Who actually provides balance changes & Does providing class feedback on the PTS work?

MaxwellC

So today PTS patch 4.03 came out (i.e the last patch before summerset on PC is released) & many including myself were hoping for some balance changes but was met with

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Hey guys,

We truly appreciate all the time and effort everyone has put into writing their feedback on current class balance. In hindsight, we realized the previous patch notes may have implied that balance changes specifically for class abilities would be included in upcoming PTS patches for Update 18. To be clear, our focus for the remaining PTS updates will be iteration and polish for the Psijic Order skill line, Light and Heavy Attack balancing, updating item sets, and fixing bugs. We are, however, collecting all your class feedback and will work on improving class balance in future updates.

I'm not trying to shoot the messenger i.e Gina, because she doesn't make those changes but just last week she said

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Guys, don't forget as stated in the very first paragraph, you'll begin seeing some balance adjustments next week at the earliest. This patch is mainly bug fixes.

so I take it some communication isn't going too well.

Many players have stated (DK side) that the current wing cleanse isn't going to work and even some streamers pointed out that the wing change literally serves no purpose other than wanting to make you question why you even slotted it in the first place. It's pretty simple just think of it; Wing change for reflective plate now cleanses a snare but with that logic if I were to have a DoT that snares the opponent each tick i.e ardent flame DoT.... well that person just used wings to cleanse that snare for it to only have it re-applied on them.

You gotta question yourself, who thought a typical cleanse was a good idea, did someone in the room shout it out and everyone agreed unanimously without putting 60 seconds of thought behind that change?

I jumped the gun when I first saw the changes being proposed to DKs because I knew it wouldn't change and unfortunately I was right, players bashed me for complaining before the PTS (I'll give them 30/100 for that) came out but it's because I knew this rodeo already. These "Balance changes" always seem to neglect a major part of what player feedback has always stated, which brings me to my other point.

Is there really a huge reason to participate in class feedback threads and who actually administers that feedback?

The developers always say they're listening & I agree 40% of the time with that notion (based on the past outcomes in various areas of the game) but it seems they're outright ignoring the players & this isn't only about my class but many others who complained about Mag Warden's performance in PvP and the increase to strife for the Nightblade.
Players conversed with one another, came up with ideas that they agree on almost unanimously, only for feedback to be completely disregarded & then later provide insult to injury by stating "We truly appreciate the time and effort everyone has put into writing their feedback on current class balance."

I don't wanna solely blame wrobel even though he's my "Thanks Obama" guy but the collective developers that push out these changes have ideas that virtually no one has voiced wanting, yet they're here to stay.
P.S I know forums/Reddit are the minority as the majority of the player base is obviously silent.

What are your thoughts (the forum participants) on this topic

Apache_Kid

To me, it seems the people who relay the information to us and the people who actually decide on and make the changes have poor lines of communication between each-other.

MLGProPlayer

Wrobel is supoosed to lead the balance team, but he doesn't do anything. And nobody actually reads feedback on the PTS forum.

Players have been giving feedback on magicka warden being underpowerwd in PvE since Morrowind PTS. The result? Not a single buff in 12 mobths, and still none this PTS cycle (in fact, they actually got nerfs).

VaranisArano

Voicing feedback works, as long as you accept that we are just there to provide feedback.

The Devs have their own changes to implement, not all of which match with what players want. Our feedback might get things tweaked or point out stuff thats way OP, but typically if you go into the PTS with the idea that our feedback is going to have a direct specific impact such as reversing a nerf you'll be disappointed.

I go into it with the idea that anything I don't like on the PTS will go Live and anything that seems wonderfully OP will probably get nerfed.

Riddari

As a Templar I'm going to be taking a break for a while. Glad I didn't preorder summerset. It's just getting a little ridiculous that every patch we hear "the next patch will have the balance changes" and it never does. Sure they'll change an ability or two but many of the classes need some work imo. Honestly I'm kind of over how ZOS handles this game and I'm usually the type that defends developers.

They have a lot on their plate and it's a difficult job. I do not envy them as balance and class design are very difficult to manage. BUT that's their job. It's a hard job, yes, and I can sympathize, but right now it feels like they're simply not doing it.

Very frustrating. Very disheartening. I love the world they've created but the game they've built around that needs a lot more work imo.

ErMurazor

I dont feel any anticipation at all for summerset, i have felt alot more for most of the dlcs comming out.

RebornV3x

I stopped giving any feedback on the official class balence threads since the Dark Brotherhood patch since ZOS completely ignored it and rarely does anything change from PTS to live so whats the point.

jazsper77

Feedback—> ZOS—-> to players no thx

ZOS_JesC

Greetings, since we already have a few other threads discussing PTS work and new changes, we have decided to close this thread. Please feel free to continue this conversation in a similar thread, here. Thank you for your understanding.