Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsBlizzard issues Call to Arms clarification
by Mathew McCurley 
Apr 8th 2011 at 2:00PM
Takralus -- Dungeon Finder Call to Arms
We've been following discussions and reading feedback on the Dungeon Finder Call to Arms feature, and appreciate everyone's opinions on the topic. We wanted to share a few items though that supplement the recent announcement:
The additional reward for completing the Dungeon Finder Call to Arms (called the Satchel of Exotic Mysteries) will be Bind on Account; able to be freely sent to other characters on your account once you receive it.
An error existed in the announcement regarding flasks and potions being picked based on your spec. This is not the case. If someone earns a Satchel of Exotic Mysteries, and if it rolls the random chance to provide a potion or flask, it will be a randomly selected. This helps ensure a broad array of available flasks and potions for all characters.
We also wanted to clarify, mounts that have a possibility to be found in a Satchel of Exotic Mysteries are found with the same rarity as if you had slain the dungeon boss that normally drops them.
The additional reward for completing the Dungeon Finder Call to Arms (called the Satchel of Exotic Mysteries) will be Bind on Account; able to be freely sent to other characters on your account once you receive it.
An error existed in the announcement regarding flasks and potions being picked based on your spec. This is not the case. If someone earns a Satchel of Exotic Mysteries, and if it rolls the random chance to provide a potion or flask, it will be a randomly selected. This helps ensure a broad array of available flasks and potions for all characters.
We also wanted to clarify, mounts that have a possibility to be found in a Satchel of Exotic Mysteries are found with the same rarity as if you had slain the dungeon boss that normally drops them.
The aim of the Call to Arms system is to get more tanks and healers into the dungeon finder as to facilitate faster groups. Since tanking and healing have become less forgiving in Cataclysm heroics, many players shy away from the added responsibility and pressure of performing in these roles. The result has been 30- to 60-minute DPS queues. Now, with incentives like the Satchel of Exotic Mysteries, hopefully tanks and healers will come back to the fold.
By making the rewards bind on account, players can reap rewards with an alt tank or healer from their DPS main without worrying about losing out on rewards. Hopefully this system will spur people into action to bring out those alt tanks and healers and get them running in heroics through these new incentives.
WoW Patch 4.1 is on the PTR, and WoW Insider has all the latest news for you -- from previews of the revamped Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub to new valor point mechanics and new archaeology items.
Filed under: Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 11 of 11)
MrDrew Apr 11th 2011 3:22PM
WOO this still sucks for those of us who only play dps >.< I have classes that CAN tank but I refuse to tank because there are way too many idiots in the dungeon finder, rogues who FoK pull without tricksing the tank FIRST and then bitching about why you didn't have aggro, hunters who can't seem to throw a trap but need to face pull then drop a trap, mages who sheep then cover the group including their sheep with a living bomb or better a flame strike/blast wave, boomkins who haven't glyphed starfall or typhoon, shamans who don't glyph thunderstorm, and my personal favorite the warrior who charges in ahead of the tank and bladestorms. As for healing I've leveled all my toons and decked them out to be dps and flipping over to heal just for a few valor points, a flask and MAYBE a mount isn't worth it. Glad there was a clarification on the mount drops that makes me happy :D
Bob Barker Apr 11th 2011 7:56PM
Yes its a team effort, and yes the small things that dps do can go unappreciated at times. The main issue is the fact from wotlk to cata, the skill threshold needed to tank and heal (solo jobs in a normal heroic, working in groups of 2-6 for raids) raised much more than that of dps'ing. If 1 dps isn't pulling their weight but the other 2 are (for both dps'ing and side jobs), chances are bosses still eventually go down. But if 1 out of 1 tank/healer isn't doing their job, that's it. There's no one else that can fully fill in that role. Game over.
So you play a rogue, which I do like seeing come up in my queues, because it means we have at least 1 cc and a full time kicker. And if you do all your side jobs all the time, I thank you for every other tank/healer you've queued with. But what about queues where there are no full time kickers, or its 3 nubs that still have roflFacerollWotlk mentality and refuse to do anything other than dps? Guess who gets those side duties ON TOP of healing and tanking. The resto shammy (me) gets to kick (you cannot IMAGINE how glad I am about the 4.1 changes for healer kicks). The tank gets to scramble around picking up lose mobs every time the hunter blows up a cc with explosive trap. The priest gets to blow all cds while trying to throw out sw:p's because all the dps died to fire on the ground. The dk gets to try pick up a new pack with both d&d and deathgrip on cd because a water elemental decided to make new friends.
Recently went on a random, queue popped and I'm ported to the area right before Ozruk. Immediately think 'uggh not again'. Spent 1 hour, went through 3 separate tanks. All 3 of them knew what they were doing. But the dps (that stayed the entire time) didn't have a clue about the mechanics. Melee got hammered by shatters. Mage didn't wipe the spell shield (forcing me to heal through all their reflects and squeezing in my own purge). Then the mage spell stealing way too soon, before me and the other ranged could even get a dot on ourselves. Then the other ranged forgetting to even put up his own dot, getting hammered by paralyzes over and over, killing my mana.
This was a bad queue, but tbh, I usually see at least 1 dps like this a run. Just total 'I roll my face as hard as I can to get big numbers, who cares about mechanics, give me my loot'. That's the thing with cata, dps isn't easy, but every time that a dps can't even do their small part to help, it falls on the tanks and healers to pick up the slack. Or just drop and requeue, hoping for less fail dps I suppose. That's the route most tanks have been taking nowadays. Its not so much that they don't understand the concept of 'working together'. Its they're tired of (the vast majority of) dps walking in and thinking the concept of 'working together' means 'I do what I can when I feel like it, you do everything else'.
Oh and as for blizz's attempted solution to get more tanks back? Meh, the average qb get paid more than an equally skilled olineman right? Neither of them have the skillset to do the others' job (no irl dual spec), but one IS defined as 'more difficult of a role to fill so you get paid more'.
Gath Apr 12th 2011 9:28AM
OMFG you ARE kidding right? let the tanks and healers come back? want to come back? ...wtf are you talking about, the DPSers are the ones who have the long que time ...why on EARTH would I EVER want to enter a call to arms BG?...now?...knowing that this goodie bag is for tanks only...that is just UNFAIR what if we don't HAVE any alts? or any tanks?..then we're screwed ? oh ok, i see how it is. lol so why would i EVER que for any call to arms lol...nah, thx tho.
lone_e May 4th 2011 1:33AM
I see the reason for the problems too fold and this "fix" will do little to solve the problems. The problems are at least in part (a small part!) to class defincies. for example, when im DPS'ing I come in and see a warrior tank the first thing that goes thru my mind is "oh crap a warrior". Not that the person playing it is bad, but the class itself has problems with holding aggro, just as I said "oh crap a dk tank" in wrath or "crap priest heals" now. Blizzard has lots of issues to address with healing/Tanking classes and is dodging it by this band-aid fix..
The other problem i dont see addressed here and is definately the elephant in the room that noone talks about, and which I know to be the biggest reason for the shortage of tanks is DPS behavior. The idiots that run in front of me and pull because they're retards, the ones that pull because there in too big of a hurry to wait on my cooldowns to finish or to wait for the healer to mana properly.. the Ass-hat that wants to dps something other than skull and blames the tank or healer when we watch it eat him. The one that "thinks" you can handle more and pulls another pack to you. The one typing his buddies every other fight and not pulling his weight. It's endless. But truth be told, when im tanking, I leave 1 out of every 3-4 groups just because of 8yo behavior.. Then they whine about the 45 min queues but a lot of time the reason people dont want to tank for the dps is the dps. Some groups its just not worth the headache. Not that everyone is that way i've had many many great groups in dungeons.Thank you to those people. but im seeing more and more bad groups. To which I leave group and hop on to a diff tank to advoid dungeon timer or simply find something else to do. Many tanks though simply tank for only there guild at which they can choose there party or not tank at all to avoid the behavior problems. It's just not worth it to them and a blizz band-aid isnt going to change there mind or if it does it will be just untill there loot drops and then back to the 45 min wait times for the dps