Comments on: Heroics killer in the making?

By: Rilgon Arcsinh

Rilgon Arcsinh — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 01:07:00 +0000

Of course I will. I do heroics not so much because of the rewards - I need absolutely nothing from Emblems of Heroism, and there's no Heroic gear that's even a sidegrade for me - I do it because there are guildmates who still do need them, and they're good practice to keep my abilities sharp between raids. Plus, as you said, they're short enough that, even though I can't raid Wed-Sat, I can still get in a heroic or maybe two after I get home from work. So yes, I'll continue to run them so long as someone I know and care about continues to need them. I don't ever see that changing. Rilgon Arcsinh´s last blog post..Guild Brains and Radio Waves

By: Umbaajo

Umbaajo — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:24:37 +0000

I think the reason why so many players have now reached a point where they are either fed up with 5-man content or have accumulated more than enough emblems of heroism is that the heroics are too easy. Once you hit 80, you skip doing normal dungeons and go straight to the first heroic. In TBC, you were required to run normal dungeons a couple of times to acquire some decent gear that enabled you to survive the easier heroics. What’s more, you also needed rep and keys to enter heroics (as Vene already pointed out).

Granted, it’s always a balancing problem Blizzard is facing, but in WotLK they didn’t create enough incentives to do normal dungeons prior to heroics. This way, people end up bored sooner than before. What I miss at this point are quest lines that keep you going for a while. Take Blackrock Depths for example (okay, it was pre-heroic, but still), where several interesting quest lines kept you hooked and returning to that place for quite a while.

So I think it’s a mixture between interesting stories, challenging game content and better gear that makes you return to a place over and over again. If Blizzard is now introducing a new emblem without adding new gear for old emblems, heroics will loose a great deal of their appeal to many well-geared players (alts not included).

I do hope Blizzard will work on that as I truly enjoy doing heroics.

By: Hinenuitepo

Hinenuitepo — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:48:45 +0000

I’ll run them on alts mostly. My main already only runs them when a guildy is gearing an alt and we need at least one strong dps. But I still enjoy them on alts (even my well-geared Naxx 10 kitted resto shammy). I think they’ll still be a progression path for alts indefinitely. It’s Naxx that will get the shaft. Once your alt is heroic and badge-geared, it’ll be common to jump into Ulduar for powergearing your alts.

By: Alaphrei

Alaphrei — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:16:55 +0000

It would be nice if harder heroics are added (heroics that assume a higher level of gear) and give new types of badges. Like Magisters’ Terrace was difficult for people compared to say, Mechanar.

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:42:01 +0000

Agree with one poster: there could be a way to keep 5 mans interesting beyond pure gear motivations, which I understand. Perhaps non-combat related bonuses like pets & mounts is the way to go. But I dont expect to keep getting gear upgrades from 5 mans. At a certain point, its over. You may as well say “I love questing so much, so I want to keep doing it and get better and better upgrades”. NEVER going to happen

By: Tarsus

Tarsus — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:26:48 +0000

Pesronally, I have an army of alts to level up so I’m not too worried about running out of emblems. My death Knight is almost to 80, then it’s time to work on my druid.

That said, I have been enjoying having a bit more of a life given that I don’t need to farm heroics/Kara to get the gear I need for raiding. Oh, who am I kidding? I’m just going to play Left4Dead and AD&D. There is no escaping my pale geeky fate.

By: $teele

$teele — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:10:29 +0000

wtf emblems of valor for ulduar-10-man, that sux big time. im already geared in 25-man-stuff and im not going to find a 25-man-raid for ulduar. so might aswell quit, im not in for wiping and learning new bosses when theres not even a gearupgrade waiting… argh! as for heroics, i run daily heroic every day except if its oculus.. i need the cash and the emblems (emblems for more cash -> buy red gems). i wouldnt run them if not for the cash, they bore the crap out of me.

By: Marymoon

Marymoon — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:59:33 +0000

Since I got everything I wanted from 25 man Naxx ,Maly,3D sarth, I´m just sitting waiting for Ulduar. In the meanwhile, I lvld my shadow priest to 80 and I´m currently farming gear for her, just for fun.

So heroics on my main is pretty much discarded for good.

By: Daslasher

Daslasher — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:56:39 +0000

I think this is a spot on post. I also enjoy 5 man heroics and they continued to be enjoyable in TBC for much longer than they have in Wotlk.

It is fine encouraging people to progress and try new content but 10 and 25 man raids are limited. They can only be done once a week, tend to be very organised etc.

5 man heroics provide the filler that can be done on the spur of the moment, over and over with different people, in guild or not.

I often log in now and stand wondering what the hell to do. Im fully geared in main and off spec from emblem of heroism and have 120 or so sat in my pocket so whats the point of running more 5 mans?

Most people I know are now only running heroics on their alts. Blizz needs to come up with a win-win where progression and new content exploration is encouraged but the bread and butter 5-man content isnt compromised.

Many people are affected by this. i dont think its an either or situation that the previous poster decribes. I dont either raid or run heroics. I do both, or Id like to.

By: ARA

ARA — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:15:51 +0000

Well I think you’re absolutely right in your analysis for the most part. However, the reason there’s no new badge rewards is not to appease the hardcore; its to encourage players to try the new content. That’s an important distinction. You see otherwise, Blizzard makes decisions favouring one sector of their players – always a bad idea. A recent discussion by GC was all about how players would do anything for epics. Whether its super easy farm runs of kara, or blindingly boring rep runs (eg another Silithus!); whether its arena in TBC, or raiding in wrath, people are motivated by loot. If you allow upgraded items for lowgraded emblems, then that is what people will do. I too missed most of t5 – why? Because I could get equivalent gear from kara + heroics, and go straight to t6. For Blizzard this is bad – it means many players, like myself, hardly step foot in t5. What a waste of a couple of beautiful instances… from Blizzards point of view. And also from mine. For many players, they didnt care because they got high end loot.

So this new system is designed to encourage people to raid Ulduar, and I love it. I think its a big improvment. If you had spent this much time and money on creating their most beautiful instance to date, you would want your players to go in there. I would see the TBC heroic system was a great experiment, with a few serious flaws. People LOVED heroics, but the rewards were too good.

One other thing: you say you love heroics and they’re your favourite activity in the game. I totally undetand that, I love them too… but I’ve long since abandoned them on my main. Blizzard can only produce new content so fast, including new 5 man content. So yes, we will get bored of them, and that’s what our alts are for. Again, its a subtle point, but the reason many people were not bored of heroics in TBC was because of the high end loot available for 150 badges. Its about people’s motives to play, more than anything else, and that is why they’ve instigated tiered badges. If blizzard made an Ulduar25 item available for 300 emblems of heroism, many of us would grind badges, and a large part of the motive to set foot in Ulduar would be gone.