Breakfast Topic: Has Cataclysm been a game-changer for you?
by Thom Stricklin 
Apr 10th 2011 at 8:00AM
As early news leaked out about Cataclysm, I couldn't help but be excited. With the changes to raids, heroics, guilds, and gear, I looked forward to a version of WoW that provided more challenge but also better accommodated my own personal playstyle. However, I didn't expect to be playing a different main character for the first time in nearly four years of playing.
I was smitten and fiercely loyal to my main, a night elf feral druid named Aanye. Sure, I had other toons ... I'd been slowly leveling each of the other tank classes because I enjoy tanking. Still, Aanye would always be my main, right?
Well, let's face it: Cata has not been kind to bears. Don't get me wrong ... I'm glad the class has moved beyond swipe spam; AoE threat at 85 isn't that bad, and I think these changes will inevitably lead bears to a brighter future -- some day. But a month into Cataclysm, I just wasn't having any fun on Aanye.
So, I decided to powerlevel my warrior to 85 ... and I'm so glad that I did. Protection warriors are loud, raw, and deceptively simple; all we do is hit things, but there are oh so many creative ways to hit things. The multitude of choices keeps me on my toes; if I make a mistake, I will certainly feel it. But when I bring my A game, my warrior is a creature of extraordinary grace. In terms of gameplay, I'm having more fun now than I've ever had before. And I owe it all to my poor, neglected bear.
Has Cataclysm changed the way you play the game in an unexpected way?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
zweitblom Apr 10th 2011 8:04AM
So... you are thanking Blizzard for poor class balance? That's a Battered Wife Syndrome if I ever saw one...
poggg Apr 10th 2011 8:30AM
WoWinsider likes your comment the way it likes its coffee, it seems.
Rai Apr 10th 2011 8:42AM
Without domestic violence?
CaryEverett Apr 10th 2011 9:47AM
I like my men like I like my coffee. Whipped until creamy.
thawedtheorc Apr 10th 2011 9:49AM
Hurling untrue insults first thing in the morning is a sign of a batterer.
CaryEverett Apr 10th 2011 9:53AM
What? It's not domestic abuse if they beg for it harder.
Elmouth Apr 10th 2011 8:28PM
Blizzard likes its customers like its coffee, whipped until creamy.
Am I doin' it right?
Jarvish Apr 10th 2011 8:12AM
Let's just say...my main USED to be Tureni, resto druid. Now I have Tulie, 85 pala, Naltia, 85 priest and Schockaholic 40 going on 85 resto shammy. Neither class appeals to me healing-wise.
This last votaene of days I've veen playing Kneebite, my protection warrior gnome... And suddenly WoW is fun again ;-)
Jarvish Apr 10th 2011 8:14AM
This just in: LOL @ iPhone autocorrect...
"these last couple of days"...
cyanea85 Apr 10th 2011 9:45AM
I'm an English major, so I like to think I have a huge vocab. Not gonna lie...I read your first comment and giggled at the thought of a new word I've never heard of before. I spent five minutes looking it up before I looked at the second one.
splodesondeath Apr 10th 2011 10:05AM
Every time I try to Google "votaene" it's as if it says to me, "You're drunk aren't you? Here, try 'Vodafone'."
Your iPhone is reallllllllllly cool.
Undomiel Apr 10th 2011 10:47AM
What are you trying to say? Resto druid is broken now? Thats just silly... resto druids are doing fine...(except for a certain visual imparement ;-) )
But I must admit that I'm not really using my Bear OS anymore...
Jarvish Apr 10th 2011 3:09PM
@undomiel;
I'm aware there is a very vocal minority of old school raiders that absolutely adore the new healing.
I can do without the constant blaming, namecalling and utter stupidity that is the LFD. And yes, when dps and tanks in it are used to standing in cr*p on the ground, facepulling group after group and "LOL cc?", resto healing is broken. I am simply unable to keep enough dps alive to finish a simple trashpull in Grim Batol normal before I run OOM. And yes, I can run with my guild, and yes, not all pugs are that bad. But the majority of times I ask for CC i get LOL'ed at.
@cyanea;
It probably didn't help that my iphones dictionary is set to Danish... No, not the pastry, the language :-P
Noyou Apr 10th 2011 3:53PM
I don't think it has to do with a class being broken so much as it's just different than what you were used to from the last expansion. For example: I have a protection paladin I consider my main. So far I am disinterested in him as a tank so much that I am gearing a DK and a Warrior to do that role in Cata. I have heard from many players who have been playing since Vanilla that this is common. You might play one toon more or less during an expansion not so much cause it's "broken" or not but just that they feel more comfortable using. Paladin is still probably one of the better options for tanking but right now I think it's a good time to get another perspective on the matter :)
roland Apr 10th 2011 7:25PM
@cyanea;
Votaene is a Danish word that means written or oral statement that expresses a persons standing in a case or his/hers vote in the case.
Hope this makes sense :-)
toddcore Apr 10th 2011 8:57PM
It's not fair to call a class or spec "broken" because the random members of your group are lazy, stupid, slow, incompetent, poorly geared, obnoxious, or your choice of similar adjectives. For that matter the word "broken" deserves some sort of award for being the most overused and incorrectly used words in the WoW community's vocabulary.
I find myself able to compensate for a substantial amount of stupidity and incompetence in pugs on my resto druid and I have no gear not available from heroics or rep vendors. It's not my intent to be insulting or imply that you're doing it wrong, but I have to believe that given the problems you described you must have missed something in the spec's transition to Cataclysm.
robitrock Apr 11th 2011 6:19AM
^^ agree not saying you suck but rest Druids are in a really good spot atm.
For those who say it's broken, I think your either using a bad spec or not gemming/reforging correctly (taking all spirit is bad try all intellect instead, an reforge to haste and mastery) and if all else fails change the way you heal.
Spamming rejuv to much? Use WG more.
An keep lifebloom up it's your main spell.
Though from the many resto Druids I have helped this xpac, it's there spec, they will take pvp talents or forget about furor and moonglow.
Remember one rule: the bigger your mana pool, the higher your mana regen will be. Spirit only helps to a point and you should get plenty from your gear alone maybe add heartsong if you need a little extra.
Knob Apr 10th 2011 8:12AM
Not really. I'm still playing my hunter which I have had as my main since classic, I don't have any alts that are worth mentioning. That is perhaps why it doesn't feel different to me...I'm sure that people who have many alts probably don't like the shepherding through the zones; having to do all the quests in a certain order and not having the luxury of opting out of certain quest chains, and having to do that on every character can be pretty daunting I suppose, but I wouldn't know.
What has changed slightly is that I don't log in outside of raids anymore; there simply isn't anything else to do for me personally. I have never PvP'd so that's not an option, and I'm maxed out on every rep that can be obtained and I don't need any gear from heroics nor the VP from the daily heroic. So it's just a case of raid-logging for me these days. I wonder if it'll change when 4.2 rolls around and the new cleansed version of Mount Hyjal and its daily quest hub goes live, but I wouldn't count on it.
If anything, I feel like the world has lost its appeal....most people just idle in cities and get ported into instances, and I think it can all be traced back to TBC and the introduction of flying mounts. I'd have so much preferred it if flying mounts were never introduced.
Zura Apr 10th 2011 8:43AM
Your problem is you don't try new things. Never pvp? Try! I just tried arena after 3 years of wow and have had a blast. Stuck in city? Level new character or archaeology. Don't like questing? Use dungeon finder to level. It's like finding 30 new 5-mans to do. You're a hunter... Level a tank for the insta-queues. It's fun to learn to tank in lowbie dungeons.
Don't hate on flying...you forget how huge Azeroth is until you have a lowbie with no mount. Running anywhere, even with ground mount, takes forever.
Eddy Apr 10th 2011 10:04AM
I'm sort of where you are, Knob. This is the first expansion I've raided from the start- I started late in Classic and raided for a few weeks on an uneven schedule, rerolled to roleplay during BC, and solo-played the entire Wrath expansion. But two nights of raiding fills up my desire to play the game nicely, and that seems to be the case for my guildies as well, since no one is ever on.
4.1 and new archaeology items will probably bring me back, since I can't really justify all the time I've spent on the profession in pursuit of the Professor title (17/20) to myself right now.