The New Year has given WoW raiders a little something to look forward to. Just now, a dribble of information about Ulduar has started to appear in blue posts. Nothing of substance exists yet–all we know, essentially, is that Ulduar will have lots of encounters and a corresponding amount of loot. Thrilling, isn’t it?
I decided to take advantage of this moment when we know practically nothing about what is to come and imagine what my ideal raid instance might be like. Of course it’s not Ulduar, or even my own design for Ulduar. I don’t think I’m invested enough in the lore surrounding the Makers to give anything like an approximation of the story.
I thought it might be enjoyable to start out 2009 with a series of posts sketching out the kind of instance that I would like to play over and over. I’m very interested, though, in what the readers think is fun–so don’t be shy about making suggestions in the comments!
In this first post, I will be looking back at past Blizzard instances and analyzing what makes them fun (or, I suppose, un-fun). It is my hope that I–and of course the Blizzard designers–can learn from the strengths and weaknesses of past content.
What Makes an Instance Fun?
All truly great dungeons have to follow a set of general principles–let’s call them the 6 Rules of Playability.
1. There must be an engaging story line that develops throughout the dungeon and gets at least a partial resolution at the final boss.
2. There must be adequate rewards for the time spent.
3. Boss encounters must be numerous and varied.
4. The length and difficulty of trash clears has to suit the difficulty level of the dungeon.
5. No part of the dungeon should feel like a pure timewaster. Everything–trash included–needs to serve a purpose.
6. The design should support a sense of gradual progression. The most visually stunning environments and encounters should accompany the end content.
Wait, have there been ANY great instances in WoW?
If I go by my own Rules, WoW has had a lot of misses and only a few hits. I will say that, in general, the trends are encouraging. The Burning Crusade dungeons are a step above Classic, and in Wrath. . . well, we have yet to see.
In order to reveal the areas where I think dungeon design most desperately needs improvement, I’m going to go through a few popular dungeons in terms of the 5 Rules and highlight their strengths and weaknesses.
Instance #1: Deadmines
I know, I know, it isn’t a raid. However, it’s my feeling that the developers took their time with this content. Just like, say, the Northshire Abbey area, it’s a starter zone that stands up extremely well to repeated playthoughs. Deadmines scores 6/6 for my rules–it’s just the right difficulty at the right moment. The story of the Defias gang develops through quests in Goldshire and Westfall and receives an extremely satisfactory conclusion when you finally make that scurvy scalawag Van Cleef walk the plank. Moreover, the letter in his pocket and its resulting quest chain really gives your poor little lowbie the feeling that he or she has affected the game world for the better. As far as the rest of the rules go, the Deadmines hits every high note. You can’t tell me that it wasn’t at least a little bit exciting to blow open the door at the end of the cave to reveal an underground harbor with an enormous pirate ship. Not to mention the rewards–which were always pretty good and got a significant buff last year.
Instance #2: Karazhan
There’s quite a large jump from the Deadmines to Karazhan, and if you, dear reader, choose to take that as censure of the many instances that fall in between, well, I won’t try to dissuade you. As I see it, Blizzard made a lot of raid experiments at the end of Classic, of which the best was surely Naxxramas, but my own thought is that the developers were still learning what made instances fun. Karazhan, the flagship instance of BC, scores 5/6 on my scale, and is in my opinion the best-designed Blizzard raid instance for its level to date. Let’s take a close look at its successes.
1. Story
Karazhan did an excellent job of introducing familiar lore characters–Medivh and his father Nielas Aran–and giving them life. When you play through Karazhan, you’re hanging out in Medivh’s house, interacting with the ghosts of his friends, loved ones, and servants. The Moroes encounter is particularly great–you can even imagine the kinds of conversations Medivh and his steward might have had (Oh dear….). In addition, Karazhan did two things that made the story develop over multiple instance runs. First, the quests give you story information in stages, culminating with the cut scene you get as you learn to summon Nightbane. Those quests give insight into Medivh’s personality. In a certain sense, it’s a shame that Medivh himself never appears as a boss, but I must say I do enjoy him as an opponent in the Chess event. Secondly, the Violet Eye faction and their reputation rings give players a reason to repeat the dungeon. In general, I am always in favor of reputation rewards in dungeons. The interaction with the rep-giving faction is always a plus.
2. Rewards
In terms of bringing down the purples, Karazhan was one of the best instances ever. The sheer number of drops per player for a full clear is truly mind-boggling, and yet the loot tables were varied enough that it took several months to get everything.
3.Variety
Karazhan introduced what I like to think of as 2.0 boss mechanics. I won’t replay the whole dungeon for you, but I think that Shade of Aran, Chess, Netherspite, Nightbane, and Prince were all quite innovative. None of the encounters may have been particularly “hard”–though they certainly were difficult for me personally at the time–but they were all very different from each other.
4.Trash
Here is Karazhan’s weakness. I think that it was originally conceived of as a multi-day instance, and as such it might have seemed appropriate to build in some long slowdowns. However, the trash clear between Curator and Shade should have been streamlined at some point. The rest of the trash in the instance seems proportional, but I remember when it took an hour to clear between Curator and Shade. I think a lot of people used to stop for the night after Curator–I know we did. I would think that–at any difficulty level–a trash clear of even half an hour between bosses is too much. For the sake of fun, 10-15 minutes would be best.
5. Sense of Purpose
The reputation gain with the Violet Eye helps keep even an enormous amount of trash from feeling superfluous. In addition, the trash epics soften the impact of long clears.
6. Design
The movement onward and upward–from the servants’ to the masters’ areas of the castle, and always up toward the parapets–gives Karazhan a nice sense of progress. In addition, the most visually interesting encounters–in my mind, Nightbane, Netherspite, and Prince, are at the end. I like the feeling of creeping through an enchanted castle, room by room, progressing ever onwards toward the source of the place’s madness.
Instance #3: Black Temple
I know, I know, I’ve skipped SSC, TK, and Hyjal. There were good things about them, of course, but I’ve decided to run ahead to my personal favorite instance of all time, Black Temple. Illidan’s House of Pain scores a 4 out of 6 on my scale. Let’s look a little closer at how different aspects of the dungeon measure up.
1. Story
By the time I entered Black Temple, I had been hearing about Illidan and fighting his minions for months. I had talked to Akama and Maiev as part of a quest chain, and I had even spent hours upon hours masquerading as a Fel Orc, only to score an interview with Illidan himself when I became exalted with the Netherwing. I think that of all of the BC instances, Black Temple made the best connections to content outside of the raid itself. Moreover, when we killed Illidan, I really had the sense of participating in a drawn-out battle of epic proportions. It was just right for the story. I didn’t even mind Illidan’s speech–and I agree, Akama’s duplicity was hardly surprising. I saw that one coming a mile away.
2. Rewards
Thanks to the purples, the Hearts of Darkness, and the epic gems, adventurers certainly profitted from BT runs. The only change I would have made concerns the allocation of tier pieces. I would have spread them out a bit–I would have put the shoulder token on Gurtogg Bloodboil just to motivate people (ahem, healers) to pay the utmost attention in the pickiest boss fight in the instance.
3.Variety
All of the bosses of BT test different skills. My personal favorites for the sake of sheer ingenuity are Teron Gorefiend, Reliquary of Souls, Illidari Council, and Illidan himself. Gurtogg Bloodboil has unique mechanics too, but I didn’t particularly enjoy that fight. However, I realize that BT offered a chance for players to challenge themselves with many different mechanics.
4. Trash
No points awarded here. The BT trash is monotonous with its reused models and much longer than it needs to be. Particular weak points are the clears between Naj’entus and Supremus and the clear between Akama and Teron Gorefiend. It’s a relief to get to the shorter clears of the end of the instance. The total clear time for BT for an average raiding guild was just too long, especially when BT formed only half of Tier 6. The only “good” trash in the instance is the gauntlet of ghosts before Reliquary. I would like to see more mini-clears of that type.
5. Sense of Purpose
I’m only giving BT a half a point on this question. Yes, we were introduced to Illybeans early on, and we had a good reason to fight him, but other than Teron Gorefiend, all of the other bosses were relative strangers. Yes, the Illidari Council seems like a logical set of advisors for Mr. Illy Dan, but all the others? Why is Naj’entus even in there, especially when he seems to think his boss is Lady Vashj? And why are they even keeping the Reliquary in there? It’s all very unclear.
6.Design
Once again, I’m awarding only a half point. Black Temple is big and scary, and I love that we get to fight Illidan just when he’s stepped out on the rooftop for a moment to collect his thoughts (or maybe smoke a cigarette?), but the instance as a whole reuses too much of the look of Hellfire Peninsula. I think I would have expected something more unique, perhaps with more staircases and outdoor encounters under the eerie stars of Outland. And yes, I know it’s the BLACK temple, but I don’t think that means that every room had to be black. Just a decorating suggestion. . .
Honorable Mentions
I’ve already discussed what I consider the best WoW instances in detail, but some dungeons excelled at certain aspects of design. What follows are my honorable mentions.
1. Best Trash
I have to give this one to the timed bosses of Zul’Aman. The bear run was challenging yet manageable with a well-geared raid, and each of the trash clears was in some way special. This is the one trash clear that really inspired all-start play, and as stressful as it was, I’m glad I did it a few times.
2. Best Boss Fight
Hands down, Lady Vashj is the best ever end-boss fight. To a greater degree than the too-talkative Kael or the overly-emo Illidan, Lady Vashj made a raid really work for a kill. It was all about movement and coordination. I think healers may have had it the easiest of anyone in that fight, but when I imagine what it might have been like to kite a Strider? Pure fun–and lots of difficulty.
3. Best Scenery
This might be a controversial choice, but I have to give the reward to Maraudon. I loved the three discrete areas, each with their own look, color, and indigenous mob types. Jumping down an enormous waterfall into a pool full of Hydras? Very cool. It felt like Elf Fantasyland…except that the princess at the end was rather flatulent and cellulitic. In terms of looks alone, this place is my very favorite.
So what have we learned? It’s no easy thing to make a good dungeon. In the next installment in the series, I’m going to tackle what must be one of the biggest dungeon design challenges–the entryway and initial trash clear. This part of a dungeon can’t give away all the surprises within the instance, but it does have to catch players’ interest.
