Player's Perspective Gaming

By clicking the story link above, you can view the original content, located on one of my favorite World of Warcraft websites, WoWInsider. Otherwise, click Here

The above post mentioned in the link, was a post made about a guild on my server, Winterhoof. The player, Strakken, of the guild Shattered, proceeds to tell us that guild raiding into progression is serious business. I somewhat agree with him, and admire his passion for progression...But, some say is he taking it a little too far? Others have called him "A Raid Nazi".

I plan on interviewing him tonight and getting the full story. More after the long break.

Its all really the same. All bosses before Ulduar were "hard" at some point. Sure, people just went in and cleared the content, cause we had a preemptive strategy to work off of. All of the kind hearted players who ran the Naxxramas content in the “Vanilla Wow”, and even the lucky few who ran through during The Burning Crusade, all knew what they were up against, and all had an idea of what was going to happen in there. So, when the time came in Wrath of the Lich King, people knew exactly what to do in these fights and situations, which were toned down slightly and revamped for 10 and 25 players, rather than the classic 40.

Ulduar, The new raid dungeon introduced in patch 3.1, is only hard for some, due to its “newness”. As a collective, the players who were experiencing the endgame content in the initial installment of wrath, were asking and craving a challenge that would take them time to complete. Their answer, was Ulduar. With its release, people were rushing to the area to view the new dungeon, and Northrend and servers were crashing left and right. While some were able to clear and have content down the launch night, the world first Yogg-Saron kill, came to Ensida, only 2 days after the patch was released. People have questioned whether or not the guild had pushed themselves too far and too hard, or if they were coordinated and geared enough to do it without much error. Others, complained that the content was far too hard to be completed even by classic “hardcore” raider's standards.

Now in the recent patch of 3.1.1, there has been some noted changes about the fight, making it so that some mobs and add's that appear during a few of the boss fights, can be snared and controllable, making it easier for some of the people to progress into. Also, but this falls under the list of bugs that are more and more less apparent, but they have fixed the issue with pets and minions not being able to attack Kologarm. These, along with they hot fixed an issue with being able to sneak past some mobs leading up to the Mimiron fight, some argue that they are making some of the fights easier.

While the instance has been difficult for some players who can't PUG the raid, and some guilds have even disbanded over the difficulty and drama that results from the instance, some people are regretting that this instance may be “too hard” raid that was given by Blizzard. Comparing to the situations involved in the past, this raid could be similar to the installment of The Black Temple or Sunwell Plateau raids, that were released sometime ago during the end of The Burning Crusade, and that most guilds were not prepared (no pun intended) for the Ulduar experience that was intended. Though, the initial intent by Blizzard, was to bring in a raid that will simply “Amaze and blow people away” with its gear, graphics, design and challenges. This goal has been met.

Many guilds and their management, are now gearing up, recruiting and retracing their steps through the old instances, collecting any missing gear, glyphs, and rethinking their actions and rotations with the new changes to many of the classes and abilities that Patch 3.1 has brought among us, and some who had relied heavily on the abilities and moves that they have grown to be used to over the past near 5 month ago release of patch 3.0, have dubbed this patch as the “Worst patch ever” and a ruiner of the World of Warcraft. While some have either left the game or are taking a break, their voices can still be heard on the official community forums, located on the World of Warcraft website.

So, a new question has risen with this insertion of “Hard” endgame content. Will this be the first and only time that blizzard listens to the player base and inserts what is asked for, a “hard raid” that requires planning, training and strategies? Or will this be a harbinger to what is come ahead in later patches. We still have yet to go fully into the area of Icecrown, though with the introduction of the Argent Tournament, you are placed in direct vicinity of the Icecrown Citadel in their later quests. I could not wait longer, and went around to ask some players what they thought of the new instance. The initial thought was that many players I spoke with are wondering “If ulduar is this hard, what will the Citadel be like?” and “Will Blizzard make Arthas as bad, mean and tough as the lore and story makes him out to be?” Over time, we will tell.

So now, I open it up to you. What do you, the readers, think will happen? How are you favoring with Ulduar and the “Hard Mode” content that is a savior to the bored, hardcore raider? Is this a new chance for you to come back into the game with a challenge at hand, or is this a reason to quit all together because the content is simply too tough for the casual or mid-level raider? I myself have not been able to make it into Uldaur, and have not witnessed the Flame Leviathan fight that many players are all talking about. But I do believe the talk that has been going around many of the servers, and that is Ulduar, is no cake walk compared to Naxxramas, Obsidian Sanctum and The Eye of Eternity, and to progress into this new dungeon, your going to need a lot more than your Flasks, Feasts, and Bandages to make it out alive.