I was keyed for Serpentshrine Cavern. I had killed Lady Vashj and Kael'thas before 2.4, and earned my title Hand of A'dal. I was keyed for Mount Hyjal, then I was keyed for Black Temple. I killed Illidan before 3.0.
Now, none of that matters.
I'm becoming more and more frustrated with Blizzard as they constantly de-emphasize skill. Scrubs, who had the quest because the stimulus of the bright yellow exclamation point above A'dal demanded a response of accepting the quest to rot in their log, go into TK and SSC and get their title, without any knowledge that a year ago, people had worked for weeks perfecting their Kael'thas strategy. While I am not opposed to anyone seeing and experiencing every encounter they can in this game, their potential to reap the same benefits is really not respectful to the thousands of dedicated raiders who strive to be their best. It's like getting a Netherdrake when you are Neutral with the Netherwing: Congratulations! You did nothing!
I said that I feel guilty as we push into Sunwell after 3.0, as the new talents cut encounter time down to a fraction of its pre-3.0 state. But now, as we work on Felmyst, I realize, even though we are completely over-powered for the encounter, if your raid cannot work as a team, then you have no business being in this instance. And that gives me some satisfaction. The difficulties of the encounters overrule our talent trees - you have to know how to raid in order to succeed.
I want to see Kil'Jaeden, not because he drops a legendary for me, not because he provides an achievement, but because Blizzard has said there will never be an instance as difficult as Sunwell. I want the challenge. I want to know that no matter what Blizzard does to this game, what they do to my class, what they do to my raids, I beat their toughest strategies. No, it wasn't on Heroic difficulty, but my guild got our minds around their challenges, and we won. That's what I want.
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Sweet Earth Mother, Kil'Jaeden is a hunter's loot bag:
Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury
Coif of Alleria
Thalassian Ranger Gauntlets
Cloak of Unforgivable Sin
Apolyon, the Soul-Render
Crux of the Apocalypse
Sigh.. I shouldn't get my hopes up like this! lol
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3 comments:
Interesting outlook. A lot of people feel the way you do. I just don't understand it though. You can still say "I killed Kael and Vashj before they were nerfed" and people will know what you accomplished. Your feats aren't made any less by the fact that others used the nerf to their advantage. It's not like your accomplishment suddenly became just as lack-luster as theirs. Coming from someone who watched their ex-boyfriend struggle through Kael for a month and a half before beating him pre-2.4, I understand how difficult it really was.
From my end, having not killed Kael until a few days ago after the second giant nerf, here's how I see it. I came into this game a little late. Sure, I played a little before TBC, but I never hit 60. Then I had school, work, etc. which took me away. Then TBC came out and I had the itch to play. I got to 70 much MUCH later than most people, geared up VERY slowly, and finally only recently have hit end-game raiding. I also got into lackluster guilds that were still raiding only Kara for lack of players, or guilds that swapped players like kids swap candy. We just never got anywhere. Finally, this year, I found a good, solid guild with a strong core of players and the right raiding mindset, so I decided to stick with them. I was there with them during Vashj attempts. Actually, my first night in the guild they invited me in for Vashj.
Unfortunately, I can only do what my guild can do. Even if all I desire is to stay with the natural order of content, if my GL decides to do otherwise, that's what we'll do. I desperately wanted to continue working on Vashj. But it was too late - people were bitten with the Loot Bug and wanted to progress wherever it was available.
The only reason my guild even went back to TK was to play with content we hadn't experienced (Kael). I had repeatedly whined about the Hyjal monotony, and I guess a few others did as well.
As you said in your post, no matter how much you've been pumped up, there are some things you just can't manage without teamwork. Even though we probably had shorter bursts of a need for the teamwork, we still had to go about using the same strats as everyone else and work together to accomplish it. It may not be the hardest thing we've ever done as a guild like it probably was for you, but it WAS a new accomplishment, and it always WAS on my to-do list. I just fell in love with my guild and wanted to progress with them, not on my own in random guilds whose backgrounds I didn't know anything about.
Whether or not I deserve the title is debatable. I can see your frustration with that. But as I said - you killing those bosses while they were a massive group effort of epic proportion does not change from the fact that now any old "scrub" can seemingly do it with ease. Knowing you accomplished the feat should be enough to make you proud even without the awe others might have shown pre-2.4 when they saw that title over your head.
Sorry, I couldn't help but feel a little targeted by your post considering my recent Kael kill and the fact that you have clearly been able to progress much further than me and so in a lot of ways are the superior player. Just thought I'd throw my two cents in and say I wish I could've done what you did. It just wasn't in the cards. So even if it was lackluster, I'm glad I got to experience at least a tiny bit of what I'd missed.
Good luck on Kil'Jaeden. I know I'll certainly never have the chance to hit that accomplishment.
I know I sounded harsh towards individuals that are late bloomers, so to speak. It's an unintended consequence. To down Kael is an extraordinary feat, I do not mean to demean it. It takes a lot of team work, a lot of communication, and you should be proud. What frustrates me are those who have never even seen Vashj and Kael are able to go in an reap the same rewards. To be fair, its the same part of me that wants Thori'dal to be removed from KJ's loot table, so people like me won't be able to benefit materialistically from our OP state.
Before BC, I was stuck in a MC farming guild, and because I didn't know any better, I didn't progress as far as I was capable. I got as far as Vael before 2.0, then raiding just ceased. It sounds so old-fashioned, but I loved those days. You had to be good, you had to be keyed, you had to know what was going on. It felt like the game took real effort in those days. It doesn't feel like that way now.
The likelihood of seeing KJ in the next three weeks are slim. But I want the challenge. I encourage you and your guild to go as far into BT and MH as you can, Nass. Everyone should experience the encounters, whether it is as a struggle or as an OP-one-shot. I just wish there was some form of humility involved to acknowledge those individuals that did it as it was meant to be experienced.
Yeah, I feel you. And see my most recent post about BT...it's stoopid. Seriously. It wasn't even fun at this point. I just wanna do dailies and pass out at 10:00 until Wrath.
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