Uber guilds already at the end boss in WoW's new Ulduar raid.
It has been less than 24 hours since Blizzard opened the doors to the new Ulduar raid in World of Warcraft (WoW). Already, at least three guilds are working on Yogg-Saron, the Old God who is the conventional ‘end boss’ of the Dungeon. This is already starting to bring up the tired old ‘epic fail’ complaints from jaded raiders who keep on playing the game, despite their opinions that the game is now too easy.
While patch day always brings out the passionately idiotic WoW players (like this guy who is demanding compensation because the damage on his fishing rod was nerfed) it is quite surprising that this rapid clearing of Ulduar was unexpected. While Blizzard restricted testing times and boss availability during the months that the patch was on the test realm, odds are that progression-fixated guilds have already done half the fights. For the other half, there has been a steady flow of videos and evolving strategies that ensured that a guild focused on rapid clearing would be prepared.
Put these tools in the hands of skilled, incredibly well-geared players who are able to dedicate hours on end to wading through the dungeon, and you have a force to be reckoned with. Add to this that the dungeon is designed to cater for the average WoW player, and it is surprising that we aren’t already seeing screenshots of Yogg-Saron dead.
Blizzard has stated that its philosophy for Ulduar is accessibility, with progression coming from the extensive use of hard modes throughout the instance. These hard modes essentially involve a conscious decision to up the difficulty and rewards of an encounter by the raid group. Unsurprisingly, the guilds that are beating on Yogg’s brain at the moment have largely avoided the hard mode achievements – instead, they are gripping their e-peens in the hope of being the first to kill him. Come next week (assuming Yogg has under 24 hours left to live), I would expect to see a couple of guilds make serious progression through the hard modes. Blizzard has cleverly added a quest chain from these modes that allows access to an even more final boss, Algalon the Observer, who the developer has promised ‘feeds on a raid’s tears.’ Now, if we see Algalon dying by this time next week, it may be time to question Blizzard’s definition of hard, but until then, it seems like Ulduar is exactly how Blizzard wanted it to be.
My guild is taking its first steps into Ulduar 10 tonight, and we are expecting a challenge. I really doubt we’ll be clearing the place for a while, yet. It remains to be seen whether Ulduar will deliver enough raid content to last us until the next mystery raid instance in 3.2, but a new dungeon with multiple difficulty modes means that we’ll have something fresh and interesting to sink our teeth into. I’m sure it’s a common feeling among those that want to enjoy the gaming experience with friends rather than get the enormous feeling of warmth and well being that comes from being the first in the world to see some pixels fall over.
Update: As expected, European guild Ensidia has downed Yogg-Saron overnight, then been surprised by the loot being of the same quality as the other bosses so far. Apparently the good stuff is being kept for hard-mode.
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mcgarnagle
2009.04.16 16:49
It's kind of odd, philosophically speaking. My gut reaction to hearing people complaining that a game isn't hard enough is generally not an immediate dismissal of their concerns. Challenge is a crucial aspect of game design after all.
For example, playing Cogs would be nowhere near as much fun without the thrill of solving a particularly challenging puzzle. In that case, you're outsmarting the game; it would be hard to argue that solving a good brain-teaser isn't an achievement, however minor.
The trouble is that the people who complain about challenge in a game like WOW are generally not complaining that the content is too easy for them. It's the "scrubs" that they are upset about, specifically the fact that these inferior human specimens will "achieve" comparable heights in the game to their own.
This attitude is, as Oscar Wilde once said, lol-worthy; the stuff of roflmao's. Thankfully it does seem as though developers are realising that obsessives who require gaming achievements to validate their existence in lieu of genuine real-life achievements are actually the minority. Most people just want to have some fun.
As a gamer who likes a challenge, as long as it's surmountable with a little thought and repetition, I really hope that developers continue to follow this philosophy.
2009.04.16 17:29
I keep thinking back to when blizzard put the 'cockblock' at the start of the instance in Blackwing Lair. Trying to motivate a 40 person raid to turn up and then wipe repeatedly because it was the first time a fight had relied on everyone doing their own thing right was soul-crushing at times. Killing that guy was such an amazing rush, but it proved that the vast majority of players don't want to bash their heads against the wall week after week even if they personally were executing flawlessly.
After that Blizz just overtuned latter bosses like C'Thun and 4-Horsemen, and both those ones are always brought up as the benchmarks for 'best boss evah' by the scrub-hating crowd. No one mentions Razorgore because while it was probably the most intricate encounter in the game at the time, it was a hurdle to bypass rather than a proper 'challenge'.
Not having to go through that is a welcome relief, but as an ex-hardcore raider I can say few things came close to the thrill of having 30 orcs chasing me with only a runspeed enchant and piercing howl keeping them at bay. Being able to decide to place those challenges upon players is a great evolution - it keeps things interesting in a way that Naxxramas didn't. It is refreshing that Blizzard is actually trying to make raids as accessible as possible (yet still keeping it a challenge for the hardcore.
What satisfies me more about achievements isn't bashing my head against the wall to deliberately get them. It's about the little rush that comes when shit goes right and that box pops up at the end with the achievement. It's like a GG straight from the software. I don't have a huge number of achievements, but the ones I have feel well deserved.
squirrelz
2009.04.17 14:17 ~
Fishing rod pwns all #cries#