Fanboy Feasting No. 14

So I’ve been having my way with my friend’s World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King beta test character here and there for the past few weeks (I wasn’t lucky enough to score my own beta testing invite) and, while it’s made me even more excited for what’s to come in the epically popular MMORPG’s future, playing the beta has also sparked a few more questions for me and my friends.

Will Blizzard ever achieve some semblance of balance in WoW’s PvP (player versus player) gameplay? In WoW’s current state, there’s definitely a clear lack of balance in terms of what classes have advantages in certain situations. We’ve seen much more balanced PvP in games like Guild Wars (which is free, I might add). So far, it seems as though some of these imbalances will only become more extreme with regards to how gear (specifically the factor of spell power) has been retooled.

Will class composition play as much of a factor in the future of raiding?With many buffs (enhancements to player’s abilities and attributes) going the raid wide route, there will be fewer specific requirements for XX number of so and so and YY number of whatever else. Figuring out optimal class combinations and compositions for raids was one of the more thought-involved aspects of the end-game content. Way to dumb down WoW even more, Blizzard.

Viability for every class to have a DPS (Damage Per Second/High Damage Output) spec, in a bad way This goes back to the class balance issue, but from a less PvP centric perspective. Each of the classes should have their strengths and weaknesses. In the same light, every class isn’t supposed to be equally great at any one thing, thus encouraging diversity in the [game’s] community and accommodating for different styles of play.

Death Knights are completely OP’d (overpowered). Not only are people going to be flocking to this new hero class in mass (already an annoyance in the beta realms) but Death Knights put out an out of proportion amount of DPS to some of their damage casting and melee damage dealing counterparts. Even in situations where the Death Knight should be somewhat disadvantaged due to magic resistances on behalf of enemy mobs, the shieldless Death Knight continues to tank just fine. /grumble

Anyway, with some of the new news and the new trailer (above) I just thought I’d reaffirm my geekdom to anyone of your b readers who ever questioned it. Happy hunting!

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