What length raids do you prefer?

[Deleted]

I was tempted to post this in the MoP section, but decided to post it here instead.

To start with, i'm just going to say that I LOVED the longer raids, BT , Naxx and Ulduar especially.

I absalutely HATED the short raids that they bought out at the start of cataclysm, 4 bosses just felt like a heroic dungeon tuned for 10 players, same with the 6 bosses in BWD. I hated it so much I quit for several months until Firelands. I much preferred raids that feel like they have guardians protecting the end boss, rather than a few mobs standing in the way like these heroics dungeons tuned for 10 players. I much loved the raids with 14, 15 bosses. I hated ToC if your wondering.

Blizzards plans in MoP is to stick with this raiding schedule and the first raid to be released is I believe, 7 bosses?

I don't really like medium raids either, Firelands/Dragon Soul. They are... Okay, but not in any way "good". Certainly an improvement compared to the short raids though. But no where near as good as the longer raids.

If Blizzard plans to continue in this stance, I am scared for the future of WoW and my game play, especially considering I have put so much effort into the game for these past few years already.

I want to know your opinions as well, and whether you prefer longer raids or shorter raids, with a poll included.

[Swarschild]

For me, it's not particularly the length of the raid, but rather the sense of progression that you get out of it.

BoT was short, but it felt like you were continually getting into deeper, more dangerous territory as you descended through the instance. Even with the portals, running back after a wipe and seeing rooms that once were filled with trash and bosses but are now empty made you think "Hey, I'm clearing through this raid; I'm actually doing something!" Contrast that with DS, which is twice as long but feels so much shorter because you haven't made much palpable geographic progression--it's just portals to sterile, closed off rooms with bosses and their trash that you clear and never need to pass through again.

Of course, that feel of progression has historically been associated with the longer raids (Ulduar, BT) but if Blizzard can pull off a raid where running back after a wipe imparts a sense of place, makes you recognize the grandeur of the instance, gives you a feeling of importance, then number of bosses doesn't matter so much.

Slightly OT: I do hope that we actually get something on the scope of Ulduar in MoP, or at least larger tiers. Even counting ToC, the average number of bosses per tier in Wrath was 12, while in Cata it was 9, which can get sort of boring especially if there's only one instance with worthwhile bosses.

[Deleted]

Don't really care, I won't raid more than 3 hours at a time no matter what length.

[Kiry]

As much as I loved Ulduar. I dont think I will invest the time in raiding a dungeon like that again. But it sure was awesome. I enjoyed the size of it and how it was flippable based on the fight dynamics.

I also enjoyed Naxx. Each wing had it's own flavor. That was really cool, and broke up some of it.

[Makoblade]

BT, Ulduar and ICC were examples of raids that actually felt epic.

Sunwell did too, possibly because the trash often times felt like it's own boss fights

[talyn77]

I'll agree with BT, Ulduar and ICC being the more enjoyable raids. Clearing an entire new raid in the first week is just ridiculous. It takes all the enjoyment out of the game. Sure, you can always go and do HC, but it doesn't change the amount of bosses in the raid. I remember when Firelands first came out, we wiped on Beth'tilak for several days before finally downing him and don't even get me started on Alysrazor. Now, DS comes out and we blow through 6 of 8 on the very first night without so much as even seeing the bosses before. What kind of a challenge is that????

[Murderdoll]

I enjoy the long epic raids. Just because theyre 12 bosses, doesnt mean you have to clear them in one sitting.

However I am much more concerned with quality rather than quantity. If the raid has 7 bosses. They are all rich with story, have some nice trash leading up to it. Have interesting and CHALLENGING mechanics and look like they belong as a raid boss (im looking at you Generic Faceless # 1 and # 2.) then I am happy.

[Alishia]

I don't understand how Blizzard came up with the idea saying 7-8 bosses per tier is good. With BT, Nax, Uldar, ICC, you have around 12-13 bosses which makes you feel inferior and weak against a large gang of powerful enemies. But starting from FL, raid day just seems like just a field trip.

[Deleted]

I agree with alot of the points made, only reason I didn't include ICC as being one of the best was probably because we had it so long, though I agree the feeling of progression adds alot of excitement to the raids, really enjoying this feedback guys keep it coming

[Sinnermighty]

7 bosses is fine for a start tier. The consecutive tiers should have 9+. Blizzard messed up by having 12 Normal/13 Heroic bosses for a beginning tier which just sucked with the release timing of Cata as well.

[Tovarish24]

While the number of bosses has something to do with it, I think the real problem is scale in general. Raiding Ulduar and ICC made me, sitting in my chair staring at a screen, FEEL like a hero. Walking into a room that wasn't a room at all, it was an entire cathedral or expanse or other world even. t11 raids were big sure, but they didn't convey it as well. Ulduar too, with it's constantly changing theme, was wondrous. Walking in each of the Keeper's rooms was like entering a whole new raid altogether. The fights felt epic because you were surrounded by epic.

Personally I prefer the 12-15 boss raid over the mini-raids. As said by the OP, the mini-raids just feel like super-tuned 5 mans. You don't get the feeling of progression when you have to say "Ok, we're going to do up to Maloriak in BWD, and then head on over to BoT to work on Ascendent Council progression." That doesn't give you a progressive feeling at all. However, saying "Ok we finally got blood queen down, let's go over and work on HM professor for 3 years." THAT feels epic. I dunno, maybe it's all perspective, but I feel like you can't feel like you're actually accomplishing anything if you have to quit halfway through one raid to fly through the leveling zones to get to another. Just feels stupid and clunky. I want to show up on the doorstep of an epic chain of encounters every week. When we call the raid at 2 am, I want to show up there again the next day, and feel like I'm continuing where I left off. Not say "Oh well fuck it, let's hit up TofW for free loot real fast."