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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria news15 Minutes of Fame: Playin' it old school
by Lisa Poisso 
Jan 20th 2009 at 11:00AM
Upcoming Raids
Zul'Gurub (Farm)
Ahn'Qiraj (20) (Farm)
Molten Core (10/10 Farm)
Blackwing Lair (2/8)
Onyxia (Farm)
Azuregos (Farm)
ZG (Farm)? Blackwing Lair (2/8)?! LOL wut?!? We've written before about players who love to chow down on some good, old-fashioned retro WoW content, avidly mixing original instances with the latest hotness from Wrath. Heralds of Yore from Smolderthorn takes that idea to the next level: not only do they specialize in old-school content, they do it as intended – at level 60.
Why would a guild put two entire game expansions on /ignore? Hearken back to the days of "vanilla WoW" with 15 Minutes of Fame and Heralds of Yore, after the break.
Main character BlotterGuild Heralds of Yore
Server Smolderthorn
WoW player since 2006
Games played pre-WoW Warcraft, Starcraft, Age of Empires, Guild Wars
Games played besides WoW There are other games?
15 Minutes of Fame: Blotter, tell us about the appeal of focusing on legacy content. What's the draw?
Blotter: To me, the expansions that were released by Blizzard in no way met my expectations that I had for them. First and foremost, PvP (which is one of my favorite aspects of WoW) is a lot worse off. The implementation of resilience ratings has ruined PvP, in my opinion. To me, it seems Blizzard has increased everything too much: higher levels, bigger crits, bigger health, bigger mana, etc., etc. I think they should have left us at level 60 and released more and more content.
Also, the instances are much nicer at 60. AQ is one of my favorite places in the entire World of Warcraft. I do not feel The Burning Crusade or Wrath of the Lich King have delivered as creative of content. Hell, Naxxramas was so great they even reused it -- to my dismay. BC and WotLK just seemed to be sub-par to me, and I have more fun when I am playing level 60 end game.
Wrath is also very, very easy, and people are clearing the content in record time. Before, when people tried to raid Molten Core right after it came out, they were lucky to clear the Firelords. The game has become a little too watered down.
So how long has HoY been raiding level 60 content?
HoY started as Nova in September 2007 and became Heralds Of Yore in November 2007. A small break was taken when patch 3.0 released, due to people going inactive (from us) for their once-again bigger crits and more health.
So do HoY members have BC and Wrath installed -- or is that strictly forbidden?
You have to be on a non-BC account. It keeps people from leveling up from raids, shows that the member is actually serious about raiding pre-BC content and is just an all-around safeguard to not have people level. It is hard to tell if people aren't on vanilla accounts. We go on the honor system.
Are most of your members already familiar with the legacy content?
I would say around 80% of all HoY members raided level 60 content pre-BC. We do have a few people joining who have not experienced pre-BC before, and we also have members who have only experienced pre-BC content. Currently, we run about 25 people in 40-man raids. We struggle with many of the encounters, though, due to low numbers.
Have you yourself played through BC content? What about Wrath?
Yes, I have extensively played BC and Wrath. I did not quit playing these expansions after a few short weeks. I was in a top raiding guild on my server and had everything going for me, at 80 especially -- I just did not enjoy the experience.
Do you see a faster learning curve in raids because most players have more WoW and overall gaming experience than when this early content was first being played?
I do. Also, the new talents and DPS increases make the fights easier to do with fewer numbers. That helps us a lot.
We are currently progressing through Blackwing Lair, so I guess that is our short-term goal -- but for long-term, yes, it is AQ-40. Even though we no longer have Naxx to raid, AQ-40 and BWL are still plenty of great pre-BC content.
I can only hope that one day a pre-BC server is opened, so I can once again enter the fortress of the great lich Kel'thuzad. And if you know anyone at Blizzard, can you please send them a nasty note saying Blotter wants Naxx back! I think it was a huge mistake to eliminate content that they put in the game at 60. It is a stupid move to make something, then move it to Northrend. This eliminated such a large chunk of the game they developed. For what reason? In my opinion, pure laziness, greediness -- or both. But it does leave a void for retro raiders like myself, knowing that I can never wear my Frostfire, but I can see 80s running in it all day.
Do any of your players have access to BC- or Wrath-era items?
BC and Wrath items are not allowed in our raids. When you enter PvP Battlegrounds or do PuGs, you can wear whatever you want. During raids, though, all gear must be pre-BC. Enchant rules have become rather lax due to the gold many members have spent on their enchants, but players are encouraged to use all pre-BC enchants on all items they receive in HoY raids.
How can interested players best get in touch to find out more?
You can visit our web site or you can watch the BC content video I made. It will show you the epicness of pre-BC content!
Late last night as we prepared this feature for posting, we received a last, brief missive from Blotter: "Broodlord Lashlayer down!" Grats, guys, and may your raid groups fill with a full 40.
"I never thought of playing WoW like that!" -- neither did we, until we talked with these players. Check out a whole year's worth of player profiles in our "15 Minutes of Fame: Where are they now?" retrospective.Filed under: Guilds, Expansions, Features, Raiding, The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, 15 Minutes of Fame
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 5)
Gimmlette Jan 20th 2009 3:50PM
As the GL of the retro guild linked at the beginning of the article, I salute Heros for making the game their own. There is a market for running the Classic instances. Unfortunately, Mr. Blotter's attitude about BC and Wrath does him and retro raiding no favors.
Spectacular Death has been in existence for over 13 months now. When Lisa caught up with us back in February of 2008, my officers and I never dreamed our little guild would attract the kind of attention and people that it has. We have had people come and go but our focus has remained the same. We are here to see ALL of WOW content.
We have cleared ZG and AQ20. Onyxia is on farm. We take all levels and currently have 2 players who will never get beyond level 60 as they don't own BC or Wrath. It's no matter. They are a part of our runs in Classic and were a part of the cheering section when we cleared Kara.
My main is 80 and we are running heroic Wrath instances when we can. We wandered into Naxx before it got moved and can't wait until we wander into it in Northrend so we can compare the experience. Right now, our emphasis is on clearing those instances in Classic which we have not conquered and moving on to new, for us, content. We will always, always run the Classic instances for the encounters are unique and there will always be people who want them.
When achievements were released on the WOW world, I was inundated with tells and in-game letters asking for our raid schedule. "I need my achievement." I don't get those as much anymore because GL's seem to have realized that there is fun to be had by running BWL in between the OS and Naxx runs.
The beauty of this game is that it can be attractive to a wide variety of people. I dislike, strongly, the attaching of Arena ranking to PvP gear. I think the two are different and should have different gear. I think Blizzard shouldn't have nerfed the Ony encounter. Having spent weeks of my life in BRD getting people attuned, part of that encounter was the lore, seeing a giant purple dragon in the SW keep and spending a good 45 minutes in combat.
But I understand the need to be fresh and new which grows the business. I remember when Pong came out and it's fun to go back and play, but that's not how I would like all my computer games to be, respecting your desire to see them all that complex.
Dissing the rest of us for wanting to push beyond what was once endgame is, to me, a form of elitism. It is your opinion that Classic WOW was the best and you have found like minded people. That's excellent. I wish you well in recruiting.
Would you honestly, give up the changes and modifications to characters and gear that have come through patches and expansions, when such changes make downing bosses that much easier? You won't get 40 level 60's to do Molten Core. Can't be done. Therefore, you must utilize a few of the changes Blizzard has implemented for smoother game play which, in literal translation, means you are not playing WOW they way it was at endgame 60.
SD is having the time of our lives and I'm sure Heroes is doing well also. There is a niche market for guilds which run classic content. We are proof of that. I would never diss the hardcore endgame guild that runs 6 nights a week to power through content. I would suggest, Mr. Blotter, that you celebrate that which is WOW and then tailor your guild to your vision. Please don't diss the rest of the community who enjoys Outlands and Northrend, PvE, PvP, RP, BG or Arena. It's all there for everyone to utilize. Make the game your own.
Lemons Jan 20th 2009 4:08PM
I'm going to have to invent a new terminology for this new species:
NP;DR
meaning No Paragraphs; Didn't Read.
Bimmicus Jan 20th 2009 4:26PM
I focus a lot on old-world quests and dungeons and totally agree about the superiority of Vanilla WoW content over BC ... but jeezus, what a self-important blowhard this guy is.
Ohnooz Jan 20th 2009 5:07PM
Not seen - Our other Ossy attempt that evening when that pic was taken where I clicked far to late and our MT tank died.
Seen - Me naked in our Vael kill pic
-Ohnooz, Female Orc Huntard of HoY
Ohnooz Jan 20th 2009 5:30PM
Everyone saying that Blotter is a whiny/self absorbed guy and we're swinging our E-peens around we're not trying.
We just get alot of negative stuff on how we're horrable and bad because we use higher level enchants, gear that we got 'carried' to get, or for the soul reson that we're a pre-BC guild and people just want to talk down to make themselves feel better.
Blotter just went on a rant after a bit for we get shit like that daily, it's just bad timing that it happened during an interview.
And on pre-BC servers,
Yes many things where un-balanced after 1.12, but things are ALWAYS unbalanced. Most MMO are like this, counter-balancing and your class's patch of fame is what makes the game what it is. IMO just make 1 pre-BC server in about 8 months or so, have a $5 fee for the 1st few months to up cash flow in order to run 'two games at once', don't allow any transfers to it or from it at all, and slowly let content back out. If people like it make more servers. If they don't there is 1 server and it has about a med population on it that needs a small bug team and GM team.
Ruibarr Jan 20th 2009 6:01PM
And by the was Ohnooz, I would be down with getting a pre-BC server.
tonedeff Jan 20th 2009 5:43PM
If this guy is so serious then he shouldn't be using any spells & abilities that came in after vanilla wow. Also intereted to know if shammys can duel weild in his raids? or can they only heal .ect?
Ruibarr Jan 20th 2009 6:00PM
I was the Shaman next to that sexy female orc huntard, and I always will be because i didnt get to do pre BC much. And i've been with heralds since (mostly since) the beginning. I was also one of the first to roll a vanilla WoW account for the guild and it was the best decision I have ever made. Personally this guild has had its ups and downs and OMFG WTF times. its all been for the good:]
Ruibarr
60 Shaman
300 LW and 300"MY SHIELD BREATHES FIRE!"
astronautcowboy3 Jan 20th 2009 6:04PM
This guy sounds like a spoiled kid, complaining that what WoW gave him isn't good enough. He's got some bizarre sense of entitlement - I'm sure there were better choices out there than this guy, who do the same stuff.
Blotter Jan 20th 2009 6:28PM
Its ok i dont expect everyone to have the same opinions as me.
Gimmlette Jan 21st 2009 1:27AM
I don't understand why one of your guild members says "we get shit like that daily...". I never get "shit" daily for how my officers and I run our guild. Everyone on Llane knows we don't run current endgame as a guild and I have not been dissed at all except for a couple of people on the Llane forum and they were promptly shouted down. The support from the Llane community has been exceptionally strong, even to the point of the hard-core endgame guilds contacting me to ask if some of their members who had not seen Classic WOW instances could come to some of our raids.
SD is well-known on Llane for helping people, for politeness, for organizing fun events. We like to think we remind people that this is a game and there is a "fun" quotient you need to find for yourself.
I have to wonder what kind of image you are projecting of your guild if you are constantly dissed by people on your server. If some loud-mouth ridicules you in Trade Channel, do you serve it back to him, in effect having a yelling match? Is the attitude you and your guild project one of "We're doing something great here and you and your level 80's are beneath us?" That's going to go over well, too.
If the image you're projecting is the one shown in the interview, then I don't doubt you're a magnet for every punk on the server. Word gets around very quickly which guilds have attitude and show it. It makes the column of "GuildWatch" and you become a "@" with pages of comments on the server forum. Yes your name is out there, but it out there in a manner that is conducive to growing your guild?
And to Lemon, I had paragraphs when I typed my initial comment. I have no clue where they went when it was sent through cyberspace. My money is on murlocs and/or battle chickens took the carriage returns.
ixobelle Jan 20th 2009 7:03PM
while i applaud the "raid on a vanilla account"...
It is a stupid move to make something, then move it to Northrend. This eliminated such a large chunk of the game they developed. For what reason? In my opinion, pure laziness, greediness -- or both.
yeah, that just doesn't hold water. when was the last time anyone that actually had the expansions (and arguably bigger slice of the pie, to where you don't even call it a slice anymore, you call those wihtout them a sliver) ran scholo? or regular strat, much less MC or ZG?
no one does, they skip the level 60 content and go straight to outlands at 58. by moving naxx back to the spot light, where people are wanting to play (at 80), they've used the content effectively.
Blotter Jan 20th 2009 7:16PM
we do!
Plastic Rat Jan 20th 2009 9:50PM
Wow, I love the way any mention of how people are dissatisfied brings all the trolls to the yard. Yes, just because Blizzard are currently catering to the idle, low attention span, whiny and instant gratification obsessed idiots with their massive sense of entitlement doesn't mean that everyone who wants to enjoy pre-BC content is begrudging you this.
Leave the guys alone, let them enjoy the way they play and take your pissy little attitudes and shove them.
Hell I'm more than tempted to go start a new account and join them just to get away from the mediocrity celebrating asshats that the current endgame seems to be targeting.
lmapii Jan 21st 2009 3:03AM
first thing i have to say that is that i started playing when bc came out.
well i moved up to 70, made some raids pre god-mode patch. with some friends (they played pre bc) i tried out some old raids and i was amazed. the first time we cleared one and i saw those epics i just wanted tbc to go away.
i mean, pre bc if you had an epic item it was GREAT. people with blues were quite well equipped, but if you compare the blue ones to the epics in pre bc ...
and now : the difference from t7 to some blues from heroics is ridiculous. nowadays everyone's full epic, especially since wotlk. i mean naxx and malygos are ridiculosly easy. we cleared the 10 men version on first try in just one night. its just sad. the sadest part is: it is still harder to go to bwl with 5 men than clearing naxx with 10.
on the other way it is great for occasional players to have access to this content and to get some gear too ...
but still somehow i'd love to go back to vanilla wow
Tole Jan 21st 2009 7:48AM
I am currently a member leveling up in this great guild. We are not greedy, we just long to see a Pre BC server open for the great content. Since the day I joined all I have seen are kind-hearted people. And to the person that posted a long thing about how self-centered we are, maybe before making that assumption you should come check us out, because we are not the self-centered people you believe us to be, we are just enjoying content the old way.
Skya74 Jan 21st 2009 9:19AM
I have no objection to these guilds who enjoy the vanilla content, each to their own. One thing that I fail to understand though is how they can say that they're playing pre BC when they put LK enchants on their level 60 gear, in fact looking at their armory profiles a number of their guild have them. The excuse that some of them get these enchants because they have too much gold isn't a valid one since anyone who had too much gold pre BC didn't have access to these overpowered stats.
I myself have a lot of good memories from the vanilla days, I can also think of a lot of things that have changed for the better. The days of v1.x really are much better as a memory rather than in reality.
fernando Jan 21st 2009 10:57AM
i only do Deadmines...
psy Jan 24th 2009 5:09AM
i'd join the guild if i was active n on the same realm, but irl goals get higher prio now. the way it should be. i easily get too drawn in when i'm hooked ^^'
Minrus Jan 27th 2009 11:16AM
The reason to remove Naxx was a simple one. To avoid confusing one "Naxx" for another. I'm sure they have other reasons, but let's face it... besides HoY... Who is even bothering with MC, AQ, or old-school Naxx? This change was not intended to be malicious. Quite the opposite. It was intended to make things easier, and to cut out redundant parts of the game.
Personally, I'm glad HoY is around. I started WoW right around the time BC came out. I owned merely vanilla WoW. So, I really wanted to try out all the 60 content. Unfortunately, everyone I played with owned BC, and was only interested in 70 content. If HoY had been on my server, I would've liked to raid with them.