Removal of Consumable Ammo Not Ready for 3.1.0

According to a blue post today by Eyonix, the announced plans to remove consumable ammunition in 3.1.0 to help hunters with bag space have hit a little snag.

Unfortunately, this intended change will not be completely ready in time for patch 3.1.0. We still fully intend to move forward with this change when the additional functionality becomes available, and for 3.1.0 we still intend to remove the need for pouches/quivers by greatly increasing the stack sizes on arrows and bullets, and the haste bonus from the bags will be preserved in another fashion. We’ll be sure to inform our players with further updates once they become available.

So while it seems ammunition will still be in the game in 3.1.0, we'll be able to stack more in one slot. Sounds good to me. For all you hunters out there, what are your thoughts on the ammunition changes?

Comments

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Another Idea...
# Feb 13 2009 at 3:00 AM Rating: Decent
30 posts
Why not make arrows/bullets like gear...

They are on your character (no bag slot/s required) and after it each shot it loses 'durability' (need to think of a better word here). Once it hits zero you can swap it out or go to a vendor or engineer or w/e and recharge / restock your supply of arrows/bullets. As for the quiver I'm not sure how I would apply it apart from placing ammo in it and then equipping the quiver.
Bad Idea
# Feb 12 2009 at 9:01 AM Rating: Decent
I think getting rid of all ammo is a bad idea. It defeats realism of the game. I could aslo care less that they made the stacks bigger; stacks of 200 is enough. Who uses 4000 arrows in a raid anyway?
Another trade off
# Feb 12 2009 at 7:45 AM Rating: Decent
I'm one of those hunters that doesn't really like this change in principle (although I won't complain when it happens, I'll use the extra bag like everybody else). I agree with those that say that this takes away from the realism of the game (if you shoot a gun or fire an arrow, it should consume ammo). Yes we're playing a game with magic and undead characters but that fact remains.

I also think that it erodes a minor but (in my mind) important difference between hunters and other classes. I can can kill mobs and other characters without consuming any mana from a distance, often before they have a chance to do anything about it. My price for doing that is that I could only have four normal bags. At level 80, this is not a problem as I still have 76 item slots... And the bank, and my auction house alt.

So like many changes, to me this sacrifices "realism" and a tiny bit of character differentiation for convenience (that's all this change is good for).

Blizzard could have addressed these complaints in a different way. How about introducing a new type of ranged weapon- maybe a "mana gun"- available through a quest line somewhere between levels 40 and 70? Surely with Gnomes they could think of an interesting way to work this into the lore. Instead of using ammo, the weapons would consume a small amount of mana per shot. They could then introduce talents that improve on these weapons, and while their at it, some that provide minor differences between guns and bows as well.


Hunter minus the ammo bag
# Feb 11 2009 at 10:13 AM Rating: Good
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513 posts
I am opposed to this on several levels. first as a LW, quivers are something I can make and make a little money on. 2nd I like the ability to choose different ammo for what im doing. For farming i use the cheap stuff, for instances/raids i use the highest quality i can. Having an ammo bag is part and parcel of being a hunter.
Easy fix
# Feb 11 2009 at 9:04 AM Rating: Decent
As a hunter I think a better fix is to give any class that can use a bow or gun an ammo bag slot. Doing that doesn't elininate the need for items crafted by players and gives rogues and warriors a seperate bag to store their ammo in too.
Keep ammo!
# Feb 11 2009 at 8:09 AM Rating: Decent
Quote:
For all you hunters out there, what are your thoughts on the ammunition changes?
Hunters out there?? How about engineers! Right now I'm selling mammoth cutters for 6-8g for 200 bullets. And I can make 2000 bullets for a couple of saronite bars.. I don't hope they remove the ammunition because this is the only damn item I can use to make some money out of my ****** profession, engineering!
Ammo and soulshards
# Feb 11 2009 at 1:25 AM Rating: Decent
Well, I have both a hunter and a warlock and for the hunters point of view I must say it sounds good to remove the ammo. I think most hunters fill their pouch and then thats not really a part of the game, untill next time you fill your pouch. The same for warlocks you might say, but with that difference that you can store soulchards in your regular bags and therefor many people (includning me) saves space in the bags by just having a few couple of soulshards at a time. That way gathering soulshards becomes a more active part of the game then buying/crafting ammo.

So.. removing ammo from the game, and make it into a "one time buy" item, wouldn´t do such big different gamewise, but help us alot bagwise.

Do it I say, do it...
eh
# Feb 11 2009 at 12:59 AM Rating: Default
i really dont like the idea it takes away from the realism and planning aspects of the game.
eh
# Feb 11 2009 at 3:33 PM Rating: Good
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372 posts
I never noticed any realism in WoW before. You're saying that the part of the game that involves buying 4000 arrows to stash in an invisible bag that magically makes hunters shoot faster was realism?
Hunter changes
# Feb 10 2009 at 10:30 PM Rating: Default
I dislike the idea of endless ammo and doing away with ammo pouches for many reasons but the biggest is realism. I have run out of ammo more than once and thought that it serve me right. Also, warriors use bows and guns too, not just hunters, so a separate bag for their ammo seems very appropriate.
The space constraints on the hunter are a very real problem. But I have almost as much problem with my pets food as I do ammo. So I suggest a hunter's pouch (to be made by leatherworkers). It would hold petfood (made by the hunter from mats normally consumed by his particular pet and learned from the pet trainers)and ammo (in stacks of 500 not 200).
The ammo change would save a great deal of space and would be a easy update to the existing recipes. You would not even have to change the amounts of mats to create them, just the end quantity.
The petfood idea would allow hunters to create a food from five of this, two of that, and three of those, into one food for his pet, stackable in quantities of 20 or even up to 50 thus consolidating space. Different levels could have different recipes and specific recipes could add twinks to the pet at higher levels. Only the same levels of foods would be allowed to be used in the recipes thus preserving the food level benefits we now have in place for our pets.
This also forces the hunter into deciding what will be food for his pet and what he will cook for himself, adding to drama and strategy of play(though admittedly not realism, hunters do usually feed their pets from their own larder).
Hunter changes
# Feb 11 2009 at 8:39 AM Rating: Good
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881 posts
palladinX wrote:
The space constraints on the hunter are a very real problem. But I have almost as much problem with my pets food as I do ammo. So I suggest a hunter's pouch (to be made by leatherworkers). It would hold petfood (made by the hunter from mats normally consumed by his particular pet and learned from the pet trainers)and ammo (in stacks of 500 not 200).


I can't remember the last time I even fed my pet since pets got their own talent trees (2 of which have a talent that increases happiness, not to mention the glyph mend pet). If you are carrying around THAT much food that it rivals the amount of ammo you carry, then that is your choice.
well
# Feb 10 2009 at 8:10 PM Rating: Decent
i like the idea, im just kinda bummed i spent so much money on my 28 slot quiver.
YAY! HUNTERS! *CRY Engineers...
# Feb 10 2009 at 1:18 PM Rating: Good
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1,882 posts
From a hunter perpsective... "About bloody time"

From an engineer perpsective "/cry"

Ammo was the ONLY consistent hot seller throughout our entire profession. Ammo is to us as bags are to tailors. Imagine the tailor's out cry if craftable bags were being removed from the game.

In doing this Blizzard is going to need to figure out some other way to give engineer's a steady income recipe. Maybe taking some of our engineer only "enchants" and making them available for sale similar to the blacksmith's belt buckle?

All-in-all I still feel Blizzard needs to do a major revamp to the professions. More money is wasted on them then made. The whole point of a profession is to MAKE MONEY. And you what...lose more money picking up a profession? *sigh*
YAY! HUNTERS! *CRY Engineers...
# Feb 10 2009 at 6:31 PM Rating: Decent
Speaking as one of the great WoW Pack-Rats (its not a Guild, its an attitude), thank you for giving me another 28 slots (see, I know this Gnome who knows a Night Elf who plays poker with a Tailor who does some amazing things with Mooncloth...anyway) to carry my "stuff" in!! Like I needed help feeding that addiction...

As to arrows: Why the heck cant the arrow damages just be part of the bow's damage? Put a req on the bow's usage like anything else that uses a Reagent. That keeps the whole "Better Arrows For Higher Levels" concept intact. Make it so that a level 80 bow can only shoot arrows found in Icecrown..or something like that. And make the "arrow" like a multi-use one-slot item. Removing the ammo altogether seems a bit unfair to me, as the other classes have their battle-associated costs too...buy mana pots for a Raid Priest or pay a Tank's repair bill sometime.

Big opportunity here...make those ammo items something that can be Engineered and you open up that wished-for income generator.


Just my two copper's worth,

Boomie

Edited, Feb 10th 2009 6:39pm by darkblak
YAY! HUNTERS! *CRY Engineers...
# Feb 11 2009 at 1:55 AM Rating: Decent
There are pros and cons to this proposed change.

Pro:
*Hunter with ammo bag + engineering bag + mining bag = bugger all bag space.
*Removing the need for an ammo bag is going to really help me free up some inventory slots.

Cons:
*As previously mentioned, i'm concerned that i'm going to lose money from ammo selling.
*My leatherworking rogue will lose money from selling ammo bags (bullets/arrows)
no ammo no pouch/quiver great
# Feb 10 2009 at 1:15 PM Rating: Decent
As Scubashark said about the soulshards. I never used a soulbag. Never saw the bennifit of it as you can carry shards in regular bags and no reason to carry so many. You can make them practically anywhere when you need them so i never saw a henderance there. For ammunition again no real reason to carry a quiver/pouch except that the bag itself actually gives a bonus to haste henceforth usefulness. Getting rid of the haste of them and putting it in some other function is a great idea and frees up that bag space everyone else has. Good going Blizzard. As for the ammo i have long wished that they would do something along the lines of endless quiver in Everquest in WOW. It was very nice to be rid of carry so much ammo around and spending so much money on ammo. Yes i know this isn't everquest and i am glad i no longer play that game. Either way it is both great changes! As for LW loosing money on quiver/pouch well it shouldn't hurt that bad you have many avenues of money making. As for engineers loseing a big income from ammo. I do partially agree that it is messed up there only because so much of enineering is bop stuff or only usable by other engineers of appropriate skill level which means they should make it themselves anyway. I have always thought that engineering needed some serious changes in that as almost all things produced by engineers is only usable by them. WOW should address that. Don't make the prolem in loosing money though cause of ammo profit loss many ways to make money other than that in game. Do demand that they do something with the tradeskill though that needs attention.
Bigger stacks/ additional bag slot
# Feb 10 2009 at 1:10 PM Rating: Decent
Ok so I'm really loving the new bag slot idea. I was really looking forward to the no reloadable ammo but I understand /cry and will patiently wait till they can get it in. I hope they can do it soon. Don't get me wrong I understand that engineers will miss the income, but I really wont miss the expense. Maybe open up some of the engineer only stuff for sale as a replacement!!! My hubby is a lvl 80 Lock and I totally agree about fixing the shards system. Locks seem to always be out of shards, fixing the summoning spell to a gate was fantasic for raid groups being summoned and that did help alot but at any given time we can be summoned on our mains to help out our lower guildies and he is not always in an area that has high enough level mobs. I remember getting my black bear, we had one lock and we ran her out of shards before the last city, there were not high lvls there to replenish and we lost multiple players who didnt get to finish. I mean just making the shards stackable would help this problem and stacks of 20 would fix it they could get there bag slot back and carry more so they didnt run out so quickly.

Just a thought
quivers 'n ammo
# Feb 10 2009 at 12:36 PM Rating: Decent
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807 posts
The extra bag space will be much appreciated, but the whole idea of a hunter without a quiver is kind of....weird. Perhaps the quiver could be a sort of 'bag inside of a bag', where the quiver still gets filled with arrows, but the quiver then goes into a bag itself? But that would 'look' even sillier I suppose, reaching inside a bag to pull out an arrow, vs the traditional 'over the shoulder, lock and load' routine.

Perhaps I'll just settle for a gatling gun, with bullet casing straps strewn about my shoulders, we have 'hogs afterall now.
Hunters? Pfft... Engineers!
# Feb 10 2009 at 11:56 AM Rating: Decent
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147 posts
As an engineer, a great deal of my income is selling arrows & bullets. If they were to do away with ammo all together, it would have a definite impact on my "main" toon's income.

My hunter currently has an 18 slot ammo pouch and a bunch of 20-slot bags, and is rarely hurting for bag slots. Just don't be a packrat :)

The bigger stacks is a great idea - just don't get rid of ammo altogether without seeing how it will impact people that make the ammo. It's bad enough engineers don't have a Northrend-worthy explosive (yet?), so unless they make more stuff that engineers can sell - like taking Engineering restriction off Gnomish X-Ray Specs, and makes pets like Lil'Smoky not BoP.

That's my 2 copper worth....
No ammo
# Feb 10 2009 at 10:43 AM Rating: Good
I'm happy about the change, but curious how Blizz is going to implement the haste bonus granted from Quiver/Pouches to us Hunters. The ammo change in general is a nice touch, because with ranged attack being our primary function, we've always been pigeonholed into either 1) Buying expensive ammunition in large quantites, 2) Being restricted to Engineering to make our own ammo, or 3) letting our DPS suffer through use of vendor bought ammo.

This will be good in that Hunters will be more apt to explore other avenues of crafting with ease and less concern for actually being about to come up with Ammo on a regular basis. On top of this, it free's up 16-22 inventory spaces (full bag slot), which is something that's sorely missed when farming/grinding/etc.
and 'locks?
# Feb 10 2009 at 10:42 AM Rating: Decent
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387 posts
I gather there are no news about Locks and THEIR soulpouches? b/c if Hunters get an additional bag, I want one, too!
and 'locks?
# Feb 10 2009 at 11:23 AM Rating: Decent
lol..Do locks really need that "special" bag? I dropped mine ages ago as a waste of space. I carry 3 or 4 shards at any given time as that's all I need since I can create 1 as needed while draining a soul. If they did remove the need for shards.... maybe the other uses (other than your minion creation) would need a reagent like Mages need to purchase?
and 'locks?
# Feb 10 2009 at 2:45 PM Rating: Decent
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387 posts
I always have my souldpouch with me, filled to the brim. I never know when I need a few more shards. Now, I think the easiest way out would be to just make soul shards unique stackable and be done with it. I'd be cool with it too, if they just added a buff to the soul puch. maybe different soul pouches for different speccs even. yep, I'd be 100% cool with that. But as it is: FIX HARD PLZ
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