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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsPatch 4.2: Eight raid bosses confirmed [updated]
by Fox Van Allen 
Apr 29th 2011 at 2:25PM
That it?
Yes, Firelands is the raid in 4.2, and 7 is the total number of bosses.
We think 7 is our current ideal for number of bosses in a raid. (We launched Cataclysm with two full raids of 4-6 bosses each.) We're also spending a lot of time making the Firelands bosses as awesome as possible - - creating unique models, animations, effects, sounds, etc. etc. Previously a lot of bosses were larger versions of existing models, which was fine, but that tradeoff is made somewhere. We shift to making fewer but more epic boss fights and there's a tradeoff somewhere. We're concentrating our efforts into a smaller number of fights so that each fight is bigger and better, they're still obviously going to be extremely challenging, but once it is on farm you're not having to spend two, three, maybe four nights just to clear it because the raid is so huge.
We think 7 is our current ideal for number of bosses in a raid. (We launched Cataclysm with two full raids of 4-6 bosses each.) We're also spending a lot of time making the Firelands bosses as awesome as possible - - creating unique models, animations, effects, sounds, etc. etc. Previously a lot of bosses were larger versions of existing models, which was fine, but that tradeoff is made somewhere. We shift to making fewer but more epic boss fights and there's a tradeoff somewhere. We're concentrating our efforts into a smaller number of fights so that each fight is bigger and better, they're still obviously going to be extremely challenging, but once it is on farm you're not having to spend two, three, maybe four nights just to clear it because the raid is so huge.
Bashiok goes on to give further insight on the content development process as it applies to new raids, suggesting that future raid patches will be much like this one in content and scope:
That it?
Our ideal situation would, of course, be to launch as many raids as possible with this current ideal number of around 7 bosses, but that's not something we're ever going to promise. We'd love to be able to produce unlimited amounts of content anywhere, not just raids, for that matter. We think one raid per patch with around 7 bosses is a super solid experience, though, especially with how much effort is going into Firelands. We don't think anyone is going to be disappointed.
On a side note, the whole daily quest thing hasn't sparked much excitement yet, but with the preview going live here in a few hours (and BlizzCast 16) hopefully we can impress how awesome that's going to be, too.
Again, there's a pretty aggressive development cycle for 4.2, so it's not going to be very long before we're on the PTR, and not very long (comparatively) before release.
On a side note, the whole daily quest thing hasn't sparked much excitement yet, but with the preview going live here in a few hours (and BlizzCast 16) hopefully we can impress how awesome that's going to be, too.
Again, there's a pretty aggressive development cycle for 4.2, so it's not going to be very long before we're on the PTR, and not very long (comparatively) before release.
While more content is always nice, I'm quite enthusiastic about the "seven raid boss per patch" sweet spot design. The super-raid design of patch 3.3 was a little much -- by including so much content into one raid, it often took two to three nights of play to achieve a full clear. And best of all, I love the idea of using original models -- the design of Marrowgar was awesome, but finding the same model in Halls of Origination ... well, it just felt a little cheap.
[EDIT: Updated to reflect there will be 8 raid bosses: 6 in Firelands, plus Rag and 1 in Baradin Hold.]
The news is already rolling out for the upcoming WoW Patch 4.2! Preview the new Firelands raid, marvel at the new legendary staff, and get the inside scoop on the new quest hubs. Plus, new Tier 12 armor!Filed under: Raiding
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
KvanCetre Apr 29th 2011 3:31PM
Oh how quickly people forget TOC. Thats exactly what you're asking for.
Baba Apr 29th 2011 3:56PM
7 bosses is simply not enough for a tier. Period.
ICC was 12 bosses and served perfectly, ToC was horrific at 6 bosses and no trash.
What happened to this lauded "multiple raids at each tier to give diversity" selling point of Cataclysm? Total balls.
Sunaseni Apr 29th 2011 5:06PM
Quality, not quantity, I say. It's fine to be skeptical, but let's not write out lesser number of bosses off hand. With all the bosses in the game thus far, the set pieces have been repeating themselves. Some bosses do new and interesting things like chaining onto spikes in Magmaw, run spikes onto ice patches on Anub'Arak, but they are few and far between.
If they can pull it off, a raid full of 7 Mimirons would be much more awesome than a raid of 20 Patchwerks and Anub'Rekhans. Call me "skeptically optimistic".
vocenoctum Apr 29th 2011 7:34PM
I saw a few comments on that thread about the timeline, comparing this release from start to the release window between Ulduar and ToC and Icecrown.
I think the missing factor here is Ulduar. People forget how ToC knocked Ulduar out of the eye of the "common raider", long before it was exhausted. While they've streamline the tiers a bit to avoid that, they've decided that They want to make sure that folks are ready for this content, and that this content lasts just long enough to get the next tier ready.
Goradan Apr 29th 2011 2:58PM
After this current tier of raiding, I'll be glad for a 7-boss 2-night clear.
Good grief.
watspr02 Apr 29th 2011 3:23PM
I hope that they are going to stick to a faster timeline after this patch. They took 4.5 months for 4.1 which is understandable considering the huge amount of bugs they had to fix. I give them a lot of credit for getting almost all of the game destroying bugs fixed and the classes to mainly be balanced in PVP/PVE via all of the patches from 4.0.3 to 4.1. That is very hard to do and something that really didn't happen in vanilla, wrath, or BC. But after that and when they start really working on the raids, they need to release them in a quicker manner. 7 bosses is a good raid number, but for a tier, it will get old quickly. I'm enthusiastic about this raid but I'm hoping that they will be on a 2 month timline for patches after this. Let's hope.
wowski59 Apr 29th 2011 4:31PM
Oh, how people complain about everything.
First off, people complaining about patches and tiers not coming fast enough.
Second, people complaining about these patches/tiers not having enough content.
Where's the happy median? Oh right, Blizzard should be able to pump out 15 raid boss tiers every month.
Devin Apr 29th 2011 6:24PM
15 raid bosses a month!?!?! That's ridiculous and I won't stand for it. Quality over quantity, Blizzard! Sheesh.
/end devil's advocate rant
Squelchy Apr 29th 2011 4:58PM
A single raid with 7 bosses, huh? That's the kiss of death for guilds like mine, who like to do large sanctioned 25-man raids and smaller, private 10s. Thus far, we've been splitting them up between BWD and BoT on an ad hoc basis. With only one raid this tier, instead of two smaller ones, we will have only one lockout to play with.
Then again, our 25s aren't progressing very well; perhaps we shall keep them in the 4.0 content for a while. But I doubt people will want to do that.
Yvl Apr 29th 2011 6:25PM
I could swear they said they would give two small raids per patch. But I'm sure it'll be fine, I guess.
nymrohd Apr 29th 2011 6:28PM
I don't mind cutting down to two raid nights a week, maybe a third for progress. But I do wonder how the loot tables will work. The current ones are a bit too shallow, with a lot of DEs happening but fitting all the slots in just 7 bosses could lead to a nightmare in ever getting the right item, particularly for tough slots like trinkets.
Randomize Apr 29th 2011 10:38PM
No War of the Ancients?