But apart from that, Evilgm, tests done by multiple hunters are showing that Growl does not seem to be scaling in any significant amount with Hunter AP and instead keeps to the same old Pet AP formula. This has nothing to do with Boars. Multiple test by multiple hunters are turning up this way.

But Hortus is claiming that it is fixed and that he refuses to test it further, or at least refuses to answer questions about it on the PTR Forums, so the Hunter community is more or less rather confused.

Isn't that just like being the smartest kid on the short bus?

*prepares for the neg ratings*

No, you get a + rating for that comment.

"No, you get a + rating for that comment."

Agreed.

Akamaru...Never expected to see him on this site. I am pleasantly surprised!

People who would downgrade a comment just because someone likes something you don't are sad. Get a life.

There are tons of ways to measure threat. How do you think the threat meters are developed?

NeSuKuN, read what he posted. He asked how the threat measurement could possibly be different if the mods haven't been updated to reflect the actual changes?

If the boar uses Charge, hit, Growl, Gore, Gore, Growl and generates 4000 threat in 2.4.1. and the mod isn't updated, that same sequence will generate 4000 threat in 2.4.2. as well according to the mod. However, since the _actual_ values have changed, the 4000 threat the mod reports are inaccurate.

That is, unless the mod has been updated to reflect the changes in 2.4.2. already.

If I remember correctly he's not actually using a meter. I believe he's mend petting his pet after he does X growls and measuring how much healing is done before the pet loses aggro. I remember reading that threat per healing of mend pet is a well established constant, so this would be fairly reliable unless they made an undocumented change to mend pet also.

Thanks for the info, Adam. Glad to know there's a method to the madness.

Further down in this comment list, jrb links to Mania's excellent summary of how she tests pet threat:

http://www.maniasarcania.com/2008/04/30/growl-testing-method/

As you say, it's all based on Mend Pet being such a well-known constant. And, knowing that, it's clear that The Mystic Hunter is doing the same thing, more or less.

Now if we just knew why Blizz is so very insistent that everything is fixed and yet all evidence says nothing has changed...

I'm guessing he's using the same method as Mania, described here:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=6136615005&sid=1

It seems like a needless thing, but its supposed to be anyway, not anyone.

Nerfs are made because it *is* hurting something.

In this case, it's hurting the hunter's decision on picking their best pet to be used for soloing purposes. If hunters are picking up boars solely because they hold aggro way way better than other pets, then their aggro holding ability should be nerfed, and the aggro holding capabilities of other pets should be buffed.

The competition for Max raid DPS pets, for example is a close one, with Ravagers, Wind Serpents, Cats and Raptors all very viable options.

First off, why can't we do nested replies? What is this, 1999?

Balasan said...
"In this case, it's hurting the hunter's decision on picking their best pet to be used for soloing purposes. If hunters are picking up boars solely because they hold aggro way way better than other pets, then their aggro holding ability should be nerfed, and the aggro holding capabilities of other pets should be buffed."

This is a bogus argument and can be applied to almost every pet and variable in the game.

Before ravagers people picked cats because they were the maximum DPS. Going further into that subset, people picked Broken Tooth because of the attack speed and caster push back. So Blizz nerfed. We got the infamous "pet normalization."

But let's throw attack speed, pursuit speed — another nerf — out the window. Almost all pets have special skills, here we bow our head in sadness for the Mighty Spore Bat, that allow them to do things that others can't.

Gorilla's Thunderstomp is an AOE aggro generating tool which allowed hunters to maintain and hold multiple mobs.

I think the birds have a similar skill — don't know, can't stand all that damned flapping.

Cats have prowl. Scorpids have poison. Ravagers...well ravagers are just fracking ugly.

They all have things that differentiate them from the other types of pets. For the boar it was charge and the big aggro boost that went with it. Other than that it's just a middle of the road pet that nobody will get because a cat/ravager will ALWAYS out dps it.

By taking away the boar's aggro building ability you aren't helping a hunter's pet choice option — you're essentially negating it. There is no advantage to a boar. Get in line, take a number, and tame a cat, NEXT!

Your philosophy opens up the door for future pet "normalization" where we'll all be given weighted companion cubes at level 10 with the exact same stats, same look and same abilities.

Maybe on the bizzaro server you inhabit there are armies of hunters, with bacon as far as the eye can see — on mine I see maybe one other boar a day.

Other than that, it's just one big litter box.

Dunhear and Clank