TalonBot
06-11-2010, 11:14 AM
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.wow.com/media/2010/06/ulduarpm03.jpg
With the final content patch of this expansion on our doorstep and Cataclysm (http://www.wow.com/cataclysm/) following close behind, we'll be taking the next several weeks to look back on Wrath of the Lich King and everything that made it what it is, for better or for worse, in Wrath Retrospective (http://www.wow.com/tags/wotlk-retrospective/).
Ulduar was released with patch 3.1 (http://www.wowwiki.com/Patch_3.1) in April of 2009. Until the release of patch 3.2 in August 2009, Ulduar was the highest level 10- and 25-man raid content in World of Warcraft. It's fair to say that Ulduar was at best tangential to the overarching story of Wrath of the Lich King that concluded in Icecrown Citadel, but I also think it's fair to say that Ulduar took everything that had gone before it in Naxxramas, the Eye of Eternity and Obsidian Sanctum (http://www.wow.com/2010/06/09/wrath-retrospective-raiding-naxxramas-malygos-and-sartharion/) and distilled down to a refined, satisfying raid experience.
Ulduar took the vehicle fight mechanic of EoE and managed to make it fun, interesting and variable, incorporating the hard mode mechanic first developed in Obsidian Sanctum and then expanding on it in several different ways. It allowed for optional bosses that could be killed if a raid was gearing up or skipped once you were ready to move on to the end of the instance. It took the various teleport mechanics first seen in Karazhan (http://www.wowhead.com/zone=2562) and Black Temple (http://www.wowhead.com/zone=3959) in BC and made them part of the instance. It even had a "hard mode only (http://www.wowhead.com/npc=32871)" fight with a limited duration that could only be attempted for one hour every raid week from the first time it was started.
It's no secret that Ulduar is one of many people's favorite raids for this expansion (it's personally #2 for me, as I'm a much bigger fan of ICC than most), and there are quite a few reasons for that popularity.Continue reading Wrath Retrospective: Ulduar (http://www.wow.com/2010/06/11/wrath-retrospective-ulduar/)
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion (http://www.wow.com/category/analysis-opinion/), Wrath of the Lich King (http://www.wow.com/category/wrath-of-the-lich-king/)
Wrath Retrospective: Ulduar (http://www.wow.com/2010/06/11/wrath-retrospective-ulduar/) originally appeared on WoW.com (http://www.wow.com) on Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Permalink (http://www.wow.com/2010/06/11/wrath-retrospective-ulduar/) | Email this (http://www.wow.com/forward/19509618/) | Comments (http://www.wow.com/2010/06/11/wrath-retrospective-ulduar/#comments)
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With the final content patch of this expansion on our doorstep and Cataclysm (http://www.wow.com/cataclysm/) following close behind, we'll be taking the next several weeks to look back on Wrath of the Lich King and everything that made it what it is, for better or for worse, in Wrath Retrospective (http://www.wow.com/tags/wotlk-retrospective/).
Ulduar was released with patch 3.1 (http://www.wowwiki.com/Patch_3.1) in April of 2009. Until the release of patch 3.2 in August 2009, Ulduar was the highest level 10- and 25-man raid content in World of Warcraft. It's fair to say that Ulduar was at best tangential to the overarching story of Wrath of the Lich King that concluded in Icecrown Citadel, but I also think it's fair to say that Ulduar took everything that had gone before it in Naxxramas, the Eye of Eternity and Obsidian Sanctum (http://www.wow.com/2010/06/09/wrath-retrospective-raiding-naxxramas-malygos-and-sartharion/) and distilled down to a refined, satisfying raid experience.
Ulduar took the vehicle fight mechanic of EoE and managed to make it fun, interesting and variable, incorporating the hard mode mechanic first developed in Obsidian Sanctum and then expanding on it in several different ways. It allowed for optional bosses that could be killed if a raid was gearing up or skipped once you were ready to move on to the end of the instance. It took the various teleport mechanics first seen in Karazhan (http://www.wowhead.com/zone=2562) and Black Temple (http://www.wowhead.com/zone=3959) in BC and made them part of the instance. It even had a "hard mode only (http://www.wowhead.com/npc=32871)" fight with a limited duration that could only be attempted for one hour every raid week from the first time it was started.
It's no secret that Ulduar is one of many people's favorite raids for this expansion (it's personally #2 for me, as I'm a much bigger fan of ICC than most), and there are quite a few reasons for that popularity.Continue reading Wrath Retrospective: Ulduar (http://www.wow.com/2010/06/11/wrath-retrospective-ulduar/)
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion (http://www.wow.com/category/analysis-opinion/), Wrath of the Lich King (http://www.wow.com/category/wrath-of-the-lich-king/)
Wrath Retrospective: Ulduar (http://www.wow.com/2010/06/11/wrath-retrospective-ulduar/) originally appeared on WoW.com (http://www.wow.com) on Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).
Permalink (http://www.wow.com/2010/06/11/wrath-retrospective-ulduar/) | Email this (http://www.wow.com/forward/19509618/) | Comments (http://www.wow.com/2010/06/11/wrath-retrospective-ulduar/#comments)
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