Inner Peace

Ghostcrawler Talks About Monks

noreply@blogger.com (Iirdan) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 05:40:00 +0000

The most recent Blizzard Insider features an interview with Dr. Greg Street, Lead Systems Designer for World of Warcraft, better known as everybody's favorite spectral crab Ghostcrawler. Ghostcrawler gives us some insight into the design philosophy for Monks and the feel they try to capture with each spec. Let's look over some of what he says.

Insider:How did the team decide on monks as the new playable class? Were there any other ideas that were considered?
Ghostcrawler:We settled on the pandaren race first, and after that, the new class was a no-brainer. We actually did discuss whether World of Warcraft needed a new class at this time. As awesome as they are, it was disruptive to add the death knight, and it took us some time to get them feeling fun and balanced. Ultimately, though, we decided the time was right, and at that point the big decision was whether the new class would be a Brewmaster specifically, or a monk that you could play with a Brewmaster kit. At the moment, we’re going with the tank being the Brewmaster, but that could change.

This is interesting - the developers have often acknowledged the difficulty in balancing Death Knights, and how that led to their hesitance to implement another class into the game. What's odd here is that Ghostcrawler says that they decided "the time was right" for a new class. Personally I think the game is in a good place class wise - I'd be interested to know what made the developers feel that a new class was merited.

He also mentions that they discussed a full on Brewmaster class, but decided to make Brewmaster a subset of the Monk class. I think this is a good decision, partially because a Brewmaster would seem very similar to an alchemist with potions and the like as a toolkit. Further, it allows for the more interesting specs to make their way into the game - I find it difficult to see how a Brewmaster would be a healer, much less one of the same vein as the Monk healing spec.

Insider:How will the monk differ from other classes?
Ghostcrawler: We’re trying a few different things. For now, the monk has no auto-attack, which is unique among melee classes. The monk has a different resource as players might expect, where they have both light and dark resources that power different abilities. We are even trying to have the monk healing spec use a lot of punches and kicks. While monk characters will care about weapons, and weapons contribute to their damage and healing, you don’t see the weapons in a lot of attacks. We save them for some of the big finishers.

From a non-gameplay standpoint, the most noticeable difference is the huge number of animations the monk has. When you think of a magic-using class, you think of a lot of splashy spell effects. With the monk we thought it made more sense to invest heavily in animation, and the artists really delivered on that.

I like this. I like it a lot. World of Warcraft undeniably has some nice spell effects; the problem, however, is that they often overpower each other in a raid or group setting. The focus on the animation of the Monk itself is a very astute one, and I am excited to see how well it translates.

Toward that end, the developers are not going to be giving Monks auto attack. This is an interesting move, I feel, and can end one of two ways - one is good, one is bad. The bad ending would be if they decide to fill the void left by auto attacks with a lot of abilities like Jab, the Light/Dark Force builder. This will create a very, very button-masher feel for the Monk, and I think that is not very conducive to a good play experience - fluidity is good, SMASH THAT BUTTON SMASH IT GOOD is not.

On the other side of the coin is the good solution - making a Monk's attacks more meaningful. That Jab only needs to be done once, but it hits with some power behind it - no simple little weapon swing, it's a directed blow straight at a target's weak spot. Likewise, the finishers should be equally powerful, and given their intended design to have finishers - and only finishers - utilize a weapon, that feeling of very powerful precise strikes is likely to be preserved, and I think that is the way to go for Monks. If Blizzard pulls it off, I will be enthused to play it.

Insider: How are you structuring the monk’s talent tree?
Ghostcrawler: Well, the talent tree design overall is changing dramatically in Mists of Pandaria. Each class will just have one talent tree with a lot of attractive -- and hard -- decisions. However, like other classes, the monk will have three different specializations available at level 10. For now, we are calling these for the melee damage spec, Brewmaster for the tanking spec, and Mistweaver for the healing spec. The Brewmaster should have the feel of dodging and weaving in combat, reminiscent of the drunken master from martial arts flicks. The Windwalker will be the kung fu master who beats the crap out of opponents with fists and feet. The Mistweaver is partially the wise healer archetype, but like the old men in martial arts movies, he can beat down his enemies as well.

It’s also worth pointing out that even though many races can be monks, the story of the game is that it is the pandaren who introduce the ways of the monk to the Alliance and the Horde, so even non-pandaren monks will have a strong Pandarian -- the continent -- kit.

Alright, there is a lot to talk about here.

The talent overhaul is big news, and I'll have a bigger post about that later - suffice to say, I love it and I think it gets us closest to free character customization that we've ever been. While Ghostcrawler didn't elaborate on the Monk talents here, I would expect that we will see a few abilities that feature unique animations, which appear already to be a signature of the Monk class.

As for specs, as we know he mentions the tank, healer and melee DPS specs - Brewmaster, Mistweaver, and Windwalker respectively. The Brewmaster as drunken martial arts master is an interesting vibe, but I fear that far too much an emphasis will be placed on the "drunken" part. If Monks are based on animations, please let us SEE those animations, not the blurred outline of them. At any rate, Brewmaster tanks are likely going to be routine tanks with a Monk spin on things - I imagine a Chi-based Light/Dark Force builder that causes high threat (which may just be a passive modification to Jab) and Light Force defensive cooldowns with Dark Force attacks and AoE control.

As for the Windwalker, again, fairly routine melee DPS. We're getting to have a lot of those, however, between Feral Druids, Enhancement Shaman, Rogues, Frost and Unholy Death Knights and now Windwalker Monks. Feral Druids and Rogues play very similarly, and Frost and Unholy Death Knights - naturally - play similarly. Enhancement Shaman are pretty novel, and I hope that Monks continue in their footsteps - a unique playstyle. He mentions that Windwalkers will be the "kung fu masters" - I picture a singular, powerful Chi builder with finishers that compound upon each other - perhaps a special strike that imbalances the target, which is followed up with a finishing kick that does massive damage and knocks them over.

The last spec is by far the most interesting - the Mistweaver Monk, a healer. Unlike today's healers, though, the Mistweaver is apparently a melee healer. This is exciting - how many of you can honestly say you have never wanted to beat the hell out of a boss while healing your friends at the same time? I can't stay that honestly at all. While I'm not sure how Blizzard will manage to pull this off, I hope that they keep in mind the way Paladin healers worked back in Wrath. On my Holy Paladin (which has been abandoned to the Cataclysm, unable to cope with the new Holy Power healing model), I would toss up Seal of Wisdom, Judge on cooldown for the Haste buff and auto-attack the boss while healing people, getting mana regen from my smacks as I did. It was fun times, and I was always in range of the tank and melee. If the Mistweaver manages to go full-blown melee healer rather than just "melee helps you heal, but it's not necessary," then we shall have a new most awesome class, my friends (sorry, Hunters - you're still uncommonly good looking).

Ghostcrawler's interview, while not providing us a wealth of information, really drove home the idea that animations are critical to the Monk class, and that they are capitalizing on the technology available to them. This is a very good thing, and just the breath of fresh air the game needs right now on the tail end of the disillusioning Cataclysm.

The Monk: On Class Roles and Niches

noreply@blogger.com (Iirdan) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 04:24:00 +0000

The Monk was a somewhat left-field announcement. Given the difficulties Blizzard had with trying to balance Death Knights (not to mention the incessant cries of people saying they shouldn't be balanced, they're a hero class), it was not widely believed that a new class was in the works. When the trademark for Mists of Pandaria was sneakily filed by Blizzard with no comment or information like the torrent of Cataclysm leaks prior to its announcement, there was some speculation of brewmaster hero classes and a few whispers of a monk class (and if you read the comments in that link, you'll see me saying that it is likely a red herring; consider this sentence the equivalent of inserting my foot into my mouth, quite gladly too I might add).

But the Monk was announced nevertheless, and now the hype train is a' rolling. With a new class on the way, let us evaluate the importance of class roles and niches in World of Warcraft.

Class Roles: Where Are All My Tanks?

Anyone who plays primarily DPS classes will lament with me that HOLY SHIT OUR QUEUE TIMES ARE LONG. This isn't surprising; tanking is a thankless chore that is only commented on when being disparaged. Further, it's not an easy role to fulfill - it is contingent not only on your own ability, but the ability and awareness of all the others in your group. Tank toolboxes are noticeably large, as well, and this is rather intimidating. In the end, it makes tanking a very underrepresented role. But let us not give healers the short end - healers have a tough, underrepresented job as well.

Giving the Monk the option to do either of these roles was, I think, the right decision. Anyone around for the early days of Wrath surely remembers the massive influx of Death Knights (of which I was unashamedly a part) to the point that 90% of Outland groups consisted of four Death Knights (or in some daring cases, five - I was there as well! Five DK Hellfire Ramparts was fun times). Channeling this into a class that can fulfill any role is a good decision, and while it is unlikely that many of them will stick with their Monks and further unlikely that they will tank, the pool will somewhat increase and will go a long way to making them more abundant.

More importantly, however, the Monk appears to be a very revolutionary class as far as mechanics go. The lack of auto-attack and dependence on abilities like Jab and Roll to generate Light and Dark Force is - while somewhat similar to combo points - a very intriguing combat system. While we do not yet know how tanking will work with Monks, the possibilities are very intriguing. A high-threat version of Jab to constantly build threat while building up to a defensive Light Force finisher and a debuffing Dark Force finisher sounds like an interesting tanking rotation, personally. At any rate, the Monk presents a new style of tanking that may attract those who want to tank, but who do not like the current tanking styles (I fall into this category).

Class Niches

Mr. Chase Christian, the wonderful Rogue and Holy Paladin blogger at WoW Insider was fortunate enough to ask a question at BlizzCon. In his most recent column, he discussed this question and the reaction to it, which can be summarized thusly: Chase: "Hey Blizz, why should we bring Rogues?" Blizz: "Because you can stun and slow enemies with poison." Players: "So can other melee DPS, and they do it better."

So the question stands: Why SHOULD we bring Rogues to the raid, other than to get our guild a shiny legendary? Well... there really isn't a particularly compelling reason. But to that point, nor is there a compelling reason to bring a Death Knight DPS, or an Enhancement Shaman or an Arms or Fury Warrior. Ghostcrawler's oft stated mantra of "Bring the player, not the class" has apparently come true - each class can bring similar things.

What does that say for Monks? Will there be a compelling reason to include the influx of new Monks into your well-established raid line-up? And if there IS a compelling reason, what reason will there be to prevent you from stacking your raid with Monks (after all you bring like 15 Druids for H-Ragnaros)?

I predict we'll see the emergence of some new debuff or buff for the raid that will be provided by Monks, but ALSO provided by other classes. This will allow the mantra to persist, but will also provide Monks a place in currently rigid raid line ups.

Monks have a chance to be a great class that will be lots of fun as well as address role imbalances. How exactly this will pan out has yet to be seen, but I am optimistic.

Coming up on Inner Peace: A look at the three Monk specs, how they may play out, and how they fit into the current class makeup.

And Now We Count The Days

noreply@blogger.com (Iirdan) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:39:00 +0000

Today is Monday, October 24th 2011. BlizzCon 2011 - perhaps the most exciting BlizzCon in recent memory - has come and gone, and with this new week we begin to long march toward Mists of Pandaria and the bright new future of the World of Warcraft. And I for one could not be more excited.

Ah, but you don't really know who "I" is at the moment, do you? I've gotten ahead of myself. I am Iirdan, a fairly prolific commenter on WoW Insider and an avid WoW player. Even more specifically I am Brandon Cox, a part-time freelance journalist and student - you may recognize my name from several previously published articles on WoW Insider. But chances are you don't recognize my name, which may even be all for the better - here on Inner Peace I hope to carve a new name for myself.

Back when Wrath of the Lich King was launched I found myself drawn to the allure of the Death Knight. The starting experience unsurprisingly blew me away as the single most fantastic bit of questing I had seen in the game up until that point. During the course of those opening quests I was intrigued by the Death Knight's unique combat mechanics with recharging runes and a rage-like energy source. It was new, fresh, exciting - I loved it so much that even now my main character is a Death Knight.

Throughout Wrath I found myself getting deep into the Death Knight community, one of the many voices heard but not a standout voice. I read the Elitist Jerk threads, I posted on the official forums, I spent countless hours at training dummies (in Acherus, where else?) - and it was fun. More fun than I had ever had playing my self-hating gnome warlock (whom I have since further betrayed by rolling several mages).

So then imagine my excitement when the Mists of Pandaria announcement trailer reveals in those oh-so-satisfying golden letters that a new class - the Monk - will be included in the expansion. Here we arrive at the purpose of this blog.

Now that I have grown older and more driven than my Wrath-era self, I want to get in on the ground floor on this Monk class. With three roles to fill, I found it doubtful that I won't love them - but more on that in a subsequent post. Until the launch of the Mists of Pandaria beta (in which, per my Annual Pass subscription, I will certainly be invited to participate), this blog will be primarily concerned with news, rumors, datamines and other tidbits of information concerning both the Monk class and Mists of Pandaria as a whole - with my own thoughts and analysis, of course. Following the beginning of the beta, the blog will take a decided shift toward the "Monk" category with less focus on the expansion as a whole, though I will certainly provide news regarding it as often as I can in any way that I can. And once Mists is launched, full on Monk analysis will be the dominant focus of the blog.

So sit, help yourself to some tea (I suggest darjeeling), stay a while and meditate - find your Inner Peace.