Why it's broken and ways to fix it

I have talked about Blizzard dumbing down World of Warcraft before. Today I would like to take that topic further and explain why I think that this "dumbing down" is ruining the game (at least for the segment of the player base that I am a part of).

Back in the days of—well, all previous days before WotLK—groups had to think about pulls.

• In Molten Core we had to be careful to pull one mob (or small group of mobs) without aggroing another nearby group or patrol. Pulling additional mobs usually resulted in a wipe.
  
• In Black Temple we had to sheep or banish specific mobs within a group while we killed others. Leaving the additional mobs active would likely cause a wipe (or at minimum, several deaths).
• In The Eye we would require some mobs (who had one beast of a whirlwind) to be tanked outside of the group, while others were sheeped, and still others killed. Further into the raid, there were pulls where we had to banish one or two mobs (within a larger group) at nearly the instant we pulled—without mistake—or there would be many deaths.
• Even in the Vanilla and BC 5-mans, CC was an important and necessary part of grouping.
  

In WotLK, CC is pretty much a lost concept. No one even attempts to CC most of the time. Sure, every once in a while you'll get a player who triesto CC something, but it's less out of necessity and more out of habit (a habit that is quickly fading). Now, when we pull a group in a Naxxramas raid, we just charge in and AoE everything. If another group pats by and aggros, we just add it to the AoE we already have going. Usually, even when we have multiple groups at once, we don't have many (if any) deaths. This shouldn't be possible, but everything just dies so quickly in the AoE that it doesn't have a chance to do much damage at all. Sadly, this takes a lot of the fun and challenge out of raids (and 5-mans) for that matter. Sure, you could still do it the old fashioned way, but at this point if you're not AoEing it when it's the most efficient means of clearing trash, then you are just wasting time.

So, what has caused this? There are a few factors that have combined to create this issue, but a lot of it comes down to the same basic concept: Blizzard wants to make every part of the game more accessible to the casual gamer (except for Arenas, it seems—those are less accessible than ever, now that ratings are required for all decent (non-VoA) PvP gear.

1. Current tanks have amazing threat generation compared to that of tanks from Vanilla or BC. Not only is their single target threat much better, but their AoE threat is great too. It's now to the point where threat is rarely a concern for any DPSer. We can go in and single-target or AoE DPS to our hearts' content. Sure, increasing the tanks' threat generation has made even poor tanks decent at holding threat, but this also made it so that threat is a non-issue for nearly everyone involved. It's very very rare that anyone pulls aggro from a tank in most normal fights. I remember a time when Fury Warriors were limited by their threat output. They would have to hold back or risk pulling aggro and dying. Without the threat limitation, Fury Warriors just go all out on damage all of the time. Threat being a non-issue makes fights too easy for all parties involved.
   
2. Buffs to AoE are another problem. In WotLK, too many classes have strong AoE. Some classes, like Mages, Warlocks, and now Death Knights were meant to have strong AoE. Other classes only had limited AoE (like Druids, who's Hurricane spell used to be on a cooldown). But now all classes have some form of AoE and most of the AoE spells that had cooldowns have had the cooldowns removed. With the repeated pressing of one button, Rogues can AoE as well as most other classes. On pulls with lots of mobs that die quickly, Rogues can out AoE DPS pretty much anyone. Hunters' Volley, Druids' Hurricane, Priests' Mind Sear, Rogues' Fan of Knives, and many many other spells have created a game that does more than take advantage of AoE, it necessitates it. How could Blizzard even expect CC to be used when every class has solid AoE available. Sadly, classes that were not designed around AoE typically only have one AoE spell. This causes these players to be reduced to pressing a single button repeatedly in most trash pulls—a boring concept indeed.
   
3. General accessibility has also impacted CC. In trying to make the game easy enough for everyone, Blizzard has made most mobs pretty tame. Some are more dangerous than others (and should be killed first), but in general, none are really large threats. There are some exceptions, but they mostly affect melee (such as mobs with Whirlwind or other AoE spells of their own). Even when a mob does have a more-deadly-than-average attack, groups usually still AoE them and just deal with the few casualties incurred. The only melee class who is particularly susceptible to death due to Whirwind is the Rogue (and the rarely seen cat Druid). All other melee DPS classes wear plate, so they can usually survive the first barrage from a Whirlwind and back out in time to not die—Rogues typically get one-shot. In our raids, it's pretty easy to see when a Whirlwind happens, because all of the Rogues just drop dead at once. This could be avoided by separating the mobs with Whirlwind from the rest of the pack, but since everything is AoEd, this separation doesn't happen. It's clearly not the way it should be done, but even with the Rogue deaths, it's still most efficient. One of my roommates plays a Rogue, and he's getting to the point where he doesn't even want to participate in these pulls (and sometimes the raids in general) because he believes Rogues are seen as expendable—a point I can't really argue with based on how we handle the AoE packs.
   

Obviously there is a problem here. AoE and CC are clearly broken. All AoE and no CC make Srom a dull boy. Sure, I play an AoE class, but I should be forced to single-target sometimes. There should be SOME strategy to the game. Right now it's just a joke. So how can we fix it? I have a couple of ideas that could help.

1. First, not every class/spec has to be equally capable of the same amount of damage on AoE packs as other classes—just like not every class/spec should be equally capable at single-target damage. Leave AoE damage to the Mages, Warlocks, Death Knights, and the occasional (non-spamable, cooldown-based) spell from other classes. Classes/Specs that have limited AoE should have their single target damage buffed in some way. One solution would be to create a debuff that all (direct damage) classes/specs have that stacks on a single target up to X times. The debuff would drop off quickly if not reapplied by any DD attack (AoE spells would NOT apply the debuff). A single character's debuff stack could only be on one Mob at a time and each stack would increase their DD output by Y (X and Y are variables that I am not comfortable assigning a specific value to because I do not claim to be capable of MMO damage output balance, but I would guess that you get the idea that I am trying to get across). Casting any AoE spell would remove the stacks immediately and prevent them from being reapplied for a few seconds. Classes/Specs that are heavily AoE-based would not have this stacking debuff, but they would, once again, be much stronger in AoE.
2. Blizzard could create mobs that have to be CCd. Having groups of five elites AoEd down with no CC is just boring. Creating packs of mobs that require a specific kill order or a specific amount of CC would go along way toward making raids more interesting.
   
   • For example, Blizzard could add a stacking aura to mobs in a five pull. Each mob emits the aura while they are active, but if they are CCd in any way, their aura is suppressed. Up to three stacks of the aura would provide no additional buff—the mobs would just do 100% damage. However, if four stacks are active, the mobs would do 200% damage; with five stacks active, they would do 400% damage. This example could be modified, but the basic idea is that if groups did not CC at all, even the tanks would be one-shot.
   • A second option would be to give specific mobs buffs that protect other mobs or give other mobs special abilities. For example, have one mob in a pack provide a 90% damage reduction shield to all other mobs within a short radius. Obviously, groups would want to kill that mob first (or CC it, or pull it away from the group). Another example would be to have one mob that, while alive, gives all other nearby mobs an AoE attack that would necessitate that mob dying first. Forcing a kill order would provide some much needed diversity to the game. Sure, there could still be some AoE pulls, but not every pull should be AoE.
     

I am hoping that Ulduar provides some of this diversity, but I am not counting on it yet. As long as Blizzard is trying to make all of the game content accessible to the casual gamer, we'll likely be seeing similar trends.

Conferring and Confirming

Tam recently blogged about raid confirmations. Her, myself, and sometimes Moxy are really the only three that ever touch them. We go in streaks where one of us will do them for a while, then another, and then another. This pseudo-rotation works well in the sense that not one of us ever should have to do everything in a given week. As Tam expressed in her blog, players often complain to the person whose name is listed next to the confirmations for a raid. However, it really doesn't stop there—they often complain to multiple officers. Melee DPSers are most common. I hear from them every week. This week, since I did confirmations for some of the raids, I am hearing from them even more. I'll often hear complaints through third parties, as well. I'd prefer people come to me if they have questions or concerns, but not everyone is equally comfortable with handling things directly. I understand that. What bothers me is when people read too much into confirmations. It seems that people don't understand how complex they really can be... let me elaborate.

Lately, we have had between 30 and 40 players signing up for our 25-man raids. We try to bring 6-7 healers, 3 tanks, and 15-16 DPS (divided up pretty close to evenly between melee and ranged DPS—with melee sometimes being more prevalent due to our current overabundance of melee in the guild). When selecting those players, we can't just go by the role, but we also try to make sure that as many classes/specs as possible are represented. On top of that, we have to consider player skill, consistency, and availability. All of this adds up to some pretty complicated decisions when trying to get as many capable players into raids as possible.

Let's look at a melee situation:

• Player A can only raid on Thursdays, so that's all he signs up for.
• Player B can raid all three days, so he signs up for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
• Player C can only raid on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so he signs up for those two days.

If there is only room for two of these three players on any given raid night, what's the most fair way to do these confirmations? Would you go with:

• Monday: Player B
• Wednesday: Players B and C
• Thursday: Players A and C

That's what I went with. It seems most fair without any further context. But, now, what if Player B really only needs the content that we are clearing on Thursday? The other players also need gear from the Thursday content. Well, player B is likely to complain that he isn't seeing the content that he needs. This happens often because many players have real life situations that keep them from being able to raid some nights. That's the main reason why we rotate the days that we do specific content as much as possible. But, this doesn't always work out for everyone—we don't always finish what we expect to.

Because we cannot predict the future, we have no real way of assuring that Player B will see the content he needs, unless we let him raid all three nights at the expense of one of the other players. Clearly we cannot do that, so we do the best that we can by rotating content.

Of course, many players want to raid all three nights. However, as more players hit 80 and gear up, we are likely to need to incorporate more players into our raids. For example: we recently had a couple of additional Mages and a couple of additional DPS Warriors hit the level cap. If we want to work any of these players in, we will need some players who currently raid three nights per week to sit out once a week. Obviously, this can cause some hard feelings. However, if we never get these newer 80s into raids, they may leave the guild and we will have a more difficult time replacing someone who has to miss a raid they would normally attend.

So, as Tam said, it's a balancing act. We have to balance the days of the raids, the classes, the roles, the specs, the players, the skill, our friendships, and so much more. Players who take it personally when being confirmed or not on any given night should simply sit back, relax, and look at the overall picture. Of the raid days that you are available, do you raid more days than you don't? If so, you are better off than some. If not, speak with one of us to find out what you can do to get into more raids. There are several things it could be:

• It may be that we just have too many people of your role/class and we can't fit you in. If that's the case, you can try to reroll, or you can wait for a spot to open.
• It may be that you are undergeared. Is your average item level below 200? If so, you really need to work on some upgrades before expecting to raid 25-man content. If you are unsure of your average item level, a mod like RatingBuster will allow you to see item levels in your tool tips.
• It could simply be a skill issue. If you are not performing as well as your peers, talk to a Lieutenant or an Officer who plays your class. You may be able to learn something new to help your performance. Also, take the time to read about your class, the various specs players use, and how to perform best in your role. I read several Death Knight blogs as well as the Elitist Jerks forums frequently—this has helped me tremendously.
• Maybe your attitude is getting in the way. If you make other players uncomfortable or are abrasive, you will have a more difficult time getting into raids. This doesn't mean you won't get in, but it can make it harder.

I am not implying that no personal consideration goes into confirmations. As Tam said, some of us have real life friends who may have an advantage over players who we do not share a home, or home town with. I'll go to bat for my roommates before I will go to bat for someone I have never met—that's just the way the world works. But that doesn't mean that other skilled players can't win spots in raids, and it certainly doesn't mean that a lower performer will win a spot just because he or she has the ear of an Officer. If you are good, we will find a place for you.

The First of Many

There was a time when I had a blog. It was a while ago now. I started it when I started my MySpace account. Over the years I lost interest in MySpace, deleted my account and transitioned to Facebook. When I deleted that account, my blog went with it. I have finally decided to start a new one, and I plan to update it fairly regularly, but i'll just start with post one and see where it goes from there.

Last night our WoW guild (xeno) ventured into the Obsidian Sanctum to face Sartharion with one drake up. We had destroyed him without any drakes up several times—with no drakes, it's so easy that it just feels like a waste of time. I was really looking forward to tackling the fight with Tenebron up in 25-man. Just two days prior, our 10-man raid group completed the exact same encounter; it was a challenging fight, but we were able to take it down after three serious attempts (Of course, this wasn't or first night trying the 10-man fight with Tenenbron up. We had worked on it the week before for several hours without a successful kill). the experience from our 10-man lead me to beleive that we wouldn't have too much trouble in the 25-man version, but I didn't expect it to be the joke that it was. Now, this was the very first time we put in a real effort at 25-man Sarth with a drake up. I expected we'd put in a couple of hours before we saw his demise. The true result was quite anticlimactic: We one-shot it. It didn't even get very hectic. When Tenenbron went down there was an overall feeling of disappointment and surprise. It seemed that the fight wasn't much more difficult on 25-man than it was on 10-man—but you have 15 more people to help.

It is a joke of a fight and it reinforces my opinion that Blizzard has made the game too accessible. I can't really blame them. They are looking out for number one; they want as many subscribers as they can get; they know that providing everyone with access to all content gives most people more to do. I get it, but it frustrates me. Back in the days of vanilla WoW, when 40-man raids were end-game, everything had a more epic feel. You didn't have to have a lot of great players to progress, as long as you had a solid core. You could pretty much carry 10 people through, even if they were AFK. When BC came out, Blizzard made changes that resulted in the necessity to bring people to raids that knew how to play. You could not longer carry several people through—in fact, in some fights, it was even a stretch to carry one bad player through. Now it seems that Blizzard has done a complete 180. WotLK 25-man raids require very little skill. Sure, there are exceptions, but overall the n00b is back in the game. Most of the WoW population is probably thrilled with this, but I am not. I enjoy the challenges. this week my guild will try Sartharion with 2 adds up—maybe even 3—and if we beat that, we'll have nothing to work on until the next content patch. Lame. WTB a challenge.