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WoW Archivist: The curse of Karazhan
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Something has been afoot in Karazhan of late. First, dataminers noticed that Karazhan had been renamed Medivh's Big Birthday Bash on the PTR. In the rechristened raid, objects such as cobwebs and skeletons had disappeared. Then a later build renamed it Karazhan 2: Eclectic Boogaloo. Senior game designer Jonathan Craft tweeted that fellow designer Dave Maldonado was responsible. Maldonado later said that nothing is happening. It turned out to be a test to see if a phased quest could be set there, but sadly it didn't work. Many players would be excited to return to Karazhan, and it would make sense to do this in Warlords of Draenor. After all, Karazhan is from the same expansion that took us to the shattered remnants of Draenor back in 2007. Hopefully Blizzard will find a way to feature some Karazhan-based content during the next expansion. Karazhan remains one of Blizzard's most popular raid zones, and for good reason. But did it succeed too well for WoW's own good? Let's look back at what Karazhan offered us in its prime and how it impacted raid design in future expansions.
Shifting Perspectives: Karapalooza 2010
Every week, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week, after saving the world, we end it for others. They were in our way. Every so often I get the hankering to go stomp a place that previously rode my ass like Zorro, and I nominate Karazhan as being among the better places to do it. After wiping to heroic Icecrown bosses for a few hours, there's something wonderfully therapeutic about venting your frustrations on the tenants of an older raid, particularly when they cough up 1,000 gold, mounts, enchants, and gear that looks delightfully silly on a level 80. You remember Kara, right? It's that place that used to be hard. Doesn't narrow it down? It's the big building occupied by crazy dead people. Also doesn't narrow it down? Harumph. The place with the long hallway full of undead concubines? I see that jogged your memory.
Ghostcrawler: There will (not) be at least 31 bosses in Icecrown
Ghostcrawler has posted an interesting little hint at the next patch (we know of) headed to the game. In response to a discussion about "tanking niches," he talks about Icecrown Citadel over on the forums, and just happens to mention that people might think of tanks as waiting outside until "boss 4, 17 and 31 (yes, IC is that big)." 31 bosses? More like Icecrowded, am I right?Blackrock Depths is the largest 5-man in the game, if not the largest instance, and it boasts over 40 bosses (that's mostly counting encounters, though -- you wouldn't count The Seven, for example, as seven different bosses), including lots and lots of optional bosses and even a holiday boss. Ulduar, by comparison, has about 14, and Karazhan is about that same size (though that depends on how you count random bosses, like the Opera Event). No matter how you slice it, 31 raid bosses is a ton of bosses to go through -- Icecrown could be a return to a really epic, large-scale instance.Of course, there will likely be wings involved (Naxxramas' Quarters have worked out pretty well, I think), and with the new changes to raid lockouts, Blizzard no longer needs to squeeze the raiding experience into an average of two or three nights a week (which is what it seemed like they were usually aiming for before). If yours is the kind of guild that likes to clear everything in one night, though, you might want to start freeing up some time now.Update: GC now says he didn't mean the instance would have 31 bosses, he was just throwing in some ridiculous number to prove a point. Our question: why did he say "yes, IC is that big" if he didn't mean it would be that big?
Forum post of the day: New Karazhan opera events
Hey, it's cerebral humor on the WoW forums! My brain just exploded. Anyway, Hoshizora of Eredar has started a thread in R&D suggesting a new Karazhan opera play: Waiting for Godot. As he puts it, "The curtain opens to two guys standing on stage. They are not attackable. They have a repetitive and confusing conversation for two hours, and then walk offstage and despawn. No loot." Other players have their own ideas, including the Oh! Calcutta event, where you have to be naked to get loot, and Death of a Salesman, where you must be liked but not well-liked with The Violet Eye to participate. I can think of a couple myself:
