Too worried about optimization

[Kemosabi]

Browsing the forums (and it's the same for all the forums I've lurked on) I notice a lot of people frozen by the proposition of choosing the most "optimized" class. "Best end game DPS class?" "Rogue or fury war for DPS????" These look familiar? People are so concerned with choosing the "best" class that it takes away the essence of the game. The game is about the world and finding your place in it. Any class can do anything if you play it correctly put effort into it. I get people want to be the best, but unless your on cutting edge progression and focused solely on that goal, it doesn't really matter.

Anyone else feel the same way? Always striving for optimization ruins the experience of the world. Quit trying to be the "best" and just play a class and character you enjoy and be a part of the world.

[azreal3133]

If you plan to raid competetively then you need to pick a class that isn't useless *cough* boomkins ret paladins prot paladins *cough* or you won't be brought into a decent guild, in PvP it doesn't matter as much and if you want to play casually it certainly doesn't matter as much. Yes this is an RPG but not everyone plays it just to roam around the world and do random stuff, some of us want to compete in a PvE or PvP setting and to do that you aren't going to have a good time if you pick a class that is 50% as good as all the others.

[Kemosabi]

An interesting and valid point.

[Zach]

You need to get somewhere, do you walk, crawl, or sit on your ass and scoot?
You do things the right way in life, grow up and get over it.

[Kemosabi]

While your logic is valid, it is misguided in this context. We're playing a video game. Is there a right way to have fun? No. Is there a righy way to change your oil? Yes. I don't think you come compare "how to have fun" and "how to live life." My point is to have fun in the game and save your "worries" for RL.

[azreal3133]

While your logic is valid, it is misguided in this context. We're playing a video game. Is there a right way to have fun? No. Is there a righy way to change your oil? Yes. I don't think you come compare "how to have fun" and "how to live life." My point is to have fun in the game and save your "worries" for RL.

I think his point is there's a right way to succeed and that way to succeed is by playing the best class you possibly can to optimize your chances at succeeding, you don't go into Naxx with 40 druids because that would be doomed to failure, your idea of having fun is doing whatever you feel like and exploring the world, that's great, but for the majority of the population its to either succeed at PvP or Raiding and most people will pick the class that they think they can succeed the best on, because that's what they find fun.

[Kemosabi]

Well said. I understand his point now.

[Robotron]

Content in this game spans many difficulties, and is made easier by optimizing things such as character race, spec, professions, raid comp, etc. To what extent players and guilds do this depends heavily on the mentality of the individuals and guilds concerned. Top progressed guilds emphasize this more, as well as usually put more hours into the game--both inside and outside of raids--in order to overcome encounters faster. Obviously, the time factor of the above statement decreases significantly when content is on farm and min/maxing for the current tier is complete; players like this sometimes only log on for a few hours a week during farm periods.

The biggest example of such optimization I have personally been a part of was back in 2009 during Heroic Anub'Arak, 25 man. That encounter was brutally difficult, especially at the cutting edge of progression. I put up an application to <CUTIES ONLY>, the 11th ranked guild in the world from tier 8 (Ulduar). They were recruiting rogues as their strat for killing Anub involved 4 rogues, while they only had 2 on their main roster. I was brought in immediately for the kill. Who sat for me? The guild master and raid leader himself, and we killed it within about 5 attempts (world 14th kill), as I was actually brought in mid-raid, when my realm transfer went through. He ended up leading the raid remotely by watching Grid.

Not too many go to such extremes, but people who want to succeed and succeed quickly in endgame will optimize to some degree.

[Rhauvin]

Bit of a difference between cutting edge retail progression and a private server where values are off, raids are bugged to fuck and the content is 10 years old. You can quite easily bring ret paladins/boomkins to a raid and clear just fine.

[OGTUCKER117]

Bit of a difference between cutting edge retail progression and a private server where values are off, raids are bugged to fuck and the content is 10 years old. You can quite easily bring ret paladins/boomkins to a raid and clear just fine.

You have no idea what your talking about.