ALL-OUT WAR

This is the buffer post. All "me" of you who are reading this will have to wait one more day for a real post.

So in the mean time, let's talk beta message boards. There's a nerd rage a brewin'. Need proof? Hit up the Mage board. Mages are upset, lemme tell ya. I think every class is upset about something. The number of protest threads or otherwise all-encompassing "PLEASE POST HERE" threads is ramping up.

But really, this game is so close to release, and 3.0.2 is even closer; where are the classes going to be when this patch is out? We already know some things won't be ready; besides the raid dungeons they leave out for 3.x patches, we know there are several long-term plans for certain aspects of the game. Examples:

- Making class mechanics more interesting in PvE
- Designing Protection trees to be viable in PvP
- The "uber looking visual and sound" for Shaman Resto talent Riptide

While Blizz expects all of the classes to be "balanced" by the time the patch hits, big, sweeping changes to game mechanics are not something they're interested in performing over the course of one expansion. In the words of Ghostcrawler:

"We think that is a totally valid concern. It's also not one unique to mages. We have been trying to address it for all of the classes who seem to have that problem, and you can probably identify most of the specific talents and abilities that we introduced for that purpose. But it's going to take time. With rare exceptions, we don't want to use an expansion to completely tear down a class and rebuild it back up again.

Throwing the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak, risks losing a lot of established design work. That sounds like I am being lazy about our jobs, but what I actually mean is that all of the classes have evolved a lot over time. We have introduced various solutions to problems, players have figured out certain ways that the class works and what they should be paying attention to, the classes have a certain amount of depth, etc. We don't want to lose much of that when we add to an existing class, which is why the changes may feel like they come at a slower pace than you might actually prefer. Make sense?" (source)

It makes sense to me, but would it really hurt to push back the game a few months? They did it with Burning Crusade and I'm sure Blizzard handled it fine. Also, it'll give me some more time to level my Mage to 70 and attempt to Arena PvP before the honor reset.

The Mage is level 54 now, which is neato. Can't wait to get to Outland and start doing slightly more interesting quests. I really don't know if I'll be able to handle the 1-70 grind again after I get this character to 70. But I'd really like a new character to level Inscription and Herbalism. Grinding out professions everyone else is trying to grind out will not be any fun. But, can I capitalize on it by buying cheap herbs in bulk now and reselling them when the time is right? Or am I too late for that?

To the auction house!