NickMcC (not verified) on August 14, 2006 - 11:23.
As someone who has consistantly called for Blizzard to recitfy their lurch towards a minority demographic, I have to say I completely agree with your analysis of the changes just recently announced. The bizarre thing is that the crowing going on at the main forums seems to me to be completely misguided. PvP, as you say, will clearly be changed into a two-tier system to allow only the most hardcore of PvP'ers to reach raid level gear. I do obviously welcome the proposed changes to the existing honour system, but it seems self evident that Blizzard also intend a two-tier reward system, and for people like me raid-level gear remains a pipe dream. That said, I think the fact that the arena system supports same-faction battles is obviously a boon to those of us stuck with Alliance characters. But if the rewards for arena PvP are seen as unobtainable, and the honour PvP rewards are of the same time/reward ratio as the current faction rewards, then the whole thing has been for naught.
It is the raid changes, however, that have really depressed me. Many people on the boards are crowing in victory, proclaiming that Blizzard has finally listened to the 'casuals'. To me, they miss the point. A 25 man raid is as inaccessible to me as a 40 man raid ever was, because the problem was not an inability to gather up 40 people, but rather an intense dislike of the raider play style. Standing in a dungeon for hours listening to lowest-common denominator conversation just doesn't appeal, and the inevitable guild drama doesn't help either. Couple this with a pathalogical hatred for DKP systems - systems that only serve to accentuate the already huge loot advantage no-lifers get - and raiding just doesn't press my buttons. Blizzard may have compelling reasons for a 25 man raid cap, but I doubt drawing people like me into raiding is one of them.
What I want to see is a tiered set of 5 man or 10 man content that mirrors what currently exists for raiders, so that dungeon set A has to be found before dungeon B can be attempted, followed by dungeon C etc. I want the gear discrepancy to be lowered so that my occasioanl forays into PvP are not totally demoralising. I don't really care how much raid content they place into the game, so long as the gear raiders get from it does not completely eclipse what is available elsewhere. I'm still hoping this will be the case and praying that Blizzard does not see raiding as the natural and inevitable endgame for absolutely everyone.
Re: Honor system revamp and world PvP
As someone who has consistantly called for Blizzard to recitfy their lurch towards a minority demographic, I have to say I completely agree with your analysis of the changes just recently announced. The bizarre thing is that the crowing going on at the main forums seems to me to be completely misguided. PvP, as you say, will clearly be changed into a two-tier system to allow only the most hardcore of PvP'ers to reach raid level gear. I do obviously welcome the proposed changes to the existing honour system, but it seems self evident that Blizzard also intend a two-tier reward system, and for people like me raid-level gear remains a pipe dream. That said, I think the fact that the arena system supports same-faction battles is obviously a boon to those of us stuck with Alliance characters. But if the rewards for arena PvP are seen as unobtainable, and the honour PvP rewards are of the same time/reward ratio as the current faction rewards, then the whole thing has been for naught.
It is the raid changes, however, that have really depressed me. Many people on the boards are crowing in victory, proclaiming that Blizzard has finally listened to the 'casuals'. To me, they miss the point. A 25 man raid is as inaccessible to me as a 40 man raid ever was, because the problem was not an inability to gather up 40 people, but rather an intense dislike of the raider play style. Standing in a dungeon for hours listening to lowest-common denominator conversation just doesn't appeal, and the inevitable guild drama doesn't help either. Couple this with a pathalogical hatred for DKP systems - systems that only serve to accentuate the already huge loot advantage no-lifers get - and raiding just doesn't press my buttons. Blizzard may have compelling reasons for a 25 man raid cap, but I doubt drawing people like me into raiding is one of them.
What I want to see is a tiered set of 5 man or 10 man content that mirrors what currently exists for raiders, so that dungeon set A has to be found before dungeon B can be attempted, followed by dungeon C etc. I want the gear discrepancy to be lowered so that my occasioanl forays into PvP are not totally demoralising. I don't really care how much raid content they place into the game, so long as the gear raiders get from it does not completely eclipse what is available elsewhere. I'm still hoping this will be the case and praying that Blizzard does not see raiding as the natural and inevitable endgame for absolutely everyone.