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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsPatch 3.2's raid extension feature clarified
by Alex Ziebart 
Jul 8th 2009 at 2:30PM
The details are mostly what we expected: Extending your lockout will let it roll over into the next lockout period, consuming your instance ID for that day (in the case of heroics) or week (in the case of raids). You can extend your lockout more than once, probably indefinitely, but Eyonix wasn't specific on how many times you can do it in a row. I assume indefinitely. The extension is also on a per-person basis, meaning if you PUG someone into your 25man run, they can't screw you by extending their lockout. That also means it's not a raid leader decision. At least, not mechanically. It's up to the individual to click that extension button.
The extension system really wouldn't make sense any other way, so this is all pretty expected. While your raid leader will certainly have some sway over what your raid group does from week to week when in an progression guild, it shouldn't surprise anybody that Blizzard hasn't put your raid IDs solely in the hands of the raid leaders. That would be abused in the most epic way possible. Get a jerk of a raid leader in a PUG, kiss your Archavon ID goodbye for the rest of eternity because the guy keeps pushing the extend button? Yeah, no thanks. I think we're all glad that the decision is made by the individuals.
I eagerly await the inevitable, "Oooops, I 'accidentally' extended my raid timer" excuses from raiders that want a week off and don't have the guts to be honest about it. Those sorts of things are the best!
Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all the latest!Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
John Jul 8th 2009 8:55PM
I believe you missed the Godfather 3 / Sopranos reference Yak.
Mortur Jul 8th 2009 4:04PM
Seems to me it would work like:
Raid leader extends his raid lockout. As long as he is the first one into the raid entrance after a lockout period, the rest will be re-saved into that extended lockout.
No work needs to be done by the rest of the raid. anyone who wants to drop out and start a new lockout with other players, can simply not group with anyone who extended.
Devote Jul 8th 2009 4:02PM
I like this change, and it allows guild to actually experience more content, which I dont think is a point anyone else has raised.
My guild does Ulduar 3 days a week, and on the off-days, if we have enough people we may hit Naxx 10 for our alts or something
However, if we want to do a more 'serious' raid like Maly or Sartharion with drakes up, we can now set it for a raid day which we would have spent in Ulduar anyway, or maybe used for getting the Undying achievement in Naxx
This change will allow you to see far more of the content, and will allow struggling guilds to achieve further progress, whilst allowing the more hardcore guilds to delve into new raids, whilst being able to still find time on raid days when they know people can be online, to go back to previous raids and farm that item which would help them out a bit *cough*Grim Toll*cough*, that thing never drops ;/
Aurilia Jul 8th 2009 4:10PM
As others have mentioned, this feature seems to be a two-edged sword. It allows a raid group to push further into raid dungeons then time may have previously allowed, but by doing so slow the raid members' gear progression that's likely to be needed to defeat later encounters.
The only real reason I see for this is trying for hard modes on the way to Algalon; when the raid no longer needs the gear (such as having better from Argent Colosseum) and trying for achievements. No point redoing Flame Leviathan, XT-002, Kologarn, and Auriaya if you're just after the hard modes for the 4 Keepers, or hard mode heroic Yoggy to make the Mace.
Muse Jul 8th 2009 4:22PM
My guild are re-doing Black Temple, but we only have about an hour or so per week to do old content. So extending that indefinitely sounds like the only way we'll get to Illidan.
Mediator Jul 8th 2009 4:14PM
This is specifically for the new dungeon, since its a straight through affair, you have to do each boss one after another, and so you can extend your lockout if you're stuck on a boss without having to do the bosses before it again.
Treason Jul 8th 2009 4:50PM
>I eagerly await the inevitable, "Oooops, I 'accidentally' extended my raid timer" excuses from raiders that want a week off and don't have the guts to be honest about it. Those sorts of things are the best!
I don't think you're really getting the sheer beauty of the system. A raider who does this will have no excuse, when they attempt to zone in with everyone else, they'll simply get the "Are you sure you want to get locked to this raid"
Blizzard is doing this EXTREMELY well.
--Treason
Binaryshock Jul 8th 2009 4:43PM
ok this is weird with it being individual. I understand why but here's a hypothetical
My guild goes into ulduar 25, clears up to Yogg can't kill Yogg, and decide to not extend it. But I personally choose to extend it.
I could go into trade and sell my raid ID for a Yogg kill? without interfering with my guilds re-clearing of Ulduar?
yunkndatwunk Jul 8th 2009 5:18PM
I suppose you could.
Of course, guild might even do that, and put the money in the guild bank. I'm sure if your guild caught you doing it they'd be pissed thinking the money belongs to all of them, since they all contributed. but a guild itself selling the lockout I can easily see that
I don't think there is much wrong with that idea. A guild decides they've wiped enough and sells the lock to another guild. Not sure who or how or why but I imagine there would be a buyer. And all you're really doing is giving someone the opportunity to see a boss without fighting all the trash and spending hours on earlier bosses they may have seen already.
Consider every Uld pug that can't get past the antechamber. Many people haven't seen much past XT, selling a lock out to a guild would be a favor to them. Maybe they'd wipe on the harder bosses, but hey it's their choice.
Amaxe Jul 9th 2009 11:33AM
Seems to me the trade off is you would get the money but would also be locked in for another week and could not work on farming Uld with the rest of your guild.
Assuming your raid as a whole opts not to extend, but you personally do, the guild has no cause for complaint (unless you fail to meet your guild obligation for raids being locked out) as they chose to opt out of extending.
What I wonder about this is what happens to the /kick ed PUG? Can he extend and screw others out of the raid if he gets there first (say Guild raids w-th-f and the Pug Gets in there Tuesday?)