Nerf the Iron Concourse!
Posted by 
Amatera on Wednesday, July 8, 2009 - 19 Comments Tags: Raid, Ulduar, brann bronzebeard, flame leviathan, iron concourse, nerf, raiding, vehicles
Amatera on Wednesday, July 8, 2009 - 19 Comments Tags: Raid, Ulduar, brann bronzebeard, flame leviathan, iron concourse, nerf, raiding, vehicles
It pains me to say it, but after several months of dutifully raiding Ulduar, one of the coolest aspects of the dungeon just isn't the bee's knees anymore. I'm talking about the Iron Concourse, that long stretch of dark iron dwarf-infested land that sits between your raid and Flame Leviathan each and every time you start a new lockout period.
In the previews leading up to the dungeon's release, nothing could've sounded more epic: you and your buddies jump into some high-powered engines of destruction as your tear across the map, laying waste to the gate-keepers of Ulduar and anything else that might be unlucky enough to sit in your path. And it was fun... the first few times. The scale was huge, the concept above and beyond what you'd normally find in a dungeon, and the on-going narration from Brann Bronzebeard was a real atmospheric treat.
Blizzard could do with fixing the ramp bugs while they're at it!
But now, just as soon as I first jump into a vehicle at the start of the event, I can't help but count down the time until the whole affair is over. Once the majesty fades, the Iron Concourse is nothing more than a terribly easy, drawn-out trash-clearing exercise of the worst kind. Ten to fifteen minutes of demolishing towers is enough to kill my raiding buzz.
I've rallied against nerfs to Ulduar in the past, but now I'm putting out the call: nerf the Iron Concourse! Despite the negative connotations the word has come to be associated with over the years, it's not always such a bad thing. The way I see it, there are two ways to "nerf" something: to make it easier or to make it more convenient. Blizzard's been doing a lot of both lately, and while I'm not a fan of the changes they've made to a lot of the bosses in Ulduar, I would welcome just about any remedy to ease the pain of having to clear this area.
What can they do? They can't very well make the vehicles any stronger or faster without having to retune the Flame Leviathan encounter, and it may just make clearing more of an ordeal to make it any more difficult. Likely, the easiest thing to do is simply make the enemies weaker (and get rid of those damnable helicopters!). As it is right now, the iron dwarf gnats that stream out of the storm towers right now can be easily dealt with, but the bigger mobs act as nothing more than huge damage sponges.
Unless you're running into the dungeon with a bunch of people who have sub-200 item level gear, the Iron Concourse just doesn't pose much of a challenge. And if you're doing that, you probably just shouldn't be in Ulduar anyway.
What do you think, guys and gals? Has the Iron Concourse event become as rote and annoying for you as it has for me? I'm always hesitant to suggest things that make the game too convenient for players (let's face it, you've got to put some effort in), but when you're forced to engage in an encounter like this with no tangible rewards for doing so, maybe it would be better to just get it over with as soon as possible. Hey, we've all dealt with worse trash, but at least you might get some gold or the occasional drop out of it. Are there any other parts of Ulduar you feel the same way about?
In the previews leading up to the dungeon's release, nothing could've sounded more epic: you and your buddies jump into some high-powered engines of destruction as your tear across the map, laying waste to the gate-keepers of Ulduar and anything else that might be unlucky enough to sit in your path. And it was fun... the first few times. The scale was huge, the concept above and beyond what you'd normally find in a dungeon, and the on-going narration from Brann Bronzebeard was a real atmospheric treat.
Blizzard could do with fixing the ramp bugs while they're at it!But now, just as soon as I first jump into a vehicle at the start of the event, I can't help but count down the time until the whole affair is over. Once the majesty fades, the Iron Concourse is nothing more than a terribly easy, drawn-out trash-clearing exercise of the worst kind. Ten to fifteen minutes of demolishing towers is enough to kill my raiding buzz.
I've rallied against nerfs to Ulduar in the past, but now I'm putting out the call: nerf the Iron Concourse! Despite the negative connotations the word has come to be associated with over the years, it's not always such a bad thing. The way I see it, there are two ways to "nerf" something: to make it easier or to make it more convenient. Blizzard's been doing a lot of both lately, and while I'm not a fan of the changes they've made to a lot of the bosses in Ulduar, I would welcome just about any remedy to ease the pain of having to clear this area.
What can they do? They can't very well make the vehicles any stronger or faster without having to retune the Flame Leviathan encounter, and it may just make clearing more of an ordeal to make it any more difficult. Likely, the easiest thing to do is simply make the enemies weaker (and get rid of those damnable helicopters!). As it is right now, the iron dwarf gnats that stream out of the storm towers right now can be easily dealt with, but the bigger mobs act as nothing more than huge damage sponges.
Unless you're running into the dungeon with a bunch of people who have sub-200 item level gear, the Iron Concourse just doesn't pose much of a challenge. And if you're doing that, you probably just shouldn't be in Ulduar anyway.
What do you think, guys and gals? Has the Iron Concourse event become as rote and annoying for you as it has for me? I'm always hesitant to suggest things that make the game too convenient for players (let's face it, you've got to put some effort in), but when you're forced to engage in an encounter like this with no tangible rewards for doing so, maybe it would be better to just get it over with as soon as possible. Hey, we've all dealt with worse trash, but at least you might get some gold or the occasional drop out of it. Are there any other parts of Ulduar you feel the same way about?
Reader Comments (19)
I don't think I really agree with your idea of having Blizzard nerf the Iron Concourse. I actually rather enjoy it since I get relegated so often to doing healing. However, I do agree that Blizzard needs to fix the ramp bugs that cause those helicopter mobs to evade while still dishing out damage on your vehicle.
FIRST
i agree that they should make it easier but people that have never done it need it to get comfortable with their vehicular before they get to FL
Blizzard should consider implementing dungeon "evoloution" as a solution to this kind of thing - akin to the way world events grow/evolve
As a pretty simple example, they could have triggered events after so much time passes that evolve the experience - like brann decides to pitch in and drives his own tank/forces into battle, and as time goes on, new elements could become incoporated into that part of the event. At first it might be brann with a couple buddies driving a tank, then brann might start bringing air support of his own, etc. This would evolve the experience making it easier for those that've cleared it a few times and just want to get to the nitty gritty further in, etc
Last night was my first time in Ulduar and I totally loved the concourse, but........
At the same time and even until the encounter with FL ended I was thinking, "man this is way to easy and could easily become tedious". FL himself is a very easy encounter and if it wasn't for the different roles you could play each time it would get old really fast as well I imagine.
But with anything Blizz does it is another experiment and it will be tweaked.
Just talk to Brann and force-skip hard mode, then you don't have to knock down any towers.
Takes maybe 5 minutes to get from start to FL if you do that?
Isn't that easy enough?
Rutan
@ Rutan
That'd be fine with me, but my guild insists on doing hard mode every time.
I think it's fun.
Try mixing it up by going in to other vehicles.
Or go gunner in one of the vehicles and /afk whilst you watch tv =p
Its true - what was initially a refreshing new event in raiding has now become a stale ordeal. Its nice that its in there, but its odd that its right at the start. Would be better if the whole thing were at the entrance to an optional wing.
They could make the Iron Concourse a non-instanced continuous battle (think the Pit Commander on the other side of the Dark Portal) that sits right in front of the entrance, and as soon as you enter, maybe 1 or 2 pulls in vehicle mode then right into FL.
@higy
ur second -_-
I don't like you're approach to this. "It's boring to me, nerf it!" What about people who haven't done it yet? You said the first few times it was fun. So, will you deny the fun you had to other people? I just think it seems a little selfish.
@ Drall
You can never account for everybody. I write generally towards a regular raiding audience, and there's a good portion of people who have experienced it ad nauseum since Ulduar's release.
Even many of the more casual guilds out there have experienced it. It's easy and at the very start of the dungeon. Once it's worn out for us, would you deny us our satisfaction and desire to progress in the dungeon without having to slag through the encounter and waste our time? The way I see it, it works both ways!
I dont think they should nerf this at all. Is it tedious? Yes, but that is what trash is all about. If you didn't have trash then dungeons would be a bunch of "Ring of Blood" style events. How fun is that?
@Sunalar
Yeah, but at least you get some kind of reward from normal trash in the form of money or the potential for trash drop epics. Not so with the Iron Concourse.
As for whether or not "Ring of Blood" style events are fun? Well, I guess we'll all find out with the next release. :)
I disagree with the nerf. If you are clearing the trash so fast, why not do hard mode.
Skim through the center, avoid the towers, kill Flame on 4 towers up... win.
If you can clear it so fast and you're getting so bored with it, then do it hard mode and enjoy the lewt fest. Otherwise, it lets players who haven't done their vehicles much, learn how to use them, so they stop sucking shooting down the pyrite, gathering the pyrite, stacking pyrite. After the hall/towers are clear, practice taking down the guns or something, cause you're going to need it come 3+ towers up...
i done the event 3 times and all 3 times it was very fun i injoy blowing iron dwarfs i wouldent say FL is that easy it reguires lots of cordination constantly laying down the pudles of oil and then lighten them up and then stack it the chopers are so squishy and shields are useless
This is a great way to start Ulduar and easy enough already. You are too jaded and should appreciate how easy it is already. /agree with veritiable too - next time you do it go for an achievement or a hard mode and you will find a challenge.
Yeah the Iron Concourse is terribly boring. Nothing makes the raid feel tedious from the start like this encounter.