The way Armor mitigates damage is not changing, but the Armor stat has been rebalanced to mirror changes to the armor curve in Cataclysm. As a result, bonus Armor will go down slightly overall. We are also changing the mitigation difference among armor types so that plate doesn’t offer so much more protection than mail, leather, and cloth.
Then what the hell is the point of plate?
Plate will have strength on it, and it'll still have somewhat higher mitigation.
The way Armor mitigates damage is not changing, but the Armor stat has been rebalanced to mirror changes to the armor curve in Cataclysm. As a result, bonus Armor will go down slightly overall. We are also changing the mitigation difference among armor types so that plate doesn’t offer so much more protection than mail, leather, and cloth.
Then what the hell is the point of plate?
It seems armor classes will be used more to differentiate between what classes should use that piece of gear then providing more protection.
Of course if thats the case then plate classes should get plate earlier on or right at creation.
The way Armor mitigates damage is not changing, but the Armor stat has been rebalanced to mirror changes to the armor curve in Cataclysm. As a result, bonus Armor will go down slightly overall. We are also changing the mitigation difference among armor types so that plate doesn’t offer so much more protection than mail, leather, and cloth.
Then what the hell is the point of plate?
Plate will have strength on it, and it'll still have somewhat higher mitigation.
I guess the vague quantifier "so much more" threw me
The way Armor mitigates damage is not changing, but the Armor stat has been rebalanced to mirror changes to the armor curve in Cataclysm. As a result, bonus Armor will go down slightly overall. We are also changing the mitigation difference among armor types so that plate doesn’t offer so much more protection than mail, leather, and cloth.
Then what the hell is the point of plate?
It's probably more to balance out the survivability of the DPS melee classes.
I think tanking plate will still get bonus armor (like a lot of the ICC plate has).
I am thoroughly glad that ret pallies and enh shaman etc are not only getting extra spellpower based on gear (which is already the case) but mana without intellect. Kind of a benign issue in 80 raid gear, but as levelling it was horrid.
The way Armor mitigates damage is not changing, but the Armor stat has been rebalanced to mirror changes to the armor curve in Cataclysm. As a result, bonus Armor will go down slightly overall. We are also changing the mitigation difference among armor types so that plate doesn’t offer so much more protection than mail, leather, and cloth.
Then what the hell is the point of plate?
Yeah. Really?
Does he mean that the difference between categories isn't going to be so dramatically different, but still different enough or is it going to be lolzclothtanksthx! different?
ironzerg on
0
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
No, because tanking gear will have parry, block and dodge!
Yah, because avoidance tanking has always been the way to go!
Why would you want to balance plate this late in the game? That's just stupid. The point of plate is survivability...that's the entire god damn point. That's why we rolled plate classes, we like not being squishy.
jackalFuck Yes. That is an orderly anal warehouse.Registered Userregular
edited March 2010
AP isn't really enough to tank anyway. Moonkins have plate equivalent AP and they can't tank (except maybe in PVP gear and way overgeared). It will probably just make leveling a priest a little less miserable.
jackal on
0
reVerseAttack and Dethrone GodRegistered Userregular
Sounds like the armor changes are for peeveepeeee (along with the general normalization of stamina pools)
Yeah, pretty much. It can take a while to kill a plate wearer if you're a physical DPS class, whereas clothies go down real quick. I think the idea is that everyone will have more armor and thus will take more time to kill.
PvP fights lasting longer has been their design goal for a while now, after all.
Sounds like the armor changes are for peeveepeeee (along with the general normalization of stamina pools)
I think they also wanted to get away from 'everyone not wearing plate is automatically 1 shot in a raid environment' - Also raid damage auras hurting the some dps classes much worse than other - those auras are there to tax the healers, not give the mages a heart attack.
So basically, they're looking to remove the difference in survivability between classes, and focus more on the powers of each class.
So ideally, a plate-wearing paladin would be able to DPS in the same class as a mage now, while the mage in cloth is going to experience similar durability/survivability of the paladin, class differences aside.
So it seems like a move away from the tough as nails, but can't do any damage archetype of a plate class, as well as the glass cannon, sneeze on you and you die archetype of the cloth classes.
Hit: Ugh, that could be shitty. "Ratings will be steeper in Cataclysm, and creatures in later tiers of content will be harder to hit or crit, similar to how level-83 mobs are harder to hit or crit than level-80 mobs." For most casters, if you're not hit capped, hit tends to be your highest scaling stat, and oh boy, now you'll have to be asking things like "what the hell is the hit cap for this tier of content?".
Alternatively, they could make it scale weak enough where it's more similar to other stats, so that hitting hit cap isn't much of a concern. Unfortunately, the actual effect missing has is pretty different by class, since you have considerations like how a miss figures into a rotation (also, interrupts would have to have help if the fight makes it mandatory). This could be solved by giving spells the ability to have an alternative effect if missed, but I don't like the damage difference from missing to critting.
Crit: Unlike hit, I think making it harder to crit in later tiers is probably the right way to go. Hopefully it converts right so scaling doesn't vary too much by tier.
Weapon Skill: Obviously noone hates this change.
Automatic Gear Conversion: Well, that might be annoying, since a lot of gear for clothy casters is potentially ambiguous right now. Healer gear will still have some int on it at least, so it won't be a huge deal, since replacing gear will be expected anyway.
Gem Recoloring: I think that's a good thing. Blue is a pretty weak color right now, and red has nearly everything everyone wants. Maybe choosing what gem to put into a slot won't be so brainless.
Mastery: Ok, I finally understand. Each tree defines what you get out of mastery, and how many points you put into a tree define how much you get per point of mastery. If say, destruction gave crit rating, and you went all the way down the tree, each point of mastery would give 4 points of crit rating, whereas only going half way down the tree would only give 2 points of crit rating per point of mastery. Or whatever.
End on
I wish that someway, somehow, that I could save every one of us
Looking forward to healing that doesn't involve slipping for a second and watching the DPS get splatted.
This is all it takes for me to play my Resto Shaman full time. I hate healing being limited by GCD but I like thinking about healing efficiently to make my mana last.
Hit: Ugh, that could be shitty. For most casters, if you're not hit capped, hit tends to be your highest scaling stat, and oh boy, now you'll have to be asking things like "what the hell is the hit cap for this tier of content?".
Considering aside from the heroics -> raids jump we always have months between tiers, I don't think this will be a big deal in the long run.
815165 on
0
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
So basically, they're looking to remove the difference in survivability between classes, and focus more on the powers of each class.
So ideally, a plate-wearing paladin would be able to DPS in the same class as a mage now, while the mage in cloth is going to experience similar durability/survivability of the paladin, class differences aside.
So it seems like a move away from the tough as nails, but can't do any damage archetype of a plate class, as well as the glass cannon, sneeze on you and you die archetype of the cloth classes.
Seems like it could work.
Sounds like a terrible idea to me. Why have classes at all? Just let us pick from a pool of powers Champions style. Seriously, there is no point in even having classes if everyone is going to end up with similar armor values, health pools, mana pools and damage numbers.
So basically, they're looking to remove the difference in survivability between classes, and focus more on the powers of each class.
So ideally, a plate-wearing paladin would be able to DPS in the same class as a mage now, while the mage in cloth is going to experience similar durability/survivability of the paladin, class differences aside.
So it seems like a move away from the tough as nails, but can't do any damage archetype of a plate class, as well as the glass cannon, sneeze on you and you die archetype of the cloth classes.
Seems like it could work.
Sounds like a terrible idea to me. Why have classes at all? Just let us pick from a pool of powers Champions style. Seriously, there is no point in even having classes if everyone is going to end up with similar armor values, health pools, mana pools and damage numbers.
Yeah, if a Ret Paladin and an Arcane Mage have similar amount of armor, health and DPS YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO TELL THEM APART! Shit Christ, is that plate-wearing, golden wings sprouting, two-handed mace wielding death machine a Warlock or a Druid? WE MAY NEVER KNOW!!!
I'm thinking they're just upping the armor values on lower armor tiers, not taking away from plate. Something like instead of cloth being 1 and plate being 10 now cloth will be 5 and plate will still be 10.
Opty on
0
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
So basically, they're looking to remove the difference in survivability between classes, and focus more on the powers of each class.
So ideally, a plate-wearing paladin would be able to DPS in the same class as a mage now, while the mage in cloth is going to experience similar durability/survivability of the paladin, class differences aside.
So it seems like a move away from the tough as nails, but can't do any damage archetype of a plate class, as well as the glass cannon, sneeze on you and you die archetype of the cloth classes.
Seems like it could work.
Sounds like a terrible idea to me. Why have classes at all? Just let us pick from a pool of powers Champions style. Seriously, there is no point in even having classes if everyone is going to end up with similar armor values, health pools, mana pools and damage numbers.
Yeah, if a Ret Paladin and an Arcane Mage have similar armor, health and DPS YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO TELL THEM APART! Shit Christ, is that plate-wearing, golden wings sprouting, two-handed mace wielding death machine a Warlock or a Druid? WE MAY NEVER KNOW!!!
That thing that just flew over your head, that was the point you missed.
Of course I will know it's a Paladin, but why will it matter? He does the same damage as <insert class here>, is just as hard to kill as <insert class here>, and aside from a few fluff details, could be <insert class here>.
Sounds like the armor changes are for peeveepeeee (along with the general normalization of stamina pools)
I think they also wanted to get away from 'everyone not wearing plate is automatically 1 shot in a raid environment' - Also raid damage auras hurting the some dps classes much worse than other - those auras are there to tax the healers, not give the mages a heart attack.
weren't most raid damage auras magic damage specifically to prevent this?
also don't rogues get AOE avoidance talents specifically to prevent this?
So basically, they're looking to remove the difference in survivability between classes, and focus more on the powers of each class.
So ideally, a plate-wearing paladin would be able to DPS in the same class as a mage now, while the mage in cloth is going to experience similar durability/survivability of the paladin, class differences aside.
So it seems like a move away from the tough as nails, but can't do any damage archetype of a plate class, as well as the glass cannon, sneeze on you and you die archetype of the cloth classes.
Seems like it could work.
Sounds like a terrible idea to me. Why have classes at all? Just let us pick from a pool of powers Champions style. Seriously, there is no point in even having classes if everyone is going to end up with similar armor values, health pools, mana pools and damage numbers.
Yeah, if a Ret Paladin and an Arcane Mage have similar armor, health and DPS YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO TELL THEM APART! Shit Christ, is that plate-wearing, golden wings sprouting, two-handed mace wielding death machine a Warlock or a Druid? WE MAY NEVER KNOW!!!
That thing that just flew over your head, that was the point you missed.
Of course I will know it's a Paladin, but why will it matter? He does the same damage as <insert class here>, is just as hard to kill as <insert class here>, and aside from a few fluff details, could be <insert class here>.
Are you seriously saying that an Arcane Mage and a Ret Paladin play identically?
Hit: Ugh, that could be shitty. For most casters, if you're not hit capped, hit tends to be your highest scaling stat, and oh boy, now you'll have to be asking things like "what the hell is the hit cap for this tier of content?".
Considering aside from the heroics -> raids jump we always have months between tiers, I don't think this will be a big deal in the long run.
I don't like juggling multiple hit caps as is. It wouldn't that much of a concern, except there's usually at least a few lingering hard modes I haven't done yet when they add a new tier of content.
On second thought, I think I'm more concerned about my second paragraph holding true though, since they also say "All ratings will be much harder to "cap out" at maximum gear levels".
End on
I wish that someway, somehow, that I could save every one of us
Now in general I wish there was a little more coordination among healers, but the current damage model we have just doesn't really allow it. I remember when tanking Molten Core, that the priest would say over vent "Big heal coming on the OT!" as he powered up a Greater Heal. You don't have that luxury these days. One of our designers was watching an old Illidan video recently and remarked how everyone was at 50% for so much of the fight. Now days someone is at 100%, will hit 100% in the next couple of GCDs, or will be dead. In that environment, you'd get "Big --" out of your mouth before it would be too late. Players need more health and heals have to be a little more expensive[/QUOTE
This is, ultimately, why I think they're making stamina values so much higher. They want to get away from this being the status quo.
So basically, they're looking to remove the difference in survivability between classes, and focus more on the powers of each class.
So ideally, a plate-wearing paladin would be able to DPS in the same class as a mage now, while the mage in cloth is going to experience similar durability/survivability of the paladin, class differences aside.
So it seems like a move away from the tough as nails, but can't do any damage archetype of a plate class, as well as the glass cannon, sneeze on you and you die archetype of the cloth classes.
Seems like it could work.
Sounds like a terrible idea to me. Why have classes at all? Just let us pick from a pool of powers Champions style. Seriously, there is no point in even having classes if everyone is going to end up with similar armor values, health pools, mana pools and damage numbers.
Yeah, if a Ret Paladin and an Arcane Mage have similar armor, health and DPS YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO TELL THEM APART! Shit Christ, is that plate-wearing, golden wings sprouting, two-handed mace wielding death machine a Warlock or a Druid? WE MAY NEVER KNOW!!!
That thing that just flew over your head, that was the point you missed.
Of course I will know it's a Paladin, but why will it matter? He does the same damage as <insert class here>, is just as hard to kill as <insert class here>, and aside from a few fluff details, could be <insert class here>.
Are you seriously saying that an Arcane Mage and a Ret Paladin play identically?
Um...
You're playing one of these classes wrong.
Its a flavor issue not a playing issue
If the only thing to differentiate between a warlock and a death knight is "one melees and one casts spells" but both have dots and both have pets then it kind of removes some of the flavor of each class
if the "plate" designation is just there so that only melee dps use it (in addition to only having stats melee can utilize) then why not just remove armor class entirely and put "can only be used by X, x, and x classes" on the item
So basically, they're looking to remove the difference in survivability between classes, and focus more on the powers of each class.
So ideally, a plate-wearing paladin would be able to DPS in the same class as a mage now, while the mage in cloth is going to experience similar durability/survivability of the paladin, class differences aside.
So it seems like a move away from the tough as nails, but can't do any damage archetype of a plate class, as well as the glass cannon, sneeze on you and you die archetype of the cloth classes.
Seems like it could work.
Sounds like a terrible idea to me. Why have classes at all? Just let us pick from a pool of powers Champions style. Seriously, there is no point in even having classes if everyone is going to end up with similar armor values, health pools, mana pools and damage numbers.
Yeah, if a Ret Paladin and an Arcane Mage have similar armor, health and DPS YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO TELL THEM APART! Shit Christ, is that plate-wearing, golden wings sprouting, two-handed mace wielding death machine a Warlock or a Druid? WE MAY NEVER KNOW!!!
That thing that just flew over your head, that was the point you missed.
Of course I will know it's a Paladin, but why will it matter? He does the same damage as <insert class here>, is just as hard to kill as <insert class here>, and aside from a few fluff details, could be <insert class here>.
Are you seriously saying that an Arcane Mage and a Ret Paladin play identically?
Um...
You're playing one of these classes wrong.
I'm sorry, did pressing 1-9 change recently? Do Mages press it backwards, maybe 9-1?
I've played nearly every class in WoW to some max level (some 60, some 70, some 80, depending on the time frame), and there aren't as many play differences as people think. Homogenizing all of their stat values basically removes 50% of what makes a class, a class.
It's a terrible idea, and one I can't believe anyone is defending.
So basically, they're looking to remove the difference in survivability between classes, and focus more on the powers of each class.
So ideally, a plate-wearing paladin would be able to DPS in the same class as a mage now, while the mage in cloth is going to experience similar durability/survivability of the paladin, class differences aside.
So it seems like a move away from the tough as nails, but can't do any damage archetype of a plate class, as well as the glass cannon, sneeze on you and you die archetype of the cloth classes.
Seems like it could work.
Sounds like a terrible idea to me. Why have classes at all? Just let us pick from a pool of powers Champions style. Seriously, there is no point in even having classes if everyone is going to end up with similar armor values, health pools, mana pools and damage numbers.
Yeah, if a Ret Paladin and an Arcane Mage have similar amount of armor, health and DPS YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO TELL THEM APART! Shit Christ, is that plate-wearing, golden wings sprouting, two-handed mace wielding death machine a Warlock or a Druid? WE MAY NEVER KNOW!!!
The differences would focus on play-style and class mechanics. Not, I want to DPS, but don't want to die in one shot in raids...guess I have to play a Pal/DK.
Similarly, those people who want to run around in plate armor with big swords aren't punished with lower DPS because they don't want to prance around in a bath robe, waving their finger all about.
Instead, you can choose based on the feel and mechanics of the class you enjoy, and not feel like you're being punished or force to make a trade-off when it comes to survivability.
And what you described in your post above has nothing to do with cloth/leather/mail/plate...it is all about the mechanics of the class. So, in a nutshell, you should be able to distinctly say that golden wing sprouting, two handed mace wielding death machine IS a paladin.
Hence, maybe it's a move to make classes defined more by their mechanics and style, and less by what type of armor they're wearing.
Now in general I wish there was a little more coordination among healers, but the current damage model we have just doesn't really allow it. I remember when tanking Molten Core, that the priest would say over vent "Big heal coming on the OT!" as he powered up a Greater Heal. You don't have that luxury these days. One of our designers was watching an old Illidan video recently and remarked how everyone was at 50% for so much of the fight. Now days someone is at 100%, will hit 100% in the next couple of GCDs, or will be dead. In that environment, you'd get "Big --" out of your mouth before it would be too late. Players need more health and heals have to be a little more expensive
This is, ultimately, why I think they're making stamina values so much higher. They want to get away from this being the status quo.
I really hope this means they'll allow downranking to be viable again since it seems mana management will actually exist.
So basically, they're looking to remove the difference in survivability between classes, and focus more on the powers of each class.
So ideally, a plate-wearing paladin would be able to DPS in the same class as a mage now, while the mage in cloth is going to experience similar durability/survivability of the paladin, class differences aside.
So it seems like a move away from the tough as nails, but can't do any damage archetype of a plate class, as well as the glass cannon, sneeze on you and you die archetype of the cloth classes.
Seems like it could work.
Sounds like a terrible idea to me. Why have classes at all? Just let us pick from a pool of powers Champions style. Seriously, there is no point in even having classes if everyone is going to end up with similar armor values, health pools, mana pools and damage numbers.
Yeah, if a Ret Paladin and an Arcane Mage have similar amount of armor, health and DPS YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO TELL THEM APART! Shit Christ, is that plate-wearing, golden wings sprouting, two-handed mace wielding death machine a Warlock or a Druid? WE MAY NEVER KNOW!!!
The differences would focus on play-style and class mechanics. Not, I want to DPS, but don't want to die in one shot in raids...guess I have to play a Pal/DK.
Similarly, those people who want to run around in plate armor with big swords aren't punished with lower DPS because they don't want to prance around in a bath robe, waving their finger all about.
Instead, you can choose based on the feel and mechanics of the class you enjoy, and not feel like you're being punished or force to make a trade-off when it comes to survivability.
And what you described in your post above has nothing to do with cloth/leather/mail/plate...it is all about the mechanics of the class. So, in a nutshell, you should be able to distinctly say that golden wing sprouting, two handed mace wielding death machine IS a paladin.
Hence, maybe it's a move to make classes defined more by their mechanics and style, and less by what type of armor they're wearing.
That is the point that Blizzard made, and the counter point is always "then why have different armor classes at all?"
If the only thing to differentiate between a warlock and a death knight is "one melees and one casts spells" but both have dots and both have pets then it kind of removes some of the flavor of each class
if the "plate" designation is just there so that only melee dps use it (in addition to only having stats melee can utilize) then why not just remove armor class entirely and put "can only be used by X, x, and x classes" on the item
Posts
It's beautiful in its simplicity.
Definitely makes gearing for Resto/DPS spec much easier.
Plate will have strength on it, and it'll still have somewhat higher mitigation.
Fantastic!
It seems armor classes will be used more to differentiate between what classes should use that piece of gear then providing more protection.
Of course if thats the case then plate classes should get plate earlier on or right at creation.
I guess the vague quantifier "so much more" threw me
what does that mean?
EDIT: also if what Ohtsam said is their intention
i am still angry
It's probably more to balance out the survivability of the DPS melee classes.
I think tanking plate will still get bonus armor (like a lot of the ICC plate has).
edit:
tank gear = str, stam, hit, exp, dodge, parry, block, mastery
dps gear = str, stam, hit, exp, crit, haste, mastery
thats silly
Meh. Rereading it, I see where I goofed. Still, though, it'd be awesome to not have to carry around 3 entire sets of gear.
Yeah. Really?
Does he mean that the difference between categories isn't going to be so dramatically different, but still different enough or is it going to be lolzclothtanksthx! different?
Yah, because avoidance tanking has always been the way to go!
Why would you want to balance plate this late in the game? That's just stupid. The point of plate is survivability...that's the entire god damn point. That's why we rolled plate classes, we like not being squishy.
Yeah, pretty much. It can take a while to kill a plate wearer if you're a physical DPS class, whereas clothies go down real quick. I think the idea is that everyone will have more armor and thus will take more time to kill.
PvP fights lasting longer has been their design goal for a while now, after all.
I think they also wanted to get away from 'everyone not wearing plate is automatically 1 shot in a raid environment' - Also raid damage auras hurting the some dps classes much worse than other - those auras are there to tax the healers, not give the mages a heart attack.
I am a freaking nerd.
So ideally, a plate-wearing paladin would be able to DPS in the same class as a mage now, while the mage in cloth is going to experience similar durability/survivability of the paladin, class differences aside.
So it seems like a move away from the tough as nails, but can't do any damage archetype of a plate class, as well as the glass cannon, sneeze on you and you die archetype of the cloth classes.
Seems like it could work.
They've commented on how the health pools are too low in multiple PvE situations, so it's not just that.
Hit: Ugh, that could be shitty. "Ratings will be steeper in Cataclysm, and creatures in later tiers of content will be harder to hit or crit, similar to how level-83 mobs are harder to hit or crit than level-80 mobs." For most casters, if you're not hit capped, hit tends to be your highest scaling stat, and oh boy, now you'll have to be asking things like "what the hell is the hit cap for this tier of content?".
Alternatively, they could make it scale weak enough where it's more similar to other stats, so that hitting hit cap isn't much of a concern. Unfortunately, the actual effect missing has is pretty different by class, since you have considerations like how a miss figures into a rotation (also, interrupts would have to have help if the fight makes it mandatory). This could be solved by giving spells the ability to have an alternative effect if missed, but I don't like the damage difference from missing to critting.
Crit: Unlike hit, I think making it harder to crit in later tiers is probably the right way to go. Hopefully it converts right so scaling doesn't vary too much by tier.
Weapon Skill: Obviously noone hates this change.
Automatic Gear Conversion: Well, that might be annoying, since a lot of gear for clothy casters is potentially ambiguous right now. Healer gear will still have some int on it at least, so it won't be a huge deal, since replacing gear will be expected anyway.
Gem Recoloring: I think that's a good thing. Blue is a pretty weak color right now, and red has nearly everything everyone wants. Maybe choosing what gem to put into a slot won't be so brainless.
Mastery: Ok, I finally understand. Each tree defines what you get out of mastery, and how many points you put into a tree define how much you get per point of mastery. If say, destruction gave crit rating, and you went all the way down the tree, each point of mastery would give 4 points of crit rating, whereas only going half way down the tree would only give 2 points of crit rating per point of mastery. Or whatever.
Considering aside from the heroics -> raids jump we always have months between tiers, I don't think this will be a big deal in the long run.
Sounds like a terrible idea to me. Why have classes at all? Just let us pick from a pool of powers Champions style. Seriously, there is no point in even having classes if everyone is going to end up with similar armor values, health pools, mana pools and damage numbers.
Yeah, if a Ret Paladin and an Arcane Mage have similar amount of armor, health and DPS YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO TELL THEM APART! Shit Christ, is that plate-wearing, golden wings sprouting, two-handed mace wielding death machine a Warlock or a Druid? WE MAY NEVER KNOW!!!
That thing that just flew over your head, that was the point you missed.
Of course I will know it's a Paladin, but why will it matter? He does the same damage as <insert class here>, is just as hard to kill as <insert class here>, and aside from a few fluff details, could be <insert class here>.
weren't most raid damage auras magic damage specifically to prevent this?
also don't rogues get AOE avoidance talents specifically to prevent this?
Are you seriously saying that an Arcane Mage and a Ret Paladin play identically?
Um...
You're playing one of these classes wrong.
I don't like juggling multiple hit caps as is.
On second thought, I think I'm more concerned about my second paragraph holding true though, since they also say "All ratings will be much harder to "cap out" at maximum gear levels".
Its a flavor issue not a playing issue
If the only thing to differentiate between a warlock and a death knight is "one melees and one casts spells" but both have dots and both have pets then it kind of removes some of the flavor of each class
if the "plate" designation is just there so that only melee dps use it (in addition to only having stats melee can utilize) then why not just remove armor class entirely and put "can only be used by X, x, and x classes" on the item
I'm sorry, did pressing 1-9 change recently? Do Mages press it backwards, maybe 9-1?
I've played nearly every class in WoW to some max level (some 60, some 70, some 80, depending on the time frame), and there aren't as many play differences as people think. Homogenizing all of their stat values basically removes 50% of what makes a class, a class.
It's a terrible idea, and one I can't believe anyone is defending.
The differences would focus on play-style and class mechanics. Not, I want to DPS, but don't want to die in one shot in raids...guess I have to play a Pal/DK.
Similarly, those people who want to run around in plate armor with big swords aren't punished with lower DPS because they don't want to prance around in a bath robe, waving their finger all about.
Instead, you can choose based on the feel and mechanics of the class you enjoy, and not feel like you're being punished or force to make a trade-off when it comes to survivability.
And what you described in your post above has nothing to do with cloth/leather/mail/plate...it is all about the mechanics of the class. So, in a nutshell, you should be able to distinctly say that golden wing sprouting, two handed mace wielding death machine IS a paladin.
Hence, maybe it's a move to make classes defined more by their mechanics and style, and less by what type of armor they're wearing.
I really hope this means they'll allow downranking to be viable again since it seems mana management will actually exist.
That is the point that Blizzard made, and the counter point is always "then why have different armor classes at all?"
This. You said it much better than I did.