Bossfights how long should they be?

[Dakara]

I haven't raided (or played WOW) for a while now, but it's not hard to forget the soul crushing disappointment of a sub 10% wipe on some of the longer boss fights. When you battle for 10-12 minutes only to wipe on a soft enrage mechanic and have to repeat the entire encounter all over again, it did get a bit tiresome. Especially when the first phases were incredibly boring.

[deadman1]

Anything over 6-7 mins makes me want to kill myself.

Wiping 9 mins into a 10 min fight is brutal.

[Sentynel]

They should progressively increase as the instance goes IMHO.

For example, a 9 boss instance could look like this:
-Bosses 1-3 take between 5 and 7 minutes to kill
-Bosses 4-6 take between 6 and 8 minutes to kill
-Bosses 7-8 take between 8 and 10 minutes to kill
-Boss #9 takes approximately 12 minutes to kill

[Volitar]

Variance is good. Last boss with many phases last last 10+ mins are cool. Burn bosses that last 4-5 mins are cool. Bosses with medium DPS requirements and mechanics checks lasting around 6-7 is good.

[Xenorra]

Imo:

Filler bosses of a raid should be around 5-6 minutes.
End bosses of a raid/tier should be around 6-8 minutes.
And end boss of an expansion should be 10 minutes max.

I agree with this to an extent, I do think that having 12 - 13 minutes fights shouldn't be an issue. Having one or two long fights per instance is a good challenge. Most raiders are no longer teens, and have the concentration span for that period and some, with inbetween pulls to stretch legs or catch their breath while their toon eats a quick snack.

As long as the encounter lengths are spread within the instance, for instance: 7 minutes, 5 minutes, 9 minutes, 12 minutes, 6 minutes, 8 minutes, final boss 11 minutes. It will add challenging variation in each instance.

At the end of the day, a long fight should be measured in how good it is, how many satisfactory phases and mechanics it holds. The shorter the encounter, the less mechanics, the longer it is, the more mechanics it should boast.

[Temp name]

Around 6 minutes is the perfect length. Last bosses can be a bit longer, but 10 minutes is still quite long, if it's over 12 minutes it's just going to be annoying when you wipe during the last phase.

[Nehezbegar]

5 to 7 minutes. Any longer is just a chore.

Fuck Odyn

[Temp name]

I agree with this to an extent, I do think that having 12 - 13 minutes fights shouldn't be an issue. Having one or two long fights per instance is a good challenge. Most raiders are no longer teens, and have the concentration span for that period and some, with inbetween pulls to stretch legs or catch their breath while their toon eats a quick snack.

As long as the encounter lengths are spread within the instance, for instance: 7 minutes, 5 minutes, 9 minutes, 12 minutes, 6 minutes, 8 minutes, final boss 11 minutes. It will add challenging variation in each instance.

At the end of the day, a long fight should be measured in how good it is, how many satisfactory phases and mechanics it holds. The shorter the encounter, the less mechanics, the longer it is, the more mechanics it should boast.

But 10+ minute fights should only ever be used at the end, a grand climax to the raid where they pull out all the stops and tricks

[Hottage]

5-7 for normal fights, maybe 1-2 mins longer for those "extra phase" bosses at the end of a tier.