Slorkuz Dispels in Cataclysm
We will be able to talk more about dispels in Cataclysm when we get a little closer to Cataclysm.
That said, our overall philosophy is that a dispel should be a "counter". What that essentially means is that you should have to consider when it makes sense to use, rather than it being a test of how quickly you can mash the dispel key when you see a notification or icon representing its' use pop up. Dispelling at the wrong time should have some disadvantages.
We also don't want to see such varying outcomes depending on the class using the dispel ability.
This is a obviously a more Arena oriented perspective on dispels. It's hard to imagine a system where every class could dispel magic. It would certainly create a dynamic where a class like a Resto Shaman that can already dispel offensively, remove poisons, diseases, and curses. In other words, they could dispel everything. I'm sure Blizzard is taking this into account, so we may see a sort of 'universal dispel' in
Cataclysm that can remove any removable debuff, perhaps at a price.
A solution like placing a cooldown on dispel, or having a consequence for using it might be the path they decide to take. But at any rate, it's just hard to imagine within the scope of present day World of Warcraft where many classes have spammable debuffs that must be promptly dispelled.
Ghostcrawler Cataclysm Itemization
Actually, we aren't trying to make gear choices easier. We like when it's a hard call on whether to upgrade vs. stick with what you have, etc. In designer parlance terms, that is an "interesting decision." Non-interesting decisions are typically no-brainers.
We want to remove some of the confusion over a complicated stat system, which we think we can do without reducing the system's depth. In fact, the other motivation for the stats overhaul was to solve some of the problems where a certain stat trumps all or a certain stat is always junk. If we nail that, then gear choices will actually be harder in Cataclysm, not easier.
As an example, when you aren't close to a crit cap and when buffs don't provide so much crit and talents don't provide so much crit, then haste vs. crit can be a pretty interesting choice. Haste lets you cast spells faster, but crit makes those spells you cast hit harder. At a very basic level you are choosing more spells vs. bigger spells, but because of a number of other factors, it's not that cut and dried. Haste may provide a dps increase for a caster according to a spreadsheet, but it depends and it might cause you to change your rotation. If you have spell A that hits so hard that you need to use it on cooldown, and spell B gets boosted by haste, then you can run into the situation where more haste on B isn't an improvement because you can't squeeze in another B before it's time to use A again. If you aren't able to capitalize on the extra haste, then more isn't always good for you. (That's in an ideal world. The way stats work in Icecrown, if you like haste, it's nearly always a no-brainer stat for you.)
Comparing armor pen vs. say attack power is much mathier, because they really just both buff melee damage in pretty much the same way. The only time it matters is when you're near a cap or if you're a spec that does a lot of spell damage. But you learn pretty quickly for your spec whether armor pen is an awesome stat for you or just an okay stat.
Many of your gear choices in Cataclysm should come down to haste vs. crit vs. mastery. You may still have one of those you like the most, but it shouldn't be double the value of the other stats, so you may have to look at the total package of stats on that item (Do I need more hit? If I take that hit, can I swap it out somewhere else?) Add in set bonuses and procs, and I'm not sure the gear choice will be all that easy, but it should be easier to understand.
I think that this is a fairly naive perspective, and wonder if GC truly thinks that they can solve the issue of spreadsheet optimization simply by tweaking stats. It's a valid concern in WOTLK where counterintuitive and outright bizzare mechanics abound, forcing certain classes to turn to complicated theorycraft to optimize their performance and understand their class.
Rogues are a prime example of this. There are at present no less than three different, fully functional Rogue DPS simulators that model the value of different stats and even go so far as to model ability rotations and strategies. This can be a joy to the player that wants to delve deep into the mechanics of their class, but to the player that just wants to log on and have fun this is a horrendously complex and unnecessary abstraction.
It should be interesting to see how they attempt to resolve this dilemma. There will always be spreadsheets, because there will always be an optimal solution to gearing, and speccing. It sounds like Blizzard is looking to dumb things down a bit to a handful of primary statistics per class in order to reduce this complexity. Looking at gearing as a process of 'interesting decisions' is a very romantic way to view things, and frankly is out of touch with the average player that would rather see bigger numbers than engage in 'interesting decisions.'
If anything, I would posit that the addition of the ability to re-allocate stats on items that is expected to launch with Cataclysm will create an even greater need for spreadsheets and theorycraft. We'll have to wait and see!
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