Some of this stuff looks pretty cool, but I can't help but think that this stuff just gets your hopes up. Then again, I play a pally, so it's not like I can even trust the Beta will be anything like what is actually released (notice they aren't even testing pallies in the alpha yet either).

So, I took some time to browse over the new priest talents and spells last night. I fully expect multiple nerfs of these new talents. They are giving shadow priests all kinds of PVP love, including a 6-second get out of jail free card. If these talents actually go through I will be so overpowered, I am honestly considering just flat out declaring myself Supreme Ruler and imposing my will on all of Azeroth.

I'm curious if there are any other perspectives from those who play other classes and have seen their preliminary new talents and spells. Do they also seem overpowered to you?

I'm pretty sure all the info on pallies is rumour and not actually included, and as one of the classes not available to test in Alpha, I didn't expect there to be much on them yet.

Based on what I've seen for Warlocks though, they are getting some serious love for Demo spec, including increased raid utility when having a pet out, and an insane "never gonna kill me" ability with a succubus present. I can definitely see me continuing to play my warlock in WotLK...unfortunately Krindle's fate is still unknown

I glanced it over, but honestly, all that stuff's going to change so much before release that any speculation at this point can only be qualified as "wild".

Heh, I remember bringing home the WoW Prima guidebook with the game at launch (I played a warrior in beta, not a pally), and being thoroughly confused at why the paladin class was so completely different than what the guide indicated.

It was the first and last game guide I ever bought for an mmo.

Well, actually, I take that back. Way back in the day, I bought the EQ Atlas. It was very handy and nicely done. So I guess the WoW guide was actually the second and last guide I bought for an mmo.

As far as impressions, one thing that jumped out at me from these alpha notes is how Blizz continues to pillage Diablo 1 & 2 for character abilities & talents to introduce in WoW. Corpse Explosion? Oh yeah. Bring it.

I perused that Prot. Warrior stuff too. Some of it seemed pretty damn confusing. Why would you want to scale TC and Sunder/Devastate with AP? In what scenario would you stack AP for protection talents? The only thing I can think of is a DPS spec tanking a five man.

Right now, I can bump Titan's adequate HP up to nearly 22K HP for 30 sec's every eight minutes with Last Stand. That's basically once a boss fight and I like that challenge of deciding if now is the time to burn the cooldown or not.

The Arms stuff seemed pretty damn weird. I need to look at it again but I remember thinking of how most of it seemed like crap. The Fury warrior stuff looked great, including Titan's Grip (which was in vanilla WoW beta) but they are obviously really trying to emulate Diablo 2's Barbarian as Fars mentioned.

My question is there anyone in here in the Alpha besides me? If so are you on the PvP or PvE server?

Honestly, just about the most fun I have ever had in a game was talking my Javazon into the cow level and mowing down huge packs of cows with whatever skill that was in the lightning tree. I am truly hoping that Blizzard can bring us a D3 that recreates the Diablo magic in a MMO or semi-MMO setting.

I guess I was thinking from the perspective that Thunderclap and Sunder basically are as good the instant you hit 70 as when you're killing Illidan. They don't scale with gear at all, whereas your DPSers keep going up as their gear improves. Having it scale somewhat as your gear improves should help keep a gap from opening up, or at least slow the rate it opens up. Maybe I'm thinking in the wrong direction though. Not sure I'd really stack AP for it, but as your strength will likely increase some as your gear improves, it will help scale the abilities.

Edit: Realized I didn't note I was thinking from a threat perspective primarily. Obviously TC does scale as your opponents grow from a damage avoidance perspective.

Yes, but my hatred is motivated by jealousy. What motivates yours?

Good grief, I am salivating.

And gambling... that would be a good money sink for those that don't have the time or resources to craft. It would also bring down the AH prices.

I would love the dungeon scaling. Especially if skilled players could bump up the difficulty ala "/players 8" for increased loot and xp rate.

I would like to see more action oriented boss encounters like diablo. I think this would really work to train people for the more action and position oriented arena. Bosses can be soloed, but it may take 3+ minutes and the only way you survive is by avoiding the big sweeping semi predictable attacks. Sort of like the new quest in Theramore were you have to protect the harbor from the giant sea monster by running around and setting off the port cannons before all the Theramore archers die.