Moving on
by Matthew Rossi 
Jul 3rd 2008 at 4:30PM
There comes a point where you move past content. There's no reason to go back to it other than nostalgia, or for the off chance on a slow night that the one really awesome drop that particular boss has might finally drop. It's a fact of the endgame... you work, you put in the wipes, you stock up on food, buff pots, elixirs, flasks, and other consumables, you go in over and over again and struggle and finally get the boss down... and then in a month or two it's trivial and you're sick to death of the sight of him or her. Another month and you're saying "Does anyone really need any Vashj drops anymore?" and a month after that, you're done with the instance.This is fine, and it's part of the moving on process with content: if you're regularly farming M'uru you probably don't need anything off of Mother Shahraz anymore except for maybe bad luck on shoulders. Some guilds were fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to be completely done with Black Temple and Hyjal well in advance of Sunwell Plateau. Others are just now finishing up with Gruul and Magtheridon and preparing to move into SSC and Tempest Keep, while still others are just now done with those.
When my guild finally killed Kael'Thas and Vashj, there was a simultaneous rush of joy and sense of completion and an immediate desire to move on to the next raid. We ran right off to Hyjal as fast as our feet could carry us (well, we used portals too) and threw ourselves at the trash, deliberately not even reading up on the fights. We just wanted to see it, to see the new content that had been just out of our reach. At the same time, though, we knew people still needed vials and some wanted to complete their T5 sets, so SSC and TK stayed on the raid menu. By now though, it's clear that time is coming to an end.
I'll miss the Kael fight, as a tank. Oh, I hated him. Passionately, like fire. I hated having to have the shield before he came out. I hated having to time a nightmare seed or Last Stand just so for the first pyro so that I could eat the second one with the shield. And yet, all that tightness, that absolute lack of margin for error is what I will forever miss about the fight as we finally leave the Tier 5 instances behind. We don't raid nearly as often as some guilds, two to three times a week maximum, and we have a smaller core of raiders, but I've gotten to experience this content with good players and it feels slightly melancholy to realize we're leaving it behind forever. I'm excited to move full time into Black Temple and Hyjal instead of just picking one of them for the week, but sad that I never saw the Pauldrons of the Wardancer drop and now I never will.
As always, gentle reader, share. This has happened at least twice in the life cycle of the game, and with Wrath of the Lich King on the horizon, it will happen again. What content do you most remember fondly? Which zone, instance or raid did you remember leaving forever the most strongly?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Guilds, Odds and ends, Instances, Raiding, Bosses, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
bigbankhank Jul 3rd 2008 4:39PM
RFC...due to the complexity of the boss fights and how little room for error you had. Blizzard has yet to create a raid or instance that could compare to this place, it is simply amazing. I should know as my guild is gearing up for Kara
Harmun Jul 3rd 2008 4:49PM
I'm going to be sad to see the entire level 70 raid experience become out of date when the expansion comes out- I worked hard to get where I am and I'll be completely reset by the time I get to 80...
PimpyMicPimp Jul 3rd 2008 6:51PM
That's the whole point of the game, though; to progress. From level 1 onwards you are progressing in gear and power. If there is a cap, like in a Diablo game, then it wouldn't be nearly as compelling.
Dobb from Illidan Jul 3rd 2008 4:54PM
everytime i come to wow insider i think should i waste my time and click on this article? and i always do end up wasting my time
Wulfhere Jul 3rd 2008 5:03PM
And yet, here you are, wasting MY time. And now I'm wasting even more of my time replying to a comment left by a sub literate grimlock.
Arturis Jul 3rd 2008 5:39PM
GRIMLOCK SMASH!
Perhaps they should request a feature for the comments so that we can label trolls with the icon for Grimlok's Charge (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=9416)
buffspaz Jul 3rd 2008 4:57PM
I still don't understand why people who don't like this game feel compelled to read articles on a site dedicated to it, then post stupid comments like this. If you don't like it, go elsewhere.
Joseph Jul 3rd 2008 4:57PM
We care about your opinion.
asdf Jul 3rd 2008 4:58PM
Well since no one is responding like you wanted...
My guild is currently 4/5 MH and 2/9 BT. Through it all, though, I still love. . . Karazhan. I love the lore behind the place, the atmosphere, and most of the encounters themselves. I love walking through the giant library and opening the doors into a huge game of chess.
Favorite fight in the game so far though, Zul'Jin. Every 20% you've got to regroup and form to a new strategy, I love it.
Horixon Jul 3rd 2008 5:00PM
I don't understand why people who don't like this game feel compelled to read articles on a site dedicated to it, then post stupid comments like this. If you don't like it, go elsewhere.
baldbull Jul 3rd 2008 5:01PM
Zangarmarsh. I hate that zone and love it everytime I get an alt leveled past that.
Nagrand is probably the zone I'll miss, as it was a very nice zone to both look at and level in.
As for instances, Black Morass was such a change in pace and intensity as far as instances go, and that is probably one that I'll miss doing.
Joseph Jul 3rd 2008 5:05PM
I think finally nailing the coffin lid shut on MC was the hardest for me. I can still, distinctly, remember the very first day I set foot in there. We were the very first group to enter MC on Warsong, we only brought 20 because we were unaware how difficult the instance was. At the time, UBRS was 20 (and damn near impossible) so we figured that was a good number. Needless to say, that didn't work out well.
From there, server first Lucifron, Magamadar and so forth. I remember having to go to BRS and mind control that caster mob to get the fire resist buff for Ragnaros. I remember when our first binding dropped, and our first Eye. Lot of good memories from there, everything really seemed epic back then.
dan Jul 3rd 2008 5:35PM
The smaller core of raiders is probably a big part of what success you have had, Mike. Consistency helps with progression more than sheer number of attempts.
Axlrose Jul 3rd 2008 5:36PM
Just last night, my raid guild voted to knock it off with SSC/TK and move to solely T6 content. Attendance was falling due to most drops going to offspec or void crystals, but with a few people still wanting gear from a couple bosses, we kept on with it. I, for one, am supremely happy to move to our progression content and stop farming bosses for loot that isn't dropping.
Ueber Jul 3rd 2008 6:42PM
My hard core raiding days were all pre-BC, and I have pretty much retired to 10 mans. I have to say that I rarely miss MC, and I probably won't miss Kara. I play with folks that have a lot of alts, and ended up gearing up many of them while I am more of a one toon guy (untill I finally get my alt to 70 in a few weeks). We seem to have focused on both entry level instances for too long.
What I miss most is probably AQ40. Asside from some issues with trash and Huhu being a lame resist block, I love the place. Being a healer, the instance offered me my first real chance to pick up some offset gear. However, that ended up being a pipe dream--T2.5 was first given to those DPS classes that could get their use out of it, and Naxx came out just in time for me to be next up in line for my set. AQ40 has some really fun boss fights, but having the sidegrade instance no longer at the end of progression meant we never went back, since people could get everything they needed out of the much easier BWL.
Adam Holisky Jul 3rd 2008 6:40PM
Honestly, I read the title and my first thought was "Oh shit, Rossi is leaving."
But as to the article contents, about a month ago we stopped running MH on a regular schedule. I thought to myself as Archimonde was killed, "This could be the last time I see him die." Not sure I'm going to miss that particular one though...
Mathew L.B Jul 3rd 2008 8:41PM
I think the Raid instance I missed the most was Naxx when BC came out. Naxx was the bomb and the best ever designed instance in the game (including BC raid instances). I was lucky enough to clear it before BC.