[1.Local]: The 3 Bears -- too easy, too hard or just right?

Can you compete with a DK?
We've all heard the scuttle about how overpowered Death Knights are. Just how bad is it, really? "I know this may sound a little bit inflammatory -- heck, even a lot -- but keep with me, mkay?," requests Taladan. "The current problem with DKs is that you don't need to understand the class to play well. Take, for example, Paladins: Yes, we wear plate; yes, we have high mitigation; yes, we can heal ourselves. And, yet, people need to understand the class to play well: Bubble will cut your Wrath; Flash of Light/Holy Light different manage usage, timing (which is important if there is a Rogue kicking you around), healing effectiveness; how to 'restart' the combat when you do something wrong ... that kind of stuff.

"DKs, currently, require none of this. Just jump there with your Blood Aura and blow your runes and runic power. If you have the proper gear, your damage should be pretty high, your mitigation will be high and, contrary to every other class in the game, you don't need to directly worry about your health, 'cause all that damage will turn into healing -- and you don't even need to stop hitting someone to heal yourself."

Can you relate? kabshiel could: "I royally suck at PVP, but I actually do decently well on my DK. That's a red flag right there."

How easy is too easy?
What type of player is today's WoW tuned for? Has WoW too easy? Are hard modes rewarding? Which is more challenging, 25-man or 10-man? Should either be? Player views tend to be polarized.

This reader, however, thought differently: "At present, the game isn't tuned for the casuals OR the hardcore," notes Kuri. "At the moment, it's tuned for the people who play a little bit of everything and aren't particularly interested in anything. The super-casual gamers. The ones who have a little time, so they do a daily or two, see a PuG forming, join in and do raids.

"No, raids aren't for true elitists, but they should at least be for raiders. It's the end game. There has to be something. At present, it feels like there won't be another expansion, and Blizzard is almost done with the WoW project. They can't really be bothered to keep up balance anymore."

Sounds like at least one player who feels somewhat lost in the game's evolving landscape. Where do you fit in?

Are disenchanters getting robbed by rolls?
Oy, here's an ancient debate that's gotten revived: should enchanters get rights to unused loot drops? fauxgt4 offers up a fresh proposal: "There is a simple solution to this problem, I think. I have a macro: '/p This is a group run. We share things as a group. I will shard any drops not needed, and we can roll on them. However, any ore, herb, or skin that is obtained during this run will also be rolled on.'

"It's that easy. If someone refuses to share, point out the only reason they made it that far in the dungeon was because of the group, so we all have an equal right to it. If they won't let other roll on it, I will either remove them from group, or leave the group myself. It keeps it easy and fair for everyone."

Is this situation even an issue for your groups anymore?

Bring the player, not the class: a success?
In more new paradigm discussions, Zerokku wondered about the balance between 10-man and 25-man raiding: "I'm really hoping the comment on heroic mode – 'to shine a much harsher light on class balance" -- turns out to be true. It's one of the things that bothers me about the removal of the Proto-Drakes as achievement rewards. People who raid only 10-mans will effectively never be able to get these rewards, as long as 10-man hard modes are tuned with 25-man gear in mind.

"25-man gear makes it easier to complete 10-man achievements. The difference isn't huge. but it's large enough. When 10-man Sarth + 3D is rare, even in a decked-out 25-man raid guild, there's a balance problem, in my opinion. Admittedly on the other hand, if they tuned it lower, then the 10-man achievements could become trivial for those decked out in higher iLevel gear from heroic raids. It's a thin line to tread, and I hope they can manage it properly. =/"

Do you feel that recent changes to the game have opened or closed doors for your class and how you'd like to play it?