MMO-Champion - Heroic Dragon Soul Difficulty, Blue Posts, 64bit Client, DiabloFans Contest, GW2 Beta
Statistics: Heroic Dragon Soul Encounter Difficulty
Today we continue our ongoing statistics by taking a look at the relative difficulty of the encounters in Dragon Soul. As always with the API, there are limitations that prevent us from discriminating between players who completed the encounter in 25 man or 10 man mode, so keep in mind that these numbers contain both raid sizes summed together.

The sample size was ~5.7 million level 85 characters, with ~290k that have defeated the Heroic Morchok encounter. Keep in mind that the sample contains many alts, which makes the absolute numbers look lower than they are in reality. This means that we are looking at encounter difficulty relative to the easiest encounter, not the percent of the player population that completed each encounter.

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Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
What Was Vanilla WoW Like?
I was actually chatting just last night with someone who had started playing shortly after Cataclysm launched.

I have lots of great memories of adventures that have spanned from when World of Warcraft first launched through to the present day. The game has evolved quite a bit over the years, and I’m especially thankful for the many quality of life upgrades that were made along the way.

Way back when, you could only get a mount starting at level 40, so it took quite a bit of time to travel around Azeroth on foot. Flight points were by far the fastest modes of transportation, but you could only use them if you first hoofed your way over and discovered each Flight Master individually. When you used flight points you also could only travel directly from one to the next. They didn’t automatically connect to your final destination like they do now. So you’d have to make your way to the first point, talk to the flight master, fly to the next point, talk to the flight master, and so on. Accessing dungeons or raids also required additional travel time, as you had to make your way to them manually, and there were no mass summons or personal flying mounts back in that era that could speed up the process, either. So assembling five people for a dungeon run involved quite a bit of waiting around while people slowly made their way to the particular dungeon. It often took even longer for raids to get up and running because you’d be waiting for 40 people instead of just 25 or 10.

Battlegrounds and Arenas (both of which I relish) also did not launch with the original game. The first two Battlegrounds areas, Alterac Valley and Warsong Gulch, went live on June 7th, 2005, and you had to physically travel out in the world to the particular Battleground portal for each location in order to queue for them. As there was no time or resource limit on those games, they could run very long, and indeed some Alterac Valley matches on the servers I played on at the time could span multiple hours or even, in some cases, multiple days. For Battlegrounds, specifically, there were no cross-realm Battlegroups originally, so you could only face-off against opponents from your individual realm that were on the opposite faction. Way back then, you also couldn’t step up and challenge another guild on your own faction to an all-out War Game in Warsong Gulch, either, because War Games didn’t even exist until shortly after Cataclysm launched.

Travel around Azeroth and assembling groups for anything from PvP to dungeon runs and raiding is much more efficient now than it was in classic times. I think it’s especially fantastic being able to freely roam around the world and do other activities while you wait. Then, once the group is assembled, you can teleport directly into battle with your comrades as well as your friends from other realms (thanks to the advent of Real ID’s cross-realm support). And that’s, well… awesome. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Global Writing Contest
Instead of the Global Writing Contest this year, would you all be interested in a poetry contest?

If so, what kind of parameters would you like to see set on the contest entries? (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Patch 4.3.3 64-bit Client
Originally Posted by Jurannok (Blue Tracker)
If you are currently testing the 64-bit client, in order to patch up to 4.3.3 you will need to remove the 64-bit files to allow the patching process to complete. With the 64-bit client files in place you will receive the error: Blizzard Updater failed with an internal error.

Simply delete the 64-bit files listed below from the World of Warcraft folder, and the patching process will resume after going through a short repair process.

Windows
Battle.net-64.dll
MovieProxy.exe
WoW-64.exe

Mac
World of Warcraft-64.app

A new version of the 64-bit client files will be available for 4.3.3 after the patch is live. Please keep an eye on the 64-bit client forum thread for updated files.

DiabloFans Calculator Build Contest Has Started!
Our friends over at DiabloFans are holding a contest that involves picking the best build for your character. The 50 randomly selected winners will get a Diablo III beta key!

The contest ends 2/28/2012 at 5 PM EST, so make sure to get your entry in before then if you want a chance to win.



Guild Wars 2 Beta
Guild Wars 2 recently opened sign ups for future beta events and got over one million applications in just 48 hours. The accepted players will be able to participate in a beta event closer to the end of March. If you are looking for like people to play with, take a look at our Guild Wars 2 forum.

This article was originally published in forum thread: Heroic Dragon Soul Difficulty, Blue Posts, 64bit Client, DiabloFans Contest, GW2 Beta started by chaud View original post
Comments 93 Comments
  1. Mazaxist's Avatar
    i miss vanilla community, miss pvp wars.. miss forums... miss fun.... in wotlk, and cata i lost ALL my friends ( quit or transferred, most quit ) - now i dont recognize anyone on the server. we dont have any events goingon whatsoever. this game is just not fun anymore. i hate arena. even more i hate rated BG. it just seem like most people who started in vanilla quit. people who start playing in wotlk, or cata of course enjoy the game because they know no better! for them everything seem fine! but not me... maybe its time to move on
  1. Ignominious's Avatar
    Hagara harder than Ultraxion, lolwut? :S
  1. Hibiki's Avatar
    Best thing in vanila was living world, full of ppl and pvp. No flying mounts.

    If blizzard wants make WoW better they should remove flyng mounts completely and make real reasons for ppl to go outside cities.

    World pvp is a must for great game.
  1. F-Minus's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Cipero View Post
    Oh please. Vanilla World of Warcraft was not even a quarter of what it is today, and it's because Blizzard realized this slow grinding game that you all seem to cherish with nostalgic eyes consisted of a basement crowd that had all the time int he world to play and if you didn't...well you were shit out of luck. The game is 100x better today. I played classic, and yea it was alright, but I never got anything accomplished because I couldn't devote that much time to a video game. I barely even got my mount before the burning crusade came out. Was the game fun, yea sometimes, but is it better than the fun I have today? hell no, not even close.
    I had a job from 7 to 15h, 2 kids aged 5 and 8 when WoW came. Played 3 times a week for 3 hours and some during the weekend. Seen from MC to Naxx.
    You just have to make time as with any hobby. Instead of going to the gym I was playing the game (gym is way better for my health, but I decided to focus on my other hobby, playing WoW).

    You make time for things you like to do, or if you can't make time, you find other things you might like and make them into your hobby. Stuff that requires some time investment isn't for everyone.

    But yes Classic was a drag in many places, but the way it is now, it's boring. I have nothing to do, I got 9000 Valor collecting in my purse cause there's nothing for me to do with, I logg-in at raid nights and do the raid and then hang in a city for 15 minutes until I realize it's a waste of time. I got everything outside raids what anyone can get, I can't be arsed to level another character, cause it's super boring. In classic there was more stuff to do, as it took longer and it was more challenging.
  1. Cipero's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Lemonpartyfan View Post
    Whats a decent amount of time? They made reps and epics easier to get, and the shift from max level to raiding in TBC. Rep items and dungeons ebing associated with factions made things so much easier. You could farm instance to get rep, JP, gold, epics etc. Instead of class specific tier itemss, they made tokens mainstreamed so more people would get loot. Raids started at 10 mans, so less cooperation was required. Heroics were difficult compared to now, but the end bosses dropped epics.
    Are you really trying to imply that the class specific tier drops off bosses were in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM better for raiding than tokens? Here's a little trip down memory lane....you have a raid group that goes in every week...and every week the paladin tier gear drops...over and over again. Every paladin in the group has it so it's completely worthless... It ends up taking forever.. absolutely forever to gear out your entire raid so that you could progress more easily. Having tokens makes it so that multiple players can get geared from the same drop which is in every way much more efficient than any other system.

    Also...a decent amount of time? In comparison to what, vanilla? Anything shorter I suppose. Grinding for months on end, every single day for one piece of epic rep gear is way too long. I would say a decent amount of time to be able to grind rep gear would be the Molten Front oR* Argent tournament, in example.

    ---------- Post added 2012-02-28 at 12:29 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by F-Minus View Post
    I had a job from 7 to 15h, 2 kids aged 5 and 8 when WoW came. Played 3 times a week for 3 hours and some during the weekend. Seen from MC to Naxx.
    You just have to make time as with any hobby. Instead of going to the gym I was playing the game (gym is way better for my health, but I decided to focus on my other hobby, playing WoW).

    You make time for things you like to do, or if you can't make time, you find other things you might like and make them into your hobby. Stuff that requires some time investment isn't for everyone.

    But yes Classic was a drag in many places, but the way it is now, it's boring. I have nothing to do, I got 9000 Valor collecting in my purse cause there's nothing for me to do with, I logg-in at raid nights and do the raid and then hang in a city for 15 minutes until I realize it's a waste of time. I got everything outside raids what anyone can get, I can't be arsed to level another character, cause it's super boring. In classic there was more stuff to do, as it took longer and it was more challenging.
    I understand you completely, and I'm not trying to imply everyone hated vanilla wow..of course that would be completely wrong. What I am trying to say is vanilla wow's model was no where near the sub generator that BC and Wrath created and elevated to Cata.
  1. Infinitus's Avatar
    That blue post just reminded me why I quit this game. When they even mock what made WoW famous in the first place you know that different people are running the show now. That's also why the game will continue to deteriorate.

    Vanilla WoW, R.I.P, you will never be forgotten by the true mmo lovers out there.
  1. Gavan's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Infinitus View Post
    That blue post just reminded me why I quit this game. When they even mock what made WoW famous in the first place you know that different people are running the show now. That's also why the game will continue to deteriorate.

    Vanilla WoW, R.I.P, you will never be forgotten by the true masochists out there.
    Fixed that for ya.
  1. Epheria's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Infinitus View Post
    That blue post just reminded me why I quit this game. When they even mock what made WoW famous in the first place you know that different people are running the show now. That's also why the game will continue to deteriorate.

    Vanilla WoW, R.I.P, you will never be forgotten by the true mmo lovers out there.
    Why do you have to be so self-righteous about your opinions? I played vanilla and got through most of its content. It was okay at the time, but honestly, if id had a game more like current wow is now around that time, id have switched to that in a heartbeat. So am I less of a "true mmo lover" because i dont feel like spending day after day after day grinding for a single item? Im sure a lot of us "fake mmo lovers" probably have a hell of a lot more experience playing mmos than you do.
  1. shutterfly's Avatar
    I wish I could raid HC...
  1. The Ogdru Jahad's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Cipero View Post
    Are you really trying to imply that the class specific tier drops off bosses were in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM better for raiding than tokens? Here's a little trip down memory lane....you have a raid group that goes in every week...and every week the paladin tier gear drops...over and over again. Every paladin in the group has it so it's completely worthless... It ends up taking forever.. absolutely forever to gear out your entire raid so that you could progress more easily. Having tokens makes it so that multiple players can get geared from the same drop which is in every way much more efficient than any other system.

    Also...a decent amount of time? In comparison to what, vanilla? Anything shorter I suppose. Grinding for months on end, every single day for one piece of epic rep gear is way too long. I would say a decent amount of time to be able to grind rep gear would be the Molten Front oR* Argent tournament, in example.

    ---------- Post added 2012-02-28 at 12:29 PM ----------



    I understand you completely, and I'm not trying to imply everyone hated vanilla wow..of course that would be completely wrong. What I am trying to say is vanilla wow's model was no where near the sub generator that BC and Wrath created and elevated to Cata.
    I understand why people think grinding is a bad system. But let me support it, I'm someone who LOVES grinding. Back in wotlk, when titles were announced via achievements. I made it my goal in life to get the Guardian of Cenarius title for my druid. The Cenarion Circle rep grind was brutal. But the time invested made the award so much better. The days of time I put in farming those scrolls, getting those 3 piece robes and handing them in for rep was so fun. Each day my rep bar went up just a little bit after my hour or 2, sometimes more investment of time. Once I had that last bar filled, it was amazing. The feel of accomplishment was well worth the time invested. I think grinds add a nice little time extender to the life of the game for those that really like the challenge and reward.

    Grinding isn't for everyone, thats obvious, but for those who like it, at least have that option. If you want something that is rewarded by grinding, but dont want to grind. That is your problem. The enjoyment of others shouldn't be sacrificed for you're special privileged self.
  1. Lemonpartyfan's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Cipero View Post
    Are you really trying to imply that the class specific tier drops off bosses were in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM better for raiding than tokens? Here's a little trip down memory lane....you have a raid group that goes in every week...and every week the paladin tier gear drops...over and over again. Every paladin in the group has it so it's completely worthless... It ends up taking forever.. absolutely forever to gear out your entire raid so that you could progress more easily. Having tokens makes it so that multiple players can get geared from the same drop which is in every way much more efficient than any other system.

    Also...a decent amount of time? In comparison to what, vanilla? Anything shorter I suppose. Grinding for months on end, every single day for one piece of epic rep gear is way too long. I would say a decent amount of time to be able to grind rep gear would be the Molten Front oR* Argent tournament, in example.
    You must really not have a great argument against my main point if you single out one, little, vague thing I said and twist it into that. No where did I said tier tokens was a bad thing. I was just trying to convey how, after each expansion blizzard has gone to great lengths to make things quicker and less harsh on players. STILL NOT SAYING ITS A BAD THING. But what I am saying is a bad thing, is all the things they lost a long the way. I had fun in every expansion for different reasons. I have no huge qualms with Blizzard or WoW.

    What you seem to forget is how things currently are. Have they really taken a grind out of the game? No, not at all. There are still things you have to do every day to stay competitive. JC dailies, 25 daily quests, going back to grind ALL THE REPUTATIONS, to get exalted for head and shoulder enchants. Now you can level to 85 fast enough to completely bypass multiple faction reputations. Then you can look at what "raiding" is at its basis, a grind. Once a week you do BH, LFR DS, and then pug or guild run Normal/Heroic DS. How doesn't that fall under a grind? I go there every week in hopes of loot, possibly not getting any loot at all.

    And on to tier tokens. Yes, they are a little bit more convenient. Buts its part of the system as a whole. Expecting loot every single time you kill a boss makes you a child. Thats it. What happens in lfr, is your tier group drops and 9 other people roll on it, often ones who don't even need it. So don't pretend like its just so much easier now. And why would you want it to be any easier than it is now? DO you want to hit 90 in MoP and receive a full set of epics just because you are a very special, unique little guy who deserves things without time invested? My point with that last post, is how far are they willing to go to make gamers' "quality of life" easier? If the system is SOOOO much better why are they losing subs?
  1. dmitry's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by det View Post
    Don't tell em the entire community magically desintegrated including all your great people and great friends when LFD and LFR was introduced? Why would they? You had apparently and awesome friend list with awesome people in an awesome guild that made awesome progress. And along comes an automated tool and the guild falls apart? You seriously want me to believe that? All your close knit little community, guild, friends gave those great experiences up? For what? Apparently you got your groups faster than now, the atmosphere was better, the runs smoother? I dowubt you tell it as it was.
    Could you tell me the major difference between Massive Multiplayer and Console Arcade / Adventure Game definition?
    And then what is the Wow gameplay looks like now and where it is heading to?

    For mists of pokemonamania fans:
    Why it is okay to leave group after second boss in "looking for free loot(raid)" just because your deserved gear didn't drop?

    I can agree that Cata brings some good things in the game, but some of them could be implemented much better. They are giving "tools" to players which insanely speeds up their progression, and then surprised that patch is already became boring too fast. But new patch is not even properly designed yet or just started.

    PS: Please don't refer to Herioc raids in your reply. Herioc difficulty recently became very good excuse for making mistakes in the overall game design.
    PPS: Peace.
  1. KryptoX's Avatar
    As there was no time or resource limit on those games, they could run very long, and indeed some Alterac Valley matches on the servers I played on at the time could span multiple hours or even, in some cases, multiple days.
    Yeah, two teams rushing past each other to quickly finish off the AI controlled boss is much more fun, clearly.

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