tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post7051360995601046391..comments2024-03-19T05:31:10.642-04:00Comments on The Grumpy Elf: Beginners Bane: Part I: AbilitiesTheGrumpyElfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07621615711198405365noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-77449065617225048602012-07-21T14:05:16.665-04:002012-07-21T14:05:16.665-04:00Edit: Actually, I lie. I'm not attached to all...Edit: Actually, I lie. I'm not attached to all of my abilities. They can get rid of the fire trap.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-5537840387766483762012-07-21T13:58:51.219-04:002012-07-21T13:58:51.219-04:00I started playing WoW about two years ago and clea...I started playing WoW about two years ago and clearly remember finding the game overwhelming, all the abilities and everything. <br /><br />I rolled a hunter, chose BM, and never used Kill Command because, well, actually, I think all I did was spam arcane shot and then wait for my mana to come back :). Oh, while backpedalling. I was excited when I learned I could walk backwards because then it took longer for mobs to get to me to chew my face off.<br /><br />I didn't learn to use Misdirect or Master's call or Intimidation or even Distracting Shot or Tranq shot until about a year into the game...mostly because there was just so much stuff and never took the time to learn what those spells did. Or, I would try the spell once without reading the tooltip and if it did no damage, I'd ignore it forever! Hahaha.<br /><br />I do now use all my abilities, but it took forever to get a handle on them. That said, I probably learn more slowly than average for these kinds of things, and I loved WoW when I first discovered it and still love it now. How would it work to "dumb down" the game and give fewer abilities? I'd be curious to see how that would play out. I'm rather attached to all the abilities I have now, since I've finally learned how to use them at least somewhat competently. Although I am running out of space on my keyboard for keybinds...<br /><br />And also, I kind of like that there were so many abilities to learn...it felt rewarding when I finally figured something out and I was certainly never bored...<br /><br />- Aq<br /><br />PS Just dicovered this blog. Thanks Grumpy Elf, me likey!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-38934106374682367892012-06-29T15:16:00.812-04:002012-06-29T15:16:00.812-04:00Well said - even if WoW is far from being the only...Well said - even if WoW is far from being the only game with this problem. (I found it especially bad when trying Rift.) I am generally positive about WoW but this is probably the thing I dislike the most. While I have to say Blizzard noticed and the descriptions seem to have improved in MoP beta, the number of abilities didn't decrease much.<br /><br />And apparently there's few developers who see this as a problem - even Tera claiming action combat has about 30 abilities per class. In Ragnarok Online, I used a single battle mode setup (27 keys) for PvM, MVPs and PvP/WoE and that included gear switching. (I probably wouldn't be able to do so if I was a high wizard though.) Well, at least GW2 decided to limit the number of hotkeys to 10.Imakulatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18327043103775428011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-23220934132243974052012-06-27T06:00:27.064-04:002012-06-27T06:00:27.064-04:00Some Classes/specs in particular could use less of...Some Classes/specs in particular could use less of an overflowing 'salad bar' of slightly-different abilities.<br /><br />I don't mind having a lot of abilities as long as they're actually noticeably different from eachother (eg. Arms; note that I'm used to playing Prot), but designs like they have come up with for Protadins (a dozen and one CD abilities that all reduce damage and damage output to a certain degree) are not interesting, they're annoying.<br /><br />Given the proiliferation of macro's and add-ons amongst the 'top content' would suggest that I'm not alone in that.<br /><br />Seemingly random but actually applicable: <br />I miss the ergonomically wonderful joystick, and hate it the hobby basically removed it because someone decided that more buttons = more fun (needless to say, I have zero interest in 'combo-attacks', and e.g. Gateway to Apshai and Gauntlet did just fine with their 'limited' buttons).NetherLandsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-17939363131366500682012-06-26T16:58:51.662-04:002012-06-26T16:58:51.662-04:00Completely agreed on that one.
And anyone who wan...Completely agreed on that one.<br /><br />And anyone who wants to have a vague idea of how overwhelmed a newbie feels, try creating a new character in a class you've never played before, and force yourself to play it without looking at ANY information outside the game or asking guildies for help.Macnolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17001019572827062067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-85704937684399546492012-06-26T12:40:54.149-04:002012-06-26T12:40:54.149-04:00I agree and for long time players it is being dumb...I agree and for long time players it is being dumbed down, for lack of a better term, but for everyone new it is just letting them start where we did.<br /><br />Lets say we started when there were 20 basic abilities and there are 30 now. New players have 50% more work to do learning the game. If they lowered it to 20 it might seem like dumbing it down to us but it would mean making it the same for them as it was for us.<br /><br />I think the game needs some dumbing down even if I might be against it personally from where I stand. I like to look at the bigger picture and this game is really imposing on a new player, as the future articles will show, it is not just the abilities, it is everything.TheGrumpyElfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07621615711198405365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9015737272343810105.post-8871568406906358362012-06-26T12:32:46.706-04:002012-06-26T12:32:46.706-04:00While I do agree with you, it's an interesting...While I do agree with you, it's an interesting thought that fixing issues like this keep leading people to complain that the game is being "dumbed down."Balkothhttp://despotism.enjin.comnoreply@blogger.com