Project Lore

Patches mean different things to different players. For some, it is looking forward to more adventure and exciting things to do. Others might be anticipating changes to their class or getting their hands on a new vanity pet. As GM of a raiding guild, I find it necessary to scrutinize patch notes in search of changes that may impact the way my guild operates. For example, in patch 3.1, they introduced dual specialization. This had an immediate impact in our raids. If we're facing a boss that only requires one tank, then we'll have the other tanks swap to their DPS specs. If we're short a healer, one of our DPS can swap over. Having raid members with well-geared secondary specs became important. In order to encourage our raid members to have well geared offsets, we changed our loot policies to offer gear for offsets at a discount DKP price, assuming no one needed the item for their main spec. Another smaller change in 3.1 was the duration change on flasks from two hours to one. As a result, we now make sure everyone is using their flasks in unison so we can time our breaks for when the flasks run out. As I peruse the patch notes for patch 3.2, there are a few line items that could impact the logistics of raiding. It will be interesting to see how guild officers respond to these changes. One of the first decisions guilds need to make is how will the new raid instance, Crusader's Coliseum, fit into their raiding schedule. While the new dungeon is technically a new tier of raiding, guilds may not remove Ulduar off their schedules immediately, like they did to Naxxramas when 3.1 hit. While the details aren't solid at the moment, it has been posted that the encounters in the Coliseum will be unlocked one at a time at the rate of one per week. Many guilds will still spend a lot of time in Ulduar while the bosses are slowly introduced in the Coliseum. Once all of the tier 9 encounters are open, there are more scheduling decisions to make. The Crusader's Coliseum (aka The Argent Coliseum) has both a normal and heroic version for both 10 and 25 players. The heroic versions of the instance limit players to a number of attempts each week, but open up greater rewards for those who succeed. With that in mind, do you try and take out Ulduar quickly and then spend the remaining time working on the normal version of the new instance? Or do you skip the gobs of easy loot from Ulduar in favor of the new content? How do you balance time spent in normal vs. heroic Coliseum? Interesting questions, indeed. Perhaps the biggest raiding change to be introduced in 3.2 is the extend raid lockout feature. When 3.2 hits, guilds will be able to decide if they want to prevent a raid instance from resetting on a weekly basis. Raid lockouts can be extended for up to an additional week to allow players more time to work on and clear boss encounters. With instances as big as Ulduar, many guilds begin to struggle towards the end of the instance because they run out of time to work on bosses like General Vezax and Yogg-Saron. How will your guild use this exciting feature? Players in 3.2 will have the ability to trade soulbound items with other raid members that are eligible for the loot. This feature grants you a two-hour grace period before the item is permanently bound and will save Blizzard GMs from throngs of in-game tickets from items that are distributed incorrectly. Guilds may decide, however, to use this feature as a time saver during raids. Instead of spending precious flask time distributing loot after each boss kill, the master looter can grab everything and hand it out at specified break periods. Obviously, this is more beneficial when you're clearing a lot of bosses in a night and can get complicated if you frequently have raid members leaving and joining throughout the night, but it is still a nice option to explore. The Call of the Crusade patch will change the way a lot of guild approach raiding. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Which raiding features are you most excited about in 3.2? How is your guild going to approach some of these changes? Share your thoughts and ideas with us.

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As more and more information comes out of the PTR, its pretty hard to not pay attention to it. I am personally getting pumped for all the great new content Blizzard is getting ready for us. As I'm pretty sure most of you have noticed, the new loot we will be able to earn is amazing. Tons of great drops, crafted gear, and most importantly the new tier pieces. While it all exciting, with 3.2 seeming near it makes me wonder if it all is coming a bit soon. I know this may sound a bit odd coming from the guy who complained about how long we were stuck in Naxx, but I don't think we have had enough time in Ulduar. Most of my shiny new T8 epics still have that new car smell, and there is plenty of hard-mode loot I haven't even had a chance to farm. Perhaps I am just concerned that the new loot showing up on the PTR is a bit too good. With all of this new stuff available I will see little reason to go back to Ulduar. This would be a shame because I think Ulduar is an amazing instance! Blizzard managed to create a challenging instance that is full of story and has tons of replayability with the hard modes. I am not ready to leave! While I'm sure people will still be running it, finding motivated groups will be difficult with all of the best stuff somewhere else. At the very least it would be nice to still make the hard mode loot relevant. Yes, I know there will still be best-in-slot items sprinkled around in old content, but by and large we are progressing past it. While I feel most people have had a fair shot at Ulduar itself, I know many people want time to go deeper and try those hard modes. Of course you can never make everyone happy, people progress at different paces, so while some are farming Algalon, many are still in Naxx. None the less for me, this seems fast. How do you guys feel about it? Want more time, or are you ready for something new already?

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Normally when Blizzard starts releasing this much information on a patch in such a short time frame it means that the patch is on the horizon.  I'd be pretty shocked if Call of the Crusade came out so soon after Ulduar, but Blizzard has to battle with Summer somehow.  After all most guilds are still working on their first clear of the Titan and Old God happy fun zone.  Getting behind on our raiding won't stop us from absorbing all the new information though! As we already knew, the coliseum will be completed when Patch 3.2, an update that basically revolves around the Argent Crusade, is launched.  The additional details that Bornakk gave us yesterday are the interesting morsels.

• A new "epic 10- and 25-player raid dungeon with five encounters".  The new raid will also contain an interesting property, the raid will sport four difficulty levels, 10- and 25-man normal and 10- and 25-man heroic.  Did I read that right, we get one boss per week?  Or are my reading comprehension skills shot from lack of sleep?
• Crusader's Tribute - The tribute system is an attempt to reward the best players for their consistency.  The setup "will limit players on the number of attempts they get in the Coliseum each week."  The less attempts you need to clear, the more rewards you can reap.  Utterly fail and you get nothing.  Better be sure to have well-oiled, well-geared, alert and sober members in the runs.
• New 5-man dungeon with three encounters.  Each encounter will reward a Champion's Seal.
• New tier of armor and weapons.  The phat loot will be modeled with Alliance- and Horde-specific themes.

The added difficulties are nice, but I fear having to farm four different raids for gear.  Hopefully Blizzard realizes how annoying that will be, and distributes the gear accordingly.  At first I thought that the lockout mechanic was rather annoying, but if they do plan on releasing Call of the Crusade soon, then the small amount of content combined with the lockout period would allow players to keep Ulduar as their main target, and head over to the Coliseum for a quick fix of loot and change of scenery.  I would equate it to a lengthier Malygos, better loot, but not the focus. I like the Crusader's Tribute idea, but I am sure I will get annoyed with the mechanic once a healer disconnects on the pull.  But in theory, rewarding for skill and dedication is a good way to go.  All things considered, the Coliseum definitely follows the same design philosophy as Argent Tournament, solo gameplay.  Allow me to finish.  Although you need buddies to help you through the raids and dungeons, I'd wager that it'll all be over quickly which means it should be PUG friendly.  Also, I haven't read anything on the raid's difficulty. I can't help but wonder what is going to be the lore behind the area.  I mean are these encounters just to challenge our skills for the upcoming conflict with Arthas, or did some nefarious organization infiltrate the Coliseum and set up shop?  I'm sure many of you don't care about the storyline aspect, but I need more than just loot. Do you raid leaders already have A and B groups in mind for the Coliseum Tribute runs?  Think the new content will be ezmode, or another small step up in difficulty? Let's not forget the other, more Argent Tournament-based, Patch 3.2 details that Amatera detailed earlier this week, and Heartbourne's profession changes.

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