I really don't know where to start with the whole 3.2 Patch. Everything that I hear about it seems to be good. I'm sorry, but if there's somebody that's whining about Emblems of Conquest being handed out in Heroics (and all the lower raids) and Emblems of Triumph being handed out through Daily Quests... well... what did you expect? You're obviously Hard Core... and better than all of us (see whut I did thar)... and you'll get your upgraded epics way before the rest of us. So, simmer down, clown.
But one of the best things for casual guilds is the ability to extend raid lock out times. Honestly... one of the best things ever. Take our casual guild now. We run once per week, and generally about 3 hours. It's enough to clear Ulduar's first 4 bosses. And that's about it. There's no way we'd be able to clear Naxx in that amount of time. But in two weeks, completely possible. On our schedule, we'd be "clearing" Ulduar forever and still never see progression in. (Well.. we can skip bosses, but that's not the point.)
The hardcore people still get to be hardcore, but it really opens up some of the deeper parts of raid instances to more casual players. Great move, Blizzard. I wish I would have thought about this myself. (And if I wasn't lazy, I'd dig up the link where I did think this up, 'cause I'm 95% sure I posted about it. I'm 100% sure I've thought that it should have been done before now.)
3 comments:
Im really glad to see a post regarding 3.2 in a positive light. Tuatha Dé Danann - Khadgar is very similar to your guild, we are a working class, familly, and student guild. In the days of Karazhan 1 week wasnt enough time, and we would literally burn ourselves out trying to clear as much of the raid before our 2nd raid of the week.
WOTLK, Naxx. we raid 2 nights per week, with an optional 3rd on Tuesday before reset. 3 hours raiding, ...the math doesnt add up to a full clear in 7 days.
Endgame raider's raid to server firsts, guild firsts & in competition with other compeditive guilds, and higher level gear quickly.
Casual guilds dont, we play to get there eventually, and enjoy the game at our own pace exploring.
Why should we pay the same for a game that an endgamer raider would invest more RL "time" playing, than the casual player who plays within their Real life commitments allow them too? their is no skill limit, only time limit. And the emblems change is my perception of Blizz balancing practical time players with fast endgame raiders.
I raid in a 3 nights a week casual raiding guild, currently 8/14 in Ulduar 25 - we're never going to to get server firsts, or even be in the top 20 guilds on the server for achievements, but we work hard to progress and have fun while we're doing it. What I fail to get with the dishing out of emblems of triumph for dailies, is what the win is for anyone. raiders will be fed up at the cheapening of getting gear, and casual people will get overpowered gear they don't really need to do dailies, making their challenges less challenging.... I don't really see the good side tbh. I like to work for my loot personally, I don't get much satisfaction in being given it for nothing.
I do like the extended lockout though, it gives guilds who arent hard core enough to walk through the compulsary bosses in their limited raid time chances on new content - thats a really nice change.
My first post here, so I'll also take the chance to say thanks for the blog! I've been reading it for a long time, and I appreciate your views, always thought provoking...
Thanks for commenting, Kammy. Always good to know who my "lurkers" are. :)
I think some of the "win" for handing out badges like this is letting people catch up to people like you. In their actions, Blizzard has made it pretty clear that raids aren't just for the hardcore anymore. There are people that enjoy instances, have probably cleared them out entirely, and occasionaly would like to raid.
Meanwhile, on the other side, I know a lot of people that spend a lot more time in the game than just raids. This will encourage them to run heroics (even if it's just with people in their own guild) to get badges faster as well.
In vanilla Wow and, to a lesser extent, TBC, you're right... good gear wasn't needed for questing, but the emphasis has clearly changed.
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