raid-boss-mechanics
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Easily share boss strategies with Boss Blueprint
We're always on the lookout for awesome web tools and utilities that can help raiding groups with everything from determining raid buffs to the strength of your raid group itself. Now, you can plan strategies and easily share them with Boss Blueprint! The interface is simple, and it has preset room images for each and every raid boss in Bastion of Twilight, Throne of the Four Winds, and Blackwing Descent. You can add any raid markers, directional arrows to indicate movement, and raid roles onto the map to show where people should stand. Boss Blueprint could make a really great tool when you're explaining a fight to your raid and need a visual aid. Blizzard has come a long way with its own raid interface with the new raid markers, new tools for raiders like role checks, and beefed-up raid unit frames that look more and more like those of a lot of addons out there. Boss Blueprint looks like it could be a great corollary to the built-in tools, as the images you create are easily sharable just by clicking the generated link. Check out Boss Blueprint at its website here. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Breakfast Topic: The simplification of the game
One of the key reasons behind WoW's runaway success when it launched was it made MMORPG's accessible. Quests were tracked, instances were on rails and progression was clear. Other games on the market at the time were deeply complex affairs that required players to spend more time outside the game researching it than actually in it playing.As time went on WoW became more complex in an effort to continually challenge its players. New game mechanics were introduced and corresponding stats showed up on items to deal with them. Classes took on new roles and new game mechanics were introduced to cater to it. Multiple sets of gear became necessary to deal with the many different encounters available in Azeroth and the Outlands.But now, with Wrath, Blizzard is simplifying the game to a great extent. Item stats are being merged or removed (hello, +Spellpower.) Different classes are approaching encounters the same way (all tanks are getting better at AE abilities). Raid boss mechanics, which only a small percentage of the player population has seen, are being reused in more accessible encouters.So the questions is: Do we want a more simplified WoW so we can spend more time playing and less time analyzing dps charts or is the complexity of the current game part of the appeal?
