Developer Memories: Chris Kaleiki Reflects on Designing the Monk Class
Chris Kaleiki, former Blizzard developer known for designing the Monk class and working on PvP systems, has shared behind-the-scenes stories and memories from Mists of Pandaria's development following the launch of Mists of Pandaria Classic.
Originally Posted by Chris Kaleiki
Mists of Pandaria Classic just released, and has sparked a lot of developer memories working on that expansion, where I designed and shipped the Monk Class.
Lets take a trip down memory lane...
1. Designing a class in WoW is one of the biggest honors a designer at Blizzard could have imo, but I originally was pitching a different type of class - The Tinker! I had a whole design and everything
When I was asked to do the Monk, I wasn't super excited, but grew to love it.
2. When we started talking about the Monk, a lot of the design directors challenged me with something crazy: what if the Monk had no auto-attack?
Wait, what? Yeah. It didn't last, but it was a whole thing I got engineering tech for to try. Once the directors played it, they were like jk. (Long story)
3. I played thousands of hours of Warcraft 3 like any self-respecting gamer, and loved the pitch of Pandarens. But I also wanted to flesh out the kit to be a bit more fun, modern, and different than what you normally see with RPG monks, especially Diablo which was a big thing around this time with Diablo III.
So I incorporated a bit of Mortal Kombat (Flying Serpent Kick) and Street Fighter (Rising Sun Kick).
4. Something that was constantly asked among the team was: What was Monks "Death Grip"? Death Knights had a signature ability called Death Grip that really set the class apart from others, and trying to come up with a new mechanic or something interesting in a game that had so many spells and mechanics was a challenge.
It ended up being Roll, a simple ability that was a little speed boost. I'll never forget looking at everyone playtesting the Monk at Blizzcon rolling around on every monitor screen.
5. Next curveball I was thrown was: Hey, we want a healer spec. Wait, what?
This took me a while to come up with, and really just leaned into the whole "mists" motif of the expansion. I designed Mistweaver to basically be the dream healer experience for me, which is my favorite role. A blend of HoTs, direct healing, and with a little spice -- Fistweaving! It didn't work (I don't' think?) longterm, but was new and different at the time.
Mistweaver became my main after MoP. It was a passion project!
6. I was known as the designer who would do weird, crazy mechanics that sometimes would be too weird (*cough* Priest Chakras). But this is because I always wanted to do something creative, different...
For the Brewmaster, I needed something to make their taking mechanics different. I did a lot of research on different fighting styles, and the drunken brawler caught my attention. I had the idea that the Brewmaster shrugs damage off, or dampens it until later. That's how the Stagger mechanic was born.
Another engineering headache, for sure. Sorry guys!
7. I think the Monk has some of the best sound design of any class, or RPG class, in any game. This is thanks the sound designer Chris Kowalski! Soothing MIsts, Uplift, etc... great sounds.
This is us at the midnight launch party for MoP (it says "Team Monk" there btw)
8. If you played WOLK, you'd know the Death Knight debuted as... well, pretty OP. So while I thought I balanced the Monk pretty well before it shipped, the team wanted to nerf it "just in case" that whole DK thing happened again.
Turns out the Monk came out pretty weak and we ended up buffing it later.
9. While the Monk was/is still a pretty niche class, I'm super proud of how it turned out, and its awesome that it has found its dedicated fan community
If you liked the Monk class design, I now do class design on our own game @PlayLegacyGG, which is some of my best work ever. While it doesn't have a Monk yet, there are more classes to come!
Check it out here!
Continue reading...
Chris Kaleiki, former Blizzard developer known for designing the Monk class and working on PvP systems, has shared behind-the-scenes stories and memories from Mists of Pandaria's development following the launch of Mists of Pandaria Classic.
Originally Posted by Chris Kaleiki
Mists of Pandaria Classic just released, and has sparked a lot of developer memories working on that expansion, where I designed and shipped the Monk Class.
Lets take a trip down memory lane...
1. Designing a class in WoW is one of the biggest honors a designer at Blizzard could have imo, but I originally was pitching a different type of class - The Tinker! I had a whole design and everything
When I was asked to do the Monk, I wasn't super excited, but grew to love it.
2. When we started talking about the Monk, a lot of the design directors challenged me with something crazy: what if the Monk had no auto-attack?
Wait, what? Yeah. It didn't last, but it was a whole thing I got engineering tech for to try. Once the directors played it, they were like jk. (Long story)
3. I played thousands of hours of Warcraft 3 like any self-respecting gamer, and loved the pitch of Pandarens. But I also wanted to flesh out the kit to be a bit more fun, modern, and different than what you normally see with RPG monks, especially Diablo which was a big thing around this time with Diablo III.
So I incorporated a bit of Mortal Kombat (Flying Serpent Kick) and Street Fighter (Rising Sun Kick).
4. Something that was constantly asked among the team was: What was Monks "Death Grip"? Death Knights had a signature ability called Death Grip that really set the class apart from others, and trying to come up with a new mechanic or something interesting in a game that had so many spells and mechanics was a challenge.
It ended up being Roll, a simple ability that was a little speed boost. I'll never forget looking at everyone playtesting the Monk at Blizzcon rolling around on every monitor screen.
5. Next curveball I was thrown was: Hey, we want a healer spec. Wait, what?
This took me a while to come up with, and really just leaned into the whole "mists" motif of the expansion. I designed Mistweaver to basically be the dream healer experience for me, which is my favorite role. A blend of HoTs, direct healing, and with a little spice -- Fistweaving! It didn't work (I don't' think?) longterm, but was new and different at the time.
Mistweaver became my main after MoP. It was a passion project!
6. I was known as the designer who would do weird, crazy mechanics that sometimes would be too weird (*cough* Priest Chakras). But this is because I always wanted to do something creative, different...
For the Brewmaster, I needed something to make their taking mechanics different. I did a lot of research on different fighting styles, and the drunken brawler caught my attention. I had the idea that the Brewmaster shrugs damage off, or dampens it until later. That's how the Stagger mechanic was born.
Another engineering headache, for sure. Sorry guys!
7. I think the Monk has some of the best sound design of any class, or RPG class, in any game. This is thanks the sound designer Chris Kowalski! Soothing MIsts, Uplift, etc... great sounds.
This is us at the midnight launch party for MoP (it says "Team Monk" there btw)
8. If you played WOLK, you'd know the Death Knight debuted as... well, pretty OP. So while I thought I balanced the Monk pretty well before it shipped, the team wanted to nerf it "just in case" that whole DK thing happened again.
Turns out the Monk came out pretty weak and we ended up buffing it later.
9. While the Monk was/is still a pretty niche class, I'm super proud of how it turned out, and its awesome that it has found its dedicated fan community
If you liked the Monk class design, I now do class design on our own game @PlayLegacyGG, which is some of my best work ever. While it doesn't have a Monk yet, there are more classes to come!
Check it out here!
Continue reading...