#0 - Feb. 17, 2009, 8:34 p.m.
Malygos was bad enough. (mind you I have completed the encounter many times) But being put into situations where everything I know about my class gets thrown out the window just sucks.
Reading the new info on ulduar it seems like the very first boss is yet another vehicle gimmick boss.
I am begging for this not to become a trend. Fights that completely set aside all the skills I've grown accustomed to as well as all the benefits my gear provides me and instead replacing them with unfamiliar clunky things like vehicles are not what I find to be fun.
Encounters like this can never be outgeared. (yes I know I shouldn't be concerned about that but I am) Bringing even one new person into this situation can cause a wipe or at the very least make things harder for everyone else since they will be unfamiliar with the vehicle's uses no matter how skilled they might be with their class. That player starts off at a disadvantage no matter how much skill they have.
For all intents and purposes vehicles are basically changing our class to something unfamiliar and completely voiding our gear no matter how good it may get. The fight will never become easier until every single person in the raid can execute the vehicle play properly and without error. And of course you can't have anyone new come in for that encounter without upping the difficulty for everyone else.
Now some folk might say "Well that will just show who has skill and who doesn't" and to that I say NO. Some people are very good at playing a certain class. They know the ins and outs of its abilities and nuances. They know what they can and cant do and how to finagle their way through tough spots with that they have. That is skill.
Now that same person might be an ace at playing a priest for example... but now you've just turned them into say a rogue. They don't know the first thing about what it is to be a rogue. And even after they learn what all the little buttons do they will likely never get that instinctual perfect play that they have with their priest.
Voiding out everything a player knows about their character and handing them something unfamiliar is not what I call a good design to challenge players. On top of that the same concept completely voids out any and all gear. What is the point of getting all that best in slot gear when it does you absolutely no good on boss a) b) or c)?
I hope that vehicle gimmicks will not become a common element of boss encounters. There is a reason occulus is not the most loved of instances.
