BlizzCon: World Of Warcraft Class QA Recap

1:47

gameinformer: About to start, but there's not any big Diablo III panel happening today. :( Just more WoW stuff. I will be doing a Diablo III interview later as well as a write-up on the site, so watch out for those at some point.

1:54

1:55

gameinformer: I did play some Diablo III and will hopefully have a post on GI about it today. Unsurprisingly, I enjoyed it a lot.

1:56

gameinformer: As for Cataclysm, I've been in the beta for quite some time. It's...pretty freakin' awesome.

1:57

gameinformer: World of Warcraft class Q&A panel should be starting up in just a few minutes. Fingers crossed that people ask interesting/non-awkward questions.

1:57

gameinformer: I will also accept some super-angry nerds complaining about their class of choice sucking. Especially if that class is shaman.

1:57

1:58

gameinformer: Congrats to your guild! Mine entered that contest and didn't make the cut. :( But I'm pretty sure they're just straight-up running the beta here.

1:59

gameinformer: Ghostcrawler is being interviewed on DirectTV and just said that the pre-Cataclysm world event is going to keep escalating until it's "likely to shut down the world" for a while.

1:59

2:00

gameinformer: My Diablo III interview is later this afternoon. That's definitely among my list of questions, though I can tell you their response already. "We don't currently have any plans..." etc.

2:01

gameinformer: Ghostcrawler says they're already planning patch 4.1 and 4.2 for content updates, but they aren't yet sure if there will be a 4.3, 4.4, etc. Now onto the class Q&A panel.

2:01

gameinformer: (For those wondering, I'm catching the DirectTV stuff because i'm viewing this panel from the press room at the moment.)

2:04

2:05

2:06

2:07

2:12

2:13

2:13

2:13

gameinformer: Back up on the computer now. The class I'm most excited for is mage as well, since mage is my main. :p

2:13

2:13

gameinformer: Spoiler alert: Nope.

2:14

gameinformer: Oh boy, a guy who was here and asked a question last year.

2:15

gameinformer: Apparently his problem last year was fixed, but now he's concerned about rogue offhand weapons.

2:15

gameinformer: "Dagger is really the only choice for top damage." He wants rogues to have more ability to use swords and axes.

2:16

gameinformer: Blizzard: "It feels sort of odd to see a rogue running around without a dagger." They're still thinking about playing with weapon speed though to make that more of a viable option.

2:16

gameinformer: Guy: "Despite all the flack that you get, we definitely appreciate all the hard work you put in to balancing."

2:17

gameinformer: They're discussing the warrior's inner rage ability and whether or not it's going to stick around. They're waiting to see whether or not it's used in raids and higher-end play.

2:18

gameinformer: Dude says the level 85 warlock ability feels more like a trinket than something new or interesting.

2:19

gameinformer: Blizzard says they wanted to make sure that level 85 abilities weren't "another frostbolt," something a class would use over and over. Warlocks don't have many other "power-up" abilities.

2:20

gameinformer: Guy asking about how combat rogues are really underpowered at the moment. Blizzard agrees and says they need some work. Some stuff cxoming soon that will be buffing them.

2:22

gameinformer: Now a guy who's not digging discipline priest changes.

2:22

gameinformer: "I'm doing the damage of a tank and maybe a little more healing than a shadow priest."

2:22

gameinformer: Blizzard responds that "tanks do respectable damage now." I doubt that's the answer he wanted.

2:23

2:23

gameinformer: Or any Q&A. :) Look forward to the next Q&A panel as well.

2:24

gameinformer: So many hunters. And paladins. Hunter dude says "We're the only class in the game that has a minimum range."

2:24

gameinformer: Blizzard: "If your raid liked you, th

2:24

gameinformer: *they'd save you."

2:25

gameinformer: Guy: "Why have hunters been singled out?" He wants to be able to stand in front of bosses and attack them like mages, warlocks, etc. can. Blizzard says they've discussed it.

2:26

gameinformer: Blizzard: "You can shoot while moving, and a mage can't channel a spell. There are trade-offs."

2:28

gameinformer: Guy wondering about paladin's new resource, holy power, and why they aren't focusing on mana.

2:28

gameinformer: Blizzard says mana never felt right with paladins, but they still need to iterate on the holy power stuff a lot.

2:29

gameinformer: Holy power = actually giving them gameplay tied to resource management, whereas with mana they could basically just ignore it.

2:30

gameinformer: Dude asking about the druid's mushroom spell and how it doesn't seem useful. Blizzard says druids need to play with it some more before they start grasping the usefulness of it.

2:30

gameinformer: He says in some dungeons, druids can place mushrooms where adds spawn during bosses and detonate them to get adds immediately.

2:31

gameinformer: Guy wonders if Blizzard will ever put in a quest line to change classes as their character.

2:31

gameinformer: Blizzard says they don't want to give players the option to switch classes if there are changes they don't like.

2:32

gameinformer: Blizzard says they want to put in the option to share Achievements across characters eventually.

2:33

gameinformer: Rogues, hunters, and paladins seem to be getting the most questions about specific abilities/problems. Apparently 4.0 wasn't kind to them?

2:34

gameinformer: Guy talking about how racial abilities are kind of messed up right now. All the undead mages changed race in his guild because they wanted a haste boost more than underwater breathing.

2:34

gameinformer: I would never change from undead. Those mages are idiots!

2:35

gameinformer: Blizzard points out that Undead have a better PvP ability with the ability to break from fear/holds. They'll continue balancing and changing racials, but they're never going to be exactly the same.

2:35

gameinformer: "It's all part of the flavor of being that race."

2:36

gameinformer: Guy suggests that Blizzard give the Alliance Goblins and Worgen and give the Horde the Murloc race.

2:36

gameinformer: Blizzard says, "Murlocs are special for all of us."

2:37

gameinformer: Guy: "Ghostcrawler, thank you for nerfing paladins over and over and over again. I appreciate it."

2:39

gameinformer: Blizzard says tanks shouldn't run out of the resources they need to do their job - that's too frustrating.

2:40

gameinformer: Guy asking about why consecration was switched to a 1-minute cooldown. Blizzard says they wanted it to be more situational -- for use when a stream of adds are pulling in. They want paladins to have to decide when is a good time to use it.

2:40

gameinformer: Yet another paladin question, this time about ret paladins.

2:41

gameinformer: Guy has a problem with the zealotry ability. I don't really know that that is, but Blizzard says they're still looking at this ability and will keep tweaking it.

2:43

gameinformer: Druid question from a guy who says he actively switches between all the different druid roles.

2:44

gameinformer: He's upset that they changed "Nom Nom Nom" - Blizzard says, "It's an internet trope. A year from now, it'll be less funny, and two years from now it'll be embarrassing." Guy says, "Nom Nom Nom doesn't hurt anybody."

2:45

gameinformer: Kid wondering if Death Knight tanks will be more viable for end-game raiding in Cataclysm. Blizzard says they already are if you know what you're doing.

2:45

gameinformer: Blizz says that's also why they combined the DK tanking skills into one tree, so that main tanking is much easier/better as a DK.

2:47

gameinformer: Guy says feral druids are competing with other classes for drops that end up being less optimal for them.

2:47

gameinformer: Blizzard says the changes to stats should help with this, but the guy who asked the question seems skeptical.

2:49

gameinformer: Guy thanks Blizz for the DPS increase to arms warriors.

2:51

gameinformer: I'm curious: the next panel is another WoW Q&A, but it's a "general" Q&A. I wonder how much of it will still be these class questions...

2:51

gameinformer: Now someone is saying "Thank you for fixing Shadow Priests"

2:52

gameinformer: He says that Power Word Shield is too amazing and leaves priest roles kind of boring. He's wondering if Blizz will diversify it some.

2:54

gameinformer: Fury Warrior who's saying Blizzard has made their DPS rotation more complex, which he loves. He's wondering if they're going to do similarly for other classes that have 1 or 2-button DPS rotations.

2:54

gameinformer: Blizzard kind of ignored the question and explains why they made Fury warriors more complex. Oh well!

2:55

gameinformer: Girl asks about tank gear. Blizzard: "Gearing for survival versus threat has always been a trade-off."

2:55

gameinformer: "Vengeance isn't designed to be mandatory."

2:57

gameinformer: Guy saying blood DK threat generation isn't good right now and makes tanking difficult. Blizzard says changes are coming in Patch 4.0.3, including runes generating 15% faster in blood presence.

2:59

gameinformer: Blizzard ends the panel by telling the crowd they will love Cataclysm.