Right.
My point being that it’s silly to attribute being “right” to being aligned with the changes Blizzard makes.
“Blizzard have done x, just like I have always told them they should! You see, I was right all along!!”
Being right and being content is not the same, and it’s silly to confuse one for the other.
I’m looking at it from both PvP and PvE sides of things, MF being a must channel all the time can really break us for both of those aspects of the game
But Blizzard has stated that the reason they are changing these things- And have changed these things, have been because of the same reasons I’ve expressed. They have agreed to those reasons. I don’t care if it is my specific feedback that lead to it, but I’m right all the same.
I choose to believe that if the spec was truly broken in two major high-profile aspects of the game, then Blizzard would take steps to address that.
But on paper I don’t see the design issue with making some talents that emphasize the fantasy of using Mind Flay a lot.
Maybe it’ll be a mess when Alpha & Beta testing comes around, but we’ll have to wait and see. Some changes based on testing is surely to be expected either way.
But I’m hesitant to predict the state of gameplay when there is no gameplay yet and most information is still so limited. For now I’ll personally settle on whether or not the talents look cool in terms of design and fantasy, and I think they do. The nitty-gritty details are more reserved for Alpha & Beta testing I think.
You are aligned.
Which is great.
You’re playing a video game. The best thing you can hope for is to be aligned with the designer(s), because then you’re literally getting the game made to your own personal preferences.
And for Blizzard the best thing they can hope for is to align their game design with your preferences, because that means they’re more likely to keep you as a satisfied customer, which is in their business interest.
But it’s still silly to try and settle an argument on the basis of being “right”, i.e. being aligned with Blizzard. That assumes an agreed premise where Blizzard’s decisions are objectively superior, which is ridiculous, because game design preference is ultimately a subjective matter. People can prefer different things in video games. All Blizzard does is try to cater their game design to a certain group of people. It’s wonderful if that group of people feel that Blizzard have successfully aligned the game design to their gaming preferences, but it doesn’t make them “right”. It makes them content, happy, valued, satisfied, etc…
No, it assumes that some design choices are objectively better than others.
Is total separation of PVP and PVE healthier for the game? Yes it is, exactly as I argued all these years.
Is Titanforging being gne healthier for the game? Yes it is, exactly as I argued all these years.
Are set bonuses being back a good thing? Absolutely.
The devs have not been aligned with me, or the players, for the longest of times. They still aren’t. If they were, we wouldn’t be even having this conversation. Nor would have Blizzard hit the record low subs with SL. Nor would people be claiming they are out of touch in the numbers that they are.
It’s not a matter of pride for me, I don’t care about that. I just care that, the observations that I make about the game and that I have repeatedly shown to be true are implemented into the game which then improve the game as a whole. Whether it’s done because the devs magically change their opinions, align themselves with mine and others opinions or w/e, I do not care.
Yes it does because I can offer you a bet right now, right here, 100k gold. I am betting that DF will have more pvp participation because of things like WoD gearing over SL.
That doesn’t account for individual player perspective.
Which is the subjective part. The eye of the beholder.
What’s best for the game depends on the individual that plays it.
A PvPer will have different preferences to a Roleplayer or a Raider or a Pet Battler.
So who’s right about what’s best? Well no one.
It’s the quarrel of the game designers to figure out what kind of game they want to make and who they want to cater it to and how they want to do it, and then actually getting it done.
If what the designers have decided upon and started doing is aligned with what you want them to do and have asked them to do, then that’s great. You’re aligned. Happy player, satisfied customer, yay!
But it still confuses the fact that what you consider best for you and for the game as a whole, is not de facto so. Others may consider otherwise, and any individual is surely as entitled to their conviction about what’s best for them and the game as you are to yours, and Blizzard are to theirs.
Anyway, I shall be off. Nice chat. 
The one that brings in the most subs for the game and most players into a given activity.
Which you have no way of deducting.
Even Ghostcrawler said back in the day that the designers couldn’t attribute individual design changes or additions to people joining or quitting the game. The most they could deduct through their data was that players were likely to quit if their friends had done so.
The notion that you can pinpoint the net gain or loss in subscribers to a certain talent design is absurd and makes a mockery of complex cause and effect relationships.
And choosing to use such a foundation for claiming faux authority in an argument is downright disingenuous.
But of course, if you have solid data (not assumptions) that shows clear cause and effect of individual design decisions on WoW, then I’ll stand corrected. But not even Blizzard has that, so…
I don’t really care about the opinion of a known cubicle crawler.
Anyway if you are so adamant I’ll be wrong then just take up my bet and put your money where your mouth is as I am doing.
The terms of your bet seemed a bit superfluous, and conviction of belief is again not indicative of being objectively right or true. It’s just indicative of being passionate.
But I’ll happily take some of your gold if you care to specify the terms some more.
Ye mind flay is a cool spell i loved in cata/mop because in cata it actually did a DMG when you had your mind blast on cooldown
and in MOP when you talented to enhance this you did even MORE dmg and it was called differently i don’t remember that specifically but it was still a good spell that was doing something for you
Here this spell is doing nothing it’s only there to wait for PROC or when your mind blast comes of cooldown
they say it’s a FILLER spell? something like crusader strike? press it when you don’t have anything else to press?
Well MF in terms of a paladin is auto attack, well in terms of any melee really. So the majority of priests are afraid that our rotation is gonna be MF/“Auto attack” fishing for procs to then only cast the procs, and the go back to MF/“Auto attack”
I think that’s kind of always been the Shadow Priest playstyle. It’s less a rotation and more a priority system.
Keep DoTs up. Mind Blast when you can. Otherwise use Mind Flay.
I think that’s sort of always been the core design (minus the period with Mind Spike). I don’t personally mind it.
What constitutes PvP participation? Arena, Battlegrounds, World PvP, Solo Shuffle, everything? How do you collect comparative data?
More PvP participation than when? Now on 3rd of July?
At what point in Dragonflight? Upon release?
How do you attribute more people playing to changes in gear design versus, for example, a trailer with dragons?
Your terms are…vague.
aye
You look at que times at peak hours and compare them to the SL ones. Doesn’t matter what season.
For arenas you can use cutoff title numbers.
Doesn’t matter. All DF seasons are going to be more more played than their equivalent seasons in SL.
Till the expansion is over, of course.
Because the PVP gearing change will directly influence how much people play PVP in a given expansion. See: legion, where S1 was the least played season of all time. Come BFA, the uselessness of PVP gear again lead to PVE gearing running rampant and killing off that piece of content for people. BG’s had no reason to exist in either Legion and BFA, and as a result their que times during peak hours have been the highest ones to date, from 20 to 30 minutes. I won’t even mention epic ones.
Now, compare that to WoD 5-10 minute ques, even when the expansion bled more subs than any other expansion before it, and that explains why I am absolutely and 100% certain I will be right.
So, yes or no?
I suppose I should rather ask what the numbers are and how you’ve arrived at them.
I’ll help narrow it down a bit:
If you can show me the numbers for Seasons in Shadowlands, and it looks fair, then sure, I’ll bet you 100k gold on this statement.
The release of Diablo IV will directly influence how many people play WoW.
A possible financial recession will directly influence how many people play WoW.
A sanctioned Russia will directly influence how many people play WoW.
Hence my previous point: It’s difficult to deduct cause and effect precisely.
I have given you all the details you could want, just state whether you intend to take the bet or not.
You have given me words in lieu of numbers. I cannot take a bet on numbers without knowing what the numbers are. I told you this.
Regardless, it seems a bit ego-fueled anyway and somewhat moot to the point of the discussion to wage 100k gold to be decided a year from now on. And I think I kind of said what I wanted about conviction of belief versus being right, and this just underscores that.
Anyway, I have to fuzz to bed. Nice chat though, again.
yes but it used to do DMG
nowdays it do nothing it’s just there to do something while your real dmg abilities can be used again
that’s the biggest difference 