The datamined class changes splitting Forever players days before launch

Late on 30 October a long new batch of Forever class changes began spreading, a day after players posted datamined Mage changes from the same kind of tracker site. Blizzard did not publish the list. Players say it came from game data, and they have been arguing about it ever since. One Reddit post linking to the list has 1,244 comments, and on the US forums Shamshamsham's thread called it "a hundred class changes" with "zero for shaman or rogue".

When we checked at about 20:15 UTC on 2 November, Blizzard's development notes thread had no post newer than 27 October, and no staff post in the forum threads we read addressed the list. So we found no Blizzard response, and everything below is what players and creators say the data shows. We have not confirmed any of it in the game, and any of it could change before launch on 4 November.

Why Druids are loudest

The strongest reaction is about Restoration. "Resto Druid Completely Gutted" on the US forums has 605 replies and 904 likes, and an EU thread with 228 replies says the spec lost a 0.5-second cut to its global cooldown and that Wild Growth is no longer instant. Players put the new cast at 3 seconds, or 2.5 with the Naturalist talent. They trace the cut to Gift of the Earthmother, which Greatoak on the US forums says gave way to Bloom. We went through what that argument is really about separately.

Not everyone is upset. "0.5 gcd doesnt belong in this version of wow," Prinsese replied in that EU thread, and Lionheartex wrote that the Protection and Retribution Paladin changes "feel good". Others feel passed over. "Did you also forget Shamans and Rogues exist?" Shamshamsham asked, and a US thread titled "Ele shamans left out again", posted on 1 November, has 197 replies and 318 likes.

Is the list right?

Nobody in these threads can show it either way. "95% of datamined decision came true," Hazelnot wrote. "I have yet to see anything that was datamined actually be true in Forever," wrote Mechron. Neither gave a count we could check.

A rumour has grown alongside it. Sofía wrote that Blizzard said it was "mixing real changes with fake ones to throw the dataminers off". We found no such statement, and Daturas pushed back: "People are acting like blizzard are supervillains planting fake information."

What Blizzard has said is more general. On its 22 October podcast, Clay Stone offered "a word of caution" about datamining: finds are often about things not necessarily intended for Forever, and the versions of WoW share a lot of assets and code, which he said can play into that. He also said the team had "obfuscated so much" and "intentionally kept hidden" some items. That is hiding data, not planting fake changes. It came eight days before this list, so it neither confirms nor dismisses it.

What was the beta for?

Some of the anger is about timing. Bryun asked "what was even the point of the beta" if so much changes before launch. Kargoz put nearly the same question in the title of a video with about 81,000 views, and his "Druid is Dead" video has about 153,000. We are going by those titles and view counts here, not what the videos say.

Others think that gets the beta backwards. "The whole point of the beta was to inform Blizzard about what changes needed to be made, not to help you decide what to play," Leaveñ replied.

Choosing a main without notes

Deciding is why players want an answer. "We won't launch with significant class changes and no notes… right?" asked Hoofingway, who had planned on Resto Druid. Players are guessing when notes will come: Lilheals wrote "probably Nov 3rd", and Briarina said "Monday or Tuesday". Neither is from Blizzard.

The most upvoted reply on the Reddit post, at 1,037 points, took another route: pick the class fantasy you like, because it may be buffed or nerfed three times before you reach 60. And when a Final Fantasy XIV healer asked whether Druid is now a bad choice for a casual, the top reply was: "It will still be a good (maybe great) healer."