Being a BM Hunter is tougher today than MM in the past

Being a BM Hunter is tougher today than MM in the past

MassiveBlips: vote it up!

The Hunting Lodge is a World of Warcraft Hunter community website. We’re here to help you improve and enjoy playing your hunter. If you don’t find what you’re looking for on the blog, make sure to check out the Hunting Lodge Forums. Also, make sure to listen to The Hunting Lodge Podcast

I’m a bit concerned about something.  Maybe I’m alone or at the least in the minority. But I’m really getting concerned that there’s a bigger focus only on achieving the “Maximum DPS” than there is on playing the best you can and having fun.

Now, I’m not saying everyone has to be casual. And I’m not saying that being competitive is a bad thing.  What I AM saying is that there seems to be a polarization happening within the WoW Community that I haven’t seen since the days of Black Temple.

For you that haven’t don’t know, The Hunting Lodge was created during what I like to call the heyday of raiding.  Blizzard had realized that 25-man was really a solid hardcore raid size and was experimenting with creating 10mans. (Yes, this was during the beginning of Kharazhan.)  The official forums were probably worse in some ways than they are today.  You had hunters that were on top when WoW was originally released (Marksman Hunters) now being told they didn’t matter.  The venom and hate was pretty unbearable.  If you don’t believe me go ask Rilgon over on Stabilized Effort Scope.  He’ll tell you what it was like before Marks and Survival hunters were the kings of DPS.

If anyone mentioned raiding as Marks they were immediately derided. I know it may be hard to believe, but there’s enough of us still around that can attest to that fact. Heck, that’s even what spurred me to start up The Hunting Lodge.  See, there just wasn’t a haven for hunters that wanted to play the game well, but not be pigeon holed into any specific talent spec.  So the Lodge and then the Lodge Forums were born.

My point being, is I’m starting to see the same kind of hate and derision against Beast Master hunters.  All through Wrath of The Lich King it’s been touted that Beast Mastery was not a viable raiding spec. The DPS difference is highlighted time and time again.  And time and time again we hear how hunters are required to achieve the best possible DPS, no matter what, in order to be viable and raid.  That’s funny, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard the folks from Blizzard say that.  Only bloggers, theorycrafters and podcasters and of course every mindless player that feel some instinctual need to bully other players.

But you know what’s interesting? Even during those turbulent BC days.  Or even during the days of the Vanilla WoW when BM was known as being pretty much a PvP spec, have I perceived such animosity within our class.  Part of me thinks it might be payback for the days when BM was king.  (They were pretty cocky back then.) But that doesn’t explain all of it.

I’m concerned we’re going to see more and more players switch off and just walk away.  No one wants to play or participate in a community they don’t feel is fun.

If you’re asking, “What can you do about it? They must out number us 3 or more to 1!”  That’s true. They do seem to pretty vocal.  But something tells me there’s a silent majority out there that really just wants to have fun. That a group of you that want to know how you can min/max your BM hunter without feeling ashamed.  Or maybe you’re a Marksman hunter that doesn’t want to pursue an Armor Penetration build.  And heaven forbid if your a Survival hunter that’s focusing on replenishment instead of DPS.

So take heart fellow hunters! You have an advocate! For as long as I’m playing, the Lodge will be here! We’ll keep the light on and remain spec agnostic.  We may not be popular. But we do hope to be a voice of reason during a time when DPS Meters and GearScores seem to run roughshod over players having fun.


Eddie Carrington “aka Brigwyn” is the owner/operator of The Hunting Lodge. He created The Hunting Lodge blog and Hunting Lodge Forums in response to players requesting a safe spot to talk about their class.  Don’t forget to join Eddie on The Hunting Lodge Podcast that you can find broadcasting live on Ustream each Sunday at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific.