Wednesday, February 17, 2010

The Lich King: Finally, a boss worth fighting.

I have made multiple posts about different player mindsets and reasons why people spend time playing a game like WoW. Some play it casually, some much more hardcore. Some play it to do quests, to level, to get achievements.... others do it to raid.

I am one of those players who plays WoW to raid.

That being said, since the release of WotLK, I have found myself extremely disappointed in the end-game raid content released during this expansion.

It simply wasn't very... epic (imo), or as challenging as I would have liked it to be. Don't get me wrong... I completely understand the reasoning behind Blizzard going the route they did with Wrath, and making the content more accessible. I just wished the "hard" modes for most of the encounters would have been a little *more* challenging.

That is... until the badass big-boy himself... the Lich King, aka Arthas.

This encounter, lasting 15+ minutes is, in my opinion, sure proof that the boss devs over at Blizzard have not lost their nerve and still know how to make an epic and extremely challenging fight like Chromaggus, Kael, Vashj, and Mu'ru.

In fact, since the formation of the current guild that I'm in, I believe (and I hope my guildies correct me if I'm wrong) the Lich King is the first normal mode boss that has taken us more than two full nights of attempting to get down. In my opinion, this is a good thing. It keeps the game challenging, as well as interesting. It also makes the feeling when you finally get the bad boy down, that much more fulfilling.

I was asked by one of my guildies the other day if I thought the fact that we hadn't gotten the Lich King down yet would cause tension and frustration amongst the members (keep in mind we're used to rickrolling normal-mode bosses the first or second night). Personally, I would have been incredibly disappointed if we had gotten the Lich King down in our first couple nights of attempts. If we had gotten him down the first, or even second night, it would have shown that while the Lich King has a badass model, and his sword looks really cool... he's no different than any other boss the devs have thrown at us since Wrath.

If there is frustration amongst the members, I don't feel that it's due to the fact that we haven't killed the Lich King yet, but due to the fact that we hold ourselves and each other to extremely high standards of play. If we don't constantly uphold those standards, people get frustrated. It's expected, and one of the things we've built the guild around. Peer accountability is a huge factor within our guild, and we like it that way. It may not work for all guilds, but it works (and has worked) here. If there's a problem, instead of letting it fester because no one's willing to say anything, we address it, and take care of it. Things like making stupid mistakes repeatedly, or missing a raid with no warning while we're excited about a boss like the LK can cause just as much frustration as failing to down a boss itself.

Potential frustrations aside, the fact that we haven't gotten the Lich King down yet, makes the boss special. He's challenging, the fight itself is epic, and the RP (even though the beginning stuff gets a little old after the 32nd attempt) makes it feel like the player is actually part of a huge moment in WoW lore. Add all those things up with the fact that he is incredibly challenging, means that it will be a truly awesome moment for us when we get him down. When we get him down, I fully expect to hear octaves from Thraxx' voice that I haven't heard since his dagger dropped for him off Ragnaros.

While we haven't gotten him down yet, we're getting there, and I am fully expecting to get the Lich King down tomorrow... and if for some reason we're not able to, it's just another reminder that we are fighting the most powerful being currently in existence on Azeroth... it shouldn't be a cakewalk.

3 comments:

  1. I have to say, it is a fantastic time, and an honor to raid alongside my guildmates. Yes, situational awareness is paramount in ICC and over time I have learned to make adjustments and received the proper "realignment" needed from time to time. I will say that since the Lich King encounter IS so intense by its nature it really has piqued my awareness in ways I never knew to be capable. There is something to be said about experienced raiders and what capabilities fights like these are able to foster.

    I too agreed with Mongrr and had fear about how easy things were getting in the raid community and looked longingly back at the old challenges. Frostwing, at least Sindragosa and Arthas, have brought me back to that time (long ago it seems) when raiding was not an easy breeze thru, but a constant chipping away and refining till the moment the Boss-bar reached 0%.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree, LK was a very satisfying kill. Hardmode LK will be fun I'm sure. :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ironic that my dagger dropped again isn't it? Grats to all on the kill, let's get an encore under our belt!

    ReplyDelete