0. Zul'Aman Clarification 07/12/2007 09:03:08 AM PDT
I've been following a lot of the reactions on the WoW forums as well as the fansite forums to our announcement of Zul'Aman. I've noticed that there's a little bit of confusion as to some comments that were made in various articles that said that (I am paraphrasing here) "Zul'Aman will be more casual than Karazhan."'
Of course, what most of us in the WoW community have come to realize over the past few years is that the term "casual" means different things to different people. In fact, I am at the point where I try to avoid using the term at all. I've come to discover that most players consider themselves "Casual" when it supports their argument and likewise, they think of themselves as "hardcore" when convenient. We have the largest Casual Hardcore (or Hardcore Casual) community of any MMO out there!
All joking aside, the clarification is this:
--Zul'Aman will be a 10-person raid zone
--Zul'Aman will be on a quicker reset than 7 days (some might call this "casual")
--Zul'Aman will be MORE difficult than Karazhan and drop better loot (some might call this hardcore)
--Zul'Aman will feature 6 bosses and it's our goal that you can kill them all in one night -- perhaps 2-3 hour clear times (some might call this casual)
--Zul'Aman will not have a key requirement. Nor will it have an attunement quest\ (some might call this casual)
--Zul'Aman will have a VERY challenging timed quest for those who choose to participate in it. This *will be* hardcore and will be very rewarding. Players do not have to engage in the timed run (very similar to the Baron run in Stratholme)
--We're tuning the first boss in Zul'Aman to require less raid coordination than some other raid bosses. He will still hit very hard so you'll need to be geared properly but it won't take 15 minutes to explain the fight. It will be a simple yet challenging fight. The other boss fights get more complex and challenging from there. If players want a basis of comparison, imagine the tuning of ZA started around Nightbane/Prince difficulty and ramped up from there.
ZA is a very cool looking zone. It will feature brand new troll models -- Forest Trolls. They are very impressive looking. There will also be a large amount of brand new item art in the zone. We'll get screenshots of this out soon.
I know this question is going to come up so I'll answer it now -- Yes, you can totally skip Karazhan if you're an amazingly elite guild who doesn't have time to key up for KZ yet can face the challenges of ZA without gearing up in KZ. Have fun storming the castle.
6. Re: Zul'Aman Clarification 07/12/2007 09:20:07 AM PDT
Because this instance is in a horde controlled zone i can see problems with PvP arising. Do you plan a putting a neutral town in the area to help prevent horde taking advantage of being inattackable?
Q u o t e: Warlocks, I'd just like to say that you're balanced. I thought it'd be nice coming from a Hunter. That's all.
10. Re: Zul'Aman Clarification 07/12/2007 09:36:35 AM PDT
Q u o t e: Nice. Any ideas on approximate release time?
He said they're working on the tuning first boss now. This probably means they are essentially done with the terrain, and they have the concepts for the fights written down as well.
P.S. There had better be a good off-hand dagger in there somewhere. The best OH dagger you can get before BT/Hyjal and outside of PvP only has 85.4 dps, and drops in a heroic dungeon.
11. Re: Zul'Aman Clarification 07/12/2007 09:44:23 AM PDT
Good news, glad to her they are implementing it on a reset timer less than 7 days. Wishing it was going to include a bit more bosses but hopefully the quality of the encounters compensate for the lack of bosses. I am also hoping that you all intend to include some new unique armor models, not the same rehashed dungeon 3 set in a different color as you did in Karazhan.
14. Re: Zul'Aman Clarification 07/12/2007 09:55:47 AM PDT
Jeffrey, my lad, I mean this with all sincerity you get better and better as a developer as time goes on. Thanks for this clarification.
This is coming from a BT/Hyjal raider: you guys really need to focus on more of this stuff to give those that don't have the time/ability to access the higher end instances something to do other than the same ol' Silithus/Skettis/Ogri'la rep grinds. We both know those are weaksauce and lame. Zul'Aman, on the other hand, looks to be something new and innovative.
15. Re: Zul'Aman Clarification 07/12/2007 10:07:46 AM PDT
Here's a question I'm sure is very important to raiders....you say the difficulty is above Karazhan.
How does the loot compare to other raid instances? Better than Karazhan I'm sure, but what about SSC or anything like that? Would you say getting decked out from Zul'Aman will help you prepare for a certain tier of raid dungeons, or is it just "sidegrade" loot?
