My commentary on our current Beta situation

This is what got me started down this path. See, I'm seeing a lot of changes being made due to PvP concerns. That's all well and good, but *I don't PvP.*

Yes, I'm missing out on a large chunk of the game. No, I don't think less of you for doing it. No, I don't even want to do a pre-made with you. Yes, talents need to be balanced for PvP, I get that. But, to me, well... stop getting your PvP in my PvE game. It's frustrating to me to see great abilities on paper, or in development, get slowly whittled down in order to balance that aspect of the game.

It's almost starting to seem that PvE is taking a back burner, like the attitude becomes "Make sure the PvP is balanced, the PvE will work itself out, they'll make it work with the tools we give them." Is that the actual thought process? Hell no, but to a guy who only cares about the PvE implications of changes, I feel a little ignored. And, from what I gather, Hunter PvP issues *still* haven't been addressed. So, where does that leave me? My PvE game isn't what we want, no point starting to PvP since we're kinda boned anyway... roll a DK?

To be fair, I say PvP, but I think the issue truly is Arena, which is a late addition to the game. So the original trees or even classes weren't designed for it. So, I get the upheaval, I cope with seemingly odd talent changes (but HATE the 41 pt Survival talent that won't be fixed until a patch after launch. Really?) and watch with interest to see if it fixes anything. Never does.

I almost wonder if, technology allowing, it would be possible to just have skills and talents function differently in Arenas and BGs. No, doesn't help world PvP, and the existance of this is what leads (I think) to the PvP creed into my PvE game. But, if so many issues can be tracked to function in Arena, not PvE, then... Occam's Razory, I know.

And what got me thinking down *that* path was leveling a druid, with the intention to go Resto. I pretty much had to grind my teeth and BG it up to get the Merciless Gladiators Healamajig. It was more or less implied I wouldn't even be healing Kara without it. And to me, who geared Rem strictly through PvE and has dealt with far too many people who have no respect for hunters (including my current guild until they saw my dps) after seeing PvP geared hunters suck it up in instances, the fact that gear that blows away most raiding gear is available to anyone willing to AFK enough AVs to get the honor (and NO, I didn't do that!) kinda makes me sick.

Now, I totally get that over the Arena seasone, the gear has to get better. There has to be incentives to do it. Totally OK with that. But, I mean... could it just... go away when you hit an instance? You could still use it for world PvP... but you want to get your raid epicz? Dammit, you'll get the gear to do it by learning your role in instances, not shooting people in EotS so you can proclaim in trade that you're a "fully epicced hunter LFG for any instance."

Of course, then there's the backlash of "Fine, but don't bring your raid gear into my BGs." My only response, I guess, would be "Can you level through PvP? No? Then shut it, and the mats for your enchants sure didn't come from PvPing either, so take those off." Actually, that argument came out better than I thought. Hmmm...

Am I ranting? Probably. This has been welling up for a while, from many sources. Having to wait for some tool to finish a BG so we can start a raid, listening to whining about respec costs to raid; hell, don't get me started on Ret pallies. Really, it's OK, Blizz, that every pally is drooling to go Ret? Really? That's balanced? Really?