Project Lore

Ahh, yes. With a new (old) encounter comes new achievements to earn, or fail spectacularly trying to do so. The 5th anniversary version of Onyxia is no exception, and the latest build of 3.2.2 on the test realms brings with it news on just what we can expect in this regard. Deep Breath in all its fearsome glory! The achievements are as follows:

• Onyxia's Lair (10-man) - Defeat Onyxia in 10-player mode.
• More Dots! (10-man) - Defeat Onyxia in less than 5 minutes in 10-player mode.
• Many Whelps! Handle It! (10-man) - Cause 50 Onyxia Whelplings to hatch within 10 seconds of Onyxia's liftoff, and then defeat her in 10-player mode.
• She Deep Breaths More (10-man) - Defeat Onyxia without anyone taking damage from a Deep Breath in 10-player mode.
• Onyxia's Lair (25-man) - Defeat Onyxia in 25-player mode.
• More Dots! (25-man) - Defeat Onyxia in less than 5 minutes in 25-player mode.
• Many Whelps! Handle It! (25-man) - Cause 50 Onyxia Whelplings to hatch within 10 seconds of Onyxia's liftoff, and then defeat her in 25-player mode.
• She Deep Breaths More - (25-man) - Defeat Onyxia without anyone taking damage from a Deep Breath in 25-player mode.

You might recognize a few of those phrases from the famous Onyxia Wipe Animation (WARNING: Not to be viewed at work!):

And really, how could Blizzard not reference the video? Not only is it still funny after all these years, it represents all of the memories players have from when Onyxia's Lair was the pinnacle of Vanilla raid content. The flames, the whelps, the wipes! There truly is a little angry raid leader in all of us. Likewise, "She Deep Breaths More" is a nod at the oft-maligned attack she uses when in flight during Phase 2. Players swore that she did it more often (and more randomly) in later patches. The dev team even poked fun at this reaction at the Dungeons and Raids Panel last weekend. When they showed off the tools used to tune boss encounters, the randomization for Onyxia's Deep Breath skill was set a little higher than usual. Some of you might be wondering what's going to happen to the old Level 60 Onyxia's Lair achievement. Well, it's going to be turned into a Feat of Strength once the patch hits, so if you want that particular notch in your belt, I'd get on that as soon as possible. So, what do you readers think of these achievements? Will they be hard to obtain? I think it'll be hard to say until the patch hits and the rest of us have an opportunity to experience the re-tun first hand!

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Blizzard blue Zarhym revealed yesterday that Onyxia would be making her gallant return to World of Warcraft in celebration of the title's fifth anniversary.  Following last year's random non-combat pet that players got for the four year mark, we'll be granted a Black Dragon Whelps to go along with the our bear.  Obviously I am in favor of nostalgia, adding more vanity pets and content to the game.  I did have one reservation upon hearing the news.  I instantly thought, and entered into numerous discussions about, "how is Blizzard's creative team gonna pull that off lorewise?" The lengthy brainstorming session caused much WoWWiking and some heated discussion.  Believe it or not the mind melds came up with some well-crafted ideas, and of course, not so good ideas.

• The "Who Cares" Approach - More than a few people I have talked to spouted this defense.  Simply put, many players, hardcore and casual, don't feel that the lore is important.  They claim that they won't care how she went from a head displayed across Stormwind (read dead) to a level 80 boss (alive).  While I personally believe the lore holds more water than this group realizes, it's possible that Blizzard will just retune the encounter and ignore everything else.
• Retcon - Retconning is the fine art of changing a storyline after it has already taken place (meaning absorbed by the audience).  It's a popular mechanic in today's large franchises (Star Trek, Star Wars, too many comics to name), and Blizzard has employed the technique themselves.  Considering that Onyxia's quest chain has been removed, and her human disguise vanquished from the halls of Stormwind, a retcon with a new storyline is entirely plausible.
• Infinite Dragonflight - I posited this as my little baby.  We know very little about the Infinite Dragonflight.  We do know that they are messing with the timeline, but that's all we have.  Their actions could be at the request of Nozdormu himself, but it could just as easily be another flight created by Deathwing for his own nefarious purposes.  Assuming it is Deathwing's latest scheme, then the new encounter can be explained as an alternate timeline's Onyxia making her triumphant return.

It should be quite obvious what I want Blizzard to do, the Bronze Dragonflight.  Just think of how cool it could be.  First off, the process can be explained in the lore easily.  It'll also offer the encounter designers a chance to experiment with new moves for Onyxia (she's different after all).  Perhaps a Really Deep Breath?  She'd have to perform her asthmatic move more often of course.  Lastly, and most importantly, it'd offer a perfect time for Deathwing and his Black Dragonflight to rear their ugly heads. The overall consensus is that Blizzard may very well take the "Who Cares" approach.  After all, it's just a bit of added content to effectively pat themselves on the back for sticking around a half decade (has it really been that long? *checks /played*).  Unlike the rest of the Internet, I am not a pessimist, and I expect the developer to deliver something to us.  Retconning seemed to be as equally likely from the poll.  You'll recall that Blizzard said Onyxia's chain would be modified to fit into Wrath's timeline upon its removal.  That little diddy fits my Infinite Dragonflight hopes even more than a retcon.  Hmm. Which scenario is most likely in your mind?  Have any other ideas as to how Blizzard can write in the retune?  Do you think Blizzard will remove/replace the old encounter with the new one?

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