World of Warcraft is confusing. One of the Rocket Beans shows how confusing a single class can be at its core.
For some, World of Warcraft has become way too easy, for others way too complex to even get started. The truth seems to lie somewhere in the middle. Newcomers struggle with the complexity, while veterans use systems that have grown over 20 years and that they know by heart. A streamer illustrated the underlying problem with a quick drawing.
Who is that? Florentin Will is part of the Rocket Beans and also known from other formats. For example, he has appeared on the Neo Magazin Royale or worked for Funk on the YouTube channel “Gute Arbeit Originals”. What is widely known about him is that he is quite a Warcraft fan and has been playing WoW for many years, always checking in at the start of a new expansion. He is known for such lovely quotes as:
We don’t play World of Warcraft to celebrate achievements, but to avoid some unpleasant social occasions.
And every WoW fan would probably say: That’s somewhat true. Sometimes even more.
The priority system in WoW is extremely complex
What does Florentin describe? In a stream a few days ago, he took a look at the new expansion Midnight and dealt with the Mistweaver Monk – a healer that he has played for years and with whom he wanted to revisit dungeons.
To accommodate all viewers, he explained the progression of the ability system in World of Warcraft and how it has changed over time.
- The Early Days: At the beginning, there was basically only one ability per class that had to be repeated in combat, like Frostbolt for mages. It got monotonous.
- Rotation: Later on, there were rotations. Fixed sequences of 2 or more abilities with different cooldowns that could be somewhat worked through in a fixed order.
- Priority System: Currently (and for quite a while) there is the priority system, where you use abilities not just based on cooldowns, but based on complex interactions, temporary buffs, and intertwined effects.
What is part of everyday life for long-time WoW fans and often seen as “not that complex” appears completely overloaded and confusing to newcomers. Florentin impressively demonstrates this by explaining the various systems with a quick Paint drawing – anyone who doesn’t lose track while doing so has been playing WoW for at least 10 years. You can see the corresponding passage starting at 06:46 and for the following 6 minutes:
Whoever, at the end of the presentation, still knows exactly what each ability does and how they interact will probably have no difficulties in WoW.
Cortyn says: Even though Florentin Will’s presentation is somewhat abstract, it describes quite well, at its core, how complex and intertwined the various abilities of World of Warcraft are. Newcomers may quickly lose track and wonder if the intensive study of a class is even worth the effort.
Exactly these considerations may also have led to the introduction of the “1-Button-Assistant”, where you don’t have to think so much about these complex interactions and can just focus on the rest of the game – that is, positioning in combat or boss mechanics. However, the feature is only partially suitable for healers and tanks, so especially these roles cannot avoid digging deep into the details or relying on guides.
What do you think of the ability system in World of Warcraft? Do you wish for a simpler time, like in “Vanilla”, where you often only used one or two abilities? Did you like the system with fixed rotations? Or is the complexity of the current system just right for you?
In some places WoW also becomes significantly easier. For example, tanks now get help when they want to start with Mythic+.
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