Are there any plans or intention to give shadow priests tools to contribute more effectively during burn phases in raids? Short of trinkets and a shadowfiend, we have no cooldowns to blow, no execute mechanic and naturally receive far less benefit from bloodlust/heroism than other casters. And when switching single targets, we are slow to ramp up the damage.
Are you content with the current balance between shadow's effective aoe and single-target dps? Do you see any need to moderate one or boost the other?
Please can you explain the intended sw:p refresh mechanic of pain and suffering? And please clarify whether it is supposed to work with the wide range of buffs — including shadow weaving — that it currently ignores.
Do you think it's time to review mind flay's base range? Elemental shaman are the only other class with a stunted range on one key nuke (flame shock) and this is nullified by talents. This implies you design raid encounters around a 30-yard range for ranged dps. Does this mean that you also assume shadowpriests have the glyph of mind flay equipped?
Are you satisfied with the glyph options for raiding shadow priests? As my last question implied, it feels like shadowpriests are bullied into taking the mind flay glyph. The only reason more people aren't complaining is because there are so few viable raid dps alternatives. I hate to use the 'everybody else has it, why can't we' argument, but we have the fewest glyph options of all dps specs/classes.
Do you think gear itemisation is fair for shadow? Are you happy with the benefit we receive from haste, given its ubiquity on gear? And is it right that as the class with the closest affinity to spirit, we now receive the least benefit? Will we scale fairly with raid content throughout the rest of Wrath?
Do you think the conceptual design of shadow fits as well with priests as it should? I'll be honest, shadowpriests don't feel like priests to me, they feel like something removed from the rich design and lore of the priest class. We are locked out of all hymns and prayers — not just the healing ones, which makes sense, but the mana regeneration one, which doesn't. And there are no shadow equivalents — no dark prayer, no hymn of shadows. Are we supposed to be athiest? Or can we have the concept of faith more closely woven into our design please?
Are you happy with the state of out-of-combat mana regeneration since the recent nerfs? I went back to level a second priest and have found that spirit tap, even with stacked spirit, is almost worthless for grinding. It has pushed us back from being the dynamo of levelling classes to mages without the nukes.
Would you be willing to spend some time on the European forums every now and then? My perception is that any regular developer-community dialogue happens on the US forums — and, rightly or wrongly, that seems to happen a lot more for some classes than others. I'm very, very grateful for this opportunity to put my questions to your team, but there are a lot of them. Some of these things, like the pain and suffering issue, could have been addressed very easily to prevent months of hand-wringing and frustration. Small, regular outreach could, I think, help maintain a contented priest community, both sides of the pond :)
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13 June 2009
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2 comments:
Good questions, especially the concept of shadow question. I had never really though about it before, but you're exactly right, a shadow priest doesn't really feel like a priest. Theres a definate absense of a 'faith' concept with shadow, but when i was disc i definately felt like a priest. Kinda hard to put a finger on exactly what i feel is missing, but a really good point!
I hope we get some answers soon! Thanks for your persistance :)
Merlot - I think your questions were very pointed and specific. I'm particularly interested in the answers regarding burn phase cooldowns and shadow priest lore. I hope they get to your questions, because there's an awful lot of chaff and dreck in there that isn't worth the time to read.
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