WoW Cataclysm: First it was Heroics, now it's Raids

Going from faceroll Wrath heroics to the new Cataclysm dungeons was a bit of culture shock for some players. Yeah, well, it's an expansion. That's how it works. We went from over-geared toons that we knew inside out to under-geared newbs relearning our classes. And, yes, the difficulty was ramped up a bit, as it very well needed to be.

Ghostcrawler's famous "Wow, Dungeons are Hard!" blog, explained why things needed a push but it wasn't well-received by all. Some thought he was saying L2play, if not in so many words. Soon heroics were nerfed.

On the World of Warcraft forums, many players were upset about these nerfs especially after having read that blog (apparently, Ghostcrawler has been nerfed a bit too). Players that like a challenge talked of "slippery slopes" stating that soon raids would also be nerfed.

They didn't know the half of it. While it's expected that content will be nerfed late in an expansion, the force of the nerf bat on T11 this early was pretty extreme. This is especially true since with easier access to gear, content nerfs itself.

A raid made up of alts and pugs can now clear all of Tier 11 in a couple of hours.

World of Warcraft, Cataclysm: Max Level Characters

So, how many max level characters do you have? I have five level 85 toons.

How many of those do you play regularly? I play two of mine more than all the others, and occasionally play a third.

My main and my favorite alt are pretty well-geared. The others have ok gear but just aren't as much fun to play any more.

How many professions do you have at max level? Between my toons I have mining, engineering, herbalism, alchemy, and skinning. Enchanting and tailoring are nearly maxed. As for secondary professions, all my 85's have cooking maxed and one has fishing (and only one will EVER have fishing). One has first aid.

I tried to do archaeology. I really did, but I just can't make myself do it.

How are your toons coming along?

Twink Nerfage

Well, all the QQ over all the pew pew, may have made twinks as you know them a thing of the past. On the WoW PTR, some have said their HP has gone down by as much as 1k, as exploited enchants no longer work. It may not be a done deal yet, but if the nerfs do go into effect, there may not be much twinkage in the future.

What do you think? Should twinks be allowed or should they be nerfed?

Maybe, instead of level requirements, battlegrounds could be separated (roughly) by HP. This would actually make more sense in terms of “fairness” or that “level playing field” stuff anyway since newly dinged players or those still wearing lowbie gear can’t really compete with even somewhat geared players.

Trade chat seems to be filled with angry messages on this topic these days.

Is it worth investing the time, effort, and gold into a twink at this point? What about the investments people have already made? Soon to be worthless with the next patch?

Here's a thought... instead of making one group or the other sad, mad, and leaving them threatening to quit the game, Blizzard could possibly come to a compromise where twinks are concerned.

Twinks want to twink. Other people want a little BG action without being immediately slaughtered without a fighting chance at retaliation for the next 9 levels.

Well, why not have battlegrounds for levels 10-18, and leave the 19 bracket (and 29, 39, etc) for twinks instead of breaking out the nerf bat?

Any regular players who are level 19 should be able to compromise for a short time between 19-20, since if they are leveling their toons, they'll be out of that bracket quickly.

Sure, 9 levels worth is kinda a long time to be unceremoniously beat down... but one level, one that goes by quickly on the way to that first mount, should be do-able.

Is it possible to make everyone happy? Probably not, but something like this could make more people happy.

What are your thoughts?