The Queue: Why it's not time for a warlock tank
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky (@adamholisky) will be your host today.
Just remember when reading today's Queue that my main is a 'lock, and I'd love nothing more than to sit back and Hellfire my way into the tanking hall of fame.
That being said ...
UberBryan asked:
Do you think Blizz should have added a Warlock tanking spec? IMO DPS only classes are a dated design idea and to be phased out.
A warlock tanking spec would have been very interesting, and in some ways, it lends itself to the natural progression of the class. Warlocks have had to tank something in a raid now and then, and with a few modifications to mechanics, we're able to put out a lot of threat.
However.
There's also a point where Blizzard can do too much in an expansion. A warlock tank would need to be a complete reinvention of the standard tanking mold. There'd need to be extra mechanics added in for survival and avoidance (can't just have a straight mitigation tank). There'd need to be considerations given to PvP class balance; there'd need to be even more variables added to the way raid encounters are designed, etc., etc. ... The list goes on. When you introduce a new variable into an already complex system, if you're not careful, you can entirely unbalance the equation. Right now, I think adding a warlock tank would screw up the matrix pretty good.
I also think that the overall positive community overreaction to datamined spells about warlock tanking has raised an eye in the Blizzard offices. Could we see a 'lock tank in the future? That's a question for Blizzard, but I wouldn't be surprised. Just not right now -- not in this expansion.
HotCelica asked:
Do you think blizzard should make LFR harder instead if it basically being free purples for everyone?
No, absolutely not.
Right now, the Raid Finder is nearly perfectly tuned. There's a great balance of "Hey, pay attention" and "OK, you know the fight -- now go watch Netflix while you spam your heal." It has something for everyone in it. New players get to learn; experienced players get to farm.
Is it too easy for you? OK, hit up normals with a guild. Is that too easy? Then farm normals and early heroic bosses until you can get into a top-tier guild working on Spine and Madness heroic. I doubt there are more than a few hundred people reading this who are at that point, however, so the vast majority of us have a long way to go.
Your worth as a WoW player isn't based on how many purples you have. It's based on the group of cool people you keep as friends in game. Blizzard has been trying for years to create a system where the color of loot doesn't mean anything, and it's struck gold with looking for raid. Everyone can enjoy the raids, and that's pretty damn awesome.
Fuzzl asked:
Do you think Ghostcrawler being more active on the forums lately means we'll hear from him more during the MoP expansion and go back to a "Ghostcrawler Days" kind of feeling again, or will he stop being so active once the Beta is over?
I hope we do. The CMs (folks like Zarhym and the gang) have gotten a ton better about communicating designer intent and information -- it's a world of difference from the way things were four years ago. But there is something ... unique Ghostcrawler brings to the discussion table.
But despite my hope, I'm guessing that he'll return to doing blogs and the occasional Q&A.
Spectres asked:
While looking around the official WoW website, crabby said to me, "There are a total of fifteen "Easter Eggs" in the Beginner's Guide. Can you find them all?" Is that true or is Blizzard April Fools trolling me?
You were trolled. We all were. Crabby promised me a beta key.
ResumeMan asked:
Are there multiple beta servers?? How could one server possibly handle close to a half-million people?
There are four servers that people can select from right now. There's always a possibility to add more, but I doubt we'll see that. Remember that a lot of people who get the beta will download it, play it for 10 minutes, and then stop. A relatively small percentage will actually play through it entirely and submit bug reports, etc... So even though a million will eventually be invited, only a small fraction of those players will be on.
Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW Insider crew is here with The Queue, our daily Q&A column. Leave your questions in the comments, and we'll do our best to answer 'em!
