Only very few players are playing the current version of Survival.
Making Survival ranged again would be one of the most popular class decisions ever seen in the game. Hunter is by far the most played class in the game and I feel confident in saying that 90 % of all Hunters (and non-hunters) would like to see Survival being ranged again (it’s probably more than 90 %).
From a business standpoint I cannot see how it would be a bad decision to return Survival to it’s former state. Blizzard just need to overcome their fear of failure and do the right thing. It’s okay to try something. The important thing is to accept when it’s just not working and fix it. But they’ll probably just do something stupid instead like giving us Hunter’s Mark again…
I apologize in advance to the 5 hunters in the game who actually enjoy melee Survival.
While I won’t get into specific numbers, the return of what was Survival prior to Legion would indeed be a positive move for the class, in terms of what can be considered the majority of it’s playerbase.
I would however much prefer if they went with the choice of adding RSV back in as a 4th spec option, for several reasons. Top one being that it’s essentially the best solution for everyone.
Blizzard are reluctant to add more specs to the game because it means more work for them (balancing). And even if they did, unfortunately I think pure dps classes would be the last classes in queue to get new specs. DH would probably be the first since they only have 2 specs.
So while I agree with you, I think the most realistic short term change would simply be to return SV to its pre-legion state.
I wouldn’t mind if that was the case. They could even rename RSV to “Trapper” or “Ambusher” or something of the sorts, idk, and maybe make SV tankier, or a straight up tank, like some people have suggested before, so the name actually makes sense.
I mean, I prefer playing DPS anyway, but if it was done right I wouldn’t mind that my spec became a tanking spec.
Survival used to be my favorite specc and I was so sad when Blizzard all of a sudden decided to completely remove my favorite specc from the game. I never understood why they wanted Hunter to have a melee specc.
I played Vanilla+5 expansions as Hunter being only ranged so in my mind Hunters should be ranged and nothing else. I think they made the Hunter class worse by making one specc melee.
For some reason they thought it was a good idea. They tried it out and it’s clearly not a popular change. So now they should do the responsible thing and return it to what the vast majority of players want. Especially now that they emphasize how much they listen to feedback.
That’s only because that’s what you were used to, not because there’s any sort of “rule” that dictates Hunters are only ranged. You have plenty of examples, not only in the game itself (like Rexxar) but also irl and even other fantasy universes.
Going back to the game, the Hunter class represents more than just “hunters”, one of the fantasies inside the Hunter class are Rangers, and Rangers are mostly ranged but not exclusively. Lor’themar, who was the 2nd highest ranking Farstrider right bellow Sylvannas, has a sword as his main weapon despite also using a bow.
So, while I do understand your view, you only see it that way because that’s how they originally did the class with 3 ranged specs, had they made one of the specs melee from the get-go nobody would have any issue with that sort of class fantasy.
There’s also a lot of people who like SV as melee. I mean, at the end of the day the RSV vs MSV is more about personal preference than performance itself. SV being melee isn’t the reason why it isn’t the most picked spec.
You have BM’s example to show you that. Less than a year ago when BM was the best spec almost everybody was playing it, then the tides turned and MM is the best spec so almost everybody plays MM now, were SV the best of the 3 and it would be the most picked spec.
You miss RSV? That’s a valid point, but saying current SV is worse, or less popular, just because it is melee is nonesense.
Again, it’s hard to have a discussion with you if you seriously think the above is true. And don’t want to turn this thread into a pointless discussion about what is already clearly shown from the data. Currently BM is 10,000 times more popular than Survival even though the perform the same.
I was comparing BM with MM, not BM with SV. Maybe try to stick to what is said?
Now, if you want to make the comparison with BM and SV that’s quite simple and obvious, the people who played BM in BfA are more familiar with it than with SV, so it’s only natural they’d stick with what they already know and like instead of changing to the other already not so popular spec.
Plus, maybe they simply just want a ranged spec, which they already have 2 to pick from, there are others, like me, who really like having the melee option and here we have it.
You already have 2 ranged hunter, leave us that like it with a thrilling melee hunter spec.
Surv need big changes: not back in the past, instead into the future!!
Developers should work on this melee spec and add proper buff/abilities.
It can be a great spec and compete with rogue spec
I like to think that they are smarter than that. That they can see where certain themes and fantasies are missing, as opposed to only looking at arbitrary roles, etc.
My suggestion would be to name it “Munitions”. It fits the theme of RSV well and it meets the criteria for how specs have been given names in the past. That being which part of it’s(the class) core theme is the intended major focus.
I suppose this depends on what you mean by “best”. But if it is based on performance, then this isn’t true.
Current SV/MSV has been the top performing spec several times since early Legion. It has never been anywhere close to becoming the most picked hunter spec.
I think the important thing to take away here is that we all like different things.
Are there those that like the melee-focus? Yes. There is an option for that.
Are there those that like the thematic approach we saw with RSV? Yes.
Is there a way to achieve that playstyle(RSV) anymore? No. Neither BM nor MM plays anywhere close to it.
Compromises aren’t needed here. It’s not a case of either/or. It’s only about whether the devs want to dedicate a certain amount of dev time to giving the class back what is no longer currently a part of it.