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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsIn the category of "finally": Raid ID confirmation windows in 3.1
by Michael Sacco 
Feb 27th 2009 at 5:00PM
The 3.1 PTR has brought a lot of wonderful quality of life improvements, but here's one that players and GMs alike will undoubtedly appreciate more than a lot of them: you finally, finally get a confirmation window when you enter an instance that would lock you to it. You get the option to accept the lockout and stay in the instance or leave the instance and save your ID for later. You have 15 seconds to make said choice.
This means no more getting screwed out of heroics by some idiot who forgot he already ran Violet Hold today or any other of the myriad ways you can lose your ID for the day (or week). It's about time.
Our good friend BRK found this feature without even realizing it, as WI reader Brandon Tilley discovered it in BRK's screenshots of a PTR raid last night. Thanks for the heads-up on this exciting change, Brandon, and way to miss the boat, BRK!
Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.Filed under: Patches, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
komamura Feb 27th 2009 5:05PM
bout time
Kakistocracy Feb 27th 2009 5:21PM
Give them a break, it's not like anyone pointed out that lacking this has caused problems, and that this would be a nice solution...
But really, assuming it stays, I can't wait.
Braundo Feb 27th 2009 5:07PM
Nice.
Velmarn Feb 27th 2009 5:10PM
I read that as Raid ID confirmation in Windows 3.1 , I laughed.
Direphoenix Feb 27th 2009 5:48PM
I read that as "Raid ID confirmation in Windows 3.1" also, then I was like, "woah, you can play WoW from Win 3.1?!?"
Alkaios Feb 27th 2009 6:35PM
I am SO firing my ancient shelved computer tonight.
Thank you Mister Sacco =D
Juggynaut Feb 27th 2009 5:09PM
interesting that it's showing up after he was there for a boss kill... might open exploits that involve farming the first/only boss of an instance
Brandon Tilley Feb 27th 2009 5:12PM
That's actually an interesting point, I'm curious to see what they do about that.
Kevin Gass Feb 27th 2009 5:17PM
Its true, i saw this today when running 10 man vault. Downed the boss, saw this pop up. Grabbed my Emblem and said no. Then went back it in.Everything reset. If this isnt fixed, this could be highly exploited. Imgine an entire guild getting T7.5 in a day without ever be saved to a raid
GoldenGoat Feb 28th 2009 8:21AM
This just seems like a PTR gaffe; the popup is obviously not intended to be given to players who are saved to an instance via CONVENTIONAL (actually being there when a boss dies) means.
As many ill-advised things as are going in 3.1, I SERIOUSLY doubt that this won't be fixed. :)
Brandon Tilley Feb 27th 2009 5:10PM
The picture says 15 seconds, but BRK's post was about a screenshot submitted by a PTR tester regarding recount numbers--so it's likely (hopefully?) longer, say 1 or 2 minutes.
Todd Feb 27th 2009 5:12PM
So... what happens if you don't decide in that 15 seconds?
Brandon Tilley Feb 27th 2009 5:14PM
The idea is that you would then be saved to the instance, just like what happens now when you down a boss, or walk into an instance with a boss already downed.
Todd Feb 27th 2009 5:16PM
Hmm, not sure if I like the time limit then. I suppose it would be beneficial to the lazy, but it could be troublesome to those who are unable to hit "Leave Instance" within the 15 seconds, for whatever their reasons might be.
Todd Feb 27th 2009 5:17PM
Hopefully the time IS extended, or at least, an option to suggest what time limit YOU want or not at all.
Kaphik Feb 27th 2009 10:40PM
If you can't figure it out is 15 seconds, you shouldn't be there to begin with.
Todd Mar 1st 2009 10:17AM
Ah... so people are chained to their computers, is that it Kaphik? People don't get up to use the bathroom, or answer the phone, or get wife aggro, or suddnely have the batteries of their mouse go dead at that very moment.
Oh yes, people just sit around ready to make those hard decisions in just 15 seconds without any real world distractions being possible.
Maybe in your perfect world, but not in reality.
Fyve & Boomstick Mar 2nd 2009 10:32PM
@ Todd,
Priorities FTW. If the doorbell rings in the middle of Thaddius... Do you immediately drop raid and run to the door? If the wife calls, do you shout back and say "5 minutes hun, is lil todd choking?" Or immediately rush off to her demands? If the battery in your mouse dies.... well quick change those batts and get back in the fight, if your group downs the boss, yay! np.
This isnt one of those, we're penalising people for RL commitment things to QQ over, this is designed for folk who may get tricked into joining an instance with bosses already down or you might zone in by mistake to the wrong difficulty etc.
For that, 15 seconds, is long enough.
Todd Mar 3rd 2009 10:28AM
@Fyve & Boomstick
Lil Todd? Pardon?
You're probably right, though. Longer than 15 seconds is obviously way too much to program into the game. We should tax the developers too much into something that is way too difficult to do.
Really, why would anyone want something longer, and especially on top of that, something that will default to saving you to the instance in the event that you can't click no or leave the instance in time. Real world situations never come into play when making game world decisions... never.
AyaJulia Feb 27th 2009 5:19PM
I'd rather see a list of bosses that have been downed, personally, but this is a start.
To clarify preemptively, this will do a world of good to help with accidents, but it's also currently really easy for, say, a guildie to fail on the last boss of an instance, ask for some help, and have everyone zone in only to find that one of the other members of the failfest already cleared it. Or to join a pug Naxx that claims "oh, we've only downed one wing" and find out it's a clear Naxx (a difficulty setting accident might come into play here as well).
I'm not complaining in the least bit though, just pointing out where it could be improved. I'm glad Blizz is doing something about this.