Patchinko

I realize this is an ancient thread, but someone earlier mentioned that there is no point to running around in battle except to escape an enemy. I have to disagree. Against many of the bosses, there is an advantage to running around.

Examples that come to mind up to the point I'm at in my game now include the Mateus, King Bomb and Judge Bergen fights.

Running around both increases MP and can help avoid getting hit immediately with attacks as well as preventing AOE from hitting your other party members. AOE spells can be detrimental if your main tank (party leader, usually) is standing close enough to your other fighters that they get hit with it. in contrast, if you run the enemy away from them when the opponent is charging an AOE, he'll still cast it on you, but it will only hit you while your other party members stand there and hit him or cast spells in relative safety.

Anyway, it's definitely more "hardcore" than other FF games. It rewards you if you treat the non-random battles like random battles, though. In other words, if you see an enemy on your way to the next area, don't try to avoid it, but instead kill it.

"So I was just playing through some Final Fantasy XII today, when I stumble across this Moogle and speak to him. He is down with the Giant Bomb!

"

"And the NukaCola Machine is just plain cool!"

I have an iPod Touch. I love MGS4.

Sooooo not enthused for a Touch MGS.

I do believe that's at least part of the point of them. It seems like everything has "trophies" these days.

i personally like them, but I don't feel obligated to get every game that has them and get every trophy. Still, they're fun.

"Jeez, way to bring this back from the brink. Sometime it's best to live and let die."

"Try using sentences."

"Patchinko said:

"BiggerBomb said:

"/shameless bump

I'd really like a more solid answer than the one given by Patchinko, a more objective answer. Is this guy right? And if Andy actually goes on the forums, it would be cool if you could fill me in on the reason for the feature being delayed. Please be because it isn't wanted!"

What more information do you want? My answer to the objective part of your question was completely objective as well: Dual specs let you change specs out of combat, much like you can change armor.

BiggerBomb said:

"Hopefully, the delay of dualspecs' introduction was due to the community backlash Blizzard may have recieved. I hope this does not see the light of day."

As far as the community is aware, it's delayed for a combinaton of technical issues and the fact that gear isn't caught up with it yet. They don't want druids, paladins, and shaman carrying around three sets of gear if they can help it. They're going to probably introduce it before they get the gear issue completely handeled after they get it working technically.

Not sure what more "solid" an answer you want from people at GiantBomb. Here's a thread from today where Ghostcrawler says clearly that he's not sure when it will be released: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=12891016624&pageNo=1&sid=1

(Also note that most people are anxious to get the change, and pretty much nobody is saying they don't want it. If anything, some people want more than two spec possibiities.)

BiggerBomb said:

"

Well, not to be a dick, but then you are the problem that is largely the impetus behind the decision to implement this kind of feature. It cheapens the experience, it defeats individuality, weakens the lore, and makes customization nothing but a formality.

"

"This guy"? "You are the problem"? Just because you disagree with me is no reason to be an asshat. Clearly I'm more informed than you are, so get off your high horse. instead of saying "not to be a dick but" how about you just not be a dick at all?

If it "cheapens your experience", don't play. Trust me, the vast majority of WoW players disagree. Especially those who play a class that has a pidgeon-holed PVE spec that sucks in PVP and vice-versa. Note the thread I linked and how most people in it are hybrid players. Shocking, I know.

It "defeats individuality"? Think that through. How many specs for a given situation does each class have? A druid chooses to be a moonkin and is stuck as spell-casting DPS for eternity unless he or she wants to pay out the nose for a respec because the guild needs a healer that night. Is that individuality, or is that getting screwed over?

Gets rid of customization? If a hunter wants to be Beast Mastery one day and Marksmanship the next day, right now he pays however much gold it costs for a respec. With dual specs, he can do it on the fly, whenever he feels like it. A warrior wants to tank for one boss and DPS for the next boss? He can change between the two. Or what if he feels like PVPing as Fury AND Arms, shifting around when he's out of combat, just for the heck of it? That's arguably more customization, not less.

You said: "Why make a feral Druid when you can just swap to restoration or balance on the fly?" That's backwards. The real question is, why make a druid when you have to choose between feral, restoration or balance? That may at least in part answer the question of why druids have been one of the least played classes in the game since it was released. Better yet, how would dual specs being in the game stop you from strictly playing as a feral druid if that's all you want to play as? It wouldn't.

Think more about what I said, which was a direct quote from Ghostcrawler, the main dev CM: "Bring the player, not the class."

The point of that statement and mindset is that the individuality can come from player ability, personal relationships and other more relevant things than spec. No longer will people be forced to bring the one shadow priest player who happens to be a jerk about loot and a bad sport in general because they need a shadow priest for one or two fights. Why does a PVP mage have to stay frost and do hundreds less DPS or pay a bunch of money for two respecs so he can go to a raid that night and then spec back for PVP later?

Anyway, given the latent disrespect for my opinion and statements so far from you, I expect little in the way of a thoughtful response. I'll just say it'd be a pleasant surprise if I either changed your mind or if you at least didn't shrug off my valid and well thought-out responses to your complaints as me being "part of the problem".

But regardless of what you think, the bottom line is that the WoW community at large welcomes it and people who think it's a bad thing are in the minority. It's coming, and if you hate it so much, you may want to rethink resubscribing or buying the expack."

Yes, you are more informed than me. Did I say otherwise? No. What I am saying is that people like you are the reason why developers lower the bar so everyone can have everything. Accessability is great and is in fact, one of the hallmarks of World of Warcraft's success. But at a certain point, you cross the line and things are no longer accessable, they are meaningless.

What is the point in specialization if you can change it all with a click of the mouse? How do you distinguish one player from another? And I'm not sure you know your vocab, because latent implies that I hid my disrespect. I did not and I'll say it a little louder, "I do not respect your opinion."

When you lower the level it takes to acquire mounts to 30, reduce the time it takes to level up, and throw away the point of class specialization, you are minimalizing the quanitiy and quality of gameplay. You are taking away from the experience, cheapening the experience, throwing away with what made the game so much fun.

Buddy, I thought a lot about what you said and I stepped outside the box in doing so. You, however, seem to be of the mindset of "wel if u mak it ezr 4 evr1 thn evr1 winz!!1"

The talent trees were put in place to distinguish the players from others and add more depth to character customization and the player's role in the game itself. Now what? Where's the individuality? Where is the fun? What is the point? Now you're just player #6,904,371. But I guess that's cool for Blizzard, they're still getting your subscription fee.

*Shakes head in bewilderment*"

"/shameless bump

I'd really like a more solid answer than the one given by Patchinko, a more objective answer. Is this guy right? And if Andy actually goes on the forums, it would be cool if you could fill me in on the reason for the feature being delayed. Please be because it isn't wanted!"

"Hopefully, the delay of dualspecs' introduction was due to the community backlash Blizzard may have recieved. I hope this does not see the light of day."

"

Well, not to be a dick, but then you are the problem that is largely the impetus behind the decision to implement this kind of feature. It cheapens the experience, it defeats individuality, weakens the lore, and makes customization nothing but a formality.

"

Yea, dood.