http://www.tankspot.com/forums/blogs/shiz98/ en Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:02:45 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.tankspot.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.tankspot.com/forums/blogs/shiz98/ http://www.tankspot.com/forums/blogs/shiz98/2136-how-understand-nerfs.html Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:28:43 GMT Lots of people have been complaining about TG nerfs and being forced into plate armor recently, and quite frankly they're confused (even if they don't know it ;)). I figure it's about time to grab a soapbox and set the record straight.

So nerfs. We don't like them, whether they're deserved or not. If we know we're OP, then it's sort of an "awww, but it was so much fun" thing going on, and if we feel the nerfs are unjustified then it's all doom and gloom. It's not really bad to be bummed about no longer being OP - it's damn fun - but it's unwise to be upset about nerfs you feel are unneeded.

Why? Surely, you say, the TG change is a massive nerf. We're losing 12% damage! With current standings this puts us way below other classes. Big problem, right? Wrong. I'm going to introduce a novel concept:

Nerfs mean nothing. They do not exist. It's sort of like the Tao of WoW. My class gets a buff or nerf, your class gets a buff or nerf - none of it has any impact on the game.

Obviously this statement is only true on some levels. Under the microscope, a 10% nerf is a 10% nerf, no doubt. The problem with analyzing nerfs/buffs this way, however, is that that you lose sight of the big picture. And the big picture is always the same.

Let's look at a common approach people use to analyze nerfs:

1. Ability is nerfed
2. DPS is too low

This is bad. Blizzard will balance you. If you're a pure, you will do the same damage as other pures. If you're a hybrid, you do 5% less. End of story. Whenever you're analyzing a nerf, you have to view it with the end result being balanced DPS. For example:

1. Ability is nerfed
2. DPS goes down
3. ???
4. DPS is balanced (Profit.)

The ??? is all that matters. The ??? will be tweaked until all is right with the world. In short, the ??? is there to prevent you from worrying about nerfs, ever.

Testing
But if we're not supposed to worry about nerfs, what's the point of testing?

Blizzard knows when they're nerfing something (usually - sometimes auxiliary nerfs slip in under the radar). They have a pretty good feel for it, too. Unfortunately, "pretty good" is not good enough for them to work out what ??? needs to be - this is why they have player testing. This is why Fury is still on the PTR with the 10% TG nerf and no compensation. Exactly how much of a damage loss it is needs to be determined. If it's smaller than they/we think it will be, they might not need to tweak any other abilities to make things balanced.

Let's look at a practical (and recent) example: that of the leather nerf.

1. Leather is nerfed, plate is buffed
2. Warriors start wearing plate
3. Plate is itemized badly
4. Warriors get fewer stats.
5. Warriors will do bad DPS.

Again, flawed thinking. The correct way to approach it:

1. Leather is nerfed, plate is buffed
2. Warriors start wearing plate
3. Plate is itemized badly
4. Warriors get fewer stats
5. ???
6. Warriors do balanced DPS

The ??? will come. You just have to be patient :)

Note: Apologies for the writing/formatting quality. This was written spur of the moment, without much time given to proofreading, etc. In most future blog posts (if/when they come), I'm going to make an effort to put more time into them. ]]> shiz98 http://www.tankspot.com/forums/blogs/shiz98/2136-how-understand-nerfs.html