The Oculus

[Eulo]

In keeping the game fresh and exciting as time goes on, the developers utilize various tools. Spells change, new spells are introduced, individual talents--and entire trees--evolve, and for the first time since the game's launch we recently saw an entirely new class introduced. However, for many players (particularly those of us interested in the endgame PvE content) new encounters and new dungeons are what do the best job of holding our interest.

One of the most unique instances currently in the game is The Oculus. What are your thoughts on this instance?
How do you like the concept of mounted combat that goes beyond the standard class abilities? How well do you think the concept was actually executed here?
Furthermore, how is the tuning in both regular and heroic mode, and how challenging do you find the achievements?

[slanman]

Every time i do the Oculus...i die a little bit on the inside.

[Senka]

Oculus is an absolutely great instance for people with a brain. Unfortunately, too many people in WoW do not possess one. It's not an instance I'd ever do with a PuG, but it's very fun with friends.
It's one of the very few tests of "skill" in WoW. I especially like it because it will always test the player. It will never get easier with better gear. It's really great. However.. I do think that the difficulty is slightly too high in both Normal and Heroic. One mistake or second too slow, and it's over. I don't like that part of it. Still, it's only slightly too strict.

[Thafisker]

I dont like it. Ppl having no idea what to do with their drakes is just pain in the arse. Its a very annoying instance aswell with enemy dragons in every hight and most of the time ur are almost forced to try to solo one, since no1 in the party can agree what target to focus on, and u all end up dying.

[Marooned]

I dont like the way the new vehicle system does not work with my unit frames, Im totally blind in these instances and try to guess peoples HP and etc...

[mrgummage]

As was said before, it's one of the few instances that never gets made steam-rollable by gear, and this makes it one of the very few "true" tests of skill left in PvE, and certainly preraids. Every other dungeon you can just stomp once everyone in your group has a few epic items.

[Thafisker]

Originally Posted by Marooned

I dont like the way the new vehicle system does not work with my unit frames, Im totally blind in these instances and try to guess peoples HP and etc...

Yea i know what u mean, complety can fuck up ur instance, or in some cases, the addons disables the abilities.

[fuzzyownz]

The one and only problem I have with Oculus (and Malygos) is that I have no way to determine who needs healing, and where they are. I normally use grid, which works great in most situations, but it doesn't display "pets" properly, so I resort to using ctrl+v nameplates, which is terrible.

If Blizzard improved the functionality of the nameplates, I would have a much easier time.

Suggestions:
Have them lock into one place, preferably in a customizable location.
Be visible at greater distances.
Be more customizable to show more/less information.
But most of all, stop them from moving around so quickly that I can't click them.

Other than that, I love these encounters. They're unique, and it really works with the people who understand how to pick up new things quickly. Good players are rewarded for learning exactly how to control their dragons.

[Rakk]

I loathe it.
I worked hard to gear up my toon and learn to play it.
Why should I be happy that when I hop on the vehicle I may as well be naked ?

I LoL'd when I read "...and this makes it one of the very few "true" tests of skill left in PvE..."
I think it makes no difference, or if anything it makes it easier. At least when you only have 3 different buttons to push even a mouth breather can figure it out.

Leave vehicles in the PVP zones and PvE questing (fix the hugely buggy PoV on most of them pls) and leave them out of the instances or at least make it so that you don't have to use them if you don't want to.

Oh and LoL Malygos 3rd phase.

[jop]

I hate it.
Once you've made out how the drake fight works, the last boss is just too hard for a priest healer.
Keep in range of all, move out of frost, hide behind pillar while keeping tank up is an absolute nightmare.
Only heroic I haven't completed yet: either I hide and tank out of los dies, or I die healing tank. The damage is too much for the usual mitigation tricks to be effective (shield, pom, renew, big heals), and I have 11 purplies already.

[wuermlicherwurm]

Oculus is just a proof, that the encounter design has reached the game engines "frontiers".
You have DPS-Tests, "Superfasthealing-tests", "OMG I AM TEH BOMB-Tests", "Extremely hard hitting bosses", "do not stand too cloose to each other-tests" and blah blah...

There will be no more than that, nothing new. even in Ulduar. Because the engine cannot provide more. The next logical step, would be ingame physics, for example am instance, which slowly fills itself with water und you must get out of there quickly (heh nice idea for an Dalaran-sewers instance ).

As the designers cannot test us anymore with our personal skill, they force us to use stupid pets. Strange dragons with abilities that FORCE you to play THIS way. Press 1+1+2....
And I also hate the idea of "parallel universes @ Sarthation" this is truly the end of ingame design.

by the way, I would like to salute M'uru, which was in my Opinion, the best boss ever designed.

But back to Oculus, I hate it, because I hate stupid pets.

[artionis]

I don't like it.

I want to play my class, I don't want to play mounted on something with different abilities. A vehicle has very few abilities and you need to learn those 3 buttons and spam them. It is too easy, leaves no room for diversity not to mention improvisation and therefore fun. one word: LAME!

Besides this, the instance itself looks 'unfinished'.

I see that WOTLK is full of vehicle quests, instances, raids, etc but all are pretty lame, culminating with The Oculus and of course the last BG, which you can't really call it BG...but thats a different story.

As a conclusion: This blizz experiment with vehicles, so abundant in WOTLK, I am not enjoying it

[Jin84]

Originally Posted by jop

I hate it.
Once you've made out how the drake fight works, the last boss is just too hard for a priest healer.
Keep in range of all, move out of frost, hide behind pillar while keeping tank up is an absolute nightmare.
Only heroic I haven't completed yet: either I hide and tank out of los dies, or I die healing tank. The damage is too much for the usual mitigation tricks to be effective (shield, pom, renew, big heals), and I have 11 purplies already.

The mage boss? You realise the pillar has a conical zone behind it? Just move way behind it while waiting for tank so you don't have LOS issues. Move ahead of the group in the direction your tank is backing up into. Ranged do not need to worry about frostbolt from him because it's aimed directly at the tank's feet. I guess your tank needs to learn how to pace the boss instead of rushing straight to the next pillar.

He's the easiest boss I've seen and my healer never complains.

[Hybr1d]

I just tell the tank & melee to stay put and I heal them through the damage. Move out when he goes boom > stacks go away > repeat till death.

Now for the design. I think it is pretty unique, but not worked out for heavy farming. After my first time there, I knew it was fun for that one time, but not a lot longer.

Imo, if they want vehicles, especially flying ones, they should use it in a raidinstance to add mobility and loads of optional bosses. It could've been a lot more than it is now.

Also, you don't really require players who've done it before. Everyone has to learn, right? I've pugged it with fresh 80's and with some explanation we managed to down the last boss on heroic.

On the achievement part, I haven't actually bothered yet but I think the 5-amber dragon strategy requires quite some tuning and skill. This is where the instance is still a bit diverse.

All-in-all this is absolutely not my favourite instance, but I just don't like Nexus. It hurts my eyes.

[Svavha]

There are some aspects to it, that are nice.

The idea of free movement, for instance, which is a brilliant idea that's hard to execute.

An open instance where you can travel anywhere you want from your flying mount, is absolutely brilliant, it makes for good tactics, alternative gameplay, utilization of terrain and the instance design.

But then they mix up the drakes, and the game suddenly narrows into something very specific. In one move, they add something great and push it back to being way too liniar.


The drakes are an epic fail in so many ways...
You've leveled your character through one insane quest after the other, you've taken down dragons of amazing power and even old gods and demonic beings of untold power....
And this character that you have worked so hard to gear up and learn how to use properly, is suddenly set aside because of a gimmick.

The same can be said for any vehicle or ability-altering mount or creature(like the Ghosts in Black Temple on Teron Gorefiend).
The game is no longer about the most important part, *YOU*, but about following the designers wishes on how to complete an encounter...

Occulus and Malygos, are my least favourite... no, I'd rather say I outright dislike both encounters and game ideas. I don't like having my character, purpose and role set aside to justify a designers "clever" idea.


Another problem is that the learning curve changes suddenly.
You could have the most skilled group in the entire world, and it just all plummets to the ground because people suddenly have to learn something completely different.
Mind you, challenges are fine, adaptations are fine and limitations are to an extent also interesting (Loatheb for instance), but taking the game in a completely different direction is not fine, it's not interesting and it's not challenging in the sense that you have to do an effort, but because you have to follow someone's specific wishes.

In the end it's a game gimmick, and not clever design.