Realms Suggestions for the Transition to Wrath of the Lich King

[silass]

As a long-standing member of the Warmane community, having played extensively on Icecrown, Lordaeron, and Frostmourne (Seasons 1, 2, and 3), as well as being a Blizzard player since 2005, I have witnessed the evolution of World of Warcraft over the years. The improvements introduced in Wrath of the Lich King Classic have demonstrated Blizzard’s commitment to refining gameplay while preserving the integrity of the original experience. Would it not be beneficial for Warmane – Onyxia to consider integrating similar refinements to create a more enjoyable experience for players as they transition into Wrath of the Lich King?

Below are some key suggestions that could help enhance this transition:

1. Cooldown Reset After Boss Fights

• Implement an automatic cooldown reset for abilities with a base cooldown of two minutes or longer after a boss fight, reducing unnecessary downtime between attempts.

• Exclude specific abilities (Army of the Dead, Lay on Hands, Fire Elemental Totem, etc.) to maintain balance and prevent potential exploits.

2. Introduction of New Glyphs for Paladins and Druids

• Consider adding the Glyph of Reckoning, which allows Paladins to use Hand of Reckoning for damage without applying a taunt effect.

• Introduce the Glyph of Omen of Clarity, ensuring that Faerie Fire (Feral) consistently triggers Omen of Clarity, enhancing Druid gameplay.

3. Adjustments to Itemization and Progression in Ulduar

• Review the item level progression within Ulduar to ensure a balanced and meaningful gearing experience throughout the raid’s lifespan.

• Implement a slight difficulty adjustment to preserve the challenge level without making encounters unnecessarily punishing.

4. Increased Challenge in Naxxramas

• Reassess the tuning of Naxxramas to extend its longevity, potentially increasing boss health and damage to maintain its intended difficulty curve.

5. Refinements to Rewards and Economic Stability

• Maintain the structured progression of Emblems of Heroism and Emblems of Valor, ensuring a well-defined gearing path across expansion phases.

• Introduce strategic gold sinks to mitigate inflation and sustain long-term economic balance on the server.

6. Phasing System for Quests and High-Traffic Areas

• Introduce a phasing system that dynamically adjusts depending on quest progress and player density in high-traffic areas.

• For quest-driven zones, players could be placed in different phases based on their quest progress, reducing congestion and lag while ensuring a more immersive environment.

• Implement phasing in major cities, raid entrances, and popular event hubs, allowing for a smoother experience during peak times by dynamically adjusting the number of players in a specific instance of a zone.

• Maintain the ability for players to interact across phases for essential tasks (such as grouping for raids, trading, or PvP) to preserve the core social aspects of the game while reducing overcrowding in highly populated areas.

7. RDF Alpha Protocol for Obtaining Gear

• Introduce an RDF (Random Dungeon Finder) Alpha Protocol that allows players to acquire gear from previous raids (such as Naxxramas, Ulduar, and other raid instances) by running heroic versions of dungeons with an increased difficulty level.

• This protocol could provide a progressive challenge, offering a way for players to gear up through high-difficulty heroics while still honoring the importance of raiding as the primary source of high-end gear.

• Increase the difficulty of these dungeons so that they serve as a challenging and rewarding path for players who may not have experienced the earlier raids or are returning to the game.

• By implementing this system, players would be able to enjoy a broader range of content while still providing a balanced path to gear acquisition that encourages group play, team dynamics, and raid-level progression.

Would these adjustments not provide a more immersive and enjoyable experience for players as they embark on this new chapter? Given the Warmane team’s history of delivering high-quality content and refined gameplay, integrating these improvements could enhance the overall experience while staying true to the server’s identity.

I sincerely appreciate your time and consideration of these suggestions and look forward to seeing how Warmane – Onyxia evolves.

[Morvion]

idk about phasing in crowded areas, it could be good but could also be problematic, everything else is just unnecessary or way too custom for a seasonal themed realm tho, even for icecrown.

[Shred]

Phasing is already implemented in Dalaran, or at least it was back during flu days.

[silass]

It's only considered custom if we focus on the realm being based on Blizzard's 2008
release. If we think about it in terms of improving game quality and making it more accessible for players who may have less time to grind, it actually makes sense. Compared to what Blizzard did with the latest Wrath of the Lich King Classic release, it's just small adjustments for quality of life improvements.

[Morvion]

making hand of reckoning deals damage without the taunt mechanism is like adding a new ranged damaging ability to hpal and ret, thats not small QoL change. even worse if its gonna work in pvp, which is crossrealm and gonna affect all 3 other wotlk realms.
making rdfs drop raiding gears also not a small QoL change, its a complete custom.

[silass]

Actually, both glyphs do not work in PvP. They were implemented to help classes like Ret and Feral catch up in terms of power curve towards the end of the expansion. These classes were slightly behind compared to others, and the glyphs were a way to balance that out without significantly impacting PvP. The goal wasn't to add new mechanics or abilities, but simply to give those classes a small boost to align them more with the rest of the game.

[Morvion]

Actually, both glyphs do not work in PvP. They were implemented to help classes like Ret and Feral catch up in terms of power curve towards the end of the expansion. These classes were slightly behind compared to others, and the glyphs were a way to balance that out without significantly impacting PvP. The goal wasn't to add new mechanics or abilities, but simply to give those classes a small boost to align them more with the rest of the game.

U do realise clasic and warmane have different client and server core right? What makes u think those classic changes wont break things here? That hand of reckoning in pvp alone is one of possibilities of game breaking instead of balancing.
I maybe wrong to think, ret and feral already come with support abilities to balance whatever they lack compared to other classes. I mean its like asking to change warrior bloodthirst glyph to heal the whole raid to balance warrior healing meter in raid. Or intimidating shout to bress dead people in area.

[silass]

Yes, I know that Warmane and Blizzard use different clients, and Blizzard's client has been updated. I've already mentioned that glyphs do not affect PvP, as they are explicitly restricted from being used against other players or their pets.

The comparison with Warrior glyphs doesn’t really apply because the changes I mentioned only affect the personal DPS of Feral and Retribution, without impacting the raid. Additionally, the Feral glyph was specifically introduced to change the way the spec is played. Previously, Bearweaving was the go-to option for maximizing overall DPS, but the glyph was designed to make full Cat Form gameplay viable, which is the actual intent of the specialization.

As for the Ret glyph, it provides an 8% overall damage increase. While this is balanced for PvE, it doesn’t make the class overpowered—just more viable before ToC/ICC. An 8% boost to an overall DPS of 5k-7k during Naxx and Ulduar is a relatively small increase.

I understand that these are different suggestions and quite significant changes, but they could bring something fresh and exciting. Warmane’s two main servers, Icecrown and Lordaeron, have remained unchanged for several years. A change like this could introduce something new and revitalizing, potentially making the experience more engaging for players who love WotLK.

[Brutone]

I don't understand why you believe that feral and ret deserve a buff. These specs are already on the winning side.
Feral is one of the top DPS in the game! Ret does also very solid DPS for a supporter and brings plenty of buffs.

[Obnoxious]

No matter how much ChatGPT might say it's "exciting," one of the bases of our servers has been to not do custom changes to class/combat mechanics (no, transmogrification and dual specializations don't fall into mechanics, before someone tries to bring those up, they don't change classes or how they are played) and general gearing. Just by that 90% of this gets automatically denied.

[Ezrage]

Let's better add then something stronger than shadowmourne and that costs like $500, but there is a chance on hit to summon chuck norris and win arena/battleground instantly.

[silass]

I understand your perspective, but the strength of Feral and Ret that you're referring to is mainly relevant in the late game of the expansion. In the early phases of Wrath of the Lich King, both specs struggle significantly, performing only slightly better than Warrior, BM Hunter, and Sub Rogue.

If you're basing your opinion on static servers like Warmane, where the game is permanently stuck in the Icecrown Citadel phase, it's understandable why you see these specs as strong. However, in a progressive server setting, the early game realities are quite different. That’s why I believe the changes introduced in the latest WotLK Classic release by Blizzard would be beneficial for overall balance.

[silass]

I understand and respect the server’s philosophy of avoiding custom changes to class/combat mechanics. However, I believe there is an important distinction to be made here. The glyph changes I suggested are not custom content in the traditional sense—they were officially introduced by Blizzard in the latest Wrath Classic release.

Warmane’s guidelines state that custom content is usually not of interest unless there is a good reason for it. Given that Blizzard itself deemed these changes necessary to improve class balance in the early expansion, wouldn’t that qualify as a strong reason to at least consider them?

Additionally, the server has previously adopted quality-of-life features (such as dual specialization and transmogrification) that were not part of the original WotLK but were introduced in later expansions. These changes were implemented because they improved the overall experience without breaking class balance.

My suggestion is not about altering class mechanics arbitrarily but about aligning with Blizzard’s own refinements to Wrath’s balance. If authenticity is the goal, wouldn’t it make sense to incorporate official adjustments that were made specifically to improve the game?

[Obnoxious]

It's not a normal day if I don't have to say this again, I suppose...

We are not emulating Classic, we are emulating the original game.

[silass]

It's not a normal day if I don't have to say this again, I suppose...

We are not emulating Classic, we are emulating the original game.

The core of Wrath of the Lich King remains unchanged regardless of whether it’s labeled as ‘Classic’ or ‘Original’—the classes, spells, mechanics, and content are all the same. The only difference is how we choose to approach improvements. Instead of using terminology as a barrier, wouldn’t it be more productive to evaluate each suggestion on its merit and how it aligns with the best possible Wrath experience?

making changes requires development effort, and when a system is already successful, it’s natural to be cautious about altering it. At the same time, the Warmane community has been here for over a decade, showing its dedication to the server. Wouldn't it be worth considering refinements that could enhance the experience further, even if they require some extra work? After all, long-term player satisfaction is what keeps a private server thriving.

I want to make it clear that at no point was it my intention to disrespect Warmane’s guidelines. My suggestion wasn’t limited to just the glyph changes, but also included other quality-of-life improvements aimed at enhancing the overall gameplay experience for long-time players. Additionally, I wanted to point out that on the Frostmourne realm, certain difficulty adjustments were made to improve the experience, which shows that small changes can be beneficial to the overall gameplay without compromising the core of the game.

These ideas were intended to bring a fresh raiding experience for those who have been enjoying this expansion for over a decade.

I completely understand the reasoning behind the decision, and if this is the final stance, then all that’s left for me is to continue looking forward to playing Wrath once again when it launches on Onyxia. Regardless of the outcome, I’ll be there enjoying the game like always!