WoW.
videvekartuspaan Jan 10th 2010 1:04PM
lol at dragonball z
Veneroso Jan 10th 2010 12:11PM
The real solution is to make a lvl 80 of every class this way no matter who they nerf you always have something OP to fall back on. HA!
Serotonin Jan 10th 2010 12:14PM
Wow, I am surprised to have read so many mature comments. I was expecting a thread full of posts like "Blizzard has totally ruined my game. It's not fun for me anymore because I will lose 5% damage."
I'm glad to hear there are people out there who are actually PLAYING this game.
Dragundam Jan 10th 2010 12:18PM
Another Beast Hunter, and got to play as a ret pally with delicious free Exorcisms for all of a month before 3.1 killed it. I still play as both, though Exorcism's completely fallen off my rotation since I'm too distracted by the middle of the screen to see the proc, and Hammer of Wrath is more convenient. I also know better than to try and raid. At least there's plenty of other stuff to do at endgame. :/
Abbadon Jan 10th 2010 12:28PM
I played a shadow priest when being a spriest blew chunks... Nothing like being the dps right above the tank on the charts! o_O
So no, no I'm not one to pack up just cause times are tough. But he's just my raiding toon. I still devote most of my non-raid time to my old main (a lock), and I put in time with the DK as well. (Oh... I switched from lock to spriest cause my guild had like 4 raiding locks and no spriests at the beginning of Wrath... and the lack of spriest players in general has kept me in that role as the guilds I've moved on to always have a lock or three but no spriests.)
But it comes down to playing what you like. (obviously.. or at least it should be obvious) I enjoy keeping my 3 favorite toons in shape, running the random daily and pug raiding with the non-raiders when possible. The only toon that I don't give a lot of time to is my druid. Can't put my finger on it, but for some reason I just can't get into the class, but I still manage to run the occasional random with him. Slowly but surely he'll get some upgrades... maybe that will make a difference.
Ozzard Jan 10th 2010 12:30PM
I don't raid with a top-flight raid guild where every 0.1% damage, threat and healing matters. I PvP occasionally. I don't go near the Arena, where balancing 3v3 and 5v5 is so key. Really gross buffs and nerfs affect my play a little, but it's not like my arena ranking or my raid squad place depend on exactly how my class behaves.
I suspect - without proof - that the high-end PvE and PvP players would give a rather different answer!
fleabyte75 Jan 10th 2010 12:54PM
Interesting article. I started WoW during the time of BC close to Wotlk. I level slow and have a hard time making my mind up. I've played Hunter, Lock, Druid, and of course DK past 50, and a few more classes to 30.
Hunter was the first class I got up towards the 50 mark and I was getting bored playing lone wolf and pugs. So I convinced a RL friend into playing and I rerolled a warlock, while he rolled a shammy. Our intentions from the beginning were to go into arena. So we did many bgs together, and we got close to the lvl50 mark. But he wasn't vibing with his shammy and honestly our faction sucked in the bgs. So we did some research and rerolled onto one of the famous PVP battlegroups. He made a Pally, I made a Druid. He instantly fell in love with his class while I struggled with mine. When DKs became available I made one in hopes of replacing my druid. I got good with the DK and we are doing the arena thing now.
I've learned much more about the game since being 80. So when I get bored being melee dps I occasionally switch to my druid and grind out a few levels. But truth be told I'm good with the DK because of all the work I've put into him, and I suppose I consider him my main.
With all of this in mind, no, DK has not been my favorite class. I actually loved the warlock most of all. I would transfer him over but he'd have to be alliance, and the race choices don't fit in my mind. DK is my second favorite class, and considering how bad I am about alts and changing my mind, I guess I should consider myself lucky to have one as an 80.
So to answer your article. It would seem the following factors affect the class I play: 1) Viable for PvP (FotM) 2) Do I vibe with the class? 3) Do I like the race/class combos? (aesthetics) 4) Time spent on upgrading the class.
FoxOfWar Jan 10th 2010 12:34PM
I've changed mains now twice during this expansion, but that has next to nothing to do with buffs of nerfs, but rather me trying to find out what I really want to do in raiding. "Soul searching", if you will.
My original main, coming into Wrath, was prot warrior. At some point during the "Oh god, not Naxx again" -era, I burned out, and would have probably stayed out until 3.1 came out if I hadn't started a shaman alt earlier. During leveling said character, I found healing to be very fun. So it was in no time that the shaman was 80 and instead of tanking, I was healing Naxx. Tanking felt a bit stale at that point due to nothing hitting hard enough to be a danger, but healing felt fun.
At the same time, our guild was having a big, big need for healers. So it wasn't a big push for me to change from Naxx25-geared tank to Naxx10-geared healer for Ulduar.
Ulduar and TotC went on. And woe is me, I started another alt. A druid, purely for the idea of doing Loremaster on said character. No intention to change that character to be my main... well, until I got lvl 40, got dual spec, and could switch from healer to tank in a blink. I found out that while healing is very fun, I missed tanking.
I hit 80 two weeks before 3.3 on my druid. When 3.3 hit, I had just got my last upgrade to my tanking set from Conquests. I then rolled heroics until I had 4/5 of tier 9/232 for both of my specs + all the other stuff. And through a lot of persuation of the other officers and GM, I changed main again. This time, I hope, for good. But really, what could be more fun than tanking AND healing? Not dps, that's for sure. :)
ToyChristopher Jan 10th 2010 12:35PM
A recent nerf isn't but a string of nerfs that really make me question what is in store for that class make me reconsider. I have played my holy paladin through thick and thin but I finally decided to level up a new healing class just in case I don't like what is in store for holy paladins.
While holy paladins have gotten buffs this expansion they also had some nasty nerfs, like the nerf to infusion of light and sacred shield, that make playing my holy paladin less fun. They also had a nerf to illumination, and while that was annoying, it didn't really make my paladin less fun. Everything they did to make the play style more varied they took away, both with nerfs and with content. Spamming heals on one tank while healing another automatically is only fun until the novelty wears off.
My point is that I don't think there are a lot of players who follow the nerf/buff cycle really close. A buff to a class might make it seem more attractive but I think people will stick with their mains for a while before they get tired of it.
marko1138 Jan 10th 2010 12:43PM
Is there anyway a Mage can NOT spec Arcane and still top the dps meters these days?
Hoggersbud Jan 10th 2010 12:49PM
Enough Crit with FFB maybe?