How do you like Ulduar?

[ArenaDk]

Ulduar received good reception from the players who praised the instance's interior design, music, interesting and challenging boss encounters and the rich amount of lore.It is regarded by many to be the greatest and most successful raid instance Blizzard has so far released.

Just not by blizzard who mentioned they should have introduce lfr for it to get more people inside. Source : ghostcrawler

[Toby451]

in b4 'these are a joke compared to mythic retail!'. yeah that's why there's less than 10,000 clears of mythic raid bosses nowadays, no one likes them, overtuned difficulties that take the fun out of gaming with friends.

Thats why they offer normal and heroic modes for raids too so people can play at the difficulty level that is right for them. Focusing only on mythic makes no sense.

[Flarelaine]

Ulduar rocks.

[Cracked]

looving it

[Bigbazz]

Thats why they offer normal and heroic modes for raids too so people can play at the difficulty level that is right for them. Focusing only on mythic makes no sense.

I think where this failed tho is that it has the effect of making people feel like they are doing the joke version of the raid, which lowers motivation, especially considering HC raiding has typically offered lower rewards than comparable difficulty dungeons since Legion. People don't want to be stuck with the choice of doing the lesser version of the raid or being faced with unwinnable odds. When they see the best players in the world putting more time into a single boss than they will spend raiding for the entire tier phase, they just think "why bother raiding at all".

Making super niche content that devalues your core content and can only be achieved by the most dedicated hardcore players, it makes the game worse for the majority for the sake of pleasing the few.

[Jervaise]

Raw and crunchy

[RoKPaNda]

I'm not a fan, I've never been a fan of Ulduar. I feel pretty vindicated with all the people in my Classic guild who never saw it before and were like "This is it? This is what everyone hypes up?" It's an okay raid, but honestly it wouldn't make my top 10.

I think where this failed tho is that it has the effect of making people feel like they are doing the joke version of the raid, which lowers motivation, especially considering HC raiding has typically offered lower rewards than comparable difficulty dungeons since Legion. People don't want to be stuck with the choice of doing the lesser version of the raid or being faced with unwinnable odds. When they see the best players in the world putting more time into a single boss than they will spend raiding for the entire tier phase, they just think "why bother raiding at all".

Making super niche content that devalues your core content and can only be achieved by the most dedicated hardcore players, it makes the game worse for the majority for the sake of pleasing the few.

I don't think people care as much as you think they do. You probably won't even ever see a Mythic raider in person, especially not one that has killed more than the freebie boss. That's how rare we are compared to every other raiding difficulty.

[Bigbazz]

I don't think people care as much as you think they do. You probably won't even ever see a Mythic raider in person, especially not one that has killed more than the freebie boss. That's how rare we are compared to every other raiding difficulty.

That's because players don't see value in the time investment. There is not a lot special about Mythic raiding, I was a regular enthusiast from its inception. But if the majority of the playerbase aren't even bothered doing what is a massive time investment on development, what is the point? It serves a niche at the expense of the overall game, because Mythic raiding does make HC raiding feel like the joke mode and by that extension also stops people raiding HC.

I don't have the fondest memories of Ulduar because I just remember it burning out my guild in 2009, but I think it's a great raid. The last retail raid I did was Castle Nathria, but I didn't start playing until late and despite huge nerfs to the content the Mythic was too much for the guild I joined. They had quite a few really good players, and the collective combination of varied skill players could have eventually cleared the raid on Mythic, but the time component is the issue, it was too much of a time investment (progressing the fights + farming gear in M+) and people stopped showing up, which halted progress and killed the guild.

So then you really have to consider if you want to clear this content you have to look outside your friends group, and you have to consider much more time investment, and playing with other people who are also willing to give that investment, but also players with a skill level that can beat it in less time, a stronger collective, less weak links. Thats where the playerbase drops off a cliff, because it has reached a level of excess, while like I said HC raiding is also affected by feeling like the lesser and non-legit version of the raid.

[Makabreska]

Just not by blizzard who mentioned they should have introduce lfr for it to get more people inside. Source : ghostcrawler

Or, more importantly, they shouldn't have release TotC so quickly after it (as they also mentioned), which had better loot while being a vastly inferior raid.

[Celarent]

The more I run Ulduar the more I enjoy it. Making hard modes organic changes the way I see progression -- I say that as a raid leader of a F&F guild from Cata to WoD. Instead of a separate racetrack in plain view half a mile away from mine, the greater challenge and reward is right there if I pull the dangling thread -- but if I want, I can just defeat the boss and leave it at that. Algalon has *incredible* open-if-you-dare value like OSR dungeon-delving. All-stars are welcome and I'll cheer them in, not missing a thing.

Very remarkable, gestalt feeling. Was a big mistake for Blizzard to "Huh, can't think of any more ways to trigger, lol Mimiron" and leave it behind.

[Osmeric]

Just not by blizzard who mentioned they should have introduce lfr for it to get more people inside. Source : ghostcrawler

Flex mode, not LFR.

https://twitter.com/Ghostcrawler/sta...25539268677632

[Nak88]

It has seen a noticeable decrease in the number of raiders when you compare P1 Naxx to P2 Ulduar. What happened? HM destroyed so many dad guilds?

[Tsyplenk]

It has seen a noticeable decrease in the number of raiders when you compare P1 Naxx to P2 Ulduar. What happened? HM destroyed so many dad guilds?

Probably. Average Classic player is absolute ass at the game, so they will obviously struggle.

I'm enjoying it, haven't got Algalon just yet, but close. Had good fun so far, really good raid.

[varren]

It has seen a noticeable decrease in the number of raiders when you compare P1 Naxx to P2 Ulduar. What happened? HM destroyed so many dad guilds?

That would be my guess. Dad guilds clear normal and calling it quits until ToC. HMs are a pretty steep difficulty curve when you're taking 3+ hours to clear normals a month in.

[Daedius]

I absolutely loved the atmosphere and design of the place, and their fights with some unique mechanics.

And it introduced hard-mode for better drops!

[garicasha]

Part of what made Ulduar great was the context it came out in.

--We were still all bad at the game
--But gitting gud was starting to matter with hard modes
--Class balance was starting to be a thing in Wrath, but Naxx was too easy for it to matter
--10 mans made raiding accessible but the introduction of optional hard modes gave people something to do
--As a bad, it was so difficult to reach Yogg that it was a legitimate accomplishment and I felt like I was actually raiding the depths of a Titan prison
--The lore was great because the bosses have a reason for being there over than just being a loot pinata

[Tojara]

It's hard for dad guilds for sure. Some of the GDKPs I did with 'regulars' who were decent in Naxx pretty much sabotaged the group when Ulduar came along because bosses no longer die in <2 minutes with mechanics that barely tickle people. Plant and nuke is about all they know and minute they have to do mechanics is when things go haywire for people.

So now I just look for better organized GDKPs, but these types of people usually crop up later in the runs. Usually they manifest on Mimiron normal, Vezax on any difficulty or Yogg on any difficulty. Mimiron they will die to mines, spinning up or shock blast. Vezax is a mess because some of the kick groups miss kicks (usually because rogues or warriors don't want to spend resources to kick, they would rather wipe), or casters who are oom before the animus spawns (HM) or just heal the boss for a shit load because that 20k frost bolt greed cast is worth the boss healing 250k. Yogg is just typical cloud touchers or people not understanding how malady or the link mechanic works.

Ulduar still is my favorite raid and I'm having fun with it. The trajectory of my feelings towards WoTLk were back in 2008-2010 and 2022-2024 is basically the same. Naxx was boring and nearly caused me to unsub back in 2008/2009, and this time around I just stopped playing. Ulduar was super fun back then and it's still super fun now. ToGC I'll dread and it will likely be a case of me getting items I want then dipping out. ICC was always mid to me and I was sort of disappointed in the raid and I doubt that feeling will improve the second time around. I'll probably play it for a couple months and then just quit.

Middle tier raids for me are usually always the best ones to me lol. Ulduar, Throne of Thunder, Blackrock Foundry, Nighthold and BoDA in BFA are all some of my favorite raids. I was far more interested in the Titan stuff back in WoTLK days because it felt mysterious and the old god stuff was super cool still. Meanwhile ICC and the end of WoTLK just felt poorly done IMO.

[Nak88]

I am looking forward to TOC. I don't like this optional "hard mode" raiding system. I am really looking forward to normal-heroic modes, that's it.

[erifwodahs]

Enjoying it. Can't wait to see the dagger drop from 10 Thorim again.

Disenchanted 2x 10m Thorim HM daggers so far. Ass tier drops.

- - - Updated - - -

Never raided Ulduar before. It's ok imo. Have done all HMs except for FL.

Yogg has disappointed me, haven't done 0 lights, but it's very much a glorified trash fight imo on 1 light even. I have no clue why FL even exists.

All in all, personally probably would be in A tier of the raids because of hardmodes. Bosses without hard-mode are bang Naxx tier boring.

- - - Updated - - -

in b4 'these are a joke compared to mythic retail!'. yeah that's why there's less than 10,000 clears of mythic raid bosses nowadays, no one likes them, overtuned difficulties that take the fun out of gaming with friends.

Mythic is as optional as hardmodes tho... That's why you have HC/Normal/LFR - this is much more inclusive than anything what WotLK has so idk how you think that shitting on mythic difficulty is an argument here lol.

[sibut]

Ulduar will always be my favorite raid ever, but I've had a hard time finding the right guild/group for it. I'm about halfway between casual and hardcore and even on a good-sized server it's been pretty hit or miss. I was in a casual guild for a while and we cleared it on normal so it was kind of fun to progress through content with the same people, but it was going to be way too hard to continue to carry 5+ dogshit players through hardmodes and the guild kind of crumbled when that became evident. Pugging just isn't the same, for me at least.