Hard Mode raiding is here to stay
by Matthew Rossi 
Feb 18th 2009 at 4:00PM
In a thread started by Lightsnight, who argues that hard modes in a dungeon are 'a stupid gimmick', Valnoth counters with what I think is a measured response (keeping in mind that I'm very sarcastic) - " Hard Modes are intended for people that want additional challenges and rewards. You might view them as a gimmick, but I assure you that hard modes will test the mettle of the most seasoned raiding guilds. The choice is yours, my friend. " This is a relief for me heading into Ulduar.
Now, I dislike the mechanics of the Sartharion with three drakes up fight (don't stand in this, run away from that, are you standing in that), but that doesn't mean that it's poorly designed, and I think it does exactly what Blizzard set out to do. It creates a means for anyone who can get 10 or 25 people together to experience raid content while simultaneously giving guilds that like challenging content a way to pursue that without making some content simply inaccessible. There was a lot of complaining in the past that superlative raids like Naxxramas 40 and Sunwell Plateau simply weren't accessible to the majority of raiders due to their difficulty. With hard modes, raids can choose to do this content at its most basic setting and get to experience the content, or they can opt for more difficulty and get better loot and bragging rights.
Honestly, I don't really see Lightsnight's problem here. But I am glad that Valnoth confirms that not only are hard modes not going anywhere, but that they will continue to provide some of the best loot in the game. Now all I need is for them to remember to put a 2h weapon that can be used with Titan's Grip on a hard mode boss next time around.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, News items, Raiding, Bosses, Forums
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Cyanea Feb 18th 2009 4:05PM
I LOVE the idea of Hard Modes.
It also is a great design decision, meaning Blizz can keep players busy with the same content for longer.
Zul Feb 18th 2009 5:09PM
I do too.
I just hope the "hard mode" bosses will drop a tier token, that is only accessible through them. Since I see every nub and their uncle running around in tier... Make an obvious piece (helm or shoulders) hard to get so us hardcores with no lives feel specials till xD
Blake Feb 18th 2009 7:17PM
QQ Zul
I wouldn't have Hard Modes drop tier items. You just see everyone and their mother in Tier 7 because of the ease of the end game right now. We've repeatedly heard that Ulduar will be much harder than end game now and, as such, I wouldn't expect to see nearly as many people running around in full Tier 8 as you see today.
SBKT Feb 18th 2009 11:27PM
Is it bad that I would be one to read this and go "But... the set bonuses!" Even then, I'd have to move on at some point.
Jebidiah Feb 19th 2009 4:15AM
You want hard mode? - Try PvP or Arena as a Shadowpriest
Sinthar Feb 19th 2009 6:24AM
@ Zul
A title and a drake not visible enough for you?
Cmen Feb 19th 2009 9:57AM
Got one better then shadowpriest. Try PvP realm as Holy Priest. 1-80 as Holy total current deaths 1334. Toilet paper for armor and i can't fight back.
Texicles Feb 20th 2009 12:58PM
3 more deaths until 1337!!! lulz
Shulkman Feb 18th 2009 4:07PM
Since wrath came out I've seen plenty of discussion (sometimes outright screams) about how easy everything was.... If I was Blizz, I would create a raid mode so difficult that no one could beat it. I wouldn't tell anybody about it. But it sure would give those high end guilds something to work on until the end of time... The repair bills would be the subject of many a laugh I'm sure.
superstone Feb 18th 2009 6:03PM
This gave me a good laugh.
And I agree. Give the Hardcore QQers a bone. Offer up a fight with so many gimmicks and hidden elements that they'll be busy with one fight for months... and then let that boss drop greens that beat their 25 man tier items.
:P
d503 Feb 18th 2009 7:03PM
@shulkman
They did that, his name was M'uru ...Blizzard has obviously learned from those lessons, but many of us (whom you address here) believe that they've ratcheted it too much in the opposite direction...I'm eagerly awaiting Ulduar to see what's in store...haven't given up yet...
The Claw Feb 18th 2009 8:55PM
Actually d503, they did that and his name was C'thun.
M'uru was hard, sure, but not "so difficult that no one could beat it," obviously, since he was quickly beaten by the very top guilds.
But C'thun, in his original incarnation.. he WAS too hard for anyone to beat, and unbeaten he remained until he was nerfed. The number-crunchers in the top guilds asserted that he was mathematically impossible to beat (in terms of amount of incoming damage needing healing and amount of raid dps required)
Swiss Feb 19th 2009 9:08AM
While it's not WoW, enter the Pandemonium Warden:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/85639-18-Hour-Final-Fantasy-XI-Boss-Induces-Puking
18 hours continuously fighting the same boss and the top guild still could not kill him.
ayalafatalis Feb 18th 2009 4:10PM
People complain about raids being too easy, and then complain about these hard modes?
Punjab Feb 18th 2009 4:14PM
That's the nature of WoW.
Whatever the developers do there is someone, somewhere who will QQ about it.
Always.
Nic Lake Feb 18th 2009 4:22PM
People on my guild dub it "qq moar mode"... I'm stoked about this.
Are we looking at a 1 step increase (aka Sarth 1 drake) or multiple (Sarth 1, 2, or 3 drakes)? I hope there are a few bosses that include multiple modes, instead of just "ok, do this for a slight difficulty increase" on every boss.
Eternauta Feb 18th 2009 4:23PM
People always complain.
And now that the staff is giving us more attention, they're complaining more... and louder.
Arashikou Feb 18th 2009 4:37PM
@Nic Lake -
Blizz has stated that of the 14 bosses in Ulduar, 11 will have some kind of hard mode, and many of those (sorry, no concrete numbers) will have multiple gradations of difficulty so that players can choose HOW hard to make it. So it sounds like they agree with you that a sliding scale of difficulty is better than "easy or hard - you get one or the other."
The first one we know about is the very first boss fight, against the Flame Leviathan. There will be 4 destructible "defense towers" around the area leading up to the Leviathan. Similar to the drakes on Sartharion, the more towers that are up when you engage the boss, the more difficult the fight will be, but the better the rewards. With four towers, that makes for five difficulties (zero to four towers remaining) on the first boss fight alone.
SWEET!
Clevins Feb 18th 2009 4:54PM
Not a contradiction. Hard modes feel like a copout because it's NOT NEW CONTENT. Oops, caps... :)
Sartharion with drakes is harder than without... but it's still the same basic content. If they deliver enough content this isn't an issue, but saying "Go do that encounter you've already seen in a hard mode" isn't a good rejoinder to "there's damn little content."
The problem with Wrath for some people is that Naxx wasn't that hard for many and Malygos, OS and VoA are short, single boss encounters (I don't count the drakes as bosses in OS). Contrast this to TBC where you had Kara, Gruul/Mag and THEN SSC and TK. Would TBC have been as appealing if 2.0 had shipped with Kara, Gruul and Mag and they say "But do Mag with channelers alive!!"? Of course not.
Jay in Oregon Feb 18th 2009 7:52PM
In some cases, they are consistent -- their argument amounts to "There should be more Sunwells that the facerolling PUGing scrubs would be unworthy to gaze upon, let alone dare to step foot in".
They call Naxx easy mode WoW because just people can walk in wearing *gasp* quest or reputation rewards and contribute, and they hate instances with hard modes because it doesn't give them enough of an ePeen boost to beat 10-man Sarth+3 drakes.
They want WoW to have content that only THEY can see, because they've been raiding since Molten Core was the brave new frontier. Or because they'll slave away for weeks on the PTRs to hone their skillz to get that coveted Realm First! (or if they're lucky, World First!) 3 hours after the raid hits the live servers.