Spoiler:
Balance discussions were closed, balance efforts put on hold. There are gaping holes in the balance of the game left over from the last experimental modes (ridiculous AM/Shaman Energy of Vaul/Fury of da Green) and balancing decisions. BW/Sorc with procs nerfed to the ground are useless in 6v6. WH/WE are light armour classes that deal less damage than some medium armour classes due to armour state of the game (a state stabilization problem left over from live). Certain WL spec is broken amazing for PuG play, yet useless in organized play. In a high damage setting experimental mode AM/Shaman can heal 2x-3x of what other healing classes can, whilst moving at the same time and having a strongly buffed AP drain that when covered by other DoTs is a long term soft disable.
Yet the Dev team chooses to focus on BG, because particular dev plays BG. That being said BG is underused (and Devs in question effort is much appreciated in that respect and I mean that), but people forget to look for the deeper and in fact very simple meta reasons beyond that. Classes go in and out of the meta due to other classes being popular/unpopular, not neccesarily because they themselves are weak or strong. AoE slow is an extremely useful utility (making BOrcs very important) and in the current state of the game a Crippling Strike Chosen is a 25% damage decrease for the entire enemy group (with fotm healing combo being RP+AM on Order, group cleanse from WP is no longer a viable solution). The reason BG couldn't get into cookie cutter setups are the two above, with his AoE slow being too long cd and Chosen being broken in current meta. Meaning BO and Chosen are unfireable. As far as I can see nothing is changing with the above dilemma, facing anyone making a destruction group. The only thing that could change the matter is if BG would be made so overpowered it would replace the BO out of simple, omg it's so good we cannot pass on it anymore reasons.
Here we are testing balance changes for BG. Noone even properly tested the older BG balance changes that already made the class way better, because BG was out of the meta for above reason relating to other classes, but here we are with another number of buffs.
The risk here is BG will become ridiculous, because it will be buffed over and over again, because people will still refuse to use it, due to meta reasons. Triple tank is already a thing on Order due to the state of the SM, now it may be a thing on Destro too.
Here is my plea: Focus on the balance issues that are breaking the game, before getting into the finer details and look to solve the large issues before focusing on the small ones. By doing things in reverse the 100 small changes made will suddenly blow people's minds about how important they were, when the big problem gets removed from in front of their eyes. The competitive side of the game is already pretty much dead, because people cannot be bothered to play with broken AM/Shaman experimental mode. More broken stuff will just make people even more demotivated to play in any competitive setting. I understand Devs changing the game may feel their expertise only applies to the classes they are playing, and feel disinclined to change things they don't have expert knowledge about. However, I would say it's at least weird to make changes to one class while balance discussions are closed for all other classes. Balance doesn't work in a vacuum.
Yet the Dev team chooses to focus on BG, because particular dev plays BG. That being said BG is underused (and Devs in question effort is much appreciated in that respect and I mean that), but people forget to look for the deeper and in fact very simple meta reasons beyond that. Classes go in and out of the meta due to other classes being popular/unpopular, not neccesarily because they themselves are weak or strong. AoE slow is an extremely useful utility (making BOrcs very important) and in the current state of the game a Crippling Strike Chosen is a 25% damage decrease for the entire enemy group (with fotm healing combo being RP+AM on Order, group cleanse from WP is no longer a viable solution). The reason BG couldn't get into cookie cutter setups are the two above, with his AoE slow being too long cd and Chosen being broken in current meta. Meaning BO and Chosen are unfireable. As far as I can see nothing is changing with the above dilemma, facing anyone making a destruction group. The only thing that could change the matter is if BG would be made so overpowered it would replace the BO out of simple, omg it's so good we cannot pass on it anymore reasons.
Here we are testing balance changes for BG. Noone even properly tested the older BG balance changes that already made the class way better, because BG was out of the meta for above reason relating to other classes, but here we are with another number of buffs.
The risk here is BG will become ridiculous, because it will be buffed over and over again, because people will still refuse to use it, due to meta reasons. Triple tank is already a thing on Order due to the state of the SM, now it may be a thing on Destro too.
Here is my plea: Focus on the balance issues that are breaking the game, before getting into the finer details and look to solve the large issues before focusing on the small ones. By doing things in reverse the 100 small changes made will suddenly blow people's minds about how important they were, when the big problem gets removed from in front of their eyes. The competitive side of the game is already pretty much dead, because people cannot be bothered to play with broken AM/Shaman experimental mode. More broken stuff will just make people even more demotivated to play in any competitive setting. I understand Devs changing the game may feel their expertise only applies to the classes they are playing, and feel disinclined to change things they don't have expert knowledge about. However, I would say it's at least weird to make changes to one class while balance discussions are closed for all other classes. Balance doesn't work in a vacuum.
