Patch 3.3

[Dren]

I've noticed a huge spike in population in Dalaran since the patch.  It is just loaded with people.  I got a new computer recently so I'm not having any problems loading everything up and seeing the change in population.  I'm not sure what is causing everyone to hang out there.  I can't think of anything in the patch that would prompt people to just stay in Dalaran.

I tend to stay away from there as much as possible.

[Drubear]

Bind point (due to portals), Bank and Badge vendors. Why be anywhere else with /lfd and /lfb?

Maybe the PvP players would be in the cities with AH and Honor vendors, but you can portal to them easily enough. If they put a bank at the tournament (like they added badge vendors) people would spread out.

But again, "when Cataclysm comes..." it'll likely be a ghost town. (cf Shattrath.)

[Arinon]

Shared capital cities were a horrible idea.  Aren't they taking us back to our respective corners in Cata?  That should help quite a bit.

[Lantyssa]

If they'd put portals in all the main cities people would spread out naturally.  Or at least give city-specific hearths.  I don't want to blow a 30 minute cooldown every time I want to hop around just so I can hang out in the Exodar.

[Dren]

Well I agree to all of that, I just didn't see anything in the latest patch to change anything.

Don't forget:
- fishing daily
- j/c daily
- cooking daily
- weekly quest

I know they normally do this to keep people congregated together to make the game look populated, but this is just too extreme.  They had issues with this back in the IF days of lag.  That was two expansions back.  You'd think they'd learn.

[Shrike]

The only reason I really stay in Dal is it's conveniant to the dailys and to troll for PuGs for the weekly. Since my shaman has something like a 7min hearth, there's no other real reason to hang out there other than habit--which is really most of why I'm there.

I'd prefer to stay in SW or even IF, however I might relocate to Shatt. I've been faction grinding and dungeon slumming quite a bit in TBC lately and there sure as hell isn't anyone there to speak of.

[Nebu]

I think Blizzard made a huge mistake by making Dalaran the place to congregate at the endgame.  Were they to have a collection area that catered to all levels, the people that are new to the game might feel like a part of the larger community. 

I do appreciate the convenience fo Dal, I just prefer the starter towns like SW or Ironforge for their charm.

[Tarami]

Dalaran isn't any different to how Shattrath was though, is it?

Ideally, I guess, every capital for each side would have a portal to a faction-specific "Hall of Portals" which in turn had a portal to every other capital. Initial access could be granted by having atleast one level 30 character on the account (like DKs, but lower), then further capitals can be unlocked as you're allowed to access corresponding expansion (58 and 68, I suppose, or attunements.)

A drawback of the way they're doing it now is that you get a mess of portals in lots of different places. There's no reason to have people wait for 30 minutes before they can go back, atleast not one I can think of, especially since a number of classes can already circumvent that timer.

I'm just being useless and armchair-designing/thinking out loud, don't mind me.

[Ingmar]

Supposedly the main hubs in the expansion will indeed be the regular old world faction capitals.

[caladein]

If you aren't already, I'd really suggest setting your hearths to The Underbelly.  The only reason I ever need to go topside in Dal is to pick up quests, queue for Wintergrasp, or to duck into a shop.

Aside from that, everything (bank, guild bank, mailbox, money changer, cooking fire, exit for flying mounts) is really close together and the only time I see more than two people down there at once is when it's the Sewers fishing daily.

[Minvaren]

Supposedly the main hubs in the expansion will indeed be the regular old world faction capitals.

Note to self : Get "For the Horde!" before then...

[SurfD]

Overall there have been some nice changes in the last year.  I think the Random BG/Dungeon ideas are great, although the dungeon finder needs a stiffer penalty for being a douche that gets the item they want and drops group.  Also, the random BG is placing me in a match within 15 seconds or so.  Pretty nice.

Actually, i think the dungeon finder needs a "Vote to disband" function.  Basicly, if you bail on the group any time before the dungeon is finished without having a Disband vote pass, you automatically get a double duration dungeon deserter debuff.   This could also be used as a form of "IRL emergency check" in that if 1 person has to go, you can get a disband vote to pass, have that person leave, and re-enter the queue to fill the empty spot, and when a new person joins, the "disband vote has passed" flag gets reset for the group.

[Jayce]

TBH I look forward to Dalaran being a ghost town. It's a lot more finely detailed and designed than Shattrath ever was, as well as easier to get around in.  I actually LIKE it except for the crippling lag.

[K9]

Did they change something with BG kicks? Just had a WSG and it seemed that the leader was just randomly kicking people, including myself (10s before the game ended....)

[Shrike]

If you aren't already, I'd really suggest setting your hearths to The Underbelly.  The only reason I ever need to go topside in Dal is to pick up quests, queue for Wintergrasp, or to duck into a shop.

Aside from that, everything (bank, guild bank, mailbox, money changer, cooking fire, exit for flying mounts) is really close together and the only time I see more than two people down there at once is when it's the Sewers fishing daily.

Shhhhh! Don't ruin it.

[Rendakor]

Did they change something with BG kicks? Just had a WSG and it seemed that the leader was just randomly kicking people, including myself (10s before the game ended....)

I didn't even know you COULD kick people in BGs, besides reporting them AFK...

[K9]

The AFK thing has a delay on it though, and I wasn't AFK. The only way I can see it working is if the BG leader (who was being douchey) kicked me. Seeing 5-6 people drop out before the game even started seemed suspicious; I know people drop mid-game, but before it starts?

[K9]

Revenge got buffed a bit it seems

 

[Ingmar]

UA will get nerfed imo.

[Soulflame]

Sometimes people queue for two BGs at once, so people dropping at any given time may be due to the BG they really wanted finally popping.

I had no idea you could kick people from a BG.  From a BG raid group, sure.  I've seen that happen a few times.

[Fordel]

My damn Starfires don't crit for that much.

[Kageh]

UA will get nerfed imo.

I'm tempted to try that mythical UA tanking spec out, but somehow afraid I'm losing out on too many Prot tools (mainly Warbringer, Shockwave and Devastate).

[K9]

You wouldn't need half those tools, that warrior is doing 10-11K dps as prot. Threat is a non-issue.

I think that warrior is tanking in DPS gear though, with close to 100% ArP. Has pretty bleeding edge gear either way. Still looks like a ton of fun.

Only think I don't understand is how revenge hits two targets, must be a talent or glyph I can't remember, what with not playing an endgame warrior.

[caladein]

Only think I don't understand is how revenge hits two targets, must be a talent or glyph I can't remember, what with not playing an endgame warrior.

The swapped the Stun in Improved Revenge for a half-damage single-Cleave.

[Ingmar]

UA will get nerfed imo.

I'm tempted to try that mythical UA tanking spec out, but somehow afraid I'm losing out on too many Prot tools (mainly Warbringer, Shockwave and Devastate).

Its gimmicky and you'll have to keep sunder up with sunder, I find it too annoying to bother with personally. I expect UA to be nerfed for pvp reasons anyway, so why get used to it?

[proudft]

In my furious & relentless-geared prot warrior I Revenge crit a warlock yesterday for 8k.  I don't feel the least bit bad about it.

[Ingmar]

In my furious & relentless-geared prot warrior I Revenge crit a warlock yesterday for 8k.  I don't feel the least bit bad about it.

Serves him right for putting his pet on you, he should be able to pretty easily avoid letting you use revenge at all.

[proudft]

My opinion exactly!

[Fabricated]

I tried that spec out. It owns. I can pull 9k DPS in heroics with it.

It'd be stupid to nerf it however. You need to be physically attacked to do anything at all in that spec and you give up a lot of good survivability talents for it. It's only good for trash and heroics and nothing else. In PVP you could kill people horribly if they HIT you, but you're literally worthless if everyone just ignores you until last. Nevermind casters can still destroy you.

[Ingmar]

It absolutely destroys people who have to hit you to do damage to you, though, especially dual wielders. I don't think it will last; its much worse now than the damage shield stuff they nerfed, for example.

[Fordel]

Any time anyone can somehow chain back to back 20k damage instant strikes, it's going to be nerfed somehow.

[Shrike]

GC has stated (today or yesterday) that Blizz is happy with revenge as is, BUT...they don't want to see 2sec revenges on arms with it in its present state.

So, yeah, I'd be looking for revenge to be removed from UA.

[Ingmar]

The GC quote indicated they were happy leaving revenge on there, what's going to likely change is that you won't be able to do revenge 4 times off of the same parry or whatever if you have UA. It will probably have charges or something.

[Rendakor]

Noob question here: what's UA? I haven't played my warrior in forever, and the only thing coming to mind is Unstable Affliction.

Edit: Ah, found it. So this is some Arms/Prot hybrid spec? Do you use a 2h for it or still sword/board?

[Shrike]

No, it's not typically a hybrid. What it is is arms warriors that carry shield and whatever to deal with pets, rogues, or other annoying melee types. A UA-pumped 2sec revenge can destroy BM hunter pets, shaman wolves, or dumbass rogues very quickly--while really cutting down on incoming damage. It's a good way to deal with protection types, too, though not nearly so much as the previously mentioned.

You gotta have a shield for this. Revenge is triggered by avoidance. UA just cuts the cooldown down (considerably--and increases damage somewhat).