Is Blizz the root of all evil?

[Abattoir]

Balance:
This is something that also gets me.  Every class has this running gripe session about how they're the most put upon class.  Rogues and hunters are the most popular class (depending on PvP vs. PvE/RP) because they're the easiest/most effective (overall) class to play and even these classes have running gripe sessions about how terrible it is to be the most effective class only some of the time and not being as overpowering at all times.  WOW this one gets on my nerves.  Yes, there are some legitimate issues out there (especially for Warlocks), but we get nonstop complaints such as Rogues complaining that despite dominating PvP, soloing more effectively than any class but hunter, being required in most instances for unlocking/sapping, etc. that there is ONE INSTANCE (MC) that they have to a bit more clever to be as effective... I've lost all sympathy and it's really starting to grate.
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Having not fully researched the classes before I selected one to play, I occasionally regret having chosen an 'easy' class. I'm not really sure how the other classes compare, my experience lends itself to a 'all characters are relatively easy to scorch through the first 20 levels or so' outlook. But Ab is nigh-indestructible. He never dies.

That being said, I have complained to Grizelle-- in hopes that I would somehow get some of her INSANE luck to rub off on me- many times about roguerliness at high levels.

Rogues may dominate PVP, but I sure don't. I'm not very good at it. I prefer to play 'Protect the PVP Priest'.

I have never been required in any instance. There has never been anything I've encountered that required a rogue to advance through an area. Being able to unlock chests and lockboxes is quite nice, I concur, but any blacksmith can make rather respectable skeleton keys that I hear do a decent job too.

As far as MC goes... it's not an issue of being clever. I haven't been there, but this is the problem as I know it for us dime a dozen rogues. There's a lot of AOE coming from the mobs in MC. Ergo you either stand there and take it, or use ranged attacks from a distance. Rogues ranged attacks, while not ineffective, are hardly a worthwhile addition to such an encounter. In order to be effective--or 'clever'-, they MUST close to melee. And most likely, they're the only melee combatant who isn't wearing mail or plate. This means when they actually get hit they're taking more damage, in addition to having AOEs chewing through their life.

So a Rogue in Molten Core who hasn't been busy amassing fire resist gear is going to get burned to a crisp far more quickly than any other melee combatants as a result of their typically lower HP, 'Elune forbid' they actually pull aggro. It doesn't matter if they're a good rogue, or if they paid someone to powerlevel their character to 60, there's no way to handle that kind of damage. While I know you're talking about all the classes having gripes, you did seem to come down rather hard on the class I've played most, and I feel quite differently about it. Because I'm a whiny rogue. And decidedly not clever. I even consider this to be a *legitimate issue*, the mechanics of the class working against their viability in a single instance--Ignoring the fact that Grizelle has insisted repeatedly that Ab can't even go to West Dire Maul-. Other classes might have the same thing going. Maybe druids suck it up big time in Deadmines. I don't know. And we've heard very vague rumors about Blizzard developing ways to fix that. My guess is they're going to give rogues their own MC-alt instance, where all you have to do is sap one creature, unlock a door, out-DPS a priest, and successfully click 'Stealth' and you win an epic.

I agree that WoW is great, but imperfect. However, I hate MMORPGs. And yet I managed to cap a character on WoW partly because it's a good game and partly because of good company. The complaints are incessant and unfortunate, just like the bugs, extended downtime, and the very slow introduction of new content. I don't even care about character balance, honestly. I just want new stuff to do and new places to go.