Wow for Play Station

Hello! My question is after the videos about how wow is played quite well with a controller came out on the Internet, do you intend to play it for ps4 pro or the future ps4 ???

It haven’t been announced so right now it’s unlikely. TESO is on consoles as well as enters game streaming platforms so the future is open.

There is no way it will run at good and stable FPS on a current gen console.
WoW is very CPU heavy on one thread and consoles got very weak AMD jaguar CPU-cores and low clock speeds (2,1Ghz on the PS4 Pro).

Unless Blizzard ports WoW to a new engine with better support for multithread this is not going to happen.
Also, they would have to dumb down the game even more and adjust the raid bosses etc for gamepads…

While controller support is coming in Shadowlands, they did say somewhere that there are no current plans for a console port, and the controller support is merely for accessibility, nothing more.

I wouldn’t hold my breath.

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Like Tink said, something along those lines are coming in SL, BUT it’s mainly for those with health issues etc so they are able to partake in the game/universe they love in a comfortable manor… But making console ports? Nope… Main issue with this is the MASSIVE dumbing down of the abilities/action bars, mechanics etcetc they would have to do… A very good example is what happened to Diablo 3… So obvious from the get-go that it was going to have a Console port, and for many, the dumbing down really ruined the great series, the same would 100% happen to WoW too… The community would splinter like the skies above Ice-Crown… Bad idea, no thank you

Yeah… getting Sony to NOT want full control of that party would be fun to watch.

GL w/ that

In all fairness, it’d be a major nail in Blizzard’s coffin if they did that; porting Diablo to console was easier as the quantity of abilities was designed on a similar format to a console controller…

It already is heavily multithreaded. What they have to do is vastly reduce the amount of calculations needed in combat. Procs, corruption, stat changes, party wide effects and way way more - and multiplied by the amount of players, amount of mobs and so on.

On macOS it even runs on Haswell dual core U in a Mac Mini. Having a very targeted port helps with performance.

And they can also target only nex-gen consoles.

I’m pretty sure even that CPU is faster than an AMD FX with 2,1Ghz :smiley:
The FX were the worst CPUs for WoW.

Consoles work bit differently than Windows so a native WoW should perform better (where as better for consoles is 30 FPS anyway :smiley: ).

“Runs” on a mac mini is a vast overstatement. I’ve tried it, on minimal settings, and it’s barely enough to pick up mail and go to the AH. Not something I’d call playable.

I managed to even raid with i5-4260U one - https://rk.edu.pl/en/world-warcraft-macos-apple-devices/#3 - it’s on the very edge of playable but it’s also a very old 2014 model.

Shadowlands is officially supporting pads anyway as more people are using pads on PC’s.

I wouldn’t say it’s hurt FF14 which ran on the PS3 before being ported to PS4. Raiding is just as mechanic based there, the only role issue I had was healer - on which I would use a KB & M with the PS4 (Though I own it on both platforms for ease). The shortkey action bars and movement is fine - the only issue is targeting which is limited to tab like targeting.

Maybe for some dailies or leveling, but imagine raiding with a gamepad or doing m+ :smiley:
The problem is not only the amount of keybinds, BUT also the analog controller, the movement.

But FF is build from the ground up for consoles… can’t compare that.

I’ve timed a bunch of 17s and a 18 on a gamepad, as healer. It’s not much different than keyboard+trackball (my usual equipment).

If you map, say, the thumb triggers to shift and control, you will have much more buttons than the standard four: nomod, shift, ctrl, shift+ctrl. That’s 16 buttons alone. Moving with a keypad is exactly the same as on the keyboard, positioning the mouse cursor is also very easy, so there’s not much of a difference. Targeting needs a bit of practice (Tab targeting sucks, don’t do that), but very much doable. For healing, it’s trivial, my mouse cursor is around the unit frames most of the time anyway. And since my party frames are near the middle of the screen where nameplates are, targeting mobs becomes quite easy too, only need minimal movement, and rarely has to be very precise, so entirely doable with a gamepad joystick too.

The hard part of playing with a gamepad is not the playing part, but the setup part, in my experience.

It is nowhere near the precision of a mouse.
That is also why i hate aiming in 3rd person games with a controller… also why there is aim assist in many console games.
It just feels sluggish and slow.
I can’t even imagine how people play fast first person shooters like DOOM with a controller.
You can instantly tell if a person is playing with a controller by looking at the movement :stuck_out_tongue:

I mean you can also raid and do everything as a clicker… is it optimal? No.

Yeah they still haven’t figured that out after 15 years.
Like you tab and want to target a single mob right in front of you and you target something on the side behind you… wtf? :smiley:

Sure, but have you tried as a DPS, in a fight where you have to switch targets alot and also dodge things?

With the right settings and all, AMD processors are quite capable of playing WoW, never saw the whole issue of there being too much problems, even with the Piledriver cpu’s.

Do agree that it wouldn’t work on Sony as they would want to control it properly. Now Xbox could be another matter entirely as it’s pretty much a version of Windows running that console so… Possible to port over as it uses DirectX and at worst, hack it so that a console would run it.

Blizzard is going to have to do something about the hardcode in the game engine eventually though as single core optimisation is frankly out of date and inefficient.

Making the game use more cores, even for both camps would mean less issues of fps drops and all in busier areas. This game is far too old though to do it with patches to the game engine.

It would require a complete new designed game engine and all to take advantage fully of the improvements the PC hardware has made in the last 15 years.

Consoles are pretty much multi-core cpu systems now, gone are the days of single core.

PS4, not a change. PS5… Maybe but doubt Activision:Blizzard would agree with what Sony might want.

New Xbox, it’s possible, though I doubt it would get done. Maybe a generation after that. But would require a whole new game engine for both the console and the PC for it to work.

Which would be a flat out no from accounting department if they can’t do it without losses and make enough profit to keep shareholders happy.

The best thing is if Blizzard does Warcraft IV to tell the story of what happened on Azeroth and explain the time skip that happens during Shadowlands and releases that for PC and Consoles.

But I don’t think they even have that planned really.

I found that it doesn’t need to be. I can easily position the cursor over both my party frames and enemy nameplates. Pretty much at the same speed as with a trackball/mouse. The hardest thing that does require precise positioning are horrific visions: the odd crystals and the potions are tiny, picking those up with a controller is a pain. M+, no such issues.

Granted, it takes a while to calibrate the joysticks speed and acceleration until it works fine, but once you found a sweet spot, it works like a charm. Also has the advantage that you don’t have to fling your arm around like a madman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqBVf_9K7Bk - am I playing keyboard+mouse or controller here?

Yes. I’ve been on explosive orbs duty as mistweaver plenty of times (I’m in melee range anyway, and can RSK/Blackout them for a quick kill, so DPS can focus on mobs or boss or whatever). I also switch targets often as a healer, so I can paralyze a cast when DPS is either not in range, or has their interrupts on CD. I’m also switching targets when my current is getting low, so I can continue punching something else while DPS cleaves my previous target down. While not target switching, I’m using Ring of Peace as needed too, which requires moving my cursor to place it, and preferably place it at the right spot.

I tried it as tank too, easily timed 15s, on explosive week, where I did 70%+ of the damage to them, so plenty of target switching involved. I’m also switching targets while tanking for interrupting purposes, no problems targeting there, either.

Haven’t tried as pure dps, because I don’t play DPS specs outside of visions, which I play with keyboard+trackball to be able to pick up potions. But I don’t think I’d have problems playing DPS in M+ either, since I do plenty of target switching in my other specs anyway.

Controller, you can tell by the movement of the cursor and the UI obviously.

But tell me, why are you playing with a controller at all?
Just to prove a point that is is possible?
I mean your gaming experience would be better with mouse+keyboard.

Wrong. I play with controller up until 0:50, and switch to keyboard+mouse there during a soothing mist cast (forgot to recharge my controller, oops).

How so? Because I don’t have action bars shown? Or because the WAs that track my CDs? Or my use of oPie? Why would any of that make it obvious I play with a controller?

Because it is comfortable. I can play with a controller from the comfort of my couch. Keyboard+mouse is much less comfortable there, because I need to place them somewhere, and need space for mousing around. Using a trackball is marginally better, but I still require a flat surface to put both on. Controller, I just hold in my hand.

I’ll be the judge of that, thank you. I find controller to be much better. I can perform just as well as with keyboard + mouse, and it allows me to play from the couch, without needing a flat surface. As you can see from the video, I have no problem positioning my cursor neither over party frames, nor oPie slices. I assure you, I can similarly target enemies by their nameplates. My reaction speed is similar, sometimes even better on the controller, because I only move fingers, never have to move my hand at all.

The only thing I can’t do from a controller, is type on /p, but that doesn’t matter, because in PuGs, noone does, and when running with friends, we’re on voice anyway. For the few things I do want to write in /p from time to time, like “don’t leave the obelisk yet, let me drink up”, or “watch the stacks!” - I either have a WA for that, or an oPie slice and a macro. I do reach for the keyboard when listing a key in LFD, however.

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