As a final salvo to greet 2011 with more cheer and less QQ, Blizzard implemented a host of Cataclysm expansion hotfixes to World of Warcraft, three of which gained the most whining among players.
First, druid bears saw a major nerf to Frenzied Regeneration with healing amount down 50%. Frenzied Regeneration has been an amazing rock for bear tank survivability, but Blizzard deemed it too powerful in dungeon and raid encounters. Another possible cause for its nerf is the potential for abuse in PvP, as shapeshifting druids can easily climb back to the pink of health given a full rage bar, a related glyph, activated Survival Instincts and access to this spell. Bear druids aren’t too happy about the change that might gimp them in both competitive raiding and rated PvP.
Second to ruffle feathers among the WoW playerbase is the change of Graveyard Rats from “critter” to “beast,” making it harder for guilds to get the Critter Kill Squad achievement. Crafty guilds sought out the low-level Graveyard Rats in Gilneas City and killed the numerous fast-spawning Graveyard Rats for a fast climb to 50,000 critters killed, an achievement that unlocks the popular Armadillo Pup. Now it’s back to farming bunnies and Deeprun Rats.
The third change to bring on a torrent of QQ is the Tol Barad reward fix, upping the prize for successful attacks to 1800 Honor Points from 180. Defenders who have had an easier time in the battleground due to game mechanics that favor their side are now forced to choose: Lock out the attackers from the Baradin Hold raid or lose the game on purpose to reap the generous Honor Point rewards. PvP players are complaining that the change has fixed the match so that both sides are conspiring to trade wins, making fights boring and moot on top of being utterly biased to defenders.