The heroic less traveled
by Michael Gray 
Jun 17th 2008 at 7:00PM
Branch raised an observation today -- it can be difficult getting groups for instances which aren't the daily Heroic. Of course, in the same post, he claims he gets offers from characters who aren't quite heroic enough for Heroics. The problem seems to really be that he can't get groups that meet his standards for the Heroics he wants to do.Bornakk first offers that he thinks experience plays a role here. Until you've experienced the content, you're probably going to be intimidated by it. In my opinion, you may have to enjoy some time with PUGs to get that experience.
The thread winds up with what I'd expected in the first place -- the issue is more about which instance offers the most badges for your time. The fate and future of badges has been a hot topic. Bornakk definitely acknowledges that we run Heroics for badges instead of loot. Since Blizzcast indicated changes to badge loot in Wrath of the Lich King, it'll be interesting to see what happens to Heroic badges come expansion time.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Instances, Forums
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Armath Jun 17th 2008 7:58PM
I think part of the problem is that there are Too Many Instances (TMI?). For the 60-70 range, there are about 12 5-character instances, plus the new Magister's Terrace, and each of those can be run in regular mode or heroic mode. Compare that to pre-60, where there about 15 5-char instances, and no heroics.
Sure, there are lots of level 70s, but there's lots of other stuff to do at 70, like arena and battlegrounds and raiding, so you're left with a large number of heroics without a major reason for doing them. Yes, you get badges and reputation from them, and occasionally there's some special loot, but that's about it.
With TBC, Blizzard added about 20 levels of content compressed into 10 levels of experience, and for the most part that's been good, but I think they went a little overboard with the number of instances. When you add in heroics, they nearly tripled the number of 5-char instances in the game, plus added smaller raids and then the arena system. With all that stuff to do, it's no wonder that some instances don't get much traffic.
Jack Spicer Jun 17th 2008 9:32PM
I still think the biggest problem with heroics isn't necessarily the "number of badges versus time" issue, but rather the jump in difficulty between a normal 70 instance and a heroic.
Although possible with blue gear, it seems as though you really can't pug a heroic unless most of the group's gear is purple.
Wibblymat Jun 18th 2008 6:06AM
I'm not really sure where this attitude comes from... after all, until you are actually running heroics, you're not likely to have any decent epics. A blue/green mix should be fine for beginning heroics.
It should be clear, however, that not all heroics are made equal. Blue/green is just fine for Mech but I'd like to see at least a few purples for BM or MrT at the very least to show that you have experienced difficult content before.
sparkinator Jun 18th 2008 9:39AM
Bot is the best heroic to run for badges. Five badges, not too difficult. Heroics like Sethekk are a waste of time. Two badges, and if you count the AOE and flying serpent pulls, 16 or so groups between the first and last boss. Hopefully in the expansion there will be an equal amount of time between bosses in all the instances. Then perhaps some of them won't be shunned like Sethekk and Crypts are today.
darian Jun 18th 2008 12:03PM
Sethekk is three with a Druid. :D
Yossarian Jun 18th 2008 3:39PM
God i hate that instance. Heck, I've been in PUGs that still have a hard time with it on regular. Just a particularly torturous instance.
Mindstrike Jun 18th 2008 9:40AM
Also this "Tank" shortage people claim to have.. most times on Argent Dawn, there are at least 4 to 5 warriors looking to do HMgT (Good lewtz in there for us), but rare are others wishing to run it. Being a older server, we have more people seeming to be in Raids or working on alts. Now what they might have to implement would be a Multi Server "LFG", that would help out a bit more I think. There is some comfort recognizing people on your server however.
As for Badges, unless they use the same badge.. most people will end up skipping the current rewards to make way for the newer 70 ~80 bracket.
darian Jun 18th 2008 12:08PM
Most heroics can be done with blue gear, it just requires that everyone be on the ball. If you're in a good guild that's easy enough to do.
However, most of the PuG pool at this point are guild rejects or completely fresh 70s who, by virtue of being unable to get groups leveling, don't know their class well enough to do heroics in their quest blues/greens. Everyone else either has a guild or a long friends list of people they trust.