BlizzCon's WoW Dungeons And Raids Panel Transcript

by Jeff Marchiafava on Oct 22, 2010 at 12:45 PM

Blizzard just finished up an epic panel discussing World of Warcraft's dungeons and raids. To catch up on what was covered, check out the transcript of Phil's equally epic liveblog.

3:32
The dungeons and raid panel is on!

3:33
I'm actually in the press room grabbing lunch, but they're broadcasting the panel in here, so I'll do my best to keep updating.

3:33
Right now they're talking about the idea of classic heroics -- level 85 versions of old dungeons. So far for Cataclysm they've announced Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep.

3:33
They aren't just recycling the same dungeons -- they're introducing new quests and encounters into these classic locations.

3:34
You'll interact with the end bosses on quests as you play through the dungeon, which will build up the bosses much more as interesting characters.

3:34 [Comment From badwolf86:]
what are you eating?

3:34
Roast beef sandwich!

3:34
Normal versions of Deadmines and Shadowfang have been updated as well.

3:35
Layouts for the heroic dungeons remain the same, but they also went back to look at some of the classic dungeons to improve them.

3:36 [Comment From Hosef:]
So will they still be low level dungeons as well as 85 then?

3:36
Yep!

3:36 [Comment From DarthJelly:]
Will you help me talk my mom into getting me world of warcraft???

3:36
Nope!

3:37
Some classic dungeon changes will be ready at Cataclysm launch, but they're going to continue going back and upgrading older dungeons.

3:37
Will break old dungeons into wings, make them shorter and less confusing.

3:39
Maraudon is another that will be updated. Yeeeeah, that needed to happen.

3:40 [Comment From wow fanboy:]
Are they changing northrend or the outland at all?

3:40
I don't think so.

3:41
They'll be trimming some areas out of some dungeons. Showing an example from Sunken Temple. I think I'm one of the only WoW players who loves Sunken Temple.

3:42
Sunken Temple changes will be in when Cataclysm ships. They're basically just chopping off a big part of the dungeon, but "we aren't losing much" because it still has a ton of bosses.

3:42
Wailing Caverns is going to be changed. Another one that's necessary.

3:43
Moving on to discuss Blizzard's raid philosophy in cataclysm.

3:45
More raids at launch but in smaller, "bite-sized chunks"

3:48
Just a reiteration of introducing flexible raid locks, which are actually in the game now.

3:48 [Comment From Zoo:]
Will there still be some raids that are decently long like Ice Crown Citadel?

3:49
If those happen, I'm guessing they'll be split into wings that are released over time like ICC was.

3:49
To reiterate for those who haven't heard about the changes, you can switch between heroic and regular and 10- or 25-man, but you can only beat each boss once per week now.

3:49 [Comment From Red spy:]
have they announced the number of raids that will be in at launch?

3:49
I think they announced three, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

3:51 [Comment From badwolf86:]
I miss trying to keep 40 people together for hours on the quest to ragnaros :-p

3:51
You and Andy are the only two people who miss that. SORRY IT'S TRUE.

3:52
They're already working on stuff to come out after Cataclysm releases.

3:53
Firelands raid will be the first raid patched in after Cataclysm released. It's a raid on the elemental plane of fire.

3:54
Will tie into the zone of Hyjal - you'll send Ragnaros into the elemental plane of fire in Hyjal's quest line, then you'll go into the plane to fight him in this raid.

3:54
The previous raid fight against Ragnaros in Molten Core was just a small amount of his power. He'll be at full power in the elemental plane.

3:54
There will be seven bosses in the Firelands raid.

3:55
Firelands is an outdoor area with bosses that will lead into an interior area -- Sulfuron Keep -- where you'll fight Ragnaros.

3:57
Blizzard wants to try to always deliver a five-man dungeon along with new raids in content patches.

3:57
Abyssal Maw will be the new five-player dungeon introduced with Firelands.

3:59
It will be an underwater dungeon actually taking place in the elemental plane of water.

3:59
Tons of new technology to make underwater play easier. Which makes sense, since there's also a whole underwater zone (which plays pretty awesome in the beta)

4:00
Abyssal Maw will look/feel similarly to the Throne of the Tides dungeon.

4:00
New feature that won't be in for Cataclysm but will be coming soon: enhanced maps.

4:01
Adding instance maps in Wrath of the Lich king was a huge deal. There will be 2D instance maps for every single dungeon in the game in Cataclysm.

4:01
Enhanced maps will offer detailed boss information. They'll tell you what loot a boss can drop. Whoa.

4:02
There will be flavor text about who/what the boss is. There will also be a list of boss abilities so you can see what the boss does. "The only way to find out what something does right now is to die."

4:03
3D portraits of the bosses

4:03
Enhanced maps will work in dungeons and raids.

4:04
Closing the panel with a video showing off the raids that will ship in Cataclysm.

4:04
No noise on the video, so they're doing awkward commentary.

4:05
Bastion of Twilight looks great. Very colorful. It seems like we'll be fighting a lot of damned dragons in Cataclysm, which isn't a big change from before, but just saying.

4:06
Cho'Gall, the ogre boss of Bastion of Twilight, is FREAKIN' HUGE. Also has a freakin' huge hammer.

4:06
raid on the elemental plane of wind will require jumping off and riding the wind to new platforms. Crazy.

4:07
Q&A going on now.

4:07
Dude asks about ninja looting. Guy sounds like he's been wronged.

4:07
Some changes in Cataclysm about which classes are allowed to roll on which items.

4:09
"10 mans have even less people," an upset-sounding 25-man raider points out. This is mathematical fact.

4:09
Blizzard reiterates that they're trying to balance it so that 10-mans are just as difficult as 25-mans, so that it makes sense that they both receive the same loot.

4:11
Finding it really difficult not to point out that almost every dude asking a question has a neckbeard. YOU AREN'T MAKING THIS EASY ON ME, FELLOW NERDS.

4:11[Comment From Andrew:]
I think that Blizzard prefers you call them "Geeks" now

4:12
Guy points out that flexible raid lock means PUGs are going to fall apart faster. Blizzard basically says "It'll be bad at first but not once people know encounters."

4:13
"The reality is that sometimes we run across a bad PUG. It happens to us all."

4:13
It's easier for PUGs to break up but also much easier to bring people in.

4:14
This dude just called Cataclysm "the Clysm." UGH.

4:15
BRD is not being changed or broken up, but it will have teleporters to help you jump ahead faster if you wipe. Those will exist in Cataclysm dungeons too.

4:16
New graveyards near dungeons -- Blizzard's new philosophy is that a graveyard shouldn't be more than 30 seconds away from any dungeon entrance.

4:18
Sounds like blizzard still isn't sold on adding raids to the auto-Looking for Group system.

4:20
Guy with question that is way too long and rambly is asking a question that is way too long and rambly.

4:20 [Comment From Joseph:]
Does it seem like they're incorporating features from some of the most popular add-ons, thereby rendering these add-ons unnecessary?

4:20
I think Bliz has always been pretty open about taking the best ideas from add-ons as a sort of recognition that, yes, this is clearly something our players want, and they should be able to access it without having to turn to a third party.

4:25
Beginning to remember why I hate Q&As. I'm liveblogging two WoW Q&A panels tomorrow, so that should be a blast. You'll be able to watch me slowly lose my mind.

4:26
It's setup to fit the time on GI.com, which is central. :)

4:26
The last few questions weren't very interesting and didn't provide interesting answers, sadly.

4:27
I'm going to try out some Diablo-type stuff, but I'll be back for one more liveblog.

4:27
At 4:30 Pacific/6:30 Central I'll be liveblogging the live raid panel, where a raiding guild will be taking on some crazy challenges live.