Opinion: March 2008 Archives


When is the last time Blizzard brought in a 5 person(thanks Drysc for the politically correct version) dungeon outside of an expansion or launch of WoW? Was it Maraudon? Dire Maul? That was three years ago, and it was still for the most part 'Vanilla WoW' as they call it. That was almost launch version as they were still working on the server issues until May.

This question was brought up by a post from Lavata of the Sentinels US realm. She asks why Blizzard made the Magister's Terrace so damned hard. With mobs that "are worse than trash in Kara" and Bosses that are easier than some of the trash pulls, Lavata says that it is far too difficult for your average 70. "MaT fails to fill the spot it is meant to in progression" to paraphrase.

I think that Lavata, and many others who eagerly fly their way to the Isle of Quel'Danas in anticipation of a run through MaT(for lack of a better abbreviation), are making on mistake in assumption. They assume that this will be just another 5 person just like the rest we got with TBC. It isn't. Why would it be? It is a dungeon we get as we all near the next phase of the game, Wrath of the Lich King.

Look at this like... the baby Naxx of the TBC era. It's not the big raid instance, as Sunwell Plateau fits in there. It's the baby one for the non raiders or those just looking to get more gear from rep rewards. It will be hard. Harder than any of the other 5 person dungeons we have so far, and that is fine because it should be hard.

Another thing to consider is something that Drysc points out in the thread. When TBC came out, people were even at the high ends of the dungeons still banging their heads on the wall of the low TBC dungeons like Blood Furnace and Slave Pens. Hell, some people still haven't done those dungeons because of their earlier troubles. Only one of my 3 70s has ever fought his way through the Slave Pens dungeon.

This is the early head banging phase of Magister's Terrace. It's the point were we try out the strategies, attack fights from different angles, and see what works. We also see what doesn't work and how we can fit in those classes who are the outsiders of the dungeon sets, the Ret Paladins, the rogues, the hunters and more. Give it some time, Lavata, It'll come.

Of course, as always, your mileage(and gear) may vary.

I am sitting here at work, and I popped over to WoW Insider on my phone during a slow period. I read this article with interest. To sum it up, the former top raiding guild, Risen, who was well know in the pre TBC days, has decided that they are going to kiss raiding goodbye until the next expansion Wrath of the Lich King.