I normally read the Greedy Goblin in the way that lawyers and doctors watch Gerry Springer on their days off — largely for the shock value and the schadenfreude, but with a smug belief that none of it really applies to me.
And then I read this post, in which Gevlon accuses Blizzard of placing all the responsibility for a raid's success on the shoulders of tanks and healers, effectively giving dps a free ride. As you know, I've been chain-healing my ample Tauren butt off lately and this analysis hit a slight nerve.
To be fair, I think Blizzard has come up with lots of devices and strategies to test the dps this expansion — not just enrage timers. Fires, and debuffs, and weird-old buffy things and caster tanking and a zillion phases and target switches. And dps tactics are a lot more complex and interactive than they used to be (unless you're a frost mage). I think the days of facerolling your way through fights that you don't outgear are long gone. It feels like tanks 'n' spanks are very much the exceptional bosses now, instead of the norm.
But I'll admit Gevlon's view feeds a little pocket of righteous anger that bubbles away inside of me every time I wipe to one of Blizzard's Machiavellian encounters. Because every time Blizzard tries to shake up the dps a bit, they invariably take a collateral swipe at the healers — it's either things that healers have to look out for too, or else things that healers have to cope with incidentally if the dps aren't on their toes. (It goes without saying that tanks have it hard too, in my eyes.)
In Cataclysm, healers are going to have to manage their mana pools far more carefully than they do now. They will have a larger array of healing spells to pick from, and casting the wrong one at the wrong time could have far-reaching consequences. The enrage point will be when healers oom, not when bosses get bored and one-shot the tank.
So yes, I find myself in the unfamiliar position of agreeing with Gevlon, and grumbling uncharitably about the injustice of this stupid game.
But a small part of me feels a little soiled, like I've just caught myself enjoying Fox news. Somebody put me straight, please.
Not just one Overton window
15 hours ago
5 comments:
I'd be glad to put you straight. Enjoy watching Fox News, if for no other reason than to learn how the other people in the country think.
However, agreeing with Gevlon is going to require some penance. Might I suggest a week of watching Fox News? :)
Well, fer starters, healers going oom ain't new - it were a standard part of the fight in 'nilla and TBC. And things was tuned fer that. Sometimes healers got blamed unfairly fer a wipe, sometimes not. In Wrath, healers got unlimited mana, and fights was tuned fer that. And still sometimes healers gets the blame fer a wipe, mebbe fairly, mebbe not. Tell me ya ain't seen a dead mage on the floor, bitchin' about not gettin his healz. Now we's gonna go back ta oom's, and the fights is gonna be tuned fer ta reflect that. Healing ain't gonna be harder or easier, just different.
If ya looks close at what Gevlon sez is in the blue posts, and what actually is in them, ya see that he pretty much made up new posts fer ta fit his conclusions. Warriors is gonna have unlimited rage? Casters is gonna have unlimited mana? Nopes, not what GhostCrabby said at all.
Gevlon talks like he is always completely right, and is so certain what ya tends ta think "well, he must be." Don't change the fact what he's really an ignorant peddler of kodo poop.
To put it as nicely as I can, Gevlon's advice is best left to areas he has expertise in.
Fact is that all three roles have two levels to them: "doing it" and "doing it well".
Anyone can DPS.
Not everyone does it well.
DPSing is easy.
DPSing well is not.
I really noticed this recently when I came off my healer and brought my hunter to the party. OMG I HAVE TO MOVE AND HANDLE ADDS AND CC AND KITE AND ... well, you get the picture.
Point is that I could be a boat anchor and just autoshoot and have pet on auto-attack, or I can contribute to the team in such a way that helps us achieve our goal. If you're having to compete for that slot, DPS ain't easy.
Well, right or wrong, "no such thing as a bad page view", eh Gev?
I dont think DPS gets a free ride. I raid as both a resto druid and a hunter. While in general, the better your raid performs, the easier healing is, when a new mechanic is added I don't think anyone's taking a swipe at the healers. When a DPS dies from stupid, there's nothing a healer can do about it and only an idiot would blame those deaths on a healer.
In terms of the neccessity to be raid aware, I think DPS actually has it a little tougher than the healers. Being a healer allows for a larger margin of error. If I stand in a fire for an extra tick I can heal myself through it (I'm not advocating this, I get out of fires as fast as I can no matter what role I'm playing). Healers tend to prioritize themselves first on their list of people to heal. As a hunter, healing me isn't anyone's first priority so I better take as little damage as possible while doing the most dps that I can.
Well one thing they can do... is bring back lethal boss mechanics. Too slow to get away from sindrigosa's blistering cold? You die. You let a blood beast touch you? You die.
May be a little extreme... but it will push the responsibility off the healer if your dumb ass didn't move.
Unavoidable damage is still good to keep healers busy... but there should be avoidable mechanics that just kill you if you don't... you know... avoid them.
Post a Comment