Robin's post about
fun with kiting yesterday immediately reminded me about the old days of 40 man raiding. Don't worry, this isn't a nostalgia trip per se... in many ways raiding is better now than it's ever been... but one of the things I enjoyed back in classic WoW were the world bosses. Bosses like Azuregos, the
Emerald Dragons and Kazzak (as well as summoned bosses like
Maws and Eranikus) added a feeling of competition that simply couldn't be had by being the first to clear a raid. If Blizzard wants to bring the antagonism between Alliance and Horde back to the forefront, well, even on a PvE server back in the day one could watch Horde and Alliance guilds jostle over
Azuregos. Heck, we were griefed pretty hard doing the green dragons, especially
Emeriss, as Horde players would come running up to die under our tank and become mushrooms.
Burning Crusade had a couple of world raid bosses (a recycled
Kazzak and
Doomwalker) but for the most part they weren't terribly compelling: the gear they dropped was comparable with Karazhan (eventually it was made BoE to try and drive raiders towards it to harvest them for sales, which happened to some degree but is hardly what you'd call a sign of an exciting time, scavenging bosses for BoE's) and it seems like the practice has fallen out of favor since those days. While there are wandering big elites in Howling Fjord and Zul'Drak, they're either just there with no real rhyme or reason, or they're involved in quests.
So I ask you: would you like to see big world bosses return in
Cataclysm? Or do you think they're an artifact of an older time, and we're better off without them?
Tags: Azuregos, cataclysm-guide, cataclysm-news, Doomwalker, dragons-of-nightmare, Emeriss, expanion, expansion-three, game-discussion, gamer-discussion, Kazzak, Lethon, Maws, next-xpac, Taerar, third-expansion, third-xpac, world-of-warcraft-cataclysm, world-of-warcraft-discussion, world-of-warcraft-hot-topics, world-of-warcraft-topics, wow-4.0, wow-4.0.2, wow-cataclysm, wow-discussion, wow-expansion, wow-guide, wow-hot-topics, wow-issues, wow-third-expansion, wow-topics
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Jan 15th 2010 at 8:00AM 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
GrooveNeedle Jan 15th 2010 8:04AM
I would love to see them return. Even with Wrath I expected them, since the original trailer showed a giant Yeti. Things like that don't need significant lore behind them, like the Yeti example, its just part of the natural fauna.
Banndit Jan 15th 2010 10:19AM
Something about giant creatures that could destroy you being there while you play really brings the scenes to life. Plus it adds that taboo factor of the places you're not suppose to go to, but you do anyways because you can't help but explore and discover.
Barinthos Jan 15th 2010 11:23AM
Well if you really had to have some kind of lore behind each "world boss" you could chalk it up to Neltharion(Deathwing). He shattered the world as he entered, so why not say due to that power/energy those that didn't die were corrupted with his evil power and changed into what they are today. Sure it sounds cliche but meh.
And if these world bosses were to be implemented again what's stopping guilds from farming the piss out of them and leaving other's willing to try out in the cold? Maybe create a lockout or debuff for the people that down them for a week just like regular raids?
I haven't bothered taking down any of the world bosses at all so i wouldn't know if there's already something in place to prevent constant farming(other than a long respawn timer)
Nick S Jan 15th 2010 1:28PM
It'd be cool to have world bosses again, but exactly because guilds would farm the crap out of them I'd say the implementation should be different.
Perhaps make them lootable by everyone who "tags" them with damage before they die, and have them drop part of a quest chain to form an item. Kill every world dragon, get a sword, something like that.
benai Jan 15th 2010 4:09PM
phasing...
blizzard can just phase the bosses out for anyone who kills them for that week. They would also up the re spawn time so more guilds got a chance to fight them per week
Space_Cadett Jan 16th 2010 3:09AM
Well instead of using phasing etc etc. make it more oldschool, you won't only need a 40man raid to down a world boss, you'd need 4 or even 5 40man raids to have a chance at killing a dragon/world boss. In everquest there were those kind of bosses and it was really fun to be a part of something like that. It also eliminates guilds rushing to kill the boss. What this game is missing is,besides the accessible by everyone stuff, content that isn't designed to be conquered every 7 days, it really helps to create an epic feeling and unfortunately, how ever much blizzard wants to convince us, WoW is missing the epicness of "there are big things out there that are not easily killed/attainable/whatever". Mind you i'm not a hardcore raider or a hardcore gamer but hell even a baby if you give him what he wants all the time, he has nothing to look up to..
Back on topic though,
Having 150 people might be a bit tough to handle on a system performance point of view but hey, they've made enough money out of subscriptions in the past few years so they should be able to pay someone to figure it out!
Andrew R. Jan 15th 2010 8:05AM
Azeroth may be torn apart but that doesn't mean everything from the current Azeroth needs to be turned into a memory of the past. I would love to see the world boss and maybe even a new one or two. Make them fit in with the lore of Cataclysm.
I don't think tuning them so 40 85's would be a good idea because that will just cause more drama, headaches and bring out the worst in people. On the flip side how can you make a world boss toggle between 10/25 man raids?
Bring the world boss back and let the devs figure out how to tune them.
Blackthorn Jan 15th 2010 9:28AM
I think the key to making world bosses work is to fill their loot tables with stuff that, while nice to have, isn't unique. Guilds would still race each other for the challenge, but would not have to resort to camping or griefing to get the upgrades they need to raid.
Something like the VoA bosses would be perfect, they would have a chance to drop loads of good stuff, but it wouldn't be the only place to get those items.
my2cents Jan 16th 2010 7:19AM
Personally, I think world bosses could really benefit from a contribution system like in WAR. Have it spawn near places where there is a horde town and an alli town nearby to encourage clashing factions and make the boss tough enough that you'll need several people to down it but not so tough that 2 enemy faction players can wipe you.
Then when the boss goes down, everyone on the faction that did the most damage who participated at all in killing the boss or the surrounding enemy faction players (or healing allies in the area) gets a chance at a loot bag (with something class/spec specific for you) based on how much you contributed to the success of your faction.
It takes away loot drama and the old problem of guilds racing to tag the boss before anyone else can. Just be there when the boss is up, jump into the action, and reap the benefits. To make sure everyone gets a chance at the boss make it spawn every 9 hours or so rather than once a week or whatever. Just a thought =)
JAREDO Jan 15th 2010 2:40PM
^^ This... Proudmore sports an Alliance-Horde ratio of 11:1.
noblegods1 Jan 15th 2010 8:08AM
Meh i guess it would be fun to have some competition but more importantly id rather them redo more old world dungeons. like WC.
Phoulmouth Jan 15th 2010 8:09AM
yes plz
Zayd Jan 15th 2010 8:10AM
Yes please!
Zayd Jan 15th 2010 8:10AM
Damn you Phoulmouth!
Kaity Jan 15th 2010 8:10AM
Most certainly yes!
This would be a great addition to Cataclysm and something I feel I missed out on from the earlier days of WoW (I started playing at the end of BC).
But, bringing back in the 40 mans isn't a direction I think anyone wants blizzard to go in, and I don't think they would. The challange would be bringing them down to 10 or 25 man fights without making them a peice of cake.
Josin Jan 15th 2010 8:10AM
With the world literally cracking open, there's no reason not to have all sorts of manner of creatures crawling up from the depths.
I still remember when the World Dragons were quite a feat. Now people solo them.
Noz. Jan 15th 2010 8:11AM
Yeah, but make new or improve the ones we had, with 25m versions, If Cata is about the Old Gods going rampage, by the way of Draconic Aspects , ( Read Shades of Grey) Then Yseras Lieutenants will be as happy as ever to come back and shatter the world.
Fatamorgana Jan 15th 2010 8:44AM
World Bosses, especially Dragons, are the epitome of epicness.
These should never be dumbed down into 10 or 25-man versions. They are meant to be tough as nails and require the use of all your resources and allies to remotely have a chance of conquering.
So, yes! Bring more World Bosses with Cataclysm!! And scale up the old bosses too!
There's no reason that they should ever be soloable. They are to be feared, respected, and admired.
vazhkatsi Jan 15th 2010 12:23PM
such a pity that they are all soloable, oh well
Phoenix Jan 15th 2010 8:14AM
I don't believe they could keep it as they were. Too many people QQ'n about not being able to attempt a boss because the more progression based guilds have already tackled him for the week. With the advent of the new Guild systems they'll have in place, I don't see why they couldn't have a "guild summoning" where through leveling and acquiring items, a guild is able to summon a particular boss in the overworld once per lockout. The mob would be insta tagged to the raid that summons it, and it would truly feel like a guild accomplishment.