You could sense that the crowd at BlizzCon was ready to throw down. Any mention of Paladins sent the room into a frenzy. Same with Rogues. In fact, the mention of any class -- or a note about a particular popular ability or buff -- caused an uproar. If you talk about World of Warcraft with its most passionate players, the issue of class balance and group composition is one of those hot-button topics that everyone has an opinion on.
So naturally the class panel at BlizzCon was packed. World of Warcraft's lead designer Tom Chilton and class designer Greg Street walked through the different classes and how they're being changed up in the upcoming Lich King expansion and associated patches.
The unifying theme was one of more options. The design team wants to make sure that there are lots of ways for different characters to fulfill different party roles without changing the essential defining characteristics of their classes. Weakened or underutilized power trees are being boosted to help fulfill certain functions.
Meanwhile, the team is striving to remove some of the frustrations of properly using a class. Classes with too many abilities that have to be used in a complex rotation are getting combined abilities to simplify their gameplay. (Similarly, Shamans are getting combined totems.) And some classes are returning to their roots, with abilities that cater to their uniqueness -- Rogues, for example, will once again have reasons to use knives and poisons.
Most importantly, the team has announced that players will be able to build two character specs, switching between them between battles (such as between bosses in a raid). Again, flexibility is the keyword![wow gold]
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