The World of Warcraft Developer Questions continue with Round 8, in which Blizzard developers have answered questions that users have submitted about the raid content in Patch 4.2, The Firelands.
Blizzard's responses this time around are pretty good and cover several important points like the Nethermaw dungeons or the melee DPS exclusion issues on current raids.
Plus, programmers talk about "ease of content," that constant complaint they answer with data in hand: Few people have finished heroic content.
Do you want to know everything? Well, keep reading after the jump!
Welcome to the global Q&A on the development of World of Warcraft. These answers answer the questions from round 8, which can be found here: http://eu.battle.net/wow/es/forum/topic/2098122732
Q: What happened to the Nethermaw dungeon that was supposed to arrive with the Firelands? - Maryjanee (EU-EN), Spirit (NA)
A: Our initial plan for this raid level was to have fewer bosses in the Firelands and a few bosses in the Nether Maw. However, as we took a closer look at the Firelands, we realized that it deserved more bosses. We also got excited about the item design (and set bonuses!), Fiery in nature, and the Magma Front quest area was looking great, so we ended up dedicating more resources to the Firelands. That led to the decision to focus on a strong theme (fire), rather than a more diluted theme between water and fire.
In the case of the Nethermaw floor we could reuse many existing elements (the fights were to take place in a demigod with a shell like Nespirah), and although we wanted to do so, we considered that the Nethermaw would be somewhat overshadowed by the magnificence of the Earths. of fire. Therefore, we concentrate our efforts on that idea. For now, we've decided that the Vashj'ir questline and the Throne of the Tides dungeon are a good ending to Neptulon's story.
Q: Most level 11 fights favored little or no melee DPS. Are there plans to fix it? - Merissa (NA), Spirit (NA)
A: We see it more as a class problem than an encounter problem. Normally, casters suffered greatly when they had to move. That was the price they had to pay for making the melee take a lot of extra damage. These days, melee classes don't take as much extra damage, and we've also given casters a number of motion-oriented tools designed to prevent their DPS from dropping as much as before by asking them to fire and move.
Whenever there are situations in an encounter that encourage party formation, ranged classes often move closer to melee (with the isolated exception of hunters), but melee classes never drift away. Fights that punish grouping also tend to punish melee more. We are aware of these problems, as are many players, but they are difficult to fix quickly. For example, without compensation, casters would suffer greatly in PvP if they lost their movement tools.
In the meantime, we don't want to push the design of encounters too much or, worse still, to make them too calculated, until we reach a point where players expect "melee combat" to be followed by "combat against add-ons", then by the "Remendejo combat" and, finally, by the "ranged combat." We will ensure that the melee classes have fights where they can shine in the Firelands. For example, the children of Ragnaros' flame are better controlled in melee than at a distance.
Q: When the level 11 content was released, most 25-player fights were much easier than the 10-player fights, like Nefarian, and pretty much all Heroic encounters. Do you have plans to make 25-player content more attractive in patch 4.2? - Wynter (EU-DE), Nisana (EU-FR), Spirit (NA)
A: The assumption in the question that easier content is less engaging is a bit confusing, given how few guilds have managed to finish 25-player Heroic Encounters. However, we did not plan to make the matches for 10 and 25 different. If anything, we wanted to make sure the 25-man guilds weren't significantly more difficult, as many of the 25-player guilds were convinced that we were trying to force them to become 10-player gang guilds.
At launch, there were other fights where the matches for 10 were too difficult (and some where the opposite was the case), but we see them as something to go up or down to put it on the same level as the rest. Progress on 25-player content was much faster than 10 in North America and Europe, but this was likely due to the fact that most Guilds in those Pro-Progress regions have always focused on the 25-player raids. That is also a difference between regions. For example, in Korea there are many of the top-level gang guilds dedicated to 10-player heroic content.
Q: Will we have a comprehensive view of why Fandral Corzocelada switched alliances before his downfall? - Lorinall (N.A.)
A: Not all villains in World of Warcraft have the option to redeem themselves. In the Firelands, the new steward will have no compassion for you, so we do not recommend that you hold back. However, one of the last available quest rewards from the Leyara quest line in the Magma Front daily area will allow you to see another side of the ancient archdruid.
Q: Mana regeneration and maximum mana can be expected to increase when equipping yourself with the new Firelands gear. Will healers be able to perform great healings (and faster healings) like in WotLK again? In that case, do you have something planned to manage this issue without detracting from the classes? - Whitewnd (KR)
A: As damage increases, healers will need to use their heavier and less efficient heals more often to keep up. Nothing happens, it is part of the design. We just didn't want players to opt out of mana regen too early in the content, because then the spirit (and mana-related procs) of the gear wouldn't be appealing. We would also have to balance the difficulty by having the tanks die on a couple of global cooldowns if they are not continuously healed. Most progression-oriented healers will still want large amounts of spirit, often in a single slot. By becoming more comfortable with their mana, they will be able to replace some of that spirit with other stats, but the spirit will still be valuable; For example, more spirit in an ensemble piece could mean being able to use a different enchantment or being able to reforge another piece.
Be that as it may, we're in a much better position than in Lich King content, where mana is no longer important for the first raid level. Aside from the mana changes we've already made to Stimulate, Mana Tide Totem, and the paladin heals, we don't see a need to depower overall regen.
Q: Are there plans to include events similar to those at the Gate of Wrath? - Mushik (LA), ??? (KR)
A: We have a couple of short video scenes, but there will be nothing at the level of the Wrath Gate video scene in 4.2. We enjoy that kind of epic show and will include it when it makes sense. However, we've also received a lot of feedback from the Cataclysm quest experience that said we took control away from players too often, especially in Uldum, to tell the story. Therefore, we want to be very careful about doing it in the future. That said, there are moments with important video scenes in 4.2 like seeing the druid trees on the Molten Front or the formation of the bridge to Sulfuron Fortress.
Q: Will there be weekly missions in the Firelands similar to the ones in Icecrown Citadel where players must alter the dynamics of each encounter to complete them and receive rewards, such as Gold or Primordial Saronite? - Orisai (LA)
A: We're not doing those kinds of missions for the Firelands gang, but that doesn't mean we won't be doing them for future content.
Q: In Cataclysm, it has been difficult to find unique raid mounts, such as the Siege Engines from Ulduar or the Drakes from The Eye of Eternity. Can we expect to encounter battles using mounts or other unique items between the bands of the Firelands? - ?????? (Korea)
A: We were concerned that players might be getting a bit tired from vehicle encounters. We'll use them when they make sense for a match, but we don't want players to get fed up with watching vehicle fights.
There are several fighting mechanics in the Firelands that start from the usual "get out of the fire" or "interrupt important spells" routines. For example, you can fly during part of the encounter with Alysrazor, scale cobwebs during the encounter with Beth'tilac, and move Lord Pyroclast in a very different way than the usual tactic of holding and attacking the target at a distance. (http://eu.battle.net/wow/es/blog/2219880)
Q: Is Ragnaros going to give a speech on setbacks? - Gerox (North America)
A: TOO SOON, GEROX!