Breakfast Topic: Would you mind moving for second?
by Fox Van Allen 
Jan 6th 2012 at 8:00AM
That said, I'm on a mission to put an end to low-stakes movement. I define that term as follows: any mechanic that requires a player to undergo movement and yet offers little in terms of serious consequence for not moving. Some examples?
- The Asira Dawnslayer fight for a caster DPS, where you have to decide between having to move or dealing with a 2-second silence.
- Every escort quest in the game. This is especially when the character being escorted is supposed to be the "real hero." Thanks, Thrall, but I really don't need the opportunity to sit down and drink some Greasy Whale Milk here.
- Any quest where completion requires you to simply go somewhere else. Thankfully, most of these were killed off by Deathwing's Cataclysm.
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Swifteye Jan 6th 2012 8:06AM
Eh... I main a melee DPS and the constant dance is just a part of the game.
The only time fight movement ever bothers me is when I'm the only one doing it, even though it's harder for me... example: I've seriously lost count of the number of times I've done the first boss in Hour of Twilight in a group with two ranged DPS, and I'm the only one trying to break Thrall out of his ice tomb when that phase comes up. Because it's totally easier for me to dodge/break the ice snares and run my happy ass halfway across the field than it would be for, you know, that Hunter to just turn around and start shooting in the other direction.......
Neirin Jan 6th 2012 8:27AM
Just before that boss starts Torrent of Frost Thrall is freed whether you damaged the tomb or not. Most groups I've been in can burn the boss down fast enough that they don't need to worry about being overwhelmed by falling rocks as long as everyone sticks on the boss. If 1 person switches to Thrall, though, it's best that everyone do so (and as you pointed out, it's not exactly hard for ranged dps to do so). Focus Firing is good.
Chetti Jan 6th 2012 11:18AM
I wondered why people stopped worrying about breaking thrall out. I always try to help on the tomb, as a spriest I stand in the back (max range is my favorite range) so I'm usually close to the tomb and can switch to it. I knew something changed, but I thought that it was easier to break by just one person (I would mind flay it for orbs, toss a mb, but the last time it was broken before I could get the mb cast off).
I knew I'd read that thrall no longer died during the spawn of the old gods fight.. but I saw that happen a couple days age for the FIRST time EVER. Course, the group I was in was an all-guild group with a tank that is young in age and not a very good tank (but he tries).. and even with one of our best healers and a good selection of dps.. thrall still died. Not quite sure why. WE didn't die, just thrall. So glad that all we had to do over was the spawns part and not the whole damn instance.
cromus00 Jan 6th 2012 8:10AM
I personally loved the Dance in Nax. I know this really messed with people with bad latency, but it really helped to get out of the routine of the other fights.
The caravan escort quests in the new Barrens aren't two bad the first couple of times. I'm not a big fan of the escort quests in general, but I am also not much of a fan of drop quests either. Why is every beast in the game missing vital body parts?
Rezai Jan 6th 2012 8:20AM
Yes, escort quests can burn in the fiery pits of hell. Not just for MMO's but for all genre of video games.
Also I believe a blue said a long time ago that the organs you need are still there just unusable because you burned it too badly with your fireball or damaged it with your sword. Like I said a long time ago so that was paraphrased.
Chetti Jan 6th 2012 11:22AM
haha I remember reading something like that once. I always wondered why things weren't 100% drop if obviously the animal had whatever before it was killed. Like, the quest for paws or something.. that cat has 4 of em, why can't I get ONE per kill. :) Did I really obliterate ALL FOUR of its paws with my mind blast? lol
But I guess its just one of those things.. and you know, to a skinner that has to kill 20 cats for 8 paws.. thats money in their pocket.
eel5pe Jan 6th 2012 1:26PM
I had a friend who was new to Heigan, so I told him just to follow the tank and threw a raid marker on him. He still died; no worries it can be a bit challenging to newbies. Later I learned that all he had done was literally put the tank on /follow. And no, it wasn't him misunderstanding what I meant, he was just being lazy.
Teresa Jan 6th 2012 8:12AM
Nah Im pretty lazy. I like tank and spank fights and seeing just how high I can make my dps go up.
Movement fights are a draaaag. I dont like chasing the boss as melee.
Imnick Jan 6th 2012 8:15AM
Movement may seem like a pain but the alternative, where all bosses in all instances involve players just standing still hitting their buttons in order, is far worse.
Ruseno Jan 6th 2012 8:19AM
I don't mind moving during a raid fight (as a warrior), like Baleroc (move in and out of the crystal), but FL and DS have way to much bosses that are movement intensive. A fight where I have to move a lot is a guaranteed dps loss for me. I like the Patchwerk fights, so Ultraxion is my favorite DS boss. :-)
Blizzard should stick to the type of movement where you are standing in something that hurts or is part of the mechanic (Baleroc) and not because the boss is all over the place (Shannox).
neder Jan 6th 2012 10:26AM
You covered my thoughts, dude, well said.
Neirin Jan 6th 2012 8:21AM
The Arisa Dawnslayer fight for casters has that perfect mix of troublesome mechanic and nothing at stake that leaves you annoyed and unsatisfied after you beat her. If she had been a raid boss where getting hit by the daggers would cause healing problems and she had a tight enrage timer it could be a very interesting mechanic. The smoke bomb is also a great mechanic idea, but not a real problem as much as an annoyance since it can't cause real issues unless someone is really seriously messing up.
Actually, now that I think about it, she would make a great raid boss. Beef up the damage on smoke bomb to cause problems for melee, same for the silencing knives. Throw in an enrage timer and some sort of super ability that requires the raid to hide in the smoke bomb and that sounds like a decent raid boss. On heroic she could have adds that heal her unless you keep her in her own smoke bomb while you kill them or some other reason that she sometimes needs to be dragged into the smoke.
Bril Jan 6th 2012 10:14AM
I like the Asira fight as a caster. The only time it's a problem is when you have a tank who just won't stop changing position on her.
Just walk her straight back out of the smoke bomb and stop, please.
Chetti Jan 6th 2012 11:28AM
Yes please! At first I hated this fight as a caster. As a spriest, before I knew what to do, it took forever just to get dots up and get a mind flay to channel. BUT now with a good tank, one that backs straight up (if possible) and gets her out of the smoke and doesn't 'move around like a ninny' (to quote a guildie who actually told a pug tank to stop movin the boss around like a ninny) I can actually get my rotation in pretty good. Its not always perfect, and I can't always do as good as I'd like to, but thats ok.
Halvan Jan 6th 2012 8:24AM
I play melee classes/specs exclusively, so movement comes naturally to me. Does the fight have a special dance? Give me some time to find my castanets and we'll have ourselves a party.
Movement as a ranged dps is actually one of the main turn-offs for me. I've trained my fingers to always be ready to keep a lock on the boss's behind while staying out of fire, not having to move ever just gets me a little irritated.
Rmschoir Jan 6th 2012 8:24AM
How movement should be handled: Hagara the Stormbinder, the Lich King, Atramedes.
How movement should NOT be handled: Asira Dawnslayer, Jin'do, Ozruk.
How sentences should not be constructed: this comment.
Smashbolt Jan 6th 2012 10:41AM
More details please? I can't quite understand what makes the first three bosses okay and the other three not.
Rmschoir Jan 6th 2012 11:19AM
Fair enough. The prime reason is that I like the first three bosses more than the others.
I guess I can provide more details.
Hagara, LK, and Atramedes are all fights that feature coordinated movement that seems to serve a contextual purpose. It is really neat to carry the lightning current as a group when facing Hagara, and I enjoy fights where I get to run in a circular pattern to avoid beams of death. The Lich King fight (when done well) is almost a dance. I love running out for Remorseless Winter and running back in before the platform collapses, and it's really neat to huddle together in the center for safety before chasing down the Val'kyr carrying off your companion; Defile just makes it that much more intense. As for Atramedes, it's cool to feel like when fighting the blind drake, your every movement has purpose, especially during the air phase.
I hate Asira because, as others have stated, tanks tend to get happy feet, and it's a hassle to get the totem buff while still trying to stand behind the tank. I hate Jin'do because the mechanics (especially at the beginning) seem arbitrarily punishing, serving only to draw out the encounter and providing little threat to the group. Ozruk, meanwhile, was needlessly brutal to melee players, providing very little opportunity not to be pulverized with his abilities. I'm told he's better now, but I haven't experienced the fight in a long time.
Hopefully this clears it up a little.
DracoSuave Jan 6th 2012 8:29AM
Asira isn't a high movement-low stakes fight.
It's a low-movement fight that's over complicated by a tank that thinks it's a high movement fight.
s-key is your friend here.
slim1256 Jan 6th 2012 10:18AM
Hmm... s-key is my strafe left, but I get your point.
Something I find funny about the Asira fight - it seems like (in the past) I've seen people say that backpedaling is bad, and you shouldn't even have a key bound to back up. I'm thinking this fight was designed in this way to put the lie to that statement.