The AP Beta Will Hurt Development

Reading the forums it has become apparent that most of the people in the beta do not quite understand why they are there.  The majority seem to believe that they are there to get a preview of the game.

Having this many people, and more soon, to the tune of possibly near 2M people when all is said and done, will mean that it will be harder for blizzard to sort through the whining that things are broken from the masses that think they are there to play the game, not test it.  These people all seem to complain this suck and that sucks and the other sucks and how can they release something that is broken like this.

See, that is the key line there, how could they release something broken like this.  The thing is, it is not released.  This is a beta.  Things are going to be broken.  You are supposed to report that they are broken, you are not supposed to complain that it being broken is ruining the flow of your game so you can not continue the quest line.

If you can not continue the quest line you report that there is a quest bugged, supply any information that you think might be needed, and move along.  Either find another quest line somewhere, find something else to test, or log out and wait for them to fix it so you can continue testing another day.  At the very least, if you just want to play, then grind some mobs so you level up and move to the next zone. 

Don't complain, contribute.

As it is, there are a few quests that seem to be bugged and on the forums I have seen numerous posts about them.  One such quest, the jade witch, seems to have dozens of posts about it.  Most of them are just one person, no replies, complaining they can not continue with the quest line. A few of them are someone complaining and others just saying, same here.  Then there is one, yes, just one that I could find, that offers any actual information about it.  The person gives computer specs, gives a description of how many people in the area, explains what they are doing, the time of day, what others seem to be doing, game settings, server, etc.

So that means in dozens of posts on the forums about the quest in question only one person actually did what a beta tester is supposed to do.  They are supposed to test it and supply information when something does not work so the coders can use the information in an effort to fix the problem.

Beta testers are not supposed to complain because it is broken and ruining their questing because they can't continue.

Being there are so many people on the beta that are doing a disservice to the game I think that blizzard should institute a hard line no tolerance approach and start removing these people from the beta test realms.

There should be a motto that people on the beta should be required to follow or risk losing access to the test realms.

Don't complain, contribute.

All these annual pass holders are going to make the beta process a lot harder for them to get things fixed.  Lets just say some guy that works there is trying to fix the quest we mentioned.  He does a forum search and sees that there are dozens of posts on the jade witch so he looks there for some details that could help him isolate what the problem is so he can fix the problem. 

Instead he ends up bogged down reading about people complaining that it is hurting their progression.  He reads about people complaining about how it is bad design to release things like that.  He reads countless people saying, don't work for me either.  He reads for hours, hours of wasted time, only to find that one post where someone actually included any information he might be able to use.  That is if he even ever finds it in that massive pile of crap people are posting that is of no help.

All those complainers are flooding the forums with nothing useful.  It will not speed up the beta process, it will slow it to a crawl.  People working on the problems will be forced to sort through 100s of messages of pure dribble to find the one that might actually have a piece of information they might need.

Every time one of these annual pass people complain they are delaying the progress of the game.

Sure, just saying, the quest is broken, even without listing any information is helpful some.  It shows them that it needs looking into.  Sure, posting, broken for me too, helps to show that it was not just one person that had the problem.  Those threads, even if not informative, do hold a purpose but you don't need 50 of them.  If all these people want to do it say it does not work for them they can hit reply at the end of the other four threads on the same page about the same thing to say it is not working for them either.  No need to clutter things up.

All of these people are going to slow the beta down to a crawl.  We might have all thought we had a chance to see mists in the summer but from seeing how the beta is being handled I can tell you that will never happen.  The beta testers will not allow it.  They will do everything they can to slow down the process to a crawl because complaining about things fits them more.

Perhaps that is the reason there is no in game error reporting yet.  Perhaps we should give blizzard some credit where it is due.  If there was an in game reporting system then there would probably be even more "this is ruining my progress" crap for them to sort through.  At least the forums are another venue that people would need to go to if they want to post and that might limit some of the complainers.  If they could press a button in game and complain there might be more complaints.  Bravo blizzard, good move, at least you are trying to limit some of the BS these annual pass holders are wasting your time with.

Don't complain, contribute.

That really should be the beta motto and blizzard should be putting notes on peoples accounts, in my opinion at least, and making note of who complains and who contributes, and making sure the next beta that comes out anyone that has a note on their account as a complainer and not a contributor, does not get an invite.  Annual pass or not.

You know they will do things like the annual pass again but lets all hope, for the betterment of the game and development, that they do not automatically give out access to anyone that signs up.  They need to put something like, people who apply for the annual pass get a chance to get beta access and a chance to get preview access.

That way they can get actual testers for the testing phase and then let everyone else in a couple weeks before it ends, so their complaining will not matter, the testers already did all the work.  The testers already did what is needed in the beta.

This many people, this many complainers, this many entitled people that think everything revolves around them, all of those people, the annual pass holders that think they paid for this right, are ruining the beta test and making sure the release is a lot later then it should be if they where not there.

As a note, I am not saying all annual pass people are like that.  I am sure a great deal of contributors are there as well but when compared to the number of complainers I see on the forums about it, it was not worth the trade off.

The annual pass will hurt the development of the game, if anything, just looking at the forums will tell you, they already have.

Monday Random Thoughts

- I think hugging a random tauren druid is good luck.

- While farting around yesterday doing some mount runs and stuff I saw a tauren druid just standing there and gave him a hug.

- I walked into MT and the mount dropped.

- I was so happy.  One more thing to cross off my bucket list.

- Now to get the pet.

- Not sure what inspired me to hug the druid, he was there and it seemed like a funny thing to do.

- I originally walked right past him and actually turned around to go back and hug him before I continued on my way.

- But now no tauren druid will ever be safe from getting random hugs from me.

- I went on to find two more rares to get me closer to frostbitten.

- And I was not even looking for them, was heading to do the UP mount run.

- I signed up for the arena league pass.

- I love doing that.

- Missed it last year, totally slipped my mind.

- For someone that is not much of a PvPer I enjoy the ever living hell out of the arena league.

- Two years ago I finished slightly under the 50/50 mark I wanted for bare minimum.

- This year I plan to be over .500.

- I think I will have two teams.

- One will be a DK, resto shaman and a MM hunter.

- The hunter is me of course.

- The other will be a MM hunter, a disc priest and a frost mage.

- That one the hunter isn't me, the disc priest is.

- Not the greatest makeups I agree, but I always have a huge amount of fun on that server win or lose.

- I think what it boils down to is that is a PvP only server.

- No need to worry about PvE, just get yourself ready for head to head combat.

- And you get to pick and choose all your gear, enchants, gems, glyphs, etc, for free.

- It makes it all about skill and not about gear.

- That is how PvP should be.

- It should not be about who has the most gear, but who has the best game plan and the best ability to carry it out.

- I am so hyped for arena league this year, even more so after missing it last year.

- I think one of the reasons I like it so much is I can set up for PvP only.

- For me one of the biggest problems with a good PvP set up is that it is nothing like my PvE one as far as display, binds and macros go.

- Not to mention a different spec and we only have two to begin with.

- I am looking forward to mists for that.

- MM is MM now, no MM PvP spec, MM DPS spec, MM dungeon spec, MM special spec for special fights.

- In mist MM is MM.  There is no thought involved in making your spec.

- For as lame as that is, for as much as I hate having choice taken away from me, I do like that I will not need to respec to go back and forth between PvP and PvE.

- It could actually make me PvP more.

- Now if only they would remove PvP gear completely I would be happy.

- That is the last piece of the puzzle blizzard needs to fix.

- The removal of making our own spec decisions actually makes switching back and forth easier.

- The removal of having to have special gear is the next step.

- Maybe sooner or later blizzard will get the clue and lose the special PvP gear concept.

- Gear is gear.

- Think of it from a true fantasy aspect.

- Do you think a knight wears different armor if he is fighting angry dogs or another person?

- Nope, gear is gear.

- Being blizzard is always many years late with everything they do, perhaps they will finally get it right the expansion after the one after mists?

- Let them have their fun turning one useless stat (resilience) into two useless stats (PvE power and PvP defense) in their effort to make things easier to transition.

- The people that play the game know what they are doing is not the solution, but they will never listen to reason, they need to see it fail before they do something about it.

- While doing my dungeon runs for mounts I kept thinking I want AoE looting now.

- Whenever I run some old content it makes me want AoE looting even more.

- Currently that has to be the number 1 thing I am looking forward to mists for.

- I think the minimum range thing is the second thing I look forward to most while soloing.

- I can't tell you the number of times I am stuck having to run away or disengage, or chain slow, just to get that last shot or two in.

- It is not like they where going to kill me if they got to me, but I can't kill them if they get to me.

- Now I will just stand my ground and let them get one or two shots in and then blow their brain out with a shotgun blast to the head at point blank range.

- Not very hunterly, but hey, what can I do.

- It is better than running like a scared bunny rabbit when I can just stand there and kill them instead.

- Great for multi mobs out in the world too.

- Instead of rounding up 20 or so mobs and then dropping a trap to slow them and/or a disengage to get some distance so I can multi them down now I just position myself and multi them point blank.

- Have to love that one baby.

- Yeap, no minimum range is number 2 on the list at the moment.

- I wonder what I will be able to solo at 90 that I can't now.

- I know it will make TK so much easier.

- Phase three is a bitch, it is the only thing that ever gets me.

- 1, 2, 4 and 5 are a joke, 3 is deadly.

- I read some things where people say to draw them out of the room.

- I wish I knew what the hell they where talking about.

- The doors are always closed when I do it.

- Makes me think I am doing something wrong when I solo it.

- Or look at it another way, I am doing something right.

- I don't need tricks to get it done, I just wipe a lot before I get it done.

- I guess I will trade using a trick for making it easier even if it almost seems like cheating.

- Saving the repair bills is not the issue, making it a quicker in and out is.

- I can officially solo the twins in AQ40 now.

- That is something I would have never through possible.

- I bet if I hugged a taruen druid before I went into a raid I can solo anything.

- Seems they are good luck, or at least one was yesterday.

- Make sure to hug a tauren druid, and have a great day.

I Miss a Good Reputation Grind

What exactly is a good reputation grind?  I guess that would depend on the person you ask.  Some people do not like grinds at all.

I had a conversation about reputations a while back with a few guild mates and it basically came down to me being the lone person that liked the BC grinds where you ran the dungeons for reputation and get the tabard at exalted as a reward.  They all seemed to like the newer approach where you get to friendly, buy a tabard, and then grind with it on to get reputation.

I tried to point out, what I thought of as obvious, that in the end it is the same thing.  The difference is the dungeons gave specific reputation instead of the tabard you where wearing.  Like in BC if you where going for lower city you would do the dungeons that gave lower city reputation until exalted instead of just putting on a tabard and getting exalted with lower city from every dungeon.

In the end, while it would work out to be the same thing, it came down to what is easier.  They liked the tabard to get reputation idea because it was easier.  They could get the reputation they sought from any dungeon instead of having to do a specific one for the reputation they wanted.

Okay, I can accept that I guess because in a way it is easier.  I just thought of it from the standpoint of factions should give reputation for dungeons that they have a personal interest in.  It made more sense to me.

If in the end it is indeed the same thing then why do I like the BC version more than the modern one?

I also like that there where some reps that you would grind mobs or items to turn in and they where not connected to dungeons at all.  For me there is something about going around killing hundreds and thousands of orges to get reputation that seemed logical, seemed fun even whereas my friends said they hated that.  They wish there were a tabard option for them as well.

While I might be open minded enough to accept the tabard for every dungeon instead of dungeon specific reputation as it is basically the same, just an easier version of it I do not like the removal of kill grinds and gather grinds.

To me killing all those orges was a good grind.  To me gathering things for the consortium was a good grind.  I like grinds like that.

I am not a fan of the daily quest grind like for TB.  While I like to do dailies and am happy to get reputation from them it just seems sort of like it defeats the purpose of a grind.  I would grind TB to get the ground mount, the flying mount and the pet anyway, so giving me reputation for something I was doing anyway seems like it is not so much of a grind, it is something that is being given to me as a gift for doing something I was going to do anyway.  Where is the grind in getting something for free basically?

I guess that is what makes me feel different about things.  I like to grind to do something.  I do not like to be given something for free for doing something I was going to be doing anyway.

Blizzard often talks about wanting to get people out in the world more but I think they missed the point of grinds being good for that aspect of the game.  Grinds, if designed well, get people out in the world.

I spent a lot of time grinding orges for reputation, I was out in the world to do it.  Even if only a small selection of world it was still out in the world.

Having people need to do things, and not just daily quests, to get reputation gets them out in the world.  Isn't that what they want?

Lets take a look at some of the cataclysm reputations that could have been better, in my opinion, if they made them more of an old school grind instead of the easy version they have become.

Baradin's Wardens / Hellscream's Reach
- Have the outside dailies give 50 reputation each.
- Have the inside dailies give 100 reputation each.
- Make the roaming alliance/horde guards give 25 each for the one leader and 10 each for the two supporting guys.
- Have every TB PvP kills give 1 reputation each.
- Have the allaince/horde leftovers give 5 reputation each.

Now you have a grind that is actually a grind and gets people out in the world more.  A lot better then just popping in and doing some dailies for two and a half weeks and getting to exalted, in my opinion at least.

Wildhammer Clan / Dragonmaw Clan
- Have the dailies give 50 reputation each.
- Have the daily elite quest give 100 reputation.
- Make collecting clan insignia's a repeatable quest instead where you turn in 20 for 100 reputation but they are only a 33% drop rate.
- Killing enemy named mobs would give 10 reputation.
- Killing enemy mobs would give 1 reputation.
- Have GB trash give 1 reputation each and bosses give 25.

Now you have a grind that will get you out in the world more and feels more like you are earning it and it will not take forever, which is what scares some people.

Ramkahen
- Add a few more dailies and lower the reputation of the two already there to 50 each.
- Add a repeatable daily quest to collect 10 pristine camel hides that are a 25% drop rate from camels for 100 reputation.
- Make killing certain enemies like the spirits or elementals in the city type areas give 1 reputation per kill.
- Make killing non phased non ramkahen cat people give 2 reputation.
- Being it is a perfect gathering area make bonus quests for gatherers, as we have seen before, where they need to collect 10 of something while herbing, mining or skinning.
- Have VP and LCoTV trash give 1 reputation each and bosses give 25.

Now that seems a little more like you are earning the reputation to me instead of just throwing on a tabard and getting it for free while doing dungeons you are going to be doing anyway.

I could go into the rest of the reputations but it really is not needed.  I am sure I got my point across.  Reputation that require a little bit of a grind will get people out in the world more.  It will makes people actually have to earn them as well. 

The way the system is now there is no reason anyone should ever not have the main reputations not at exalted unless it is an alt character and even at that, it is entirely possible that alts can get exalted without even trying thanks to the do nothing but equip it design of tabards now.

As it is now, if you have the five dungeon reputations exalted all it means is that you remembered to put on your tabard, with a change, it would be mean that you actually earned those reputations from doing something just a little more involved then putting on a tabard.  You would have actually earned the reputation.

I really do miss a good reputation grind.

Do People Feed On Negativity?

This is not a WoW only thing.  No matter where you go you will see that anything negative seems to always get more feedback.  It seems as if people feed on negativity.  As if people are negative because they know it will get a response.

If I where to make a post about something I like it will usually have views but no comments.  Occasionally I might get a comment that says I agree but that is it.  If a positive feeling post has comments on it then it is likely because I said something in which I was wrong or I made a spelling error someone felt the need to point out.

On the flip side, if I say something negative people respond.  Either in support of me or to tell me I am wrong.  Doesn't matter really, they just respond and sometimes in large numbers.  On more then one occasion I have seen two posters go into long conversations in the comments because they where arguing.

It seems as if people only like to talk when they are being negative.  In any game you play you will notice the forums are like that.  It is not a WoW only thing.   Even in other hobbies you will notice the same.  Fan of a TV show?  Visit their forums and you will see the negative posts have massive amounts of responses.  Fan of a band?  Same thing goes there.

The thing is that this sort of reaction is standard.  I made a post a long time ago that explained why people complain.  They complain because they like something which in turn makes it worth complaining about.  If people did not complain that would mean they didn't care.

So complaining about things is a good thing.  All that negativity because people are upset with things is a good thing.  People that post negative care enough about something to have an opinion.  People who have something to say about the negativity care enough to speak in a random setting.

Does that mean negativity is good?

In advertising they have a saying, no publicity is bad publicity.  Is it the same with negativity?

Whenever something is wrong with the game, as the people see it, the introduction of real ID, the annual pass, things like that, the forums light up like a fireworks display.  Words flying everywhere, some not so kind.

Issues like that bring us to notice how many people actually care about the issues.  Remember, you only complain about what you care enough to complain about.

But when does all that negativity go too far?

Negativity is not always a bad thing but there seems to be a point where negativity turns into hate filled bile being spewed by some people who passed just being negative and moved into being much more.  Not even sure what it would be called.

That is what we see in randoms.  People only talk when they have something to be negative.  That is where all that negativity goes bad.  Negativity can be a good thing for conversation, but not for statement.  If you just want to make a statement, like in a random, negativity is the worst thing for the community.  Perhaps it is because people have gotten so used to everything on the forums is all negative that they think being negative in game is acceptable.  It is not.

Look at the forums and look at all the topics and usually the topics that have the most responses, they are the ones with a negative tone or those  are the ones that inspire people to disagree with each other, thus causing controversy.  It works, sometimes, in a place where you can hold a conversation about things.  Not in a random.

Look around, you will see that people seem to gravitate toward negativity and all that negativity is teaching people a bad thing.

I worry about the impact that it has in the long term for all of us.  While all that negativity does show we care, if all we ever read and respond to are negative things then when that time comes where we need to make a decision on something we will be predisposed to the concept of being negative toward it because that is all we ever see and read.

So do us all a favor and everyone once in a while take the time to post on the forums or on a blog or anything anywhere in a situation where you say, I agree, or that is a nice idea, or thanks for the post.  Every once in a while say nice dps or nice heals or nice tanking in a random instead of harping on the negative.

While we all seem to love negativity and seem to feed on it, take the time to be nice once in a while.  Trust me, it does not hurt.  If it where going to kill you it would have killed me already.  Niceness and grumpiness just do not mix.

800,000 Invites but the Elf Ain't One

Personally I do not mind that I still do not have a beta invite because the longer it takes the more that will be available when I do get in.  It would be nicer than having to slowly do a little at a time until they release more.  When my time comes I can just go in and play all of it instead of piecemealing it.

My question for blizzard would not be "How come I signed up for the annual pass and still do not have an invite?". My question would be, "How come you say that 1M signed up for the annual pass and so far 80% of the invites have gone out but out of the 14 people in my guild that got the annual pass none have gotten an invite yet?"

I am sure the theory crafters could have a fun with that question.  What are the mathematical odds that 80% of the invites have gone out and no one in my guild has received theirs yet?

Of the people I know that signed up for the annual pass in my guild there is a wide selection of players from all over the united states and canada of various types of computer systems and ranging from long time players to new players.  One of the people has even been in every beta ever, even the original one.  A couple have been playing since day one.  We have people that joined in BC, wrath and even cata.

If they are looking for time played or system played on, we cover it all, so there is no single thing that would excuse us, as if you where to say they are inviting the older players first.  We got them.  Or if you would say they are inviting people with the best systems first.  We got them.  We are a wide array of people so there is no one thing that could excuse such a chunk of people like that.

I am really questioning the 800K number that blizzard is putting up saying that is how many invites have gone out.  I think the number is make believe.  A number they just throw out there trying to make people feel better.

Because of the mathematical odds of 80% of the invites going out and none of them being anyone from my guild are beyond insane it would leave me to believe that the 80% number is most likely an outright lie.

Either it is a lie, or there is something else involved.

Which would be more likely?

1) The 800,000 number is a lie.
2) They are excluding people from my guild for some reason.
3) The math gods just wtfpwned us.

I say all three are possible.

People complained a lot about not getting instant access, so they needed to do something to try and make people happy.  Saying they are sending invites, even if they are not, has seemed to really appease the player base from what I read on the forums.  Sure, there are still many complaining but it is nothing like it was that first week.  Even if it is an outright lie, it has done what it was intended to do, it has appeased some of the masses.

They could also be excluding my guild for some reason even if I have no clue what it would be.  I could see them pushing me to the back because I have a history of putting in tickets whenever I have a problem even if it is a small one.  Quest problems, roll problems, gear problems, anytime anything goes wrong I put in a ticket for it.  I can see them labeling me a problem player but I can't see how that would mean no one from my guild gets an invite even if I can see how it would put me to the back of the list personally.

As far as the math gods go, I've had my bad luck with them over the years.  I can easily see that even against the odds completely that no one from my guild has received an invite is actually an honest act of the random number gods.  The gods are fickle, they can love you or hate you.  Sure, the math is amazingly against that happening, but it could happen.

In the end if I had to choose I would think that the 800K number is a lie because like I said, even if they tagged me as a problem player that puts in tickets over anything he finds wrong they would not penalize the entire guild because they find the grumpy elf to be an annoying elf and as a firm believer of mathematics I can not accept the long odds that no one in my guild has received an invite yet even if I do believe it is possible.

In the end it comes down to one question, do you believe that blizzard is lying about the number of invites that are going out?

I do.

Edit:

So far three collections of data have been posted from posters small circle of people.

2 - 0% invited.
1 - 66% invited.

More feedback can only help bolster that the 80% number is a lie.

Two More Raid Difficulties.

With the addition to easy raiding (LFR) we now have three levels of raiding difficulty.  While I like a three level system I think there is still some room for improvement with the raid system.  Besides the glaring problem of there being no 10 man LFR version there is something else that can be done to add something more to raiding.

I think two more levels of difficulty need to be introduced.  One that fits neatly between normal and heroic and one that comes after heroic.  This would effectively give us 5 levels of raiding difficulty to work with and a system that really does have something for everyone.

The way raids are currently being designed with easy, normal and heroic there are a fair deal of people that have found what is perfect for them.  Of course, what people consider perfect for them differs from person to person.

My definition of perfect is something that I can work on to get past, it will take a little time, but it always seems attainable.  It is not a push over and it is not a wipe 400 times to do it situation.  20 to 30 wipes while learning a boss is what I might call perfect.

For me, an addition between normal and heroic would be nice.  Normal seems easy enough, the last few bosses might take a little time but over all once it is done it is done and none of them would ever come close to 20 or 30 wipe affairs to a slightly competent group, even when mildly undergeared.  Sure, this is nice but I want to step it up a little.  However, I do not want to step it up to heroic level.

At the moment, for me, there is no comfortable raiding tier.  Something between normal and heroic would be that level for me.

Then look at those people that work their butts off to speed run the content and finish heroic ASAP.  They are done so quick I can't really see how they can enjoy the game.  Once you are done you are done and unless you are looking for gear there is nothing left to do, that does not seem like fun to me.  That is my opinion only of course.

For those people there should be an insane setting.  Something that would require everyone in the raid to have BiS gear, the best connection on earth, jet fighter reflexes and super communication.  I would love to see a tier of raiding that puts heroic raids in the same place as the casual raid groups that are the majority of the game.

For example, the average casual raid team can get 4/8 no problem, maybe a high end casual guild can get 6/8.  That is where the largest majority of players are in normals.  For every one of us there is that downs deathwing on normal each week there are a thousand that have never even seen deathwing outside of the LFR.  The average player might never see him until mists, even if the buff gets to 30%.  Insane level should make the heroic raiders have that same experience, the same as the majority of the player base.  A true challenge for their skill level, one that might mean they never see the end boss at that level.

This would then leave something for every section of the player base.

LFR - Non raiders and bad players can still do it and anyone else with higher skills can blow through it quick just for fun.
Normal - For the casual players.  Something that needs some minor assembly and working together but nothing too complex so any group that puts the effort into it can't get it done.
Advanced - This is for the casual raiders.  They are more well read about their class and the raids but they are still casual based on their time investment but as such they can handle slightly harder content where the need for knowing the fights and skills of their class will matter.
Heroic - The advanced players with more time.  They know their class and the raids and they prepared accordingly and have the time to face harder challenges as a group.  They also would usually be the ones that go into advanced tactics and min / maxing.
Insane - For the people that put lots of time and effort into it.  The people that being the best is important to them and they will invest whatever time and efforts are needed to do so.  They will spend hours, days, weeks, or months, whatever is needed, to perfect working as a team in the ultimate hunt for bragging rights and a true world first.

I think that selection of difficulty levels would greater represent the myriad of players that play the game.  Blizzard has said they want everyone to be able to play the game, perhaps they should also think about making it so everyone has a level of challenge that is perfect for them.

Personally I like the idea of three difficulty levels, I just do not think that LFR should be one of those levels without a suitable counter part on the other end.

The three levels, in my opinion, should be normal, advanced and heroic.

If they really want to have a LFR version of raids where everyone can do it regardless of skill, gear, or knowledge then there should be an insane version that (almost) no one could do because it would require a group of people so outstanding at what they do that it would bring it to a level of nigh impossible.

So as I see it, a real third difficult should be added, called advanced and an opposite of LFR should be added, for those extreme players to have a true challenge.

I think we need two more raid difficulties.

Hunter Soloing in Mists is Looking up.

I often find myself saying "I wish I had a heal".

Oddly enough, that is the reason hunters don't have a heal, because it would make life easier.  Too easy really.  Sure, marks has the chimera shot, which is a tiny heal but is an every 10 (or 9 if glyphed) seconds thing.  BM has some healing as well with a spirit beast.  Even with that, over all you can still say that the hunters are not really in a good place when it comes to healing.

Whenever the question of what class is the best for soloing old content comes up the top two answers are blood DK and hunter and there is a reason for that. 

Blood DKs put out a fair amount of damage and they can heal themselves all day long, not to mention they have the biggest collection of defensive cooldowns the game has to offer.  So why is the hunter in the same league as the blood DK when it comes to soloing if they can't heal themselves all day long and their defensive cooldowns are somewhat lacking?

It is the rest of the tool box that hunters have, the largest toolbox in the game, that makes them beastly when it comes to soloing old content.

With smart use of our tool box we are capable of doing many things that no other class can do and our pet, when speced correctly makes for a serviceable tank.  Adding our personal tank to a tool box that would make any other class drool we are rocking it when it comes to soloing content.

Where blood DKs go in with brute force a hunter goes in with finesse.  For anyone that has ever tried to solo content on a hunter you know it is more about timing, positioning, setting things up, wearing the right gear, balancing damage done and survival for you and your pet.  Hunter soloing is not for people that are not heavy thinkers.  You don't just go in an brute force your way through content.  Well, not most of the time.

When a hunter enters brute force mode it is usually because he or she does not have healing and there is no other good way to avoid damage so it becomes a battle of can you kill it before it kills you.

Soloing the trash in stonecore heroic is like that.  Those packs with milhouse and the other mobs are a matter of can you scare milhouse away and take out at least 2 mobs before they do too much damage to you.

If anything, that pack is the perfect example of the approach a hunter would take to soloing because of their lack of healing.  Even if you break the pull into two parts, a brute force part and a finesse part the brute force part still has a bunch of finesse involved.

At the moment you would go survival, for the double CC, CC the two most dangerous mobs, misdirect the others to your pet, which is on passive, and then have the pet charge, so his AoE will not break out the two CCed targets.  You will burn milhouse while your pet keeps the other mobs interested.  If all goes well you can make milhouse run away and kill at least two adds.  You are brute forcing this, not even healing the pet.  Once that is done, you feign death and revive your pet and deal with the others left over one at a time, using the finesse only approach I talked about.

The second boss in VP, even on normal if you are soloing it for the mount all the time, is another effort in complete finesse.  Heck, even the first boss takes a little knowledge of your class.  Did you know that aspect of the wild all but completely negates the damage done when the hurricanes move in?  There is a spot the hurricanes will never hit going in or out, stand there.  Send your pet in and pew pew.  When hurricanes go in, switch to wild, take nearly no damage, when they come back out, go back to normal.  Easy fight, if you use your tool box, because that is why hunters are so great at soloing.

Back to the second boss, which being MM makes this fight a million times easier.  A hunter has to mix solid damage and excellent timing as well as a well placed turtle pet to get this baby done but it shows you what you can do when you put your mind to it as a hunter.

Place your pet in a good place, so the dragon is facing away from you of course and then get pew pewing.  If you are targeted by breath you need to feign death at the right moment, which seems to be about one third cast, and it will cancel the cast.  The second breath you use deterrence to eat it.  The third one you can use feign again and then hit readiness right away. 

Make sure you have used your rapid fire before the readiness for a little extra damage, which I suggest you do immediately after a breath at some point.  Forth breath you FD on again, fifth is deterrence again and sixth is FD once more.  You are out of tricks now my hunter friend, so lets hope you did enough damage to kill him in that time.  Once you get the timing down it is easy as easy can be but getting that perfect timing on FD takes some work. I wiped at least 20 times before I got the timing down, but then again, I am not really the best solo player, but it sure is still fun.  Finesse is where it is at here for hunters.

As you can see, hunters have forever found a way to work around not having healing (or minimal healing) and have still been able to hold their place as one of the best classes in the game to solo content with.

So why don't hunters have a heal?

Because if they had a heal then all that finesse, all that skill, all that knowledge of your tool box would not be as necessary as it is.  Being able to heal makes things more forgiving, lets you make a mistake once in a while.  It just makes things easier.  So even if you do not have the finesse, skill and knowledge, you might be able to do it.

If the hunters had a heal, the people that did know their tool box would be unstoppable.  It is because the top end players, the ones that solo the LK would be made so much better by it and the mid level soloing players, like myself that can only solo 85 heroics would now be able to do LK too like the better ones.  A heal would also mean that doing the stuff I can currently do would be easier for other hunters that never soloed before.  Like the second boss in VP would turn from perfect timing of FD on the breaths to what is big deal being you can heal yourself.

When mists comes it will open whole new doors for hunters with the new items we are getting for our tool box.  Iron hawk?  That is pure soloing goodness.  A heal when you disengage?  Beautiful.  No minimum range?  Thank god that will solve problems.  Wyvern sting as marks?  You can have it.  Readiness as survival?  You can have that too.

There is so much coming in mists that the future of soloing looks really good for hunters.  Damage reduction, heals and attacking for anywhere will make things much easier.  All we have to hope is that our tank pets will still be critical immune and we will be okay.

Hell, who am I kidding, we will be more then okay.

Hunter soloing will be so much easier come mists, the great hunters will get better, the good hunters can finally reach greatness, and the ones that always wanted to try can now have an easier time doing it.

The future of soloing for hunters is looking really bright.

The brightest spots for soloing, as I see them.

• Disengage heal.
• Wyvern for a second CC available to all specs
• Silencing shot available for all specs.
• Ironhawk reducing all damage taken.
• Camo being able to be cast in battle. 
• No minimum range.

Come to think of it, all those things are pretty beastly for PvP too, don't you think?

Soloing (and PvP) for hunters looks like it is heading in a positive direction for mists.