Comments on: Ten things I hope to see from 38 Studios http://www.epicslant.com/2009/03/ten-things-i-hope-to-see-from-38-studios/ MMORPG design, raiding, and guild leadership Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:23:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Siobhan http://www.epicslant.com/2009/03/ten-things-i-hope-to-see-from-38-studios/comment-page-1/#comment-475 Siobhan Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:26:38 +0000 http://www.ferrel.me/?p=576#comment-475 One thing that WoW has done to make raiding available to hardcore and casual raiders is to have different "versions" of the same raid zone. They have also added achievements. The achievements add another aspect to the raid zone. In the current content, the main raiding zone is Naxxaramas. They made a 10-man version and a 25-man version. Currently both versions are insanely easy for hardcore guilds and "midcore" guilds to the point where you can get a pickup-group of horribly geared players and defeat the instance. Gear isn't needed for the base encounters. For the harder encounters from the "tweaks" to the base encounters, gear most definitely matters. To make raids a little more challenging, we have achievements we can do. These achievements amount to "Defeat XYZ boss in under 3 minutes" or "Kill ABC boss without dispelling her enrage." It adds a sense of challenge to the fight. After all the achievements are completed, players are awarded a flying mount and a title. Some of the achievements are not easy so that does help the more hardcore guilds have something to work on once all content has been cleared. The next patch in WoW will bring Ulduar. It will be harder, to the happiness of large portion of the raiders, and will also have different versions. There will still be 10-man and 25-man versions but there will also be a "hard" mode to both. "hard" mode awards better gear and they still will have achievements for guilds to work on. Some easy, some hard. Personally, I like the changes they have made to a "classic" raid system of raiding the same instances over and over and over again. They've added other things to work for and things to strive for. I think Blizzard is trying to find a way to balance raiding for startup raiding guilds and the hardcore guilds that have been around forever. They want everyone who wants to raid to have a chance to see raiding content and not be forced into a hardcore to semi-hardcore life to do it. So far, I think they have succeeded. One thing that WoW has done to make raiding available to hardcore and casual raiders is to have different “versions” of the same raid zone. They have also added achievements. The achievements add another aspect to the raid zone. In the current content, the main raiding zone is Naxxaramas. They made a 10-man version and a 25-man version. Currently both versions are insanely easy for hardcore guilds and “midcore” guilds to the point where you can get a pickup-group of horribly geared players and defeat the instance. Gear isn’t needed for the base encounters. For the harder encounters from the “tweaks” to the base encounters, gear most definitely matters. To make raids a little more challenging, we have achievements we can do. These achievements amount to “Defeat XYZ boss in under 3 minutes” or “Kill ABC boss without dispelling her enrage.” It adds a sense of challenge to the fight. After all the achievements are completed, players are awarded a flying mount and a title. Some of the achievements are not easy so that does help the more hardcore guilds have something to work on once all content has been cleared.

The next patch in WoW will bring Ulduar. It will be harder, to the happiness of large portion of the raiders, and will also have different versions. There will still be 10-man and 25-man versions but there will also be a “hard” mode to both. “hard” mode awards better gear and they still will have achievements for guilds to work on. Some easy, some hard.

Personally, I like the changes they have made to a “classic” raid system of raiding the same instances over and over and over again. They’ve added other things to work for and things to strive for. I think Blizzard is trying to find a way to balance raiding for startup raiding guilds and the hardcore guilds that have been around forever. They want everyone who wants to raid to have a chance to see raiding content and not be forced into a hardcore to semi-hardcore life to do it. So far, I think they have succeeded.

]]> By: Tulane Grimm http://www.epicslant.com/2009/03/ten-things-i-hope-to-see-from-38-studios/comment-page-1/#comment-469 Tulane Grimm Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:49:08 +0000 http://www.ferrel.me/?p=576#comment-469 Excellent! I, too, and anxiously awaiting Project Copernicus. I especially, like the point you made about solo and groups. The mmos genre could use more group-oriented experiences. To hell with soloing — which is how I feel. If you wanna do that, go play a console rpg. Excellent!

I, too, and anxiously awaiting Project Copernicus. I especially, like the point you made about solo and groups. The mmos genre could use more group-oriented experiences. To hell with soloing — which is how I feel. If you wanna do that, go play a console rpg.

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