B-b-but...The raid content..

#1 - March 5, 2011, 1:47 a.m.

11/12 in my guild's 2nd 10 man raid group (out of 5 groups) and the main group has been raiding since week 3, so they're 12/12 with 3/12 HM.

My raid group will down Nefarian this week (hopefully) or the next. That means twelve bosses to farm for the entirety of 4.1. I was looking towards the firelands IMMENSELY, because I enjoyed this tier of raid content tons. It was fun, challenging, but not so hard I was frustrated. I'd be alright with if NEW stuff was coming out, like a bunch of new five mans. I'm not too keen on heroics giving epics either.

But, rehashed ZA and ZG isn't awesome. I didn't run it in Vanilla and I didn't farm for the mounts (go figure, I'm the only person on the planet that doesn't like it!) but it's not NEW. That means Blizzard threw in a few new mechanics, new loot, and spruced the place up. But nothing is new and exciting!

An entire patch and all that is released is two old instances changed into 5 mans. I'm not a quitter, I know they better be putting off Firelands because it's going to blow my mind, but throw me a freakin' bone man. Abyssal Maw heroic? Just tell me if more is planned, cause I'm going to be bored out of my mind.

(by the way, yes, I do stuff other than WoW. "oh who gives if you're bored, go outside and get some fresh air." isn't going to phase me. I do, believe me.)

Zarhym

Community Manager

#16 - March 5, 2011, 2:09 a.m.

03/04/2011 5:47 PMPosted by Caelwyn
An entire patch and all that is released is two old instances changed into 5 mans.

The point isn't really that we're delaying Firelands so we can release ZA/ZG instead, or because we don't think players are ready for a new raid. Our messaging on the subject directly implies this, and that's our fault.

What we're really saying is that we want more frequent, slightly smaller updates to the game so that content keeps coming. Since Firelands isn't quite ready yet, we've made the decision not to hold back the other 4.1 patch content for it. Instead, we're going to release patch 4.1 with the content that's ready to go so the majority of players have more things to do, while also putting some finishing touches on Firelands so we can ship it out in 4.2 shortly thereafter. We're not arbitrarily holding back Firelands. On the contrary, we don't want to hold back other content updates for Firelands.

The main content features currently planned for 4.1 are:

Zul'Gurub revamp

Zul'Aman revamp

New level-85 Stranglethorn quest line (phased) leading players into the troll dungeons

New tier of Heroic dungeon gear (epic item level 353) to give players a slightly bigger boost going into raids for the first time

New & updated flavor items, vanity pets, and mounts

Guild Challenges (new guild quests)

All of this is in addition to a number of UI improvements, class balance changes, and more. We'll have more information on the patch 4.1 features coming soon. :D

Zarhym

Community Manager

#28 - March 5, 2011, 2:21 a.m.

What about scarce normal 5m dungeon at level 85?

BTW, ZA is the same friggin instance with different last boss. And he has same abilities as zul'jin...

Why no normal mode for ZA and ZG awarding ilvl 346?

We thought about different ways to fit in a normal tier of these dungeons, but in the end it just didn't feel right. We wouldn't want to make normal versions of these dungeons award current Heroic level loot, but there aren't really any good places in between to stick a normal dungeon tier.

We feel the best solution for patch 4.1 progression is: level-85 normal dungeons, Heroic dungeons, ZA/ZG Heroics, raids.

ZA and ZG will drop gear for just about every slot as well, but we're really trying to focus on dropping items for slots that have been hard to fill in the current Heroics.

Zarhym

Community Manager

#30 - March 5, 2011, 2:24 a.m.

03/04/2011 6:14 PMPosted by Heartfire
I hope there's some love for Archaeology in the pipeline.

I don't have any specifics to share at the moment, save for one I think is cool. Those with the appropriate Archaeology skill will be able to unlock one of four additional bosses (chosen randomly) for their group in Zul'Gurub. These bosses were previously known as part of the Edge of Madness. The four bosses will share some loot, but also have some loot unique to each of them.

Zarhym

Community Manager

#34 - March 5, 2011, 2:26 a.m.

03/04/2011 6:18 PMPosted by Zagden
Out of curiosity, if 4.1 was released with Firelands, would it take about the same time to release as it'll take for 4.2 to come? In other words, does pushing Firelands to the next patch make it come later than if all of 4.1 was delayed?

I can't say for sure, as the process for applying development changes internally, building patches, and testing them is very complicated. Our goal, however, is not to delay Firelands further than it would have been in order to put out everything else in 4.1 first.

Zarhym

Community Manager

#39 - March 5, 2011, 2:29 a.m.

03/04/2011 6:26 PMPosted by Snooptrogg
ZA and ZG will drop gear for just about every slot as well, but we're really trying to focus on dropping items for slots that have been hard to fill in the current Heroics.

DPS Warrior ranged slot weapon?

Please say yes. There being nothing ideally suited between a TH green quest reward and a 359 boe drop is unfortunate. Especially when your alternative are to either roll against a hunter or rogue for agility ranged slot items (which they oddly enough don't like either) or getting the tank gun thats been around for a few weeks now and reforge off some of the parry (which is not ideal).

I believe that (ranged slot for DPS warriors) was specifically brought up in a meeting I had last week. We want to get some items out there that are currently missing, even if it's because they're only useful to a small number of classes/specs.

Zarhym

Community Manager

#43 - March 5, 2011, 2:31 a.m.

The main content features currently planned for 4.1 are:

Zul'Gurub revamp

Zul'Aman revamp

New level-85 Stranglethorn quest line (phased) leading players into the troll dungeons

New tier of Heroic dungeon gear (epic item level 353) to give players a slightly bigger boost going into raids for the first time

New & updated flavor items, vanity pets, and mounts

Guild Challenges (new guild quests)

Guild Challenges?

Is there information out there about what this is that I've overlooked? Hadn't seen it mentioned before.

We're preparing all of the information on this new feature for you. :)

Zarhym

Community Manager

#46 - March 5, 2011, 2:32 a.m.

I believe that (ranged slot for DPS warriors) was specifically brought up in a meeting I had last week. We want to get some items out there that are currently missing, even if it's because they're only useful to a small number of classes/specs.

Please tell me there will be a wand?

Yes!

Zarhym

Community Manager

#48 - March 5, 2011, 2:34 a.m.

03/04/2011 6:33 PMPosted by Heartfire
But what about the dance studio? (I'm sorry, I had to ask.)

I'll have a dance party at my house. You're all invited. Time TBD.