bigmoran
Legend
Currently developers seem to be open to the idea of reverting some of the ability pruning in Legion, but need more feedback on what abilities players miss. This could have effects on every XP-off bracket.
Join the discussion here: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/20742944716
If you have no idea what I am talking about, here is my Skill-Capped post on ability pruning:
Very rarely do PvP and PvE game design opinions converge. Often there is great disagreement between PvP and PvE players about what is healthy for the game, what makes for interesting class design, and what can be sustained for future expansions. Ability pruning is an exception. Players on both the PvP forums of fansites and on the PvE centric board of reddit’s /r/wowhave expressed concern over the future of ability pruning and its role in class design.
PRUNING?
For those who are unaware of what ability pruning is, the simplest way to understand it is the removal of abilities available to classes and specs. Pruning takes many different forms. Abilities can be completely removed from the game, such as Druid Symbiosis from MoP to WoD. Other abilities are combined into a single spell, such as Nature’s Grasp, which is now merged with Barkskin and Ironbark. Some spells have been even dissolved into set bonuses and passives, just like Cold Blood is now merged into the Assassination Rogue PvP 2-set. All in all, pruning removes abilities from your bar between expansions. When the next expansion is released, you might find that some of your abilities have disappeared, consumed by this new trend in class design.
ABILITY VALUE
On paper, ability pruning might seem completely rational. Some abilities are simply not used that frequently, so why should they exist at all? Should we care that Mages lost Fireblast–a spell that was only used a handful of times during matchups and dealt insignificant damage? Should Priests be bothered that they lost their armors–abilities that were pressed maybe once or twice a game? Objectively speaking, we might place higher value on abilities that are used more frequently. As a Restoration Druid, I value Lifebloom incredibly high. It’s a spell I use often and that I recognize as one of my most important healing spells. I might place less value on something like Mangle, a Bear Form ability that I hardly use in arena. Bearing in mind (pun intended) that some abilities have seemingly trivial uses, why should these abilities even exist? This might be used as an argument for pruning, but I think it misunderstanding how players quantify the intrinsic value of their spells.
Let me go back to the example of Fireblast, a spell that Frost and Arcane Mages no longer possess. If we were to quantify the PvP value of this spell objectively, we would look at things like frequency of use and its impact on the outcome of arena matches. Doing so would probably yield a significantly lower intrinsic value than something like Ice Lance, an ability with high frequency of use and dramatic impact on the outcome of arena matches. You would have been more likely to win an arena game without using Fire Blast than win an arena game without using Ice Lance. Again, objectively speaking, Fireblast is a low value spell, so why should we keep it around? Herein lies the problem of ability pruning:
The subjective experience of players cannot be based solely on the objective value of abilities
Players gauge their experiences subjectively, which involves analyzing each ability holistically and not simply restricted to an easily quantifiable objective value. Fireblast had high subjective value to players, which was mostly revealed once it was lost from their toolkit. The ability was instant cast and dealt low to moderate damage, two things which were great for stomping totems and finishing off opponents when locked out on their frost school. It was one single global that was otherwise trivial in its role in an optimal DPS rotation, but not at all trivial when it was actually pressed. It was an ability pressed with purpose, a conscious goal-oriented production.
Just to recap, the subjective experience of players needs to be carefully considered when placing value on abilities. Abilities cannot simply be reduced to their objective value.
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU GOT TILL IT’S GONE
If there’s one mantra that best summarizes the effect of ability pruning on players, this is it. The loss of spells has contributed to one of the most widespread public outcries I’ve seen in nearly ten years of playing this game. If there is one good thing it has produced, its the solidarity in the community toward a common cause, namely to stop ability pruning in its tracks. I encourage everyone to post on the thread linked at the very top of this article. Think long and hard about what abilities you miss and why you miss them. It might be hard to put into words WHY some abilities were valuable to you, but nonetheless its important that you contribute in this effort.
Join the discussion here: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/20742944716
If you have no idea what I am talking about, here is my Skill-Capped post on ability pruning:
Very rarely do PvP and PvE game design opinions converge. Often there is great disagreement between PvP and PvE players about what is healthy for the game, what makes for interesting class design, and what can be sustained for future expansions. Ability pruning is an exception. Players on both the PvP forums of fansites and on the PvE centric board of reddit’s /r/wowhave expressed concern over the future of ability pruning and its role in class design.
PRUNING?
For those who are unaware of what ability pruning is, the simplest way to understand it is the removal of abilities available to classes and specs. Pruning takes many different forms. Abilities can be completely removed from the game, such as Druid Symbiosis from MoP to WoD. Other abilities are combined into a single spell, such as Nature’s Grasp, which is now merged with Barkskin and Ironbark. Some spells have been even dissolved into set bonuses and passives, just like Cold Blood is now merged into the Assassination Rogue PvP 2-set. All in all, pruning removes abilities from your bar between expansions. When the next expansion is released, you might find that some of your abilities have disappeared, consumed by this new trend in class design.
ABILITY VALUE
On paper, ability pruning might seem completely rational. Some abilities are simply not used that frequently, so why should they exist at all? Should we care that Mages lost Fireblast–a spell that was only used a handful of times during matchups and dealt insignificant damage? Should Priests be bothered that they lost their armors–abilities that were pressed maybe once or twice a game? Objectively speaking, we might place higher value on abilities that are used more frequently. As a Restoration Druid, I value Lifebloom incredibly high. It’s a spell I use often and that I recognize as one of my most important healing spells. I might place less value on something like Mangle, a Bear Form ability that I hardly use in arena. Bearing in mind (pun intended) that some abilities have seemingly trivial uses, why should these abilities even exist? This might be used as an argument for pruning, but I think it misunderstanding how players quantify the intrinsic value of their spells.
Let me go back to the example of Fireblast, a spell that Frost and Arcane Mages no longer possess. If we were to quantify the PvP value of this spell objectively, we would look at things like frequency of use and its impact on the outcome of arena matches. Doing so would probably yield a significantly lower intrinsic value than something like Ice Lance, an ability with high frequency of use and dramatic impact on the outcome of arena matches. You would have been more likely to win an arena game without using Fire Blast than win an arena game without using Ice Lance. Again, objectively speaking, Fireblast is a low value spell, so why should we keep it around? Herein lies the problem of ability pruning:
The subjective experience of players cannot be based solely on the objective value of abilities
Players gauge their experiences subjectively, which involves analyzing each ability holistically and not simply restricted to an easily quantifiable objective value. Fireblast had high subjective value to players, which was mostly revealed once it was lost from their toolkit. The ability was instant cast and dealt low to moderate damage, two things which were great for stomping totems and finishing off opponents when locked out on their frost school. It was one single global that was otherwise trivial in its role in an optimal DPS rotation, but not at all trivial when it was actually pressed. It was an ability pressed with purpose, a conscious goal-oriented production.
Just to recap, the subjective experience of players needs to be carefully considered when placing value on abilities. Abilities cannot simply be reduced to their objective value.
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU GOT TILL IT’S GONE
If there’s one mantra that best summarizes the effect of ability pruning on players, this is it. The loss of spells has contributed to one of the most widespread public outcries I’ve seen in nearly ten years of playing this game. If there is one good thing it has produced, its the solidarity in the community toward a common cause, namely to stop ability pruning in its tracks. I encourage everyone to post on the thread linked at the very top of this article. Think long and hard about what abilities you miss and why you miss them. It might be hard to put into words WHY some abilities were valuable to you, but nonetheless its important that you contribute in this effort.
