wow-ghostcrawler
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Update on the Ghostcrawler situation
We reported this weekend on Ghostcrawler's self-imposed break from the forums. The response by the majority of the so-called mature fans was quite negative. Many were furious, and rightfully so in my opinion. It appeared that a key source of information for the community was taking leave. Right on the cusp of the Cataclysm alpha/beta, this would have been a terrible time for that to occur. We'd likely be in the dark about changes until they were discovered on the beta/PTR, and even then there would be little to no definitive philosophical discussion about the reasons behind the new content.Ghostcrawler was apparently touched by the fan support, which you can see both in our post and the forum thread in the role forums. He's come back out and said that he will only be responding to topics he wants, rather than allowing clamoring forum-goers to push him into responding (or not responding).This has been evident lately in the Shadow Priest QQ going on. When he doesn't respond to what is clearly inappropriate discourse, people get really angry. They think Blizzard is ignoring them, which isn't the case. The role forums are about discussion between players with Ghostcrawler occasionally appearing to offer some insight. Designers read everything on those forums, blue tagged or not.His exact words, after the break.
Ghostcrawler to take a break from the forums
Ghostcrawler, aka Greg Street, the Lead Systems designer, posted today that he is going to "chill it out a little" from the role forums. These forums are the primary conduit for Blizzard to communicate with the fanbase about changes to WoW and the philosophy behind those changes. For the past year and a half, Ghostcrawler has been the daily presence in the forums, offering a unique and exceptionally detailed look at the inner workings of the design process that goes into WoW.One of the primary complaints Ghostcrawler has about the forums is how his words are picked apart by folks, often times with such a fine scalpel that things which he says are taken out of context and diluted from their original meanings. We've noticed this ourselves, in that when we post on something he says commenters will often look past the context of the post (or article we've written) and dive right into a uniquely feisty brand of QQ. As of late the forums have reached a new level of annoyance, with more and more posts being about Ghostcrawler's job performance and him personally, instead of being about the game mechanics. Even post about game mechanics and design issues find a way to devolve into people crying about their class or what Ghostcrawler has or has not done. Some people actually believe that Ghostcrawler promised them a pony, and those people have became significantly more and more vocal.
The three reasons for the killing of Twos
Now you might want to kill off some Twos because they're skin jobs with such religious zeal to them they make the one track minded Replicants look like Titan A.E. robots. Or you might want to kill off twos because the bracket was nearly impossible to balance.According to a recent post by Ghostcrawler there are three primary reasons that they killed off the 2v2 arena bracket this season.First, the most successful compositions were dominated by classes that were "well-rounded... with lots of offense and defense..." Think Paladins and Druids. Ever try to kill a good Resto druid one-on-one? It can get a little bit insane. Same thing happens in the twos bracket.Secondly, there exists a problem with healer balance. Consider the following scenario: A healer can't keep himself and his partner up in 2s, therefore the healer would never be successful in 3s A healer can keep himself and his two partners up in 3s, therefore would be over powered in 2s
Ghostcrawler on balancing and the community reaction
One of the most, if not the most, contentious issues in all of WoW is the near constant balancing act of the systems design team. These are the guys responsible for virtually every class ability and talent nerf, and their herald, Ghostcrawler, is oftentimes the sacrificial messenger which all the hate and vileness of the internet is spewed forth onto.But it's all good, because he's also the leader of the systems design team and leaders often have to place themselves front and center to take the worst of the damage. And the WoW community can do a lot of damage.Recently it was discussed how and why the community reacts to class changes, in particular nerfs, and why Blizzard does what it does when it comes to them. While most of this information is not new, it is interesting to see how clearly the message has developed since Ghostcrawler began posting on the Wrath beta forums over a year ago.After the break we'll take a look at what Blizzard has to say on class balancing and the community's reaction. We'll also pick apart a few statements and look at alternative ways which can accomplish the same goals.
WoW subscriber numbers still increasing, multi-boxers trivial
There has been a long thread about WoW and the philosophical changes and approaches over the past four years, and in particular to some of the larger design decisions made recently (dual specs). In it Ghostcrawler makes an offhand remark about WoW's subscriber numbers:"Wrath of the Lich King is still selling very well and our subscribers are increasing."Now I want to be clear that this was made off-hand and is not from an official earnings statement. But that doesn't discount it from being full of truthiness; and nonetheless, this is rather significant in that it's been a while since we last heard any indication of current subscriber numbers. To some this news won't be very surprising, given that Wrath of the Lich King has been a huge hit. But others might raise an eyebrow that after five months of Wrath things are still up-ticking.He also mentions the ever hot topic of multi-boxers:
The great hunter nerf of 2008
I quote Ghostcrawler: "Hunters of all specs, and particularly Beastmaster, are doing too much damage in PvE."At this point you can stop reading if you're a Hunter and just assume the worst. But if you want to see how you're getting nerfed to the ground, read on.The rationale behind the changes is that Blizzard has been doing a lot of internal testing, along with the beta of WotLK, and has determined the other classes have not been able to keep up with the Hunter DPS output.The list of nerfs is wide ranging. Volley nerfed by 30%. Steady Shot now gains 10% of Attack Power instead of 20%. Kindred Spirits has been nerfed by 25%. Readiness no longer affects the cooldown of Bestial Wrath.The list of changes is not exhaustive. Ghostcrawler makes a point to say that these are just the ones they feel are ready for testing. He hopes to see them up on the PTR before they go live.The full 14 point list of changes after the break.
Dual spec update
Ghostcrawler provided a bit of an update yesterday on the ETA of Dual Specs. He makes it clear that while they'd love to have them in patch 3.1 (which is when we'll see Ulduar and some other post Wrath), he doesn't want to say something and then not deliver – only to get players upset.Dual specs are a feature that's very much looked forward to by many players, in particular tanks and healers. No longer will players have to spend horrendous amounts of gold just to enjoy both solo content and group content. The introduction of them will truly be game changing for many folks.I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll see dual specs appear in 3.1. The 3.0.4 PTR should be coming around shortly, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a 3.1 PTR shortly after the beginning of the new year. So maybe if I'm lucky around February or March next year I won't be spending 400g/week respecing. Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.
Ghostcrawler on long term defense changes
Ghostcrawler weighed in on the intention and existence of the defense statistic yesterday. He makes two interesting criticisms of the philosophy behind defense: It might eventually prove a problem that defense functions both as a tanking statistic and prevents you from fighting mobs that are a higher level than your character. Balance might be easier to achieve if defense provided mitigation and not avoidance. This is rather cryptic to someone who doesn't often deal with the integral nature of the statistic, so let's break it down a bit.
Ghostcrawler: The rules of the role forums
1st Rule: You do not talk about the role forums.2nd Rule: You do not talk about the role forums.3rd Rule: If this is your first post on the role forums, you have to fight.There are eight rules to Fight Club, and there are eight rules to the new role forums. Coincidence? Highly likely. Ghostcrawler has referenced the movie before, and for some reason I could see him kicking the crap out of himself screaming "Don't nerf me, bro!"But nonetheless, Ghostcrawler has outlined eight simple and easy to follow rules for these new discussion forums. We'll take a look at them all after the break, but the highlight of the rules is rule #4 which in part says, "Sometimes Blizzard employees, such as me, respond to threads." That along with the preamble remark that "...class designers, such as myself, visit [the class forums] less often than the role forums," makes these new forums very interesting.It looks like the discussion and back and forth we've come to see in the beta will continue on the new role forums. This can only lead to good things.The full rules after the break for all you special and unique snowflakes.
Forum Post of the Day: Angry title and coffee with gin
I don't know why I laughed out loud when I read the following quote from Ghostcrawler on a trollish forum post, but I did: DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO EXERT A CALMING INFLUENCE WHILE NOT ACCIDENTALLY INSULTING ANYONE AND/OR SHOUTING EXPLITIVES AND/OR REVEALING THAT I HAVE GIN IN MY COFFEE MUG.Yup. Just like that. Caps spam and all. Throw in a "Don't nerf me, bro!" or "To the ground, baby!" at the end of that and you have yourself a real Ghostcrawler statement.Now this might be some unabashed fanboi-ism on my part, but the question I have after reading that is "What kind of gin do you drink?" I have to imagine Ghostcrawler is the kind of guy who enjoys some top shelf liquor. I'm sure he's making enough at Blizzard to afford it. Perhaps some Tanqueray Rangpur? Or some Anchor Junipero?Personally I enjoy Bombay Sapphire and the Rangpur, though I've been known to grab some Beefeater if that's all that's available. If Ghostcrawler is reading this, we'd love to know what kind of gin you drink. Feel free to drop us a note on our tip line and we'll update this post.
