1,000 guilds have killed heroic Ragnaros
by Mathew McCurley 
Nov 16th 2011 at 7:00PM
Interestingly, 76% of the heroic Ragnaros kills have been completed in 10-man raids, with 24% of the kills in 25-man groups. Ten-man raiding has certainly made endgame raiding significantly more accessible, and 25-man only guilds seem to be struggling to keep their numbers as high as they once were, especially when the 10-man versions of the encounters are more accessible.
While 2% is a vastly larger number than the old days of endgame raiding, the content is still out of reach for a huge amount of the raiders and raid groups out there. Heroic content is meant to be the hardest of the hard, and these numbers reflect that. Hard should not be impossible, however, which is why we are seeing such a disparity between 10- and 25-man kills. Raiding at the 25-man level requires a commitment from more people, and the wrangling involved just adds to an already complicated encounter.
Nonetheless, it's good to see raiders raiding and content actually being completed, as opposed to the old days when content was only made for a very select few people. Hopefully, one day the numbers will be higher as to better justify the creation and facilitation of more hard-mode encounters as well as even better raids. Firelands was a marked improvement in raid design over Bastion of Twilight and Blackwing Descent, and it's good to see the numbers reflect that.
Thanks again to GuildOx for the numbers and statistics. Here are some other awesome articles to check out featuring GuildOx's data:
- Most popular Horde and Alliance character names, by race
- Most popular WoW character names, by class
- The world's most experienced boss-killer
Filed under: News items, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Bellajtok Nov 16th 2011 7:09PM
Huh. I kinda expected more like 5%, but I guess Rag is exceptionally difficult.
Tankadin Nov 16th 2011 9:03PM
"If that doesn't put things into perspective for you with regard to Blizzard's trying to make raiding more accessible, I don't know what will."
I'm not sure heroic mode content was ever supposed to be more accessible. In fact, I'd argue it shouldn't be. Isn't the nerfed content on regular mode enough for everyone?
I'm happy as a clam to be 3/7 HM, not getting further just makes me want to try harder next tier.
Paul Nov 17th 2011 2:24AM
@Tankadin
I think it's a perspective thing. Whilst Blizzard certainly doesn't want it's entire raiding base to simply walk through Heroic mode, they did nerf the other 6 bosses in order to make Heroic Rag more accessible.
There was a post by Blizzard back when they nerfed the Firelands content back in September, and their reasoning for both versions being nerfed was "to get more people to see the best stuff".
As we know, before the nerf, HC Rag was pretty much the least defeated raid boss after 3 months than any other raid before it except for Algalon and Heroic LK 25man, but that wasn't Blizzard's concern. Blizzard's concern was how few people were getting to, then getting past Heroic Staghelm.
Basically, they wanted more people to see him get up and walk around.
I will concur that they did it far far far too soon into the content's cycle, and I can hope that with LFR, they will leave Normal and Heroic content alone (exept for balancing buff nerfs), but considering their desire to more people to see the final boss, I wont hold on to my breath on that regard. Although since there isn't an extra phase of DW in DS, I have some hope left, not much though.
Katherine Nov 17th 2011 3:28PM
Hm. If we wanted to see him walk around, we don't have to down heroic Staghelm, we just have to get to Ragnaros, turn it onto heroic, and not wipe until after 10%. I didn't think Staghelm needed to enter into it.
Everclear Nov 16th 2011 7:10PM
I am the 2%.
Occupy Firelands.
Scooter Nov 17th 2011 12:59AM
As clever as you think you are being, your comment is truely insensitive. I'll ask nicely... please refrain from making further comments like this one.
Everclear Nov 17th 2011 1:03AM
The irony in the satire is that I said 2% and not 98%.
Get over yourself and laugh a little.
Scooter Nov 17th 2011 1:23AM
I understood the joke. It's still in poor taste. All I've done is ask you respectfully not to make more jokes. No need to get snippy
Knob Nov 17th 2011 1:28AM
I respectfully ask Everclear to continue making jokes.
Lupos Nov 17th 2011 1:56AM
I don't understand what was insensitive. Was Ragnaros related to you, Scooter?
MightyMuffin Nov 17th 2011 2:01AM
Hence why the internet should not ever be a forum for debates. Scooter, I understand what you are trying to do, and what you asked and attempted to do was admirable. However, Everclear and Knob are anonymously here. Their joke isn't directly against any of the rules of WoWinsider (as I know), so it won't be removed or stopped.
Again, what you ask is admirable, but also be realistic - the internet is going to do dumb jokes for that little bit of fame they get for being so clever. Its better to simply ignore it and move on - energy is better spent in reality than on here. So word of wisdom - Don't feed the troll.
As to the post - I'm glad 10-mans are dominating; they were always better-made in my opinion. I think Blizzard will be happy because they have essentially balanced what developers wanted - content that was accessible to be seen by raiders while giving hardcore players a challenge. There can always be tweaks, and I will miss long raids like Ulduar or Kara.
noel mcleod Nov 17th 2011 8:34AM
I don't get the joke. Would someone please explain.
Shrikesnest Nov 17th 2011 10:42AM
Oh for God's sake. If jokes about Occupy Wall Street are in poor taste now I give up. Not every cause is the goddamn civil rights movement, okay? It's not automatically stupid or reprehensible to poke some fun at it.
Everclear Nov 17th 2011 12:51PM
I'm not looking for fame or cleverness. I made what is essentially a pop-culture reference into a World of Warcraft joke, with no commitment to either side of the real-life counterparts. It would be like if I said, "Heroic Ragnaros Kill: Never Forget", and someone came in accusing me of being anti-American or pro-9/11. The hell? It's people like you guys who take anything you can out of context just to feel outraged so you feel like you're proving a point about... something. There's nothing "admirable" about trying to start a fight over thing, most of all innocent humor.
It's a joke. About Warcraft. Referencing something by siding with no one.
Once again: Get over yourselves and laugh a little. Life is short. Don't waste it by getting all political and furious over silly internet comments. I promise you'll be fine and the sun will come up tomorrow.
krisiteenie56 Nov 16th 2011 7:10PM
that still seems like a low number to me....
MysticalOS Nov 16th 2011 7:21PM
Nah it's about right. for heroic rag, the numbers for guilds that are 6/7 though are MUCH MUCH higher. those fights were over nerfed. if anything the problem with heroic rag isn't it's difficulty i don't think so much as the ease of other fights. if they were a bit more progressive, like a set of stairs going up from one to next, instead of flat line almost 6 faceroll fights followed by a giant leap up, peoples skill would be more honed by time they reach rag. the fight itself post nerf really isn't that much of a gear or class stacking check it was pre ner, it's just a compitency check nothing more. can you move out of fire, can you kite a meteor, can you avoid geysering. I could do this fight in my sleep really, half the time i do it on auto pilot, til phase 4 when i have to actually pay attention to where the roots spawned so i can heroic leap rag over there. I feel if the other 6 fights had actually offered more challenge, mechanically, beyond just being overtuned HP like baloroc was at launch, then people could have reached rag with more awareness and ability. instead of getting loot handed to them in first 6 bosses then having to actually learn how to play for one boss.
Twill Nov 16th 2011 7:14PM
Yea.
It should be ten times that this late into 4.2, if not twenty times as much.
You know there is an issue if less than 10% of people can finish content before the next patch's release.
Newchron Nov 16th 2011 7:20PM
Hasn't that been the case since the beginning of WoW?
DragonFireKai Nov 16th 2011 7:25PM
You base that statment on what?
The 2.3% of guilds that downed all 13 encounters in T11 on heroic?
The 1.9% of guilds that killed heroic Lich King before cataclysm?
The 2.1% of guilds that got Tribute to Insanity before Cata?
The .02% of guilds that downed alone in the dark before ToC came out?
Welcome to raiding. The hardest challenge is rarified air.
Twill Nov 16th 2011 7:50PM
It's an issue whether or not it was an issue in other expansions.
The previous raids have that issue too, if your non-sourced statistics are true.
Sure, that is what raiding is like, but that doesn't mean it's optimal, and it doesn't make 95% of the player-base happy. In WotLK I downed some bosses in your list, and didn't get others. It wasn't a great feeling knowing that my group wasn't good enough when we didn't get the last boss before the next content patch.
It's a problem to me, and I'm sure to a lot of people. I'm not saying it's a problem to you, and I don't know if it's a problem to Blizzard, I just hope it is.