Spell, Skill, and Ability Descriptions!?

oh its in "HELP" thats nice thank you... it was a little infuriating reading those dumbed down descriptions.

For a veteran gamer like yourself, it's understandable that the Beginner Tooltips might be a bit jarring. But, before you write them off as an embarassment, think back to when you first began playing World of Warcraft. Or, if you were already familiar with MMORPGs at the time, think back instead to when you were initially introduced to another complex gaming environment. It was likely a bit overwhelming.

Between clicking all the interface buttons, discovering how the combat system operates, learning how to move your character, adjusting those complex camera angles, and figuring out why that knight over there is wearing an exclamation point as a hat, there's a lot of data for new players to process -- and those first few minutes of playing, prior to our most recent improvements, could sometimes feel like you were getting shot in the face. In the face.

You may have had a different experience, of course -- and if you did, that's awesome! -- but for a number of new players, their introduction to World of Warcraft was a bit disorienting. No bueno! To help combat that early game confusion, we streamlined a lot of beginning content including tooltips, ensuring that the first set you see when you log in clearly describes what a specific type of spell or ability actually does. In combination with other quest and UI enhancements, the entire new player experience is now more meaningful and better at introducing game mechanics to those who are otherwise unfamiliar with them.

Now, if you're wondering why Beginner Tooltips is selected by default, this is because new players -- those who would most thoroughly benefit from this feature -- probably aren't going to know how or where to turn them on. While this may sometimes catch our more seasoned adventurers off-guard, we know you guys have an understanding of how to modify in-game settings and can likely deduce how to disable them on your own, either by poking around the interface menu or by asking for assistance on our community forums. :)

While this may sometimes catch our more seasoned adventurers off-guard, we know you guys have an understanding of how to modify in-game settings and can likely deduce how to disable them on your own, either by poking around the interface menu or by asking for assistance on our community forums. :)

BURNED

While this may sometimes catch our more seasoned adventurers off-guard, we know you guys have an understanding of how to modify in-game settings and can likely deduce how to disable them on your own, either by poking around the interface menu or by asking for assistance on our community forums. :)

BURNED

Feeling a little Troll like in these late hours, Bashiok?

Your definition of troll is suspect.

We didnt need these back in vanilla and we still dont need them now.

That's a bit of a logic pretzel (and not one of the tasty salted ones, either). Just because something isn't a necessity doesn't mean it can't make one's gaming experience more enjoyable.

You're more than welcome to refrain from using the Beginner Tooltips, as well as any other optional feature we provide, if you feel it doesn't mesh with your preferred play style.

This is the problem with todays gamers. They can't just sit down and read the instruction manual while the game installs, instead they have to go do something else or else they would die of boredum. I know that myself and many others read the manual prior to playing, and it made the game abundantly simple, at least until we had to start figuring our rotations / priority listings.

This may or may not interest you, but we do plan on providing a rather robust guide for new players here on the community site soon. Once it's available, give it a peek and let us know what you think. :)

It'd be nice if the first time you log in it gave you a pop-up with the option to have them on or off.

That's an interesting idea. I'll be sure to pass this on to our designers -- thanks!

Alright, this is going to be a long post. Please bear with me. :)

So, my question is: Is there a way to have both newbie AND normal tooltips (with exact numbers) showing at the same time? I'd appreciate it if you can point me to an addon that would make that possible as well.

I can certainly ask!

Actually, I'm quite impressed with how constructive and insightful this discussion has been, with respect to how to potentially improve Beginners Tooltips. I'll be bringing a lot of the feedback to our designers when next we meet, and I'll be happy to pass along your question at that time.

(I don't know about an AddOn, though. Perhaps you may want to inquire within our UI and Macros forum? It's definitely a good place to start.)

The only problem I have with the beginner tooltips is that some of them tend to be misleading. As an example, those starting an elemental shaman won't even realize that they have a weapon imbue that's good for them to use until they turn off beginner tooltips, as you can only see that it gives spellpower if you have them turned off.

Which other tooltips (based on your experience) do you feel are potentially misleading? I'm not trying to put you on the spot or anything, I just want to better understand your concerns and where they're coming from. Sweet, sweet context -- we lubs it.

Honestly the feedback that I've been getting (through a very small sample admittedly) is that the beginner tooltips aren't all that helpful. In the interest of giving gentle information, they don't give any useful information in a lot of cases.

For the purpose of perspective, what was the experience level of the players you spoke with (were they completely new to online gaming or did they have some knowledge of the genre's mechanics)? Also, did those providing the feedback hint at what sort of information might be more appreciated?

You know, the Beginner descriptions are nice, but they're TOO vague.
Some numbers will help new players discern things on their own. Also, I like that early on that there were tutorials on how to use some abilities which is cool. But that needs to be developed further.

It's definitely an iterative process.

Now, I realize a lot of players may be operating under the assumption that, after a new feature is implemented, our designers collectively retire to their plush mahogany studies and spend the next few months wearing silk robes, drinking expensive bourbon, and generally congratulating themselves on being masters of the universe.

While that's an endearing thought, it couldn't be farther from the truth. As Ghostcrawler noted in the latest BlizzCast, a designer's work is never truly done. Even after new content is released, we continue to examine how we can make World of Warcraft more enjoyable and engaging. If that means revisiting certain elements -- like the Beginner Tooltips -- then, by golly, we'll do it. Constructive and pointed feedback certainly helps focus our efforts, though, so keep it coming.

Don't just say "KILL EET WITH FIRE," though. This doesn't really help us. If you have any concerns with the functionality, be sure to explain why and what you feel could be done better. We want Beginners Tooltips in the game, but we also want to make sure we implement them in a meaningful way.