Comments on: The lure of large-group raiding http://www.groupsofwords.com/2008/04/17/the-lure-of-large-group-raiding/ in a wide variety of arrangements Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:54:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: gowwriter http://www.groupsofwords.com/2008/04/17/the-lure-of-large-group-raiding/#comment-9 gowwriter Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:17:32 +0000 http://www.groupsofwords.com/?p=18#comment-9 But what part of the gameplay is harder in bigger groups? The same stat design applies to every level of the game. Largely the same combinations of design tricks and resulting strategies apply to 10-man and 25-man content. What 25-man event could not be reconfigured to a 10-man event with little or no loss in fun? I haven't heard of any. That's what I was getting at by calling it the "big-boy track". It's not actually better, more challenging, or more fun. It's just more people. In our case, ZA is there and is fun, but the guild accepted an offer to try the the big-boy track instead. It's longer (in that there are more instances), and it's perceived as more elite. I was hoping for exactly what you describe, that we just progress through ZA and then WotLK drops. Ah well. I have another post in the pipeline comparing TBC with vanilla WoW. But what part of the gameplay is harder in bigger groups? The same stat design applies to every level of the game. Largely the same combinations of design tricks and resulting strategies apply to 10-man and 25-man content.

What 25-man event could not be reconfigured to a 10-man event with little or no loss in fun? I haven’t heard of any. That’s what I was getting at by calling it the “big-boy track”. It’s not actually better, more challenging, or more fun. It’s just more people.

In our case, ZA is there and is fun, but the guild accepted an offer to try the the big-boy track instead. It’s longer (in that there are more instances), and it’s perceived as more elite. I was hoping for exactly what you describe, that we just progress through ZA and then WotLK drops. Ah well.

I have another post in the pipeline comparing TBC with vanilla WoW.

]]> By: Dave http://www.groupsofwords.com/2008/04/17/the-lure-of-large-group-raiding/#comment-8 Dave Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:01:14 +0000 http://www.groupsofwords.com/?p=18#comment-8 One problem is that difficulty scales in multiple dimensions, simultaneously. Complexity, stats, required individuals. The scale isn't gradual, either, at least not on the people required front. The jump from 10 to 25 is brutal. And as long as that next tier of content is available, there's a class of people who will be constantly itching to enter it (even if they aren't trailblazers ready to make it happen themselves). These might be your drifters. I was hoping that ZA would serve the purpose of bridging that gap -- giving the groups who had Kara on farm a place to work on until WotLK. Maybe they aimed too high on the entry requirements? Or maybe the drifters don't see it as a big enough leap and they really want to see their UI full of unit frames. I don't know. I don't fault Blizzard for this approach, though. In theory, if there are enough guilds who are in this position, some form of simple non-dramatic alliance of convenience would allow easy access into the 25-man content. Easier said than done. I still think we're in a drastically better world for max-level content options than we were in WoW classic (and I know you agree, based on earlier posts). So maybe we'll get even better with WotLK? If not, at least we'll have fun leveling all our characters to 80, learning new professions, and arguing about Death Knights. One problem is that difficulty scales in multiple dimensions, simultaneously. Complexity, stats, required individuals. The scale isn’t gradual, either, at least not on the people required front. The jump from 10 to 25 is brutal.

And as long as that next tier of content is available, there’s a class of people who will be constantly itching to enter it (even if they aren’t trailblazers ready to make it happen themselves). These might be your drifters.

I was hoping that ZA would serve the purpose of bridging that gap — giving the groups who had Kara on farm a place to work on until WotLK. Maybe they aimed too high on the entry requirements? Or maybe the drifters don’t see it as a big enough leap and they really want to see their UI full of unit frames. I don’t know.

I don’t fault Blizzard for this approach, though. In theory, if there are enough guilds who are in this position, some form of simple non-dramatic alliance of convenience would allow easy access into the 25-man content. Easier said than done.

I still think we’re in a drastically better world for max-level content options than we were in WoW classic (and I know you agree, based on earlier posts). So maybe we’ll get even better with WotLK?

If not, at least we’ll have fun leveling all our characters to 80, learning new professions, and arguing about Death Knights.

]]>