endgame
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Breakfast Topic: What should Nihilum do now?
They've done it all, raided from one end of Azeroth to the other, and now they've conquered Outland as well. So what is next for the golden boys of raiding? I imagine they themselves may be wondering the same thing. They have the gear, they've done all the encounters, so what now? What would you suggest Nihilum do as they set out into the unknown? Is it time to set their sights on The Card Game perhaps? Or maybe start ramping up to compete in the Arena season 2? What do you think?
Raiding and the new (to your faction) classes
As you may be aware, I've been leveling a Draenei shaman up, to raid with my guild (Vision on Khaz Modan, fyi) in the not-too-distant future. Vision's been great about this, and has been encouraging and helpful in making room for those of us who have abandoned our 60's and elected to take the long and painful path back to raiding status. I've been talking with other guild and raid leaders from the community, and with the change in raid group size, the addition of a new class seems to create a bit of an issue. Now you have 25 slots for 9 different classes, so how do you achieve balance in your raiding organization? As I've heard different answers from virtually everyone I've talked to, I want to see if we can get some sort of consensus here on WoW Insider, so that the community may form a semi-unified approach going into the new endgame. Read on for a couple of approaches, and to add your voice to the discussion.
The new PvE endgame, featuring "Noob Extinction"
Kamikazeelf over at Curse Gaming has a really insightful article up about how endgame PVE is going to change as more and more players hit 70 in the Burning Crusade. After writing up this guide for endgame instances, the gist of his opinions is this: more gaming for less people.There are, as he says, tons of things to do for attunement to most of the endgame dungeons-- including attunements just to get attuned for the attunements. And that's just for mains-- your alts will also have to get attuned if you want to take them to the endgame raids. Considering raid group numbers are lowering (from 40 to 25), that means guilds are going to be slimming down by necessity-- not only will fewer people be able to go, but fewer people will get to go because the attunements will rule a lot of people out.And this, says Kamikazeelf, will lead to something called "Noob Extinction" (I happen to enjoy the phrase). Basically, if it's so hard to get into these dungeons, and so few people can go, players who don't know what they're doing will quickly get outed. On a 40-man raid, you could afford 10 people standing there and doing half a job. But in a 25 man raid, where a whole guild has to run instances over and over just to get people attuned, the proverbial "fools" just can't be suffered. At the highest instances (and there are a few of them), the rule will be that you're good, or you're gone.Now, there are, of course, exceptions. Some guilds are friends, and everyone will help everyone else out so everyone has a good time. Some players won't bother with PvE at all, and instead focus characters only on PvP (for my alts, this is probably what I'll do). But the truth is that this will leave some players out in the cold-- both kids who don't know what they're doing, and casual players who can't afford two weeks just to get attuned to one instance. Whether or not that's a good thing for the game at large remains to be seen.
Death and Taxes 5-mans Loatheb
Our Guild of the Year for 2006, Death and Taxes, hasn't wasted any time in 2007, either. At a time when most guild are trying to keep their raiding numbers up, D&T doesn't bother-- they just go in with less people. And now, reports Curse, they've downed Loatheb with just five people-- three shadow priests, a warlock specced with Nether Protection (or maybe not, see comments), and a warrior.The official announcement is over on their forums. They don't say specifics on attempts or how long it took them, but apparently they've got 15 gigs of video from FRAPS on the kill. That means, of course, that a video is coming soon, but as one of the guys says, we probably don't need to see a video to know what happened: "Just imagine a shadowbolt and 3 blue lines flying in the air for 40 minutes."
The Burning Crusade: What to do at 70?
Yeah, I realize this is a little way off for some, and a long long long (like maybe next year or the year after) way off for some other people, but when I think of the Burning Crusade I always tend to think, "What'll I do when I hit 70?" I've had a level 60 since December of 2004 (yes, I'm one of those nerds), so I've always been wondering what's next in the endgame. In WoW 1.x, we had Molten Core, and then Blackwing Lair, and after a while we had ZG, AQ20 and AQ40. That's a fair bit of content in itself. Add Naxxramas to that, and there's been a lot to do. Or at least, I thought I'd had a lot to do. Attunements were pretty simple, the quest chains not unbearable, and progression a pretty solid and steady advance. Last week I talked about Mount Hyjal, and the attunement leading up to it. As it turns out, it's even a bit more complicated than I thought.
Taking a PVE guild to the expansion
So the endgame guild I'm a part of (shout out to Gothic Bunnies on Thunderhorn-H!) is doing really well lately. We just got a nice influx of new members right around the time we started getting serious about MC and ZG, and just this last weekend, we finally made it to Domo (Rag, you're on notice) and, later the same day, downed Hakkar (that was an experience, let me tell you). So we're rolling right along-- we're already getting set for Onyxia, and by the time the expansion hits, we'll be ready for BWL.Oh, right-- the expansion. I'm not in a position of leadership in this guild (or any guild), but you have to think the sudden influx of great items, new instances, and ten more levels (I just kind of assume everyone in the guild plays WoW enough to buy it as early as possible) might throw things off a bit. What's the point in farming MC for tier 1 stuff when even quest rewards in the expansion look better? And how can you get a group of 20 together for AQ Ruins when everyone has to work up ten levels again, will be starting new alts with the new races, and LFGing (with the new system) for PVP and the new instances?In short, how do you keep a "mid-endgame" guild together when all the cool new stuff hits?Now, if you're in Naxx already and half the guild is dressed in Tier 3, I'm sure it's not that big a problem-- you'll probably all go to Outland and level up together. And if you haven't made it to 60 yet, you're probably not worried at all-- you haven't invested enough time in this raiding system to care too much. But it seems to me that things are going to be pretty scattered when the expansion hits, and it's coming right at a time when a guild like mine is hitting our stride on the old stuff. I do trust our leadership-- I'm sure that if anyone can strike a balance between leading the guild into the new content and staying busy on the "old" content, they can. But I expect it to be pretty tough. I don't think we're wasting our time on the "old" content-- even if my ZG gear will be outdated by the end of the year, downing Hakkar was an experience I'll never forget. But with all the new instances calling, along with the phat lewts and new encounters, will current "mid-endgame" guilds ever feel the need to go for C'thun? Or will AQ become the new Dire Maul-- an instance that has some cool stuff and fun encounters, but often gets overlooked on the way to endgame?
Guilds and the shared player experience
Terra Nova has put up a terribly interesting (and terribly long) piece about guilds, specifically about how players build bonds based on contingency and improvement. I've recently brought two characters to 60 within a few weeks, so I'm currently juggling relationships with two new guilds. In doing so, I've basically gotten a firsthand crash course in what Thomas Malaby is talking about.A few researchers have tried to paint WoW as a "third space"-- a place aside from work or home where people congregate and socially interact. But guild interactions are almost on a plane all their own-- it's still a game, but there are elements of responsibility like a job. And there is camaraderie and even trust-- as you prove to your guild that you're able to tank that boss or keep that tank up, they come to accept you as one of their own, and you vice versa. As you begin to build levels together, your characters all grow from all of your actions, and that's where the pleasure of having and belonging to a good, strong guild comes in. However, says Malaby, endgame raiding (which is where I'm going with my guilds currently) is where the problem comes in. Instead of the advancement being vertical (XP for all), it quickly switches to horizontal (items for some), and the trust gets lost in that. Instead of all working together for experience, a guild can find its members competing with each other for items. A run through SM grants experience (and finished quests for everyone). But you can run MC many times without ever advancing that much, and that, says Malaby, is where endgame raiding doesn't serve guilds the way it should-- leading to the drama we know (and love?). In theory that might be true, but in practice I've found there's more to it. A guild (good guild, anyway) does more than raid-- they can help with instances, help you with quests for your equipment, and help you craft items to advance your character. It's true that turning enchancement over to items at 60 does split up a lot of guilds (one reason why so many guilds are looking forward to leveling to 70 together), but I'd posit that there are other experiences besides character advancement that can keep a guild together. My personal experience on this is split. I really enjoy endgame raiding-- even if I don't pick up a new item, I always seem to have a good time joking around and learning the game. But then again, there are times when I miss that feeling of co-advancement-- running SM and having everybody with you ding once while inside. Short of letting characters infinitely advance (something that Malaby says, rightly, would imbalance the game), there's not much else Blizzard can do about it, however.
Should current endgame content be scalable in BC?
Jayne from Mug'thol has an interesting thought over on the forums: he lodges a request to Blizzard to make the current endgame dungeons (BWL, AQ, and Naxx) scalable in the upcoming expansion. We already know a few of the new instances will be scalable-- when you take on the Hellfire Citadel level 60-62 wing at level 70, it'll be harder and have different rewards. So why not, says Jayne, make the current endgame instances scalable as well, so they just as much of a challenge to level 70 players in the expansion as they do to level 60s now. In one sense, Jayne has a good point. Especially in Naxx, an instance that has only been in the game for a relatively short time, scaling it to level 70 might give it a little longer shelf life. And since anyone who's 70 won't even get experience from level 60 mobs, there might not be much pull for players to go back and do the "old" instances.But personally, I'd rather see the new content be for level 70s and let this current endgame become part of the middle game. Jayne says that having only a small percentage of players able to play this content would extend its life, but I disagree-- I can't wait to get into Naxx with my casual guild in level 65 gear and tear things up. And I'd be very surprised if there wasn't enough content in the expansion to keep players interested all the way until the next patch-- we're not just talking a new instance for level 70s, we're talking almost another half of the existing game. Leaving the current endgame at the level its at will just let more players experience all the hard work and lore the devs have put into it.Of course, that does kind of invalidate all the hard work current endgame raiders have put into getting their way through Naxx. Thoughts?
A second sixty in the making
I'm a serious alt-a-holic, with dozens of characters spread out across servers, factions, races and classes. After getting my first character to level 60 a few months ago, I've been exploring the endgame, but still spending time with my alts too -- and now my first real 'alt' character is about to reach 60. At the moment, I'm considering how to approach the 'main'/'alt' situation. There are many things I want to achieve with my main; the pvp and reputation grinds are nowhere near done, and there's plenty of bosses to fight and items to collect. However, I'm a little bored of the sameness of it all, and being able to experience these encounters from a different class's point of view is going to be refreshing -- and will involve a lot of relearning. Many of the raiding players I know tend to focus on their main character, only bringing out alts for special encounters or when the raidgroup feels generous enough to gear up the alt. Class balance being what it is, my main character (a druid) is more likely to be needed for raids and instances -- but I don't want my alt (a mage) to sit gathering dust in greens for the rest of time. For the time being, I think I will continue playing both characters, attempting to gear up my alt when I'm not raiding or PvPing with my main. Playing my alts is something that I do for a change of pace and scenery, and I'd like to keep it that way.
'Hardcore' raiding, one month in
"Because you're not hardcore unless you live hardcore" I've always considered myself a casual player; although at times I may live and breathe WoW, it's not all there is to life, and if something better comes up in RL I'm happy to pause PvP or say no to raiding. While epics are nice, I tend not to measure my worth in purples, nor do I min/max my spec to flatter damage meters. However, all this talk of Naxx recently led me to feel I was missing out. I'd been in the endgame a while, and although I knew some instances all too well, there were other parts of the level 60 experience that I had never seen. I'd never set foot into Blackwing Lair, never seen Onyxia up close, and certainly never had a point of DKP to my name. So, when I was invited by a friend to apply for a spot in her raiding group, I did.
How to Hit 60 In Style (Or Not)
Yesterday, my Orc Shaman finally hit "the most fun part of the game," according to one of my guildies-- yep, after long last, he dinged 60.Originally, I had hoped to do something really interesting with it-- hit 60 by discovering Stormwind, or finally downing Hakkar for the first time. But in the end, I happened to be in the middle of a Scholo run, and it rolled right up on me. Not that it wasn't exciting-- later that night I used all my new stats on a raid and picked up a great mace, and I couldn't wait to get into AV afterwards and finally put the beat down for real. And my experience wasn't as bad as Belle's over in the WoW Ladies livejournal group-- she hit 60 while AFK and offline.Fortunately, I have another character three levels from 60, so I'm just a week or so away from another chance to make the ding special (I think for this one I'm going to at least try to get my guild to take me to Onyxia for the occasion). Did you try to hit your 60 somewhere specific, or did you just play through until that yellow sparkle showed up for the last time? Or if you haven't reached the holy grail yet, got any plans?
World Of Warcraft Needs A Game Over Screen
If you haven't checked out Tobold's MMORPG Blog, you probably should. He isn't exactly hardcore, but he surely isn't casual either, making him an awful lot like the average player . His latest entry deals with whether WoW needs a game over screen. Yes, it is a MMORPG, which in theory should be an endless experience, but Tobold argues that even a game like WoW does come to an end. I tend to agree with this. It might take thousands of hours, but at some point, pre-raid, you will have done every single quest, leveled every single class and seen everything there is to see. This, in my mind, is Game Over. We aren't forced to spend $15 a month , and if we don't like the raiding endgame, we should probably just stop playing, wait for the expansion and find something else to do. Or, we could go to the message boards and start endless threads about the bad endgame content for casuals! Either way really. If I ever reach my personal Game Over screen, I will be investigating this wild rumor going around that I have a wife and a dog living somewhere in this house with me. Yes sir. That's my plan.
How to win friends and influence raiders
Being in charge of a 40-man raid group is undoubtedly a tricky business, and something I've yet to attempt in WoW. While I have a lot of respect for those who take on the mantle of leadership, who put hours into preparation and strategies and recruitment, sometimes the lofty raid leader can seem too distanced from the rank and file of the raid.As a new member of a large raid group, I'm starting to see endgame content I've been reading about for months, and it's an exciting time for me. However, this is the point at which leadership is crucial in order to turn players like me (full of enthusiasm but lacking in experience) into fully-fledged raiders. But how? The following observations may seem obvious, but I've seen leaders who ignore every single thing below.
"Welcome to the endgame... noob."
Overheard in Orgrimmar: "Welcome to the endgame, noob."Not the warmest welcome a new level 60 might get, but perhaps an appropriate one. Upon hitting 60 (or perhaps even 55+), and encountering endgame content, one is in an interesting position. The content is new, but so many players are familiar with it that there's often little tolerance for those who are learning. This seems to be a particular problem within the PuGs I've encountered. Usually, the players within them assume you've done everything to death before -- that you understand the abbreviations and common tactics. This isn't always the case; from battlegrounds to instances, everyone's new at some point. If grouped with someone who doesn't know what they're doing, here's a plea on behalf of the anonymous noob: bear in mind it might be their first time.
The joys of cat shopping
When I first hit level 60, I was poor. Training up a multitude of new skills and working on my equipment left me living life with nary a gold coin in my pocket for weeks, but like many other level 60s, I decided I wanted an epic mount. Although I'm still saving runecloth for a cross-racial mount, for now I've gone the traditional route and upgraded to the next brand of saber, as I'm a night elf.Getting the epic mount has been the culmination of weeks of half-formed ambition and several days of single-minded determination. Grinding and farming with the sole purpose of cash (although I tried to get reputation along the way) has almost burnt me out on solo play, especially on the night elf in question. However, when I rush across the landscape faster than ever before, running and jumping from the sheer joy of a speed increase, it all seems worth it.
WoW Moviewatch: Naxxramas Trailer from E3
This video, Shadow of the Necropolis, gives us our first glimpse of action in the upcoming Naxxramas instance, included in the 1.11 patch, from the Blizzard previews at E3. Those are some seriously gnarly spiders...
Things to do in Azeroth when you're 60
The official site's recently been updated with a helpful page telling us all about high-level options: the various factions you can grind reputation for, the battlegrounds you can grind honour in, and the professions you can farm materials for. There's also an overview of the high-level dungeons and world events as well as some other tips to try (Tried an "Alt"?).However, the page looks more useful to those who've heard about WoW's endgame and are currently sitting in the level 40-50 bracket wondering "What's the point?" -- it's great that Blizzard are trying to supplement WoW's endgame by providing a handy page of "Things Level 60s Can Now Do", but it all seems a bit desperate to me.
Endgame guild closeup
This fairly old, but interesting, article from Nick Yee's Daedalus project gives an insight into one of the "uberguilds", guilds that persist across games and aim for the top. As the first to kill Ragnaros on their server, Talon's guild is a marvel of military organisation, but not without criticism--the guild leader prefers not to let women in the guild, for example.Talon's rules for membership are especially clear: you need to be able to take criticism, have good attendance for events, and have the "guild comes first" attitude. Many of us have just joined guilds that were openly recruiting, that had friends in, or that a party member invited us into because they liked our style--this is very different territory.
