The Daily Blues

Important statements continue to come out of the blues in response to the recent Cataclysm information dump. Expect a lot more over the next week.
Table of Contents
Ghostcrawler
Almost all of the responses about rage as it applies to warriors also apply to druids. Maul is changing to be an instant attack that hits a lot harder when you have a lot of rage. There is no reason to assume that means bear threat must suddenly drop. It might if we made no other changes, but we won't do that.
The only big difference off the top of my head is that druids have a higher crit rate than warriors when tanking, so they may generate more rage when tanking. But there are ways to adjust for that, such as e.g. letting warriors get more rage when they block.
We've said before that we think bears don't quite have enough to do while tanking, especially given a talent tree that asks a lot of its players while doing dps. That's something we'd like to fix for Cataclysm.
The only big difference off the top of my head is that druids have a higher crit rate than warriors when tanking, so they may generate more rage when tanking. But there are ways to adjust for that, such as e.g. letting warriors get more rage when they block.
We've said before that we think bears don't quite have enough to do while tanking, especially given a talent tree that asks a lot of its players while doing dps. That's something we'd like to fix for Cataclysm.
We're just not sure yet on DW Blood tanking or 2H Frost dps. Certainly our main focus will be to make sure 2H Blood tanking and DW Frost dps work, but we're not likely to crack down on alternate uses of those specs. We're not sure that a Blood DW style could work without talents that allow for strikes with both weapons, but we'll see. It should be a fun beta. :)
Other
10% more gold from loot and quest rewards. Right?
I think they are more along the lines of this:
Anytime the character goes afk they start to lose gold at a rate of 1 gold for every 10 seconds.
So are Shaman losing Purge, or will they have Purge (which removes buffs) as a base ability and Cleanse Spirit (which removes curses and for resto magic buffs *and* debuffs) alongside it?
This is something we're still working on. We will still have abilities that remove 2 effects. One design is that all shaman have Cleanse Spirit (curse) and Purge (magic on enemies), and then Restoration can talent to allow Cleanse Spirit to also remove magic. Another is that shaman have one button that does all the dispelling to free up key-binds. The point we were trying to clarify above is that the ability to remove curses is a base shaman ability.
This is something we're still working on. We will still have abilities that remove 2 effects. One design is that all shaman have Cleanse Spirit (curse) and Purge (magic on enemies), and then Restoration can talent to allow Cleanse Spirit to also remove magic. Another is that shaman have one button that does all the dispelling to free up key-binds. The point we were trying to clarify above is that the ability to remove curses is a base shaman ability.
This has always seemed a bit strange to me. I would think that Druid's nature based abilities would be a natural to remove diseases (as opposed to Curses).
It's dangerous territory trying to defend game changes (or arguing against game changes) for lore reasons. While we take the lore very seriously, it's a slippery thing that can be used to justify opposite points of view. For example, in our minds the mystical, yet perhaps provincial nature of druids and shaman make them well-suited for focusing on healing afflictions of the spirit (curses). Meanwhile, priests and paladins have a connection to urbanized society and advanced medicine (relative to a medieval / Renaissance / fantasy time period anyway), and are therefore more qualified to heal afflictions of the body (disease). Druids have a strong connection to animals and plants, so perhaps understanding the nature of toxins and venom makes sense. While shaman have an affinity for elements and spirits, you can stretch that too far and say that because they are tribal healers they should be capable of removing any malady that might strike down their people. It's all very malleable stuff. We're also not above evolving the lore when we think it's absolutely necessary.
It's dangerous territory trying to defend game changes (or arguing against game changes) for lore reasons. While we take the lore very seriously, it's a slippery thing that can be used to justify opposite points of view. For example, in our minds the mystical, yet perhaps provincial nature of druids and shaman make them well-suited for focusing on healing afflictions of the spirit (curses). Meanwhile, priests and paladins have a connection to urbanized society and advanced medicine (relative to a medieval / Renaissance / fantasy time period anyway), and are therefore more qualified to heal afflictions of the body (disease). Druids have a strong connection to animals and plants, so perhaps understanding the nature of toxins and venom makes sense. While shaman have an affinity for elements and spirits, you can stretch that too far and say that because they are tribal healers they should be capable of removing any malady that might strike down their people. It's all very malleable stuff. We're also not above evolving the lore when we think it's absolutely necessary.
Blizzard
Filed under: The Daily Blues






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Anathemys Apr 6th 2010 10:30PM
Zarhym's right. Lore is INSANELY easy to twist.
Anyone remember that concept DK spell, Unholy Embrace. It was essentially an anti-bubble, as it took away the bubble AND dealt back the damage shield AS damage. It just sounded overpowered, and just think if it had made it in...! But the lore behind it was completely rock-solid. Death Knights were always seen as anti-paladins, but of course that would restrict race options, which would also screw with game mechanics.
Shaman and Paladins have a perfect lore reason to be Horde and Alliance specific, but once again, that caused balance issues.
Now, if we're talking in the hypothetical here, we could always resort to the Forsaken Paladin. This makes a sort of sense in the lore perspective, but it also kinda doesn't. You can sway either way.
On the one side, you have the fact that humans can be paladins, and Forsaken are just dead humans, therefore, they could be dead paladins. You also can't use the "Light-Forsaken" Forsaken (please excuse my poor sense of humor), as Forsaken can be holy and disc priests, as well as shadow.
Then, on the other side, you have the fact that the Forsaken personality is completely opposite to the paladin's. Paladins are altruistic, goodie-two shoes, selfless people, while the Forsaken are devious, cunning, boarder-line evil, and just about the most selfish race in the game (goblins are greedy, which has a completely different connotation). Plus, the only reason Forsaken can be holy or disc priests is because the game's balance would be completely screwed if you had a race that could only play one spec of a class (not to mention the severe deal-breaker of being a healing-focused class that can't heal).
No, lore is a very tricky thing. I guarantee that I could argue for and against any proposed lore-based change, regardless of what I believe (which is generally just take what you get, or quit) (I also apologize for that horrible rhyme, it was unnecessary... But fun).
Lemons Apr 6th 2010 11:29PM
I agree completely. There was a discussion about Worgen DKs and how would it be possible for them to exist when the outbreak of the worgen curse happens after Arthas' demise. At first I was sure there could be no possible solution, but a lot of people actually came up with a whole slew of semi-plausible situations in which a Worgen DK might exist.
Still pretty much a lorelol for me even after hearing the theories, but if Blizzard wanted to I'm sure they could adopt any one of those scenarios as canon and get Knaak to write a book about it.
Mergetvs Apr 7th 2010 12:11AM
@Lemons - it is really simple how there are Worgen DK's. Walk into Silverpine forest. OR Grizzly Hills- You see Worgen there don't you?
Calebe Apr 7th 2010 1:36AM
People do know that orc warlocks were the 1st to make death knights? Therefore DKs can still be about after Lich...........though ofc by lore standards orc warlocks shouldn't even be allowed in org and killed on site by other orcs but hey, there's lore and there's LORE. Just make sure the game is fun and still has some cool story that is maybe 75% lore fact and we'll be happy :D
Qot Apr 7th 2010 1:37AM
There are undead paladins. They're one of the mobs you encounter just north of Dalaran in Icecrown. They throw a Crusader's Shield and everything.
Daniel Apr 7th 2010 1:43AM
"Zarhym's right. Lore is INSANELY easy to twist."
Yes, but it's also a cop out. Biologically, flesh is amazingly easily to twist. Look at a plastic surgeon. Or look at the flesh on a tiger compared to that of an anteater compared to a bee. There is nothing biologically static about the concept of "flesh".
Yet the amazing thing is that as human beings we can distinguish a rat from a cow and a horse from a pig. We know a beautiful face when we see one, even if it's just in the eye of the beholder.
The point is that just because something is insanely easy to twist doesn't give one the ability to cop out and declare the whole topic off limits. If that was the case all creation would just be one big glop of ooze. The fact that reality is not just a big glop of ooze is the ultimately illustration of where Zarhym's is wrong.
It may be a dangerous topic. Life is dangerous. So is game designing. So was WoW, once.
TR Apr 7th 2010 4:54AM
This, indeed. Elf lore, for example, talks about the how the high elves were exiled for their use and dependence on arcane magic, while the remaining night elves shunned arcane magic returning instead to druidic nature magic. Well... Starfire, Moonfire, Starfall, Remove Curse and Teleport: Moonglade are all from the arcane school. Alrighty then.
I'm waiting for Archmage Mordent Evenshade in Darnassus to say to Sentinel Stillbough or Tyrande, "I keep hearing glass breaking. Does Fandral need new walls in the Cenarion Enclave?"
GrimFizzle Apr 7th 2010 8:47AM
"On the one side, you have the fact that humans can be paladins, and Forsaken are just dead humans"
except Dark Rangers are dead elves.
http://www.wowwiki.com/Dark_ranger
I do hope we get to play as Dark Rangers in a future expansion.
scott Apr 6th 2010 10:34PM
"We've said before that we think bears don't quite have enough to do while tanking, especially given a talent tree that asks a lot of its players while doing dps."
i wonder, is it time to just give druids a 4th talent tree? they do 4 roles, why one tree be forced to fit 2 of those roles?
Minidrake Apr 7th 2010 12:11AM
I'm betting that with Cataclysm, we're going to see a vastly different druid talent tree. Passive filler is being stripped -- and that's a lot of Feral right there. I'm betting on seeing tighter talent trees (less fat) with bear/cat abilities spread across Feral and Balance. Or maybe Cat spreads across Feral and Balance and Bear spreads across Feral and Resto.
Snuzzle Apr 7th 2010 12:40AM
Please no. Druids essentially had four talent trees in Vanilla, look up our old talent tree. Sure, there's still only three panes: feral, balance, restoration. But the feral talent tree had two separate paths to take, even down to having two 31-point talents; one for cat and one for bear.
Maybe it was just because the talents were horrible ("I spent thirty-one points in ferlol and all I got was this lousy chance to get an extra combo point on Pounce") but it didn't work well at all. I much prefer the synergy in TBC between cat and bear.
Though I can't help but fear that, what with them doing away with the dknight "tank or dps" trees, ferals will be next. But they won't give us four trees, that would be unfair that we're the only class with four trees. So, one spec would have to get the axe.
I for one vote Moonkin. They were always the redheaded stepchild of druids anyway.
Continuum6 Apr 7th 2010 1:51AM
In response to "scott" and "Minidrake":
You obviously don't PvP as Feral. Now, before you get all hurt, please let me clarify that that is totally okay and I'm not accusing anyone of "failing".
I'm just saying, you obviously don't PvP as Feral and please let me be the first to tell you that Feral pvpers use Bear and Cat forms equally. Sitting in Bear form is Never a winning strategy at any time, but Bear form contains the better 2/3 of Feral pvp "utility" abilities.
It's our primary damage mitigation/survival cd in and of itself. On top of that, it contains all our survival cds, save Barkskin. It also gives us access to an "Intercept" and a 5 second stun.
Splitting Bear and Cat talents into separate trees would DESTROY feral pvp, no matter how the class and trees are redesigned.
That is all :)
alpha5099 Apr 7th 2010 2:31AM
@ Snuzzle
That is a truly terrible idea, sacrificing the Balance tree to split Feral. Massive balance changes are one thing, but the DK example is one of changing a spec's function, removing the option to tank. Yeah, it'd suck if you only wanted to play in the Frost tree and was a dedicated tank, but the adjustment period for that is nothing compared to having an entire spec removed.
No one would be made happy by Balance getting the axe. Even strictly Feral or Resto druids with no interest in the tree wouldn't see it as a net gain, and Blizzard would alienate the entire boomkin community. Imagine finding out that the spec you love of the character you've been playing for years was just gone. If tomorrow, during the shaman info-dump, Blizzard announced that the Enhancement tree was getting the axe, I'd probably quit right then and there.
It's also a silly idea to extend Blizz's reasoning on their DK changes to the Feral tree. Admitting that trying to keep all three trees balanced for two roles does not mean that Blizz is throwing in the hat on Feral as well. Keeping three trees competitive as tanks, not just among the tanking community in general but within the class itself is a far cry from having a class with a single tree designed to offer both a tanking niche and a dps niche.
Jamie Apr 6th 2010 11:02PM
In response to the Goblin racial blue post:
Time is money, friend!
Fletcher Apr 7th 2010 1:00AM
Well ... I personally am hoping for class-based appearance changes in Cataclysm. Specifically, my dwarf shaman wants Wildhammer tattoos.
Fletcher Apr 7th 2010 1:07AM
What in the world ... that was meant to be a reply to theblackdog (various numbers and other things omitted) in response to Snuzzle. Bleh.
Continuum6 Apr 7th 2010 1:54AM
pure win :) made me lol
thebl4ckd0g Apr 6th 2010 11:27PM
Kinda off-topic, but I'm crossing my fingers a Blizzard Blue sees my post - I was curious why Druids don't have horns/antlers in WoW, but in all the lore and novels, they do. Especially in the recent "Stormrage" novel...
Lemons Apr 6th 2010 11:35PM
Blue posters don't respond to comments posted on WoW.com...your best bet is to post on Blizzard's official WoW forum and even then your chances of getting a blue response to your specific post are about the same as winning the lottery. Also...they don't really like people asking for blue responses...
nighthawk Apr 6th 2010 11:37PM
only arch druids such as malfurion hav antlers. normal druids like the ones playable in the game do not