Poster: Trevion at 7/21/2006 11:12:46 AM PDT
Subject: Kaplan Interview (Paladins / Shamans) |
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Jeff Kaplan, Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 01:26 pm
"It adds to the immersiveness because the Horde are supposed to have a special hatred for paladins and the Alliance is supposed to really hate shamans. The paladin was always supposed to be this holy warrior in plate armor, very much a support class, though one that could tank in a pinch, and they most certainly can. The shaman is a more offensive caster who wears chain armor, centered around his totems. But when I play Horde I hate paladins. It's like I could never kill them and it seems so futile."
Null and void now?[ post edited by Trevion ]
illegitimi non carborundum
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Poster: Eyonix at 7/21/2006 1:28:19 PM PDT
Subject: Re: Kaplan Interview (Paladins / Shamans) |
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It's important to not take things out of context. The main point Jeff was touching upon was the difference between the Shaman and Paladin as a whole, one being more of a support class while the other centered around being more an offensive caster who wears heavier armor. What he expressed concerning his feelings of the Paladin when playing Horde holds true currently because at this time those classes are unique to each faction. While that will no longer be the case in the Burning Crusade, players of each faction will still be able to associate that special hatred with many other exclusive cross-factional elements. For example, when playing Alliance it's only going to be natural to feel some animosity when warstomped by a Tuaren and similarly, you'll likely upset as a Horde player when a little Gnome escapes an ensnarement through the use of his escape artist ability.
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Poster: Eyonix at 7/21/2006 1:28:19 PM PDT
Subject: Re: Kaplan Interview (Paladins / Shamans) *edited post* |
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It's important to not take things out of context. The main point Jeff was touching upon was the difference between the Shaman and Paladin as a whole, one being more of a support class while the other centered around being more an offensive caster who wears heavier armor. What he expressed concerning his feelings of the Paladin when playing Horde holds true currently because at this time those classes are unique to each faction. While that will no longer be the case in the Burning Crusade, players of each faction will still be able to associate that special hatred with many other exclusive cross-factional elements. For example, when playing Alliance it's only going to be natural to feel some animosity when warstomped by a Tauren and similarly, you'll likely upset as a Horde player when a little Gnome escapes an ensnarement through the use of his escape artist ability. [ post edited by Eyonix ]
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Poster: Eyonix at 7/21/2006 2:05:32 PM PDT
Subject: Re: Kaplan Interview (Paladins / Shamans) |
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Q u o t e:
Way to totally miss the point with a clever answer.
Maybe I should quote a really small piece of the original post and see how you will evade the point then.
"It adds to the immersiveness because the Horde are supposed to have a special hatred for paladins and the Alliance is supposed to really hate shamans.
It does add to the immersiveness, but that's not to say that there aren't numerous other elements currently plugged into the game that accomplish that very same thing. We felt what we gained by moving forward with this change far outweighed some of the flavor that might be lost. In addition, we're going to do our best to ensure that there are still some solid flavor distinctions between each faction's version of the class.
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Poster: Eyonix at 7/21/2006 2:21:00 PM PDT
Subject: Re: Kaplan Interview (Paladins / Shamans) |
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Q u o t e:
Are you a !&$%ing idiot? Shaman don't wear plate armor, paladins do.
Keep calm and stay focused, friend. Heavier armor when compared to other offensive casters...
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Poster: Eyonix at 7/21/2006 2:21:56 PM PDT
Subject: Re: Kaplan Interview (Paladins / Shamans) |
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Q u o t e:
If there are going to be distictions why call them the same thing.
Flavor distinctions, they'll function the same.
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Poster: Eyonix at 7/21/2006 2:38:03 PM PDT
Subject: Re: Kaplan Interview (Paladins / Shamans) |
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Q u o t e:
What do you mean by flavor, the color of their skin? I hate to sound blunt, but I am sorely dissapointed in this turn of events. It just seems like you were too lazy to find a fix to the imbalance issues (by "you" I mean Blizzard as a whole). It's just a very sloppy move imo.
This isn't a "fix" to any faction imbalance issue, but it does address it to some degree. This is a decision we made to preserve the distinction between two classes that we felt we were being forced to homogenize due to their select factional availability. One of our most important core philosophies in regards to class design is that all available classes in World of Warcraft remain completely unique and special from one and other.
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Poster: Eyonix at 7/21/2006 3:08:26 PM PDT
Subject: Re: Kaplan Interview (Paladins / Shamans) |
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Q u o t e:
What? You can't be serious. OK, I'll bite: If it isn't a "fix" to "fix" an imbalance issue.. what is it. Oh wait! You post further...
Eyonix, you communicate (currently) for a living yet you resort to doublespeak in order to respond to a question? Good lord man, you froodled the wonker on that sentence.
This is a "fix" to attend to imbalance issues. You know why as well as I do yet, being bound by contract, you can't say it. Therfore, I will say it for you:
Blizzard could not fix Shaman in regards to PVE raiding. Thus, Horde were doomed to less support from their "support" units in end-game raiding when going against content that still had to present a challenge to the Alliance players. Therefore, because you couldn't fix Shaman you decided to give Horde access to Paladins. Despite all of the feedback and good suggestions in the Shaman forum (I don't have a Shaman btw but I do keep up with most class' "goings on.") Blizzard decided none of them were worth implementing and it would be easier to just break from their entire game-model. GG.
If I got it wrong, please feel free to correct me.
And another one was that Players could choose between two unique and distinctive factions, each having its own signature classes which helped to provide a unique play experience in both PVE and PVP. I see Blizzard already dumped that one in the dust. How long until they dump your quote on the ground and curbstomp it?
The dead certainty behind conspiracy theories never cease to amaze me. I guess you're just privy to much more than myself, who operates as a hub of internal and external information...
Also, the term doublespeak has lost its meaning. Now it seems it's thrown around whenever someone's too frustrated to accept a statement.
I've explained the behind the scenes reasoning of our decision exactly as it's played out. I've also shared with you our honest intention with making this change. Soon we will unveil more of what we're offering in terms of class content for the expansion, as well as details on the new end game.
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Poster: Eyonix at 7/21/2006 3:22:21 PM PDT
Subject: Re: Kaplan Interview (Paladins / Shamans) |
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Q u o t e:
Trust me, we would all like to believe everything you say is true. But like the poster you're response is to, you [Blizzard] did just "break from your entire game-model."
Not to mention the butchering of lore, which I honestly don't mind that much. If anything this makes it interesting, if not unreasonable.
Maybe it's all this combined with the fact that I'm going to be seeing the class that I utterly detest running around in Org with a smile on.
But then again, I have much better arguments than "I !&$%ing hate Paladins." Excuse my french.
It's never been a philosophy of ours to ensure that each faction has a unique class. If you've gathered that, it's due to your own perception. Even from the beginning it was debated internally whether we should add some flavor and distinction between the two factions by allowing for faction specific classes. At the time, we felt it would make things much more interesting. There's a gross difference between adding something to the game which we feel is cool, and adding something to the game because it's a core philosophical design element. We still feel strongly that the two factions should feel different from each other and we will do what we need to do to ensure that remains the case.
It's much more important to us at the moment to stay true to our class design model of preserving the distinction between individual classes.
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