Casual WoW

Well, it looks like the notes for 2.4.3 are up, and the test realm should follow suit shortly. Not a lot of controversial changes this time around, although some of them are definitely interesting. Couple of positives, couple of negatives, and a whole bunch of I-don’t-cares. Let’s get to it.

“Dispel effects will no longer attempt to remove effects that have 100% dispel resistance.”

Interesting choice for a change, sort of an indirect nerf to dispel protection talents. Not a lot to say about this one really, I’d definitely consider it a positive since it aids in removing RNG from the PVP equation, and any change that does that without hurting other parts of the game is fine by me.

“Mounts at 30?! Yes, it’s true: Apprentice Riding and mounts are now available at level 30. Training costs 35 gold.”

Absolutely brilliant change. The 30-40 range is the first period where having a mount would make a huge difference in leveling speed. The reduction in cost is nice, and it’s cool that the classes that get armor upgrades at 40 will actually have ten levels to earn some cash to shell out on plate or mail instead of worrying about the prohibitive 100g mount cost.

“Growl: Pets will no longer generate additional threat from this ability based on attack power buffs cast on them. Attack power buffs on their master will still indirectly increase the threat generated by the pet’s Growl.”

If I understand this change correctly, this blows. Hunters were already pretty much pigeonholed into leveling as BM spec, but Marksman was at least viable due to Trueshot Aura blowing their RAP up enough to give Growl the boost it needed to keep aggro off of them while they pew-pewed away. Now there’s no point leveling as Marks spec unless you want to instance your way 1-70. Stupid change, can’t even fathom why this was necessary.

“Cheat Death: This talent has been rebalanced significantly. Killing blows are no longer 100% absorbed. If the Rogue is below 10% health, the killing blow is still completely absorbed; if the Rogue is over 10% health, enough damage will be absorbed to reduce the Rogue’s health down to 10%. For the following 3 seconds, damage is not always reduced by 90%; it is now reduced by a maximum of 90%, depending on how much resilience the Rogue has. The damage reduction will be four times the damage reduction resilience causes against critical strikes.”

Finally. As a rogue without access to PVE gear, this change is nothing but beautiful to me. Now rogues are going to have to choose between blowing people up fast and living long enough to finish the job on outlast teams. As much as I think that Resilience was a band-aid fix made to correct an inherently flawed system put forth by short-sighted developers (and there goes my shot at ever working for Blizzard…) it IS the primary PVP stat, and there is absolutely no reason why one class, even my own, should be immune to the effects of neglecting it in favor of offensive stats. If you want to have a “get out of being trained free” card, you’re gonna have to make some sacrifices.

As far as MLG, all of the news on it was definitely interesting. Impressive that a hunter team got second place, grats to Cherez and co. I have to say, I found the information on the players far more entertaining than the competition itself. Serennia looks far different than I would have imagined, though his conduct was pretty much exactly what I expected. I was actually quite surprised that a good few of the players that I’ve seen pictures of have not fit the “stereotypical pro gamer” look. Neilyo, Glorin, Kollektiv, Celex, Sodah, Lycra, they all look like guys who would be cool to go have a beer with. It’s nice to see a few people in professional gaming who have some semblance of social skills and self-confidence.

To be fair, for most people there, it was probably their first time on camera, and it just happened to be at a stressful, competitive event with a very decent sum of money and their professional gaming careers on the table, so I’ll cut them some slack for that. In any case though, the event seemed like it spawned more real-world drama than anything else, and as someone who can’t really take any of this stuff seriously, it was great for lulz. Props to all the players that attended, and thanks for the entertainment. I’m looking forward to the next one.

- Stray