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The Daily Grind: Should MMOs have a 'raid stat'?
Last week, WildStar dev J-Tal outright apologized for the game's poor solo progression, stating that Carbine is "well aware that solo progression in WildStar is pretty much non-existent" and is working on the problem. But as I was researching that quote, what caught my eye is the post right after J-Tal's mea culpa, a benign little question by a player named Nike Online: If progression is driven by need, why is there not a budget-hungry 'raid stat' that only provides benefit inside raid instances and keeps those drops more sedate when taken out into the open world? [...] PvP gear has its own stats to protect its environement from outside gear coming in and dominating. PvP power/defense also drain budget from those items so that it's not the optimal open-world gear. Lots of games have tried PvP stats (for example, World of Warcraft's now-defunct spell penetration and resillience), but I've never seen the equivalent for raid gear. It's definitely a band-aid on a game with innate design and balance issues, but it does seem to solve the problem of overgeared raiders trampling the open world. What do you think: Should MMOs have a "raid stat"? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Latest WowProgress data shows raiders steadily progressing through Dragon Soul
A few weeks ago, we wrote about GuildOx data showing a 50% decline in raid activity. While that is to be expected to some extent with Mists of Pandaria looming on the horizon, there is a silver lining. New data compiled by WoWProgress shows a consistent and steady increase in the number of guilds that have defeated Heroic Madness of Deathwing, the final encounter in Dragon Soul. So what does this mean? First, Blizzard's system of progressive nerfing is succeeding in its mission. Dedicated raiders are progressing and not hitting a wall like they did in Firelands. (See those initial two months on heroic Ragnaros, where the line is essentially flat? That's a progression wall.) This has served to keep interest up, and I expect we'll see this model of nerfs continued for future raid tiers. Second, those who argued that Firelands was nerfed too late are likely correct. Only ~2000 guilds had killed heroic Ragnaros when Dragon Soul was released; while that number has kept increasing steadily, it's been rapidly eclipsed by heroic Madness kills. While it's possible that Dragon Soul is significantly more popular, I think it's more likely that many raiders just didn't have enough time to work on Firelands post-nerf and haven't had the opportunity to go back. For more great analysis breaking down 10-man vs. 25-man and charts of progression for other bosses in Dragon Soul, check out the full article on WowProgress.
Insider Trader: Jewelcrafting nerf incoming
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Bornakk just announced on the forums that Jewelcrafters are about to see a new nerf, and as a result, people are already beginning to weigh the benefits of switching to a different profession for min-maxing, or working out how they are going to re-itemize their gear. Bornakk:In the next major content patch we will be removing the prismatic quality of the jewelcrafter-only Dragon's Eye gems. Like other gems, they will have to match the socket color to receive a socket bonus. When this change occurs, players with qualifying jewelcrafting skill will be provided a yet to be determined amount of Dalaran Jewelecrafter Tokens as compensation. This probably won't be enough to entice players to drop the profession, but it is a bit of a blow. Stratfu points out that because Mage T8 is equipped primarily with yellow and blue sockets, the only way to actually meet socket bonus requirements will be to use sub-par gems. The JC-only Runed Dragon's Eye offers +32 spell power, and currently fits into any socket, conforming to meet the necessary color requirements. This is compared to the +19 spell power that the rest of us folks get from Runed Scarlet Rubies. While Jewelcrafters will still be able to use these gems, they won't be able to stick them just anywhere.
