No
matter if you are a die-hard
Rogue or just a fan of the class, you will want to check out the newest
post from Ghostcrawler on the Blizzard forums. Here Ghostcrawler
discusses the Rogue class in the newest World of Warcraft expansion;
Mists of Pandaria, as well as the overall design process for all
classes. What you find inside this informative post may just surprise
you.

Not feeling like spending the
time reading the whole post? No worries! Below you will find the
highlights of the post the for your viewing pleasure! Reading these
will make sure that you are up to date on the latest Rogue information,
without all the lengthy reading.

Ghostcrawler on Rogues in
Mists of Pandaria Highlights

• “Rogues are in a
  pretty good place in Cataclysm in both PvE and PvP. We don't see a lot
  of huge glaring problems that need to be fixed.”
• The dev team realizes that
  doing the same thing over and over again can get a bit boring and that
  sometimes people want change just to freshen things up a bit. However,
  this is not a valid reason for changing a class, especially at the risk
  of alienating and “breaking” the class altogether.
• Rogues have pretty much
  stayed the same throughout the game because they are well designed. In
  fact Ghostcrawler goes so far to say that he things the Rogue may be
  the best designed class in the game with the best resource system,
  abilities, and a clear role in PvP and PvE.
• Despite the lack of need for
  change, bugs will be fixed, numbers will be balanced, design flaws will
  be address and the class will overall be polished when the need arises.
  Not to mention a little bit of new sprinkled here and there every once
  in awhile to keep things shiny.

No Major Rogue Changes Needed
in Mists of Pandaria?

After reading this, those of
you who were hoping for massive changes to the Rogue class in Mists of
Pandaria may find yourself shaking your head in disbelief. I was also
quite surprised Ghostcrawlers statements that not only would the Rogue
not be seeing any major changes in the newest WoW expansion, but also
that he felt that the Rogue was one of the best designed classes in
game. In my opinion, that is a pretty brave statement to make, even
from one who is as well respected as Ghostcrawler.

However, as usual this
statement isn’t made without anything to back it up. In fact
when taking a long hard look at the Rogue class, you will find that the
reasoning behind the lack of changes to the Rogue class has some pretty
solid back. Strong in both PvE and PvP (when is the last time you have
heard any huge complaints about the Rogue in either venue?), the Rogue
suffers from very few disadvantages and is a fairly easy class for
players
to pick up and play.

On top of their excellent
playability, Rogues have a solid resource system that needs very little
monitoring and works almost flawlessly. This is a pretty big deal when
considering that many other classes have seen total overhauls of their
resource systems over the years. In fact, the dev team felt the Rogue
resource system was so excellent that the new Monk class has had its
resource system based on energy system used by the Rogue. In the case
of the Rogue, it looks like the old saying holds true; if it
isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

Keeping It Fresh and Appeasing
the Players

Reading
Ghostcrawler’s post has given us brand new insight into how
Blizzard decides to make major changes to each class. Considering that
they take into account the comfort and feelings of the various players
simultaneously we can see why it sometimes takes longer than we would
like for major changes to be made. Just because you personally think a
talent or ability is broken, doesn’t mean that another player
dearly loves that same talent or ability and would be amiss at its loss.

Understanding that changes,
while they may seem great to one player, can totally ruin a class for
another, gives me a better understanding of why Blizzard is so hesitant
to just dole out changes left and right. With that being said, I think
that the reason the idea of class redesign comes up so strongly just
before an expansion is because it is the perfect time to get more
players on board for a major change in a class. So while the Rogue may
not *need* any changes, now is the perfect time for Blizzard to dish
out some new shiny stuff to keep players interested.

Do you think the Rogue class
needs a new design? Have there been class changes that have ruined a
class totally for you? Is change for change’s sake a good or
a bad thing? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below!