Everyone loves patches, whether you admit it or not.  Something changing in the game we all love is a time for excitement and trepidation.  Some changes we love, some changes we hate, but no matter what we get worked up over them and talk about them. This has been going on since World of Warcraft launched many years ago and will continue until it disappears some long time in the future.

To me, part of the real excitement is hastily trying to read the patch notes as the latest patch downloads trying to see what has changed and figure out how it affects your character and how you are going to adjust. However, with PTR patch notes being released long before the actual patch is posted there are some issues that arise.  This has gone on for as long as the PTR notes have been published by Blizzard, and this latest round of PTR patch notes is a great example of the problem with PTR patch notes. As I see it there are two main issues with PTR patch notes being published. 

PvP and PTR Patch Notes

The first big issue I have with PTR notes being published is how they affect PvP and especially the Arena system.  The Arena is supposed to be a highly competitive environment where player skill wins over class abilities (I know this is theory and not reality, but stick with me here), and for the most part it is.  However, when PTR notes are published and clearly lay out what is being changed because it is considered over powered and is going to be nerfed in the patch, that points it out to everyone that had not found out about it on their own.

This means that for the past week, every single hunter has had a baby monkey as a pet in the arenas and battlegrounds.  It also meant that many of the hunters were survival since it has been shown to be generating too much damage currently compared to other specs and will be toned down. 

It meant that many 2v2 teams formed to take advantage of the Warrior charge not being subject to diminishing returns. I saw many of these teams in my weekly 2v2 fights, with both Warriors charging back and forth between players just to keep stuns up that were not subject to diminishing returns.  A very nasty ability that many were not aware of.  It also meant that many arena teams were built with feral druids to stack rating before the incoming damage reduction and movement clearing nerf coming in the patch.

In addition both Mages and Rogues became aware of incoming changes to tone down their CC ability and hence saw more use since the patch notes release.  However, since both of these classes have always been strong in arenas, it wasn’t as noticeable.

Since the notes have been published though it has had a very noticeable effect on the Arena and PvP environment and I for one find that very wrong.  I realize that there will be things broken in any game this complex and that it will take time to fix them, so there will always be an imbalance of some sort.  However, by announcing what is being fixed ahead of time it allows even more players to abuse the broken mechanic. 

How would you like it if your bank had to pre-publish publicly when they had to shut their power or security system down for maintenance? How safe would you feel your money was?  Coming from an IT security background though, I have always had a bit of an issue with letting people know what was broken before the fix was actually in place.

Game Direction and PTR Patch Notes

The other really big thing that bugs me about PTR patch notes is that it gives players a ton of time to whine and complain about potential upcoming changes. This means that Blizzard sometimes changes their intended direction to meet player demand. 

While I like to complain just as much as anyone else, and sometimes a lot more, about some of the idiotic (in my opinion) things that Blizzard does with the game, I still firmly believe it is “their” game.  While I do not agree with every thing they do, I do believe that they should be allowed to make the game as they see fit.  It is their game and their vision of it. 

We as players should allow them to build the game they want, then play it or not as we see fit. Even if I don’t like a certain direction they take, it is their direction.  Think of it in terms of design of any specialty type item.  Look at car design for example.  What happens when you allow one very small group of dedicated and committed people to sit down and create their vision of perfection?  You get something like this…. Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not for everyone, but look at what can be done when a design team is allowed to work to their own vision. I for one would rather play something designed and built by a design team that is building something they love, rather than what a committee is telling them to build.

The Messiah has had his say, what about you? Speak up in our forums using the link below.