To this end, I'm thinking, yet again again, of re-re-activating Abkani, my dwarf paladin (and my original main). Well, I can't do that without going out and about in a proper set of clothes, don't you agree? With transmogrification there's really no excuse for dressing like a clown. Plus, soloing something to get tier gear would help me learn the new (to me) paladin abilities.

But which set to choose?

Tier 1 Lawbringer

The infamous "banana shoulders." Pass.

Tier 2 Judgement

This is the set everyone's ga-ga over. It's fine, I love the shoulders, but aside from the fact that this is everyone's choice, the helmet is also a hood which completely obscuring the face. I don't like that.

Tier 2.5 Avengers

Are you serious with this?

Tier 4 Justicar

Potential. It's nice, symmetrical, isn't gaudy, shows the face, and best of all: has purple. Strong contender, but let's not choose yet...

Tier 5 Crystalforge

Lots of purple, which is good. Not quite gaudy, also good. But, the helm completely covers the face. Pass. Also, the boots are just a bit too poofy/goofy for me.

Tier 6 Lightbringer

I like it. It's gold, has an unusual, distinctive, and unobtrusive helm. Would need a good-looking weapon to accompany it, though.

Tier 7, 7.5 Redemption

No.

Tier 8, 8.5 Aegis

I like the shoulders because they're unusual and look like they animate. The rest is a little busy though. But there's the helm, with its face-obscuring disqualifier.

Tier 9 Turalyon's

I like it. The shoulders are almost too much, but not quite. Wait...what's that on his legs? Fur? No. I'm a paladin, not some barbarian from the northern wastes.

Tier 9 Liadrin's

Looks good. I like the exposed skin and the color scheme works. There's that helmet problem again, though.

Tier 10, 10.5 Lightsworn

The helmet looks like an English bobby's hat. Pass.

Tier 11 Sapphirum

Hmm. I like the idea of the crystal-heavy motif—it goes well with the idea of dwarves and mining. The colors are good, and the helm makes sense (it doesn't obscure the whole face). Strong contender #2!

Tier 11 Heroic Sapphirium

It has purple, which is always a big plus. But the other colors...I dunno. Just don't do it for me.

Tier 12 Immolation

Ye gods, no.

Tier 13 Harvey Birdman, Attourney at Law

The helmet is utterly goofy yet has a strange appeal. The thunder thighs don't quite do it for me. And the shoulders are...I dunno. Pass.

So...which one?

Lightbringer, I think. By a hair!

I guess the only question now is: can my pally solo Black Temple?

Let's get to 'em, eh?

In the case of the old trees, choosing the talent you want from among the talents that don’t interest you isn’t an interesting decision -- it's a multiple choice test, and an easy one at that.

'Multiple choice test' is an exellent analogy, and I agree. 

Look, we tried the talent tree model for seven years. We think it’s fundamentally flawed and unfixable.

Whoa! Quite the statement, I must say. And...I'm inclined to agree. Is it causing more problems than it's solving? Not really, but it has so many problems that, yes, something radically different should be tried, if possible.

Finally, the reality is that for many players, WoW has become a game focused on max level. Back in the day, leveling a fleet of alts was really compelling gameplay, but for many of the old-timers, there just isn’t a ton of interest in making a second mage or whatever. 

This is true. I would like very much to spend all my time in my main. Achievements, pets, and other rewards is one factor keeping me from playing my other characters. (I like having a wide variety of pets to choose from—if only I could have the same selection for all my characters...)

The players in question fully admit that they don't experiment to find the best build. 

I abhor "better-than-n00bs" malarky. But this sentence is salient because while I would love to experiment with a different build, I just know that I'd be criticized for having too-low DPS, or some such.

As long as there are cookie cutter builds, there will be a lack of individuality—it doesn't matter how many or few talents there are to choose from. The, perhaps insurmountable, problem for Blizzard to solve is to develop a system that rewards leveling and acquiring personal power that doesn't boil down to numbers on a spreadsheet and "choices" everyone has to make to be invited to a raid.

It's a tough nut to crack.

But knowing how to Google "4.3 Shadow spec" doesn't automatically make you a better player.

Heh. Word.

We are also taking some steps with Mists to encourage more crossover between PvP and PvE as the game once had, so even if you don’t care for PvP now, maybe we can get you interested in the future.

As I sit here, I have no idea what that could possibly be. As I've noted before, I have a strenuous dislike for PvP. What would get me to PvP? Well, it's not in-game rewards. I just adore the coloring of the mount reward from Long Strange Journey but that achievement requires (what for me is) quite a bit of PvPing. And, I adore mounts. I'm not a super-fan of the drake model, but that color plus mount equals instant love.

If neither love nor mount will persuade me, what's left? I really don't know.

When players use their full toolbox of abilities intelligently, they tend to feel good about their character and the game. But it is our responsibility to engineer more of those situations into the world.

Yes. This.

What we have concluded is that many players want to choose their spec based on flavor (“I want to be the mage who uses Frost magic”)

It's like he's talking about me!

In Mists, we want players to have even more flexibility about which character they want to play. Asking a player to swap from damage to tanking for a couple of fights is acceptable to us.

I'm all for it. Either make single-role classes the best at the one thing they do—or allow them to do more things.

I'm fine with having the option, like in Rift, of having one class fill multiple roles. I could tank as a mage by conjuring magical armor around myself, say. Or healing by simply casting healing spells instead of damaging ones (or the same spell that either heals a friend or damages an enemy—that would be pretty neat, eh?).

I'm a mage not because of the DPS role, I'm a mage because I like wizards, books, spells, magic, all that kind of thing. Its role is neither here nor there—as far as my flavor for playing it is concerned. If I could choose to encase myself in thick layers of ice so as to tank, so much the better!

Arcane is about mana management and clearing Arcane Blast stacks.

Um, no, it's not. Demonstrably not. In none of the fights in the Firelands last night did I hardly have to give a consideration to running out of mana.

Is that what he means by mana management? As a major aspect of the spec? I, uh, hope not...

 It was a very productive night in the Firelands, for I secured new shoulders, legs, and head! Amazing!

Abethany in Stormwind

I'm so super very happy I can't hardly even say! She's clad head-to-toe in Magister's.

Her weapon is The Headless Horseman's Baleful Blade because it has just a delightful glow, don't you think? Also, it's a plain sword at its core, which is something I was after. Mages shouldn't carry overly fancy swords, I think. Also, there's some filagree at the base of the sword which somewhat matches the pattern of the Magister's robe.

I attempted to use Dalaran Sword, because it's a classic sword—but with purple in it—and also because that's the town Abethany calls home, but the transmogrification process wouldn't let me.

Her off hand is the Chronicle of Dark Secrets. Don't you just want to open it up to see what secrets it hides?

It's altogether a rather smashing outfit, don't you think?

All 'n' all, I'm very quite super happy with transmogrification. It's the thing I was most looking forward to in Patch 4.3!

We were all night elves once…

No, wait, it's Abethany! Yaay! Yes, I'm back with an all-new edition (yet again) of everyone's (my) favorite WoW-related blog, Spell Rotation. Why is it here? Because I needed to consolidate my blogs a bit. Having them in multiple places was getting on my nerves.

There shouldn't be anything too terrifically different than what you're used to—other than a much prettier, cleaner, and easier interface and design with which to navigate Spell Rotation.

So thanks for coming and I hope you have fun!

Hot time in the ol' town tonight!There might have been some eggs…