BlizzCon 2010: Classic dungeon changes in patch 4.1
by Allison Robert 
Oct 22nd 2010 at 5:23PM
- They're going to keep creating wings Utgarde Keep and Utgarde Pinnacle cited as an example of a successful split. They're similar dungeons thematically, but if players had to tackle them both together they'd be pretty arduous.
- Mr. Mercer had an amusing phrase for the whole venture: "I did a pass through all the older dungeons, and we're doing what I call Cutting Out The Suck."
- Graveyards are more convenient No more nightmare 10-minute runs back from a distant graveyard to the depths of a dungeon.
- They're expecting a lot of new players in Cataclysm and they don't want older dungeons to be a roadblock. "We don't want dungeons to be left behind in the redo, we want them to be up-to-par with everything else." Dungeon sections with pointless trash will be trimmed. They should be "Easier for players to understand (and) easier to navigate."
- Dungeons that are confirmed "fixes" so far Uldaman, Maraudon, Sunken Temple, Wailing Caverns and Blackrock Depths.
- Uldaman overhauls The dungeon is being split into two separate wings. Ironaya will be final boss of the first portion of Uldaman; they felt that the epic feel of assembling the staff and opening her room would be a good ending. The latter portion of Uldaman will be accessed through the existing back-door entrance.
- Maraudon overhauls Like Uldaman, it's being split into two: The "living" section and the elemental portion with the Princess.
- Sunken Temple overhauls One of the floors will be cut completely, although this is a change that will ship with Cataclysm rather than with patch 4.1
- Wailing Caverns overhauls "Almost every boss has its own room now." Confusing portions have been cut.
- Blackrock Depths overhauls Teleporters added!
BlizzCon 2010 is upon us! WoW Insider has all the latest news and information. We're bringing you liveblogging of the WoW panels, interviews with WoW celebrities and attendees and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!Filed under: News items, BlizzCon
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Aris Oct 22nd 2010 5:28PM
"Cutting out the Suck" - Love the phrasing on that!
Hatchette Oct 22nd 2010 5:29PM
I like this
Thundrcrackr Oct 22nd 2010 5:32PM
Ahhh, the good news is starting to come out. I love it! :D
iceveiled Oct 22nd 2010 5:33PM
Thumbs up to all the proposed changes. This is making me think twice about leveling up with heirlooms.
Jawn Oct 22nd 2010 5:33PM
Yay! I reallllly don't like WC, i'm looking forward to seeing how the change works out, there.
And the graveyard improvements will hopefully be complete, this time. Last time they were great, but not complete. BRD wipes, anyone? Ya...
Drakkenfyre Oct 22nd 2010 7:28PM
I HATED the improvements when it came to Searing Gorge. They added another graveyard on the other side, but what happens is if you die slightly closer to that one, you will pop up at that one, and have to run all the way back to the other side.
Zaros Oct 24th 2010 2:52AM
The only thing I liked about WC was the loot. I ran that place ~300 times on all of my alts and it has some of the nicest loot of any dungeon at that lvl. I hated DPSing that place because most dps didn't have viable AoE yet and most casts were interrupted because of the targets death.
Colin Middleton Oct 22nd 2010 5:37PM
Yet more great news. Leveling some new alts should be a blast now. I still remember runs taking 4hrs plus back in the day. Why can't I watch this?
Tanddori Oct 22nd 2010 5:37PM
I applaud this revamping of old world dungeons. Having recently leveled a tank / healer pair through the Dungeon finder, I experienced many a headache with some of these exact issues raised.
It's a smart move on Blizzard to keep the leveling game fresh for new players. Had my first random dungeon ever been Wailing Caverns, I'm not sure I would have kept playing.
Also, the new maps and information on boss encounters are an excellent addition to the old world content.
From someone who enjoys the leveling aspect of the game just as much raiding, this is a big plus for me.
Radioted Oct 22nd 2010 5:38PM
They said they're cutting out the bottom floor of Sunken Temple, which... I think that's the only floor I ever did.
AND IT SUCKED.
Really, they could nuke that whole place from orbit and I wouldn't complain at all. AT. ALL.
vocenoctum Oct 22nd 2010 6:10PM
Sunken Temple is a good example of a dungeon in the Old Style. Quests that lead up to it involve hopping all over the place, but they are neat quests! The troll-god-egg questline is fun, IMO, but tedious in execution. Same with the repetetiveness of two sets of "run around a big loop to open the bottom level", though I can see them just making the plant/ooze guy a more straightforward affair like Gundrak.
The dungeon is confusing at times to navigate, and demonstrates the "lets waste the players time!" style of game design. But it WAS neat and I've done it countless times. Same with Zul Farrak, questlines were fun, but globe hopping is not.
Vodkamartini Oct 22nd 2010 7:01PM
A lot of blues dropped in Sunken Temple, some which lasted into the Hellfire BC section on my toons. Hope those Troll priests who dropped all that gear survive the cut for those doing the grind.
And the Essence of Erainikus was a good trinket for lowbie PVP.
Possum Oct 22nd 2010 7:33PM
They're cutting the bottom with all the dragons? But that was my favourite part! I love fighting dragons! It's probably that I'm just crazy but Sunken temple is one of my favourite dungeons. A dungeon in which I can fight Voodoo trolls AND dragons at the same time? Pure win.
I hope with all these changes they don't streamline the dungeons too much.
Fletcher Oct 23rd 2010 12:37AM
They're keeping the level with Eranikus, Jammal'an, and Hakkar. They're taking out the *bottom* level, with the statues you have to turn on in order and the plant dude.
RogueJedi86 Oct 22nd 2010 5:47PM
"They're expecting a lot of new players in Cataclysm"
Who will have to spend $100+ to get WoW, BC, WotLK, and then Cataclysm. Any word on a WotLK+BC+WoW Battlechest to help out these new players who are supposed to be coming in? I know if I was a new player to WoW I'd be very intimidated by having to spend $120 just to get Cataclysm and the previous expansions that it requires.
iceveiled Oct 22nd 2010 5:59PM
You've taken that quote out of context. Blizzard is spending a lot of time revamping starting zones as well, to try and KEEP new players from losing interest. The game is so addicting, new players will hopefully maintain their interest in the first 20 levels and then keep playing. The revamped dungeons is just another level of polish on the philosophy of keeping new players interested.
That quote doesn't mean a non-wow player is going to walk into a best buy and impulse buy WoW and all 3 expansions at the same time.
Eternauta Oct 22nd 2010 6:05PM
^ This
Falcon6 Oct 22nd 2010 6:05PM
Make a note, this is 1-60 content, which is devoid of any Cataclysm requirement.
I'm sure they have some sort of battle chest planned which would include Wrath.
matt Oct 22nd 2010 10:26PM
I think blizz would do well to no dismiss this idea so quickly. The barrier to entry in this game gets steeper with every expansion. Beyond the cost, which can be adjusted, the complexity of 3-4 boxes, areas, races, and classes that are not available pushes new players away. sooner or later buying wow has got to be pulling ONE box of the shelf at the store and putting one disc in to install it. the tiers of accounts can just keep getting more complex, can it?
tmelcher Oct 23rd 2010 5:42AM
@Matt: First of all, they already have battle chests that reduce the cost aspect substantially. Secondly, the WotLK DVD (so assumably the Cataclysm one as well) does a one disc install! Seriously! They should have made this more clear, yes, but you can install everything you need minus patches from the single DVD.