Is it just me or....

[XtremJedi]

Is it just me or has the traffic around the forums from healers just dropped like a stone of late?

 

Certainly, there seems to have been very little going on in this forum recently, compared to what it was like before 1.2. And when I look at the Sage and Sorcerer forums, most of the posting seems to be about DPS builds these days... with a few threads running about what you can possibly do to heal well in PvP (which often seems to be Hybrid solutions).

 

I'm not saying that everything's completely ground to a halt... but it seems to me that there has been a very noticeable drop in traffic.

 

X

[CaptainApop]

Is anyone surprised though? :L

[ShadowAxx]

I think many of us have moved beyond the denial phase and fully accept the reality the healing classes have been decimated and it won't be fixed.

 

What's the point of continuing to comment here when BioWare is immature and incapable of working with subscribers. They don't even have a program to reach out to those who have unsubscribed from the they game, which means they don't really care.

 

I have zero expectations patch 1.3 will offer any relief and my subscription will not likely last until patch 1.4 and I have zero reason to resubscribe.

 

We have lost half our guild, fewer members want to heal, and most are talking about alternative games.

[CaptainApop]

As for the reasons I'm pretty sure it's basically just a lack of things to talk about. There was a huge amount of discussion, suggestion and theory workings pre-1.2 becuase a big patch was in the works that was hinted to address a large chunk if not all of the players concerns.

 

1.2 rolls around and compltely dashes the hopes and dreams of the majority of the healer-base :> Lots of the regulars are gone now I'd imagine. (Bobudo is gone, RuQu is on the way out etc) and those of us left can't really be bothered thinking too hard about healing until we get some sort of address from the devs.

 

After all everything there is to say about healing has more or less been said =/

Edited May 4, 2012 by CaptainApop

[Cleet_Xia]

It has slowed down a lot. I blame the fact that any actual useful information concerning healing is now immeadiately burried under 4 - 6 qq posts about how pointless it is to be a sage healer now.

 

Any player who takes their gaming serious enough to check the forums before they create a toon, would take one look at the sage forums and roll a dps or a different class all together. Not sure how many of those there would be 4 months after launch.... but some people probably couldn't afford a new 'puter. But there is also the people who are considering a consular alt.

 

The brighter side of the 1.2 nerfs is that dps and tank players are being forced to correct their terrible play, because healers can no longer carry a group of bad players through. I personally didn't enjoy being treated like a walking medpack, and wouldn't play through a FP with a group that treated me like one. After 1.2, fewer tanks and dps want to play like that. CC & defensive abilities are an important part of the game again for dps players. Before 1.2 it was often sufficient to just zerg through a HM, with no discussion of and strategy or mechanics. It wasn't a style of play that I enjoyed, I wouldn't play like that before, and now very few players expect me to.

 

I really think what needs to happen at this point is community brainstorming, where people throw out the most unconventional ideas about how to play a sage healer in both PvP and PvE. And people need to learn to ignore those who would prefer to qq, without even considering the merrits of a particular idea. It's always been tricky to play the most squishy of the squishy. But there is a lot more to being a sage healer than 4 healing abilities.

[Kellour]

This game and these forums could truly benefit from regular check-ins by Class-Specific Developers. Or at the very least, Role-Specific.

[RuQu]

As for the reasons I'm pretty sure it's basically just a lack of things to talk about. There was a huge amount of discussion, suggestion and theory workings pre-1.2 becuase a big patch was in the works that was hinted to address a large chunk if not all of the players concerns.

 

1.2 rolls around and compltely dashes the hopes and dreams of the majority of the healer-base :> Lots of the regulars are gone now I'd imagine. (Bobudo is gone, RuQu is on the way out etc) and those of us left can't really be bothered thinking too hard about healing until we get some sort of address from the devs.

 

After all everything there is to say about healing has more or less been said =/

 

It wasn't just that a big patch was coming, it started sooner than that.

 

I think a lot of people recognized that there were weaknesses in the fundamental design of healing in this game, right from the start. People started tossing around ideas, discussing them, making and strengthening suggestions. People tossed around theory to get a handle on how to even have those discussions.

 

There was an assumption that there would be some sort of interaction with the Developers. Even if they didn't talk to us, there is a form of communication through action when they make changes that reflect what the community is asking for. Blizzard's Suggestion Forum used to have an official policy that they would never respond to a suggestion, but they would read them and consider them. This kept people from leaping to conclusions based on where they responded. It was hoped that the silence we heard was of the same sort; we weren't being ignored, BW policy simply prevented the type of standard conversation we might have preferred.

 

Then the patch notes, and eventually the patch, came out and it was clear that this was not the case. The PTS changes were terribly thought out, and the PTS testers and forum discussions were all ignored. The UI revamp they touted as so amazing contained none of the changes requested by healers, and conveniently documented in the (then) stickied Healer Request Compilation.

 

So now we know, they aren't listening. Kind of defeats the point of talking, doesn't it?

 

We can talk among ourselves still. Try and share strategies for making the best of a bad situation. The problem is, we have no hope of relief. The bad mechanics are likely to remain for the foreseeable future. If we had reason to think it would get better, there would be incentive to try and share ways to muddle through. Without that hope, many of us see no reason to remain at all, and therefore sharing tips and tricks is a waste of effort.

 

For many, if they still play at all, all that is left is seeing a few class stories, and you don't need theory or discussion to breeze through those.

[Codek]

I personally just don't like discussing healing right now because everything seems to revolve around the nerf still....

 

Especially being a Merc healer, it's as if I'm trying to describe how to find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow and everyone just cries about a giant lighting storm that will kill anyone who goes outside.

 

Until I actually work out all the details to what makes me successful in this game, it just seems easier to keep things to myself.

[RuQu]

I personally just don't like discussing healing right now because everything seems to revolve around the nerf still....

 

Especially being a Merc healer, it's as if I'm trying to describe how to find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow and everyone just cries about a giant lighting storm that will kill anyone who goes outside.

 

Until I actually work out all the details to what makes me successful in this game, it just seems easier to keep things to myself.

 

I think you might find that the problem is about two different conversations. The nerf did two things:

 

1) Objectively made Mercs weaker.

2) Subjectively made them no longer fun to play.

 

There is room for discussion of strategies and tricks to address #1 above. As for #2, there is very little a player can do about that, except reroll or move on to another game. Until all of the #2 people have gone, they will continue to post in threads that are trying to address #1. You can, if you phrase the OP properly, create a discussion purely on techniques and advice for dealing with the objective changes, and then simply ignore posts in the thread that try and focus on the subjective, or politely ask them to keep on topic.

 

And, of course, for some people the two are intertwined. Being weaker is less fun, and being less fun makes them not want to bother finding ways to deal with being weaker.

[Codek]

I think you might find that the problem is about two different conversations. The nerf did two things:

 

1) Objectively made Mercs weaker.

2) Subjectively made them no longer fun to play.

 

There is room for discussion of strategies and tricks to address #1 above. As for #2, there is very little a player can do about that, except reroll or move on to another game. Until all of the #2 people have gone, they will continue to post in threads that are trying to address #1. You can, if you phrase the OP properly, create a discussion purely on techniques and advice for dealing with the objective changes, and then simply ignore posts in the thread that try and focus on the subjective, or politely ask them to keep on topic.

 

And, of course, for some people the two are intertwined. Being weaker is less fun, and being less fun makes them not want to bother finding ways to deal with being weaker.

 

I know, I'm actually one of the few people who agreed with the concept of making healers weaker overall. I also agree with many on here that there were better ways to do this but I've never seen developers and players see eye to eye on this stuff in any game. The ability for healers to take up the challenge and overcome it was what attracted me to healing in the first place and I'm fully aware that my viewpoint seems to be very far from the normal when it comes to this.

 

It's #2 that will keep this bored as a ghost town until things die down over time. I've considered the option of ignoring the doubt that healing is fine, but it just doesn't seem possible. It seems like any slight loss to healing will continue to be over exaggerated and repeated until the majority believe it is true. Because of this, there are just to many broad generalizations on what healing is like right now. To fight all that just doesn't seem worth it.

[ErrantMercenary]

I personally just don't like discussing healing right now because everything seems to revolve around the nerf still....

 

Especially being a Merc healer, it's as if I'm trying to describe how to find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow and everyone just cries about a giant lighting storm that will kill anyone who goes outside.

 

Until I actually work out all the details to what makes me successful in this game, it just seems easier to keep things to myself.

 

I've tried to scale back on posting posts of this variety, because as I've mentioned before, if you still like the gameplay in it's current state, that's awesome! However, in addition to the two things RuQu mentioned, one of our oft pleaded problems is that healing is mind-numbingly simple now.

 

I can teach a rhesus monkey the ins and outs of Combat Medic play now because there is an unfailing rigidity presented by the size of our resource pool.

 

Combo together ANY two abilities with an ammo cost and you're either on the verge of or are entering the regen penalty. Period. That doesn't leave a whole lot of room for meaningful discussion because you just use the most efficient two abilities for the particular problem you're having (If it's an AOE one it probably involves Kolto Bomb, otherwise, it's probably AMP/MP). Hammer Shot until you can repeat. Add in Supercharge and Bacta Infusion on cooldown, and you're most of the way there.

 

Our ceilings are easy to measure, our rotations are easy to chart, and boss mechanics are something you've probably seen before: At least prior to 1.2, when Combat Logs weren't available, and everything was new and uncharted, I came here to see what others saw, share my personal experiences, and try to learn and grow as a healer.

 

Now? With added transparency demonstrating problems we've been discussing for six months now, the initial mystery dispelled, and frighteningly little left to teach: What's left to say? Mostly (and for my part in it I will now apologize) just more empty pleading to a nonresponsive dev team.

Edited May 4, 2012 by ErrantMercenary

[Codek]

I've tried to scale back on posting posts of this variety, because as I've mentioned before, if you still like the gameplay in it's current state, that's awesome! However, in addition to the two things RuQu mentioned, one of our oft pleaded problems is that healing is mind-numbingly simple now.

 

I can teach a rhesus monkey the ins and outs of Combat Medic play now because there is an unfailing rigidity presented by the size of our resource pool.

 

Combo together ANY two abilities with an ammo cost and you're either on the verge of or are entering the regen penalty. Period. That doesn't leave a whole lot of room for meaningful discussion because you just use the most efficient two abilities for the particular problem you're having (If it's an AOE one it probably involves Kolto Bomb, otherwise, it's probably AMP/MP). Hammer Shot until you can repeat. Add in Supercharge and Bacta Infusion on cooldown, and you're most of the way there.

 

Our ceilings are easy to measure, our rotations are easy to chart, and boss mechanics are something you've probably seen before: At least prior to 1.2, when Combat Logs weren't available, and everything was new and uncharted, I came here to see what others saw, share my personal experiences, and try to learn and grow as a healer.

 

Now? With added transparency demonstrating problems we've been discussing for six months now, the initial mystery dispelled, and frighteningly little left to teach: What's left to say? Mostly (and for my part in it I will now apologize) just more empty pleading to a nonresponsive dev team.

 

I'm not even sure if I should even get into this here but one of the generalizations I've never understood was how our healing become more "simple" after the nerf? If I recall correctly, pre-nerf our heals were 75% spamming HS->RS with an occasional kolto missle for buffs. That alone worked very well and keeping the tank up with occasional spot healing for the raid. If that wasn't simple then I don't know what is.

 

Healing now has cut way back on the spamming and is much more focused on efficiency and timing. For the hard content, the only way to survive is to anticipate the hot spots for when damage is going to hit the raid and to unload cooldown then. The rotation will very much alter depending on who your healing, where you are healing, and what kind of damage is hitting the raid. If any BH healer even attempts to do the same thing for every fight all the time then it will be a guaranteed fail. None of the fights in EC has required me to heal in the same way and to me, that is a huge improvement over what I consider the fun aspect of this game.

 

This of course opens the door to issues where other healing classes can actually simplify these fights and heal just as well....and for that, I hope changes will be made for the better.

[Aluo]

As for the reasons I'm pretty sure it's basically just a lack of things to talk about. There was a huge amount of discussion, suggestion and theory workings pre-1.2 becuase a big patch was in the works that was hinted to address a large chunk if not all of the players concerns.

 

1.2 rolls around and compltely dashes the hopes and dreams of the majority of the healer-base :> Lots of the regulars are gone now I'd imagine. (Bobudo is gone, RuQu is on the way out etc) and those of us left can't really be bothered thinking too hard about healing until we get some sort of address from the devs.

 

After all everything there is to say about healing has more or less been said =/

 

THIS.... THIS... and more THIS.

[Syylara]

I'm not even sure if I should even get into this here but one of the generalizations I've never understood was how our healing become more "simple" after the nerf? If I recall correctly, pre-nerf our heals were 75% spamming HS->RS with an occasional kolto missle for buffs. That alone worked very well and keeping the tank up with occasional spot healing for the raid. If that wasn't simple then I don't know what is.

 

How were you able to "spam" an ability combo that could only be repeated 20% of the time and otherwise was blocked by a cooldown?

 

There was also weaving in KS/TP, proper timing and use of SCC/SCG which carried the inherent opportunity cost of additional buffs on KM/KB or using the highly resource efficient HS>RS/AMP>MP combo (a maximum of 3 times).

 

Healing now has cut way back on the spamming and is much more focused on efficiency and timing. For the hard content, the only way to survive is to anticipate the hot spots for when damage is going to hit the raid and to unload cooldown then. The rotation will very much alter depending on who your healing, where you are healing, and what kind of damage is hitting the raid. If any BH healer even attempts to do the same thing for every fight all the time then it will be a guaranteed fail. None of the fights in EC has required me to heal in the same way and to me, that is a huge improvement over what I consider the fun aspect of this game.

 

Healing now consists of spamming rapid scan and rapid shots (medical probe and hammer shot), an ocassional HS/AMP. KM/KB is pointless if you have a sorc (which, if they are bringing a commando/merc, they just about have to bring a sorc to carry us) and KS/TP is only useful when you have a few extra seconds of max resource.

 

I've seen repeatedly that SCC/SCG has basically become a mini resource boost that you are better off cancelling immediately to start a new stack as using a HS>RS/AMP>MP combo will run you down in resources to the point you will actually do less HPS over the fight. You are better off taking the 2 ammo/16 heat and being able to push a little harder over the next 30 seconds than you are by draining way down and then having to be very conservative in those next 30 seconds. This actually becomes a self-reinforcing problem since using the SCC/SCG advantages means it takes longer to build up the next 30 stack after you've blown your resource pool.

Edited May 5, 2012 by Syylara

[Soltrooper]

I'm not even sure if I should even get into this here but one of the generalizations I've never understood was how our healing become more "simple" after the nerf? If I recall correctly, pre-nerf our heals were 75% spamming HS->RS with an occasional kolto missle for buffs. That alone worked very well and keeping the tank up with occasional spot healing for the raid. If that wasn't simple then I don't know what is.

 

With maintenance tightened, there is less flexibility and thus people are forced into more of a set rotation. This pretty much means that a player now just has to know what spell he will cast next, and the only choice to make is who to cast it on.

 

When you had more resource flexibility, the rotation was more flexible, so you have choices as to what to cast as well as who to cast it on. SCC gaining twice as much resources meant you could skirt a little lower. The good players knew when they could dip a bit lower, there was a real choice with SCC (delay it a bit if that suited the fight or cast it on CD).

 

Any time you take away choices you reduce complexity. In cases like this, the reduced choice has also increased difficulty. So it isn't "easier" but it is "simpler". And the trouble is it wasn't that complex before, so reducing that level of complexity is not good for the gameplay experience.

[Ashyra]

With maintenance tightened, there is less flexibility and thus people are forced into more of a set rotation. This pretty much means that a player now just has to know what spell he will cast next, and the only choice to make is who to cast it on.

 

When you had more resource flexibility, the rotation was more flexible, so you have choices as to what to cast as well as who to cast it on. SCC gaining twice as much resources meant you could skirt a little lower. The good players knew when they could dip a bit lower, there was a real choice with SCC (delay it a bit if that suited the fight or cast it on CD).

 

Any time you take away choices you reduce complexity. In cases like this, the reduced choice has also increased difficulty. So it isn't "easier" but it is "simpler". And the trouble is it wasn't that complex before, so reducing that level of complexity is not good for the gameplay experience.

 

This is pretty accurate regarding sage healing too now. Instead weaving healing abilities according to how the situation developed, I now find myself using the most efficient rotation for every situation and altering only the last spell occasionally. It does not feel rewarding or like much of an accomplishment to heal this way anymore, so I do not really play my sage very often.

[Codek]

How were you able to "spam" an ability combo that could only be repeated 20% of the time and otherwise was blocked by a cooldown?

 

There was also weaving in KS/TP, proper timing and use of SCC/SCG which carried the inherent opportunity cost of additional buffs on KM/KB or using the highly resource efficient HS>RS/AMP>MP combo (a maximum of 3 times).

 

I don't know about you but to me it was more like 50%-75%. I was able to have the 15 secconds of OCG running (which was at the time only HS->RS spam plus an occasional KB if needed) and then just rebuild that stack within 20 seconds with the same rotation with intermittent shots. so for me it's 50% spam plus ~25% spam of the same thing! KB was still hit or miss with it's use so it helps with variety sometimes. Rapid shots was only needed on the downside of the gas use so that's only needed half the fight. KS was free and, to me, shouldn't even count as an ability since no thought was required, you just throw it in when ever. Proper timing was not required, it was a set rotation that would work in any situation and the ease of the resource mechanic simply made it not matter what choice you made. Sure you have more choices, but only because those choices did not matter! It was easy....

 

 

Healing now consists of spamming rapid scan and rapid shots (medical probe and hammer shot), an ocassional HS/AMP. KM/KB is pointless if you have a sorc (which, if they are bringing a commando/merc, they just about have to bring a sorc to carry us) and KS/TP is only useful when you have a few extra seconds of max resource.

 

I've seen repeatedly that SCC/SCG has basically become a mini resource boost that you are better off cancelling immediately to start a new stack as using a HS>RS/AMP>MP combo will run you down in resources to the point you will actually do less HPS over the fight. You are better off taking the 2 ammo/16 heat and being able to push a little harder over the next 30 seconds than you are by draining way down and then having to be very conservative in those next 30 seconds. This actually becomes a self-reinforcing problem since using the SCC/SCG advantages means it takes longer to build up the next 30 stack after you've blown your resource pool.

 

OK, first we do not need a sorc to partner up with us. I've yet to see any proof of that and am still working on proof to counter it but am lacking the resource of a second geared Merc (probably because the message boards scared them all away by now.....) to assist me with HM EC. I have cleared story mode EC with dual Mercs (second one was horrible undergeared but I still taught him what to do) and it does require more planning on both are parts to be on top of everything but what's wrong with a bit of challenge?

 

Now, it seems like you are viewing the lack in choice of what ability to use every second of the fight is what the problem is. Try to instead consider that what cool downs you use and when, are now the choices that must be made to succeed. I'll use Toth and Zorn for an example since I've heard this is the worst fight for Mercs to begin with( I love it). Now the best thing about this fight is that every 10% some bad stuff will happen that has the potential to wipe the raid. Dual Sorc healers can walk in and place AoE's to just burn through these phases with no problem and that is easy and all, Yay! That's a problem with there class....

 

In the view point of a merc, we are still the burst healer. This means we must "anticipate" each and every moment to prepare to burst heal through the damage right as it arrives. Not so easy, I know. But it truly is fun when you get good at it! As a breakdown, the jumps aren't to bad, just make sure the Zorn tank has all buffs possible (KS, Armor, KB) and it can be easily healed through. The Toth enrage is where planning kicks in. That merc requires gas and a relic (power or Crit/Surge) to heal through the slams. By timing KB to land just after the slam, it heals most of the damage right on the spot along with an applied the shield for the next one! The phase just became a joke from one ability alone! The other merc at the same time willt have to spam the single target heals for each person receiving the rock throws since the AoE just won't do enough. This is the best example of how we must decide how to heal and when! If both of them did the same thing it would fail but by taking two different strategies for what damage is being sent, healing becomes amazingly efficient. Just to skip the rest of the example, the red circle phase is more defensive cooldown (shield, self heal, medpac if needed) and healing when possible.

 

It should never be a question of why can't I use either this ability or that ability now, but a question of will this ability be enough for this situation in order to survive. That choices you make on which ability you use makes up the success you will have. And if you don't make choices you will fail (which I believe might be a common problem with mercs today).

Edited May 5, 2012 by Codek

[Codek]

This is also getting somewhat off topic from the title of this thread. It still seems like time is needed for the feelings over what took place to fade away. I do not believe that everything about healing has already been talked about so there is still plenty to discuss such as anticipation healing, easy vs hard healing, and pitfalls with heal parsers. These have yet to really have strong threads revolving around them and I've seen very little understanding of what they actually mean. I'm sure once the nerf plague has left, things will arise and arguments will be made for plenty of other things that currently are over looked.

 

It's just a matter of time....

[ironix]

When did this become a merc theorycrafting thread?

[Azkit]

I haven't been real active in the healer forums, but I stopped coming here for awhile because I got tried of all the whining after the 1.2 PTR notes were released.

 

"OMG! SORCS MUST HEAL THEMSELVES MORE THAN THE TANK!"

"OMG! MERC HEAT SUCKS!"

"OMG! BIOWARE DIDN'T FIX OPERATIVES!"

 

It got pretty annoying real quick, so I just left. I'm hoping people got some sense by now.

[Masturomenos]

Guys and gals dont worry this weeks Q n A answered all our questions about color crystal and companions. Bioware working as intended.

[RuQu]

I appreciate that you are trying to improve the quality of conversation around here, so please read the following with that in mind.

 

There is always going to be a distribution of quality of posts. To attack one that you think contains little content, instead of choosing to only discuss those with more content, does nothing to improve the quality of the conversation that you claim to want.

 

Further, while I hate the term fanboi, it doesn't just mean that you enjoy the game. Many of us posting before 1.2 about needed changes we hoped would be in 1.2 enjoyed the game, we just also knew it was flawed and wanted it to improve. Being a fanboi means that your affection for the game/company biases your entire perception. Criticism becomes whining or attacks, instead of attempts to help improve flaws.

 

While there are certainly some flaws in his post, you use those flaws to not only dismiss his entire post, but all posts of anyone who agrees with him!

 

When he claims that classes are broken, without evidence, it is possible that he could just be throwing around insults. It's also possible that he has discussed it in detail elsewhere and doesn't want to repeat himself (and he does post a lot). It's also possible that he simply expects the audience to be familiar with more detailed posts detailing the problems of class balance of design that other people have made. Lots of constructive posts have been made detailing these problems, and no one should have to repeat all of those posts every time they want to cite the conclusion that class design and balance are in serious need of work.

 

Your posts make it clear that you are happy with the game right now. That's great. However, you try and turn this into an us vs them situation where people either enjoy or hate the game, and the haters want it to fail and you must oppose them. This is a false dichotomy. Many people complain because they want the game to change in a way that is more enjoyable to them. Many of the complaints have nothing to do with how "hard' or "easy" content is, but with the way the classes actually play, ie their "feel", their "style", or their lack of "fun." Dismissing all anti-1.2 nerf posts as people whining about being weaker actually decreases the opportunity for good discussion, because you are actively choosing not to hear what they are saying to protect your own perceptions of the game. That can never lead to conversation, only to people shouting past each other.

Edited May 7, 2012 by LexiCazam
Rude/reply/quote

[Caladax]

Very much what Roqu said.

 

I didn't like that CMs were being nerfed, because the only thing I'd heard prior to the 1.2 notes was that our aoe was going to be buffed, and because I had the perception that we were one of the weaker healers (pve).

 

When I saw the notes though, I was frustrated, not so much because of the number changes, which I could live with, but because they actually made our aoe healing weaker (detailed by Roqu et al elsewhere), as well as making it so that we didn't have enough ammo to cast our spells when we wanted to, based on the situation.

 

Like many commandos, I thought and said, "fine, lower the output if need be, but let me use abilities. Also, actually buff our aoe healing like you said you would."

 

Gameplay as a CM in pve was pretty simple before 1.2. Now it's much worse. It's all focused on waiting (hammer shot) and efficiency of healing, and not on healing the guy that needs it, with the right spell.

 

I'm thinking of my shaman in Cataclysm. Shaman is a pretty simple healer, but compared to CM, it's very much more engaging. Drop totems in a good spot, interrupt this guy, ghost wolf over to there, cast lightning bolt for mana (I don't think I had instant ghost wolf and TC at the same time, but I have played both specs), rocket boot over there (engineer), drop mana tide at the right time for all the healers, work with other healers on who's dropping their dmg reduction cd when, keep three riptides rolling, keep Earth Shield up (Earth Shield, unlike TP, actually matters, and not just for the healing it does), complain at anyone who strays out of my healing rain, figure out who to cast chain heal on for the most bounces, drop tremor totem (very limited use in cata, but on some tough trash..), drop earthbind on the runner, grounding for a certain cast, Greater healing wave the tank and spot heals, Healing Surge in some emergencies, Nature's Swiftness GHW to save a life, and all with much more interesting boss mechanics to deal with.

 

Compare to CM now: hammer shot a lot, dispel if you can see it, cast amp/mp when high ammo and you have to, TP refresh if full ammo, damage reduction cd when you can/need it, scc to gain ammo (not so much to increase healing anymore), KB sometimes, BI on cd (if someone's hurt), use that ammo-free spell whenever appropriate, and same with recharge cells, instant spell to save a life (I forget the names of my abilities, let's call this "Commando's Swiftness").

 

I'm probably forgetting some stuff from either class, but overall, I find my CM extremely boring and frustrating. I can heal only so much without entering medium regen, and that's it. It's not tough to know what to cast, or where to stand, it's just a matter of either being able to heal enough before medium regen or not. I may not be a great player, but it doesn't matter if I am in this class. I don't think the difference between mediocre CM and great CM is obvious, because there is so little room for decision making. Maybe timing, click speed, and damage forecasting are the important things now, but that last one isn't so hard in a scripted fight. As for click speed.. at least give us mouseover healing, and click casting on action bars (like clique from WoW).

[Masturomenos]

Youre absolutely correct. Bh healing is boring and inefficient. All wehad pre 1.2 was efficiency now we dont even have that. The best BH or the worse BH healer are barely distinguishable. A medpack heals for 15% of a players help and then is on cd for 90 seconds and a BH heals a player for 50% of their hp heatcaps and then is on cd for 90 seconds until they can do it again since they have to wait for their resources to come back. There is no right or wrong way to heal as a BH there is no decision making. There is use these couple of spells then wait and the only thing in between is rapid shot. Every other healer heal better, is more efficient, has better mobility and can do it with lower level gear and is more efficient.

[Codek]

I appreciate that you are trying to improve the quality of conversation around here, so please read the following with that in mind.

 

There is always going to be a distribution of quality of posts. To attack one that you think contains little content, instead of choosing to only discuss those with more content, does nothing to improve the quality of the conversation that you claim to want.

 

Further, while I hate the term fanboi, it doesn't just mean that you enjoy the game. Many of us posting before 1.2 about needed changes we hoped would be in 1.2 enjoyed the game, we just also knew it was flawed and wanted it to improve. Being a fanboi means that your affection for the game/company biases your entire perception. Criticism becomes whining or attacks, instead of attempts to help improve flaws.

 

While there are certainly some flaws in his post, you use those flaws to not only dismiss his entire post, but all posts of anyone who agrees with him!

 

When he claims that classes are broken, without evidence, it is possible that he could just be throwing around insults. It's also possible that he has discussed it in detail elsewhere and doesn't want to repeat himself (and he does post a lot). It's also possible that he simply expects the audience to be familiar with more detailed posts detailing the problems of class balance of design that other people have made. Lots of constructive posts have been made detailing these problems, and no one should have to repeat all of those posts every time they want to cite the conclusion that class design and balance are in serious need of work.

 

Your posts make it clear that you are happy with the game right now. That's great. However, you try and turn this into an us vs them situation where people either enjoy or hate the game, and the haters want it to fail and you must oppose them. This is a false dichotomy. Many people complain because they want the game to change in a way that is more enjoyable to them. Many of the complaints have nothing to do with how "hard' or "easy" content is, but with the way the classes actually play, ie their "feel", their "style", or their lack of "fun." Dismissing all anti-1.2 nerf posts as people whining about being weaker actually decreases the opportunity for good discussion, because you are actively choosing not to hear what they are saying to protect your own perceptions of the game. That can never lead to conversation, only to people shouting past each other.

 

I in no way intended to dismiss any arguments posters will make about the problems that healing classes face, and for that I apologize. I simply viewed this post, and many others I have seen recently since 1.2, as a direct attack on a person for continuing to play the healing role.

 

If it wasn't for the term "broken" being used, I would not care very much about the claim that there are problems with healers. Broken, to me, states that it is unplayable and everyone should stop trying. It discourages anyone seeking to pick up the role from trying it out first and further convinces those who currently struggle, to just give up.

 

This is one of the worst things we can ever do on these boards as a community. To simply encourage players to run towards other classes/specs/roles rather then to view the changes and adjust to succeed is a horrible fix to any problem. It will always be a much better choice to simply point towards the threads that discuss these topic then to simply portray the term broken without any backing to it. Then maybe the player will have the tools needed to make the decisions on there own instead of going of generic claims.

 

After that, the rest of the post seemed more like a personal attack onto the person as well. Something that should never be encouraged on any board. Sure Azkit's post didn't make much a statement about the point he was trying to make, but that is never a reason to in turn receive a full assault on his credibility on the matter. It was fairly obvious to just be a statement based on observation. I can't imagine much of a flourishing community to exist if every post required an entire breakdown on past history and in game achievements to accompany that.

 

I was not attempting to shut down any arguments made, simply the matter in which they are being portrayed. The hostility towards healers still wanting to heal is really scary and needs to end soon before people are lost for good.

Edited May 6, 2012 by Codek