The Oculus revealed
by Alex Ziebart 
Jun 30th 2008 at 8:30AM
In an amazing example of the nonlinearity I mentioned yesterday (and was discussed at the Raids and Dungeons panel at the WWI), we've been given a sneak preview of the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King dungeon, The Oculus. The Oculus is a wing of the Blue Dragon-centric branch of dungeons, The Nexus.The Oculus itself is not quite an indoors dungeon, not quite an outdoors dungeon. It is actually a series of tiered, floating rings, which you can see in the picture to the right. Which means you need a way to get between the rings, right? Right! How will we do that? Partway into the dungeon, you acquire a drake that allows you to fly within the Oculus! These drakes come in a few different flavors: DPS, Tanking, and Healing. You're allowed to pick and choose between them, too! Give your healer a break, and let them fly around on the DPS drake! They'll need to start healing again as soon as they're on the ground, so it'll only be a brief reprieve.
The dungeon will be, as I mentioned, nonlinear. All of the bosses will likely need to be killed before the dungeon is 'complete' but you're allowed to pick and choose which order you want to do them in. The simple idea of actually having a choice in that is exciting to me, especially after The Burning Crusade's linear, railroad dungeons. This drake mechanic also makes me curious about what other new features we'll run into in dungeons. Will we see siege vehicles in 5 man instances, like we're seeing in Lake Wintergrasp and the new battleground? What other challenges could be waiting for us, besides Stratholme-esque timed runs?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Instances, Wrath of the Lich King, Worldwide Invitational
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Zumwalah Jun 30th 2008 9:25AM
yes we have a choice.. but within a few weeks (possibly days) of Wrath, there will be a unspoken 'correct" order of killing them that everyone acknowledges, or they will skip to the "Last"boss with the best loot and skip the others. i must say i kinda enjoyes linear dungeons, there is no arguemnt on what to kill first.
nosedive51 Jun 30th 2008 9:38AM
I agree. Within a week people will suck the fun out of it by creating a "proper way of playing" like they do everything else.
"This is the proper armor."
"This is the proper specs."
"These are the proper professions."
zygote Jun 30th 2008 9:54AM
Agreed.
The math geeks will get involved and there will be a de facto "way" to do it.
The people who don't follow the "way" will get a lot of, "ZOMG, LRN2PLY N00B!"
Juliah Jun 30th 2008 10:17AM
Yep - I really have no problem with linearity. One fewer thing about which to argue. :)
Hank Jun 30th 2008 11:09AM
I'm sure that you'll need to kill the lower bosses in order to unlock the end boss, no matter what order you kill them in.
Ryan Jun 30th 2008 1:27PM
Remind me to never have any of you people in my guild. Yes, there are often optimal ways of doing things, and even 90-95% ways which are acceptable. But don't complain that "your way" isn't accepted when it's only 50% as efficient as those who take the time to learn to play correctly.
onetrueping Sep 2nd 2008 3:11AM
So, Ryan, your comment boils down to "lrn2play"? If I remember correctly, the point of the dungeon is that there ARE no rules. If people want to play the dungeon in a way that is entertaining, let them, even if it's "50% less efficient." This isn't a job, after all. Why make it into one?
matthewclaycomb Jun 30th 2008 10:10AM
...Yeah, sorry for helping people know what's the best way to do instances.
Eternauta Jun 30th 2008 12:38PM
One thing is "showing them the best way to..." and other thing is "if you don't do it this (best) way, you're a stupid noob learn 2 play you suck etc..."
Rahl Jun 30th 2008 11:39AM
C'mon guys. This sounds like such a cool mechanic! Well done blizz for giving us something different to play with rather than the same old!!
Cyrus Jun 30th 2008 12:39PM
I think linearity is only a problem in the Auchindoun instances and Shattered Halls, where it's so obvious and simplified. What's going on in all the blank space between the rooms in SH? It's long and windy but doesn't go anywhere; who the hell would build something like that? Is it even above ground or not? All the other instances don't feel linear even if they are, like Underbog or the Botanica.
I hope WotLK has one, maybe two massive instances like BRD or Blackrock Spire or Dire Maul. Too big to clear in one shot, separate areas within the instance with slightly different goals and styles of combat and "feels," a bunch of different events, etc. BRD was an honest-to-God city the player is infiltrating, maybe to rescue a lost princess or maybe just to rob, and there's nothing at all like that in the Burning Crusade. The rest of the instances could be like Mechanar or Underbog — challenging but possible to clear in an hour or two, with a little variety in direction like in the Mechanar but not too much needed.
Ryan Jun 30th 2008 1:33PM
I have high hopes for Ajol-Nerub in this regard (the lore describes it as a large underground city). Let's hope Blizz doesn't drop the ball.
Melissa Jul 1st 2008 9:19AM
You might have liked it, but Blizzard responded to the feedback they got about BRD: that it was way too big, people don't have fun when a 5-man takes 3 hours to clear, when they have to go back 10 times to finish their quests, that it wasn't winged like Scarlet Monastery, etc.. That's why there's no BRD-equivalent in Outlands.
Michel Jun 30th 2008 11:46AM
I'm looking forward the oculus. Linearity is tiresome. and stop playing with math geeks !
superfrank Jun 30th 2008 12:06PM
Zul'Aman is fairly non-linear.
Tempest Keep is quite non-linear - you can skip past al'ar and these days you can even go straight to Kael'thas.
SSC is quite non-linear, you can skip most bosses and choose whether to go to Leotheras or Karathress for example.
Linkage Jun 30th 2008 6:05PM
Did the drakes remind anyone else of the chess pieces in Karazhan?
I think it would be amazing to fight a boss while flying.
isobelle Jul 1st 2008 11:00PM
i always kill shade of aran first in kara.
...what?