Comments on: Does Blizzard listen to player concerns?

By: Oiysters

Oiysters — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:38:02 +0000

Ahh, I think Blizzard does just fine, all things considered. If any of you have ever tried to accomplish a task via committe you know what a nightmare it usually is. Now imagine a committee of millions, all with varying degrees of sincerity, knowledge, and interest and each with their very own axe to grind. No thanks.

Although I admit that while I do not understand the scope of such a project, or the coding implications, the druid range bug issue should have been dealt with ages ago. ;-)

Great blog.

By: Auzara

Auzara — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:08:27 +0000

John, you need a new shirt that says “I tank with my face.” <3 Auz!

By: thunderpaw

thunderpaw — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:25:30 +0000

Blizzard’s has a nearly complete inability to articulate their goals, much less methods means it’s very easy to take what they do as kneejerk reactions.

The Great Bear Nerf patch is a classic case in point. Through my participation on the BC beta, bear tanking ability was increased in every iteration. Right after it goes to live, they have to change talents, remove threat modifiers, reduce armor and so forth. They then offered up a terse comment along the lines of “due to internal testing” (I guess beta didn’t count?). When you consider the unending howls of the Waahhhriors it makes it very difficult to accept it as anything beyond a knee jerk reaction.

Or gross incompetence.

/le sigh

By: gnomeaggedon

gnomeaggedon — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:18:03 +0000

I think the perception is they don’t listen, and I guess we have little to prove that they do.

That said, I think the quality of Blue responses has improved significantly over the years, even if it is to say “No, that will never happen”.

By: Siha

Siha — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:53:07 +0000

Not a druid, let alone a bear, but – I thought it was more of a threat gen nerf than a survivability nerf?

By: Ngita

Ngita — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:47:26 +0000

Not sure where you where at when that bear nerf happened. Me? I had tanked everything from ZF to Underbog with absolute ease. I would run around with 2 mobs beating on me and pick up a 3rd in bear and could do that for 10 minutes at a time. Where bears really OP? as in OP for level 70 raid content? No they just got the gear much faster, But pre 70 they were very strong.

By: Suicidal Zebra

Suicidal Zebra — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:19:46 +0000

IMO, yes they do. However the lack of communication from the Dev’s (through the CM team or otherwise) and the exceedingly long leed time into a balance change patch tends to make players somewhat disenchanted with changes or doubt that their feedback is really valued. A good example of this is the Ret Paladin changes in 2.3, a series of great changes but often seen as long overdue by those in cutting-edge content.

In other cases their concerns can move on as they progress through encounters, to the extent that balance changes which felt well-needed in Tier 4 (for example) are unnecessary in Tier 5.

I’m comfortable in saying that feedback is taken on board when presented properly, but I have to confess to genuine chagrin at the lack of communication from Blizz in general and the slow release of balance patches throughout The Burning Crusade.

By: Kadomi

Kadomi — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:30:45 +0000

I do believe they listen, to a certain extent. I mean, hats off to them, because they have to sift through the cesspool that is known as official Blizzard forums.

If you look at druids alone, all the changes that are announced for WotLK are things druid have wanted for a long time. Indoor CC beyond Hibernate, more viability for balance druids, an out of combat rez (hallelujah!).

As protection warrior, they are delivering one talent I have lusted after and QQd about for a long time: rage for dodging and parries. No longer will I have to cry about being overgeared and rage-starvation, the crux of a well-geared tank on trash.

I am long-winded, I know. So yeah, I do believe they listen, they just take a bit longer to respond to demands than the player base likes.

Also, nerf feral druids, because you make protection warriors emo. Okay, just kidding. ;)

By: Messyah

Messyah — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:53:29 +0000

Does Blizztard listen to us? Well, let’s see… How long has there been a range bug with Feral Druids? Hmmmmm?

I think I’ve made my point. :-)