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Breakfast Topic: The illusion of choice
My first reaction to seeing the new, streamlined talent trees was, "We'll all be cookie cutter specs now!" I mulled it over for a bit, hashed it out with some people on Twitter and came to the conclusion that the new streamlined specs are a good thing, in principle. Ask yourself, when was the last time you respecced to move one to two points around? How much are you really losing with the slimmed-down trees? My shaman, Stoneybaby, hasn't respecced in ... I don't even know when, but I'm sure it's been many months. I have my raiding spec, in which I could move one or two points around -- should I take 2/3 Improved Shields or 3/3 Improved Shields? Ultimately, it makes little difference; I picked my raiding spec and my PvP spec, and I go forth with those until the game requires a change. I don't need a lot of choice because I won't use it. On the other hand, my druid is a bit different. He's specced balance for AoE farming Chunk o' Mammoth (my wolves need their Spiced Mammoth Treats!) and feral bear for tanking alt raids. For raids, I either tank or I tank -- take your pick. He's mostly useless as DPS in raids because he doesn't have the proper hit, mana regen or focused damage talents; he's built to kill a dozen mobs at once out in the field. I like the choice so I can specialize in AoE farming. In the case of my shaman, I really don't need that one- or two-point customization, and so lamenting the loss of deep, complex talent trees is just the loss of choice for the sake of choice. For my druid, I really do want and use the complexity of the current specs. Overall though, I think the slimmed-down trees will enrich the game without dumbing it down. What about you? Do you really want deep choice in spec customization, or are you just lamenting the loss of the illusion of choice? World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From goblins and worgens to mastery and guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.
Cataclysm Beta: New 31-point talent trees, spec bonuses and more
The latest build of the Cataclysm beta has the much-anticipated 31-point talent trees for all classes -- in varying degrees of completion, anyway. The UI elements for selecting your specialization are also in the game, and each tree has a sentence or two that describes the way it plays. Even the bonuses you get at level 10 for selecting your spec are in this build! We've got talent calculators, spec bonuses, and more after the break, courtesy of MMO-Champion. Bear in mind while reading that this is only the first pass of this talent overhaul and several trees/classes, including death knight, druid, paladin, warlock, arcane mage, and assassination rogue, are nowhere near done.
