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Q u o t e:
Dear World of Warcraft Developers:

First, we would like to congratulate you on doing an amazing job overall in regards to designing, developing, marketing, and maintaining World of Warcraft (WoW). No MMO in the history of the genre has ever been able to claim as many paying subscriptions as WoW and that’s something to be proud of, congratulations.

As you guys are clearly aware, WoW has had, and continues to have some problems and we are sure that you guys are doing everything in your power to handle them in a timely and efficient matter. However, we Retribution Paladins feel as though you are neglecting to address an issue with the Paladin class, specifically, the Retribution tree. We believe that something is, well, out of whack when the “melee oriented hybrid” class is more desired to play a healing role than the games designated healing class (Priests) and said designated healing class is more desired to play an offensive role than the games “melee oriented hybrid” class (Paladins).

We believe that the Retribution tree does not function in a fashion that makes it desirable in end game PvE or PvP. Our belief is reflected in the actions of other players. For example, roughly three weeks ago, someone gathered and presented data regarding the top 5 v 5 arena teams across all battle groups. There were 78 Paladins represented in those teams, out of 78 Paladins, 77 were Holy, 1 was Protection and yes, 0 was Retribution.

Aside from not being useful in end game Arena PvP, Retribution Paladins have long been known to be the least desired spec in end game PvE. We are bringing the following thread to your attention; in it, the original poster solicited replies from guild/raid leaders regarding their views on Retribution Paladins and raids. We understand that the people that responded to the thread do not represent the entire community. However, they do represent a random sample, and from that random sample, an inference regarding the views of the entire population can be drawn. Here is the thread:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=86644720&sid=1&pageNo=1

Also, it should be pointed out that discrimination against Retribution Paladins in end game PvE doesn’t start at the raid level, it is in full swing at the Heroic 5 Man level. Many people make the argument that Retribution Paladins neither do enough DPS nor bring enough utility to be picked up for end game PvP or PvE.

We Retribution Paladins are asking you, Blizzard developers, to please take a look at the Retribution tree and make changes that will increase the desirability of the spec in end game PvP and PvE. We are not explicitly or implicitly asking for “more DPS” or “more utility,” what we are asking for is “a solution” whether that is more DPS, more utility, a combination of both, or something completely different. We just want the spec fixed.

Thanks for reading.

Below, you will find the signatures of all interested Retribution Paladins.

Tytanis

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Q u o t e:


First, thank you for the suggestions. There are a lot of valid points made in the threads.

However, while I don't disagree that there aren't many highly rated ret pallies, it's worth pointing out that there also aren't many highly rated prot warriors, destro locks, balance druids, survival hunters, enhancement shamans, etc.

While trying to get each spec to be arena viable in the different formats is a noble goal, the reality is that it isn't an immediate goal for every spec to be optimized for every aspect of the game (arenas, battlegrounds, solo-ing, raiding, heroics, etc).

In the case of arenas, it seems to me that getting each class reasonably represented in highly rated teams is a more important goal, and unfortunately the paladin class happens to be somewhat grossly over-represented in this regard.

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Q u o t e:


First, thank you for the suggestions. There are a lot of valid points made in the threads.

However, while I don't disagree that there aren't many highly rated ret pallies, it's worth pointing out that there also aren't many highly rated prot warriors, destro locks, balance druids, survival hunters, enhancement shamans, etc.

While trying to get each spec to be arena viable in the different formats is a noble goal, the reality is that it isn't an immediate goal for every spec to be optimized for every aspect of the game (arenas, battlegrounds, solo-ing, raiding, heroics, etc).

In the case of arenas, it seems to me that getting each class reasonably represented in highly rated teams is a more important goal, and unfortunately the paladin class happens to be somewhat grossly over-represented in this regard.

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Q u o t e:


First, thank you for the suggestions. There are a lot of valid points made in the threads.

However, while I don't disagree that there aren't many highly rated ret pallies, it's worth pointing out that there also aren't many highly rated prot warriors, destro locks, balance druids, survival hunters, enhancement shamans, etc.

While trying to get each spec to be arena viable in the different formats is a noble goal, the reality is that it isn't an immediate goal for every spec to be optimized for every aspect of the game (arenas, battlegrounds, solo-ing, raiding, heroics, etc).

In the case of arenas, it seems to me that getting each class reasonably represented in highly rated teams is a more important goal, and unfortunately the paladin class happens to be somewhat grossly over-represented in this regard.

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Q u o t e:


First, thank you for the suggestions. There are a lot of valid points made in the threads.

However, while I don't disagree that there aren't many highly rated ret pallies, it's worth pointing out that there also aren't many highly rated prot warriors, destro locks, balance druids, survival hunters, enhancement shamans, etc.

While trying to get each spec to be arena viable in the different formats is a noble goal, the reality is that it isn't an immediate goal for every spec to be optimized for every aspect of the game (arenas, battlegrounds, solo-ing, raiding, heroics, etc).

In the case of arenas, it seems to me that getting each class reasonably represented in highly rated teams is a more important goal, and unfortunately the paladin class happens to be somewhat grossly over-represented in this regard.

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Q u o t e:


First, thank you for the suggestions. There are a lot of valid points made in the threads.

However, while I don't disagree that there aren't many highly rated ret pallies, it's worth pointing out that there also aren't many highly rated prot warriors, destro locks, balance druids, survival hunters, enhancement shamans, etc.

While trying to get each spec to be arena viable in the different formats is a noble goal, the reality is that it isn't an immediate goal for every spec to be optimized for every aspect of the game (arenas, battlegrounds, solo-ing, raiding, heroics, etc).

In the case of arenas, it seems to me that getting each class reasonably represented in highly rated teams is a more important goal, and unfortunately the paladin class happens to be somewhat grossly over-represented in this regard.

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Q u o t e:


What is the role of Retribution then if it isn't for PvE and now PvP since you acknowledge that Retribution isn't for PvP.

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Q u o t e:


While trying to get each spec to be arena viable in the different formats is a noble goal, the reality is that it isn't an immediate goal for every spec to be optimized for every aspect of the game (arenas, battlegrounds, solo-ing, raiding, heroics, etc).

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