Asmongold Reacts to "Why Blackrock Depths is the Greatest MMORPG Dungeon of all time" by Tips Out

dungeons have always been a staple of the MMORPG genre the idea of exploring ancient caverns slaying mythical beasts and looting weapons of legend is epic fantasy at its finest and from a gameplay perspective dungeons have always been a convenient mechanism to drive group oriented content but among the thousands of dungeons the genre has seen over the past two decades one particular diamond still remains a cut above the rest I'm of course referring to World of Warcraft's Blackrock depths yes an underground city home to the Dark Iron dwarves BRD is a masterpiece of game design whose standards have yet to be met even 15 years later in this video we'll be analyzing the genius behind the dark iron city and why many players myself included consider it to be the greatest MMO dungeon of all time well they don't consider where we can understand the brilliance behind be our DS design we must first examine vanilla dungeon philosophy as a whole the original World of Warcraft dungeons were vastly different to the 5 Mane's of today the old instances felt like not been first built for speedrunning like every dungeon nowadays is built for speedrunning like I don't know about you guys but I get kind of tired of that well yeah they're all built for mythic plus there's never anything expansive actual places in the world and could draw players in with more than just flashy mechanics they often included hidden encounters epic quests and special loot drops that gave them a unique identity but even by vanilla standards Blackrock depths was a dungeon like no other nearly 20 bosses across 18 different rooms BRD was simply massive in both scope and scale almost dungeons had around 6 or 7 quests VRD had 41 more impressively the zones content spent a whopping 12 levels from 48 to 60 this means that Blackrock depths was relevant content for virtual I didn't know that the game just that point alone is a PRD one of the grandest dungeon experiences in gaming the size is just the beginning behind this monolithic beast of an instance was a plethora of secret bosses extravagant events brilliant level design epic lore and juicy juicy gear let's start with BR Dee's famous level design you've probably seen the famous BRD map showcase the dungeons layout as impressive as the map is it pales in comparison to the awe-inspiring details on the ground floor upon zoning into the instance players will immediately notice a metal door on the left side of the starting room the door is obvious by placing an obstacle at the entrance of the dungeon the designers have deliberately created a sense of wonder in your mind what's behind the door is there a chest a first objective perhaps Thank You boss I don't know that I can't wait to find out shadow for I don't like many games that grab your attention only to let it slip away with poor world design BRD continues to deliver as you venture deeper into the twisting labyrinth the mystique of the dark iron Capitol begins to reveal itself beyond the first Trash Pack is a detention center where prisoners are left hanging from the ceiling around the corner is the infamous ring of law where judgment is passed upon the enemies of the dark iron clan escape real City stumble upon the grim guzzler part of the city and dormitory to the merciless jailers that surround you the various rooms and corridors of BRD are so immersive that the dungeon doesn't even feel like a dungeon it feels like an entire leveling zone packed full of interesting characters evolving storylines and most importantly secret passageways remember that door I showed you it can be opened using the shadow Forge key a quest reward obtainable only through death there are several other Keys throughout the dungeon such as the grim hustler key which is acquired by pick pocketing the guzzlers bar keeper by incorporating these secret doors and keys into the zones layout the original designers had made BRD one of the most replayable dungeons in history as with each visit a player could unlock more and more of the dungeons additionally the keys granted players a heightened sense of agency as certain keys could be used to bypass undesirable areas this brilliant design philosophy entry keeps players coming back for more while still delivering fresh exciting gameplay this was I could talk about BRD level design for hours but I think you get the same piece I wanna move on though I do want to recognize the genius behind BR DS layout and that would be John stats John was the first 3d level designer employed by the WoW team back in the early 2000s and he's legendary zones such as black rocks real quick what the happened to the keyring like what the happened to the keyring you're alerted to remember the keyring look I felt good like I would honestly I would collect every key in the game there was an achievement for collecting every key in the game it was called the key master and I had that had she been on like the first day that it came out like man I think about like all these little things dude and it's just like there were so many like RPG elements of the game my keys and just like attunements and all this stuff like resistance gear defense rate like all this to manage this is depressing to remember like dude I cannot wait until classic comes out man and like honestly is about to come out right it could be any minute here but I cannot wait till it comes out and people see how good that used to be and you have all these casual bad players that realize it in classic they can actually handle it because in BFA they don't have the reaction time to deal with the Firelands or not fire lines a freehold trash mob but in classic well that's a whole boss mechanic right and that's it like the bad players that are complaining about classic being too hard are the ones that classic was really designed for fire scholomance Blackwing Lair Warsong Gulch and even Kara's am the guy knows level design finding a he published a book called the world of warcraft diary which details the development cycle of vanilla Wow I've personally read the diary and I can tell you it is an absolute must read for any gamer but yeah shout out to John for crafting some of the most epic experiences in gaming history the best level design wasn't the only imagine this guy he made BRD and carries an weight I mean what the else is there even to say and out feature of the deaths the Boston cats why he's bald is because his brain is actually so big did the hair just it just gets out of the way I'm serious that that that's just that's what it is man great too while most bosses in vanilla were straightforward tank and spanks BRD pushed the boundaries encounter design by adding several unique mechanics examples of these mechanics would be the fire traps deployed in the Magnus fight the cleverly narrow bridge used in the Incendia fight and the creeping lava spawn mechanic in the flame lash fight these mechanics might seem elementary today but back in 2005 utilizing a boss's room layout as a weapon was unprecedented in the MMO genre and the innovation didn't stop there BRD also expanded on the concept of event based encounters which were used to break up the monotony of traditional boss fights we already mentioned the ring of law this Colosseum style wave encounter was one of the first randomly selected boss fights in the game a mechanic we would eventually see more of over the course of wow hey I see an event was also groundbreaking the event is a callback to the mines of Moria sequence in Lord of the Rings yes just epic on a whole nother level and sure a potential of what dungeon events could actually be but the moment that you walked into that room and you saw all of those mobs there is nobody that ever did that dungeon back in classic that didn't just say like it's just like ok it's like you you and you at that point you had been in the dungeon for like four hours and you walk in and you look at the mines of Moria basically and there are these fire keepers that you have to kill and the mobs were everywhere and your tank is blind so you know that these mobs are gonna kill you and you just do it anyway because it's for the quest and this is all you have to do like it was just so good man my absolute favorite event in BRD would have to be the barroom brawl at the grim guzzler upon destroying the kegs in this small secluded Cordes part was players will be immediately attacked by several dark iron drunks turning an innocent room inspection into an all-out bar fight bear in mind nothing in the game tells you to break these kegs there are no arrows or menu prompts that direct you to do so this is a completely hidden encounter designed to reward observant players who took the time to explore their surroundings and these bosses weren't just nameless and pcs in Blackrock depths almost every boss in the dungeon came with a unique backstory ambassador flame lash who we mentioned before is the servant of sulphur and Harbinger one of the bosses in the molten core and the first of many flame walkers to be encountered in world of warcraft now why did they have so many of those and well does anybody know why because they probably ran out of budget to make new mobs so they just added the same one and they gave it a different name yeah they ran out of time and so they just had that they just have to get something out there real quick like I didn't they make didn't they make molten core in one week or something like that like I remember reading about that I forgot who who said that or when I heard that but I think yeah they made molten core in one week and like imagine that imagine they make molten core in one week that's like God God made the world in seven days Blizzard was only three days late on molten core that's pretty good and now we have to wait like months like it takes him longer to fix a small bug now than it did to for them to make a raid I just man belg are inspired by the Tolia Balrog was he a mold to giant cold from the Firelands by Ragnaros himself to guard an ancient doorway the purpose of which remains unknown and how could we forget the story of Emperor dagger and Thoresen ruler because I didn't read that's how I kidnapped Princess Moira Bronzebeard as a hostage before falling in love with her and dying by her side all epic storylines that concluded within the dungeon in fact Blackrock depths was so rich with lore that most of vanillas raids were also connected to the city why do you think the portal to the molten core was originally placed in BRD because Ragnaros was summoned to Azeroth by Thoresen why did the Onyxia tomb inquest require so many visits to the depths because well I don't want to spoil it the point is BRD wasn't just a randomly generated dungeon crawl it was a storied expedition into the depths of Hell itself and into the lives of various characters who are just trying to oh right yeah if you want to learn more about the Barbie yes to check out novels story video on Blackrock Mountain which I've linked in the description below it's actually really cool so this point in the video we've discussed the genius behind VR these immersive level design progressive and counter design and epic lore design but we haven't talked about the most important aspect of any dungeon friggin Lou a whole new rewards are the biggest and center content is everything set as much and when it comes to rewards Blackrock depths has some of the best in the game iron the hand of justice at rink in the drop so that's an is so good for some classes that it doesn't get replaced until a queue or knacks yeah chair throw is a pre raid best in slot for fury warriors and is also purple so bonus points and so I'm not gonna do that I'm not gonna get iron foe because it's gonna take too much time and realistically like I'm probably gonna do BRD like five times and that's gonna be it okay like there's no way I'm gonna do BRD more than like five times right and also like you got to remember that I might actually tank for my guild because here's my thing okay if I don't tank for my guild then I can't rationalize giving myself the first thunderfury okay I just can't do it so that that's that's the main issue but the problem there is if I can't rationalize thunderfury I either have to rationalize thunderfury or sulfurous I can't do both and I don't really know how I want to handle that fun factor on iron foe during the Horde or you can do lava runs in seven to ten minutes Emperor kills uh I don't know about that man Thunder fury better than sulfurous uh well yeah because it's longer the mantle have lost hope one of the best healing pre red shoulders in the game also drops in BRD off of Lord or car so many good items drop in a dungeon that BRD remains relevant even after your first molten core clear and not just because of the boss drops but also because of the repre wards you may have heard of the thorium Brotherhood reputation and vanilla but what you may not know is that locked OH stark bargainer the factions quartermaster is the only quartermaster to ever be placed inside a vanilla dungeon if that is that true I think actually that is true yeah because like yeah I'm pretty sure yeah probably yeah I've asked pretty dancer probably actions reprimand Ettore for Raiders as many epic fire-resistant matters the fire which is from locked Oh yep plans for the epic two-handed nightfall axe a high priority debuff weapon can also be purchased from Locke dose the guy sells some good stuff but be up dude I just thought of the best idea for my my guild I'm gonna have nightfall and I'll be an arms warrior so I don't have to respect for PvP and my damage doesn't matter because I'm applying the nightfall debuff so I effectively have no responsibility at all I don't have to respect to raid and I'm extremely valuable sometimes I secure myself with how smart I am every ret paladin ever no we're not gonna mean like the thing is like I want to have a good guild so I don't know how many rep paladin's we're gonna I mean you know what I mean like I mean come on man and all these tangible power based rewards is one that is intangible the privilege of sitting on Thoreau sands throne upon completing the dungeon everybody there in itself is not lootable or is that rail above but there's something special about claiming a powerful seed after conquering your enemy everybody said is special about sitting on that throne Blackrock depths is an absolute masterpiece of game design to this day it's still considered among many to be the greatest dungeon the MMORPG genre has ever seen and I've got to say I have to agree the dungeon even has its own special Forge for God's sakes where you can talk about that so if yours hand of Ragnar O's dude while you guys didn't even know about this inside a BRD there is a special Forge it's called the black anvil and you have to craft the dark iron here at the black anvil and so you had to go into this dungeon just to craft the gear and if you wanted to make dark iron ingot in order to crack the dark iron gear you had to go to the Black Forge or whatever the it was called it was so good man it was beautiful like we knew that no you didn't it's truly a unique place shaped by brilliant and the line yeah innovative encounters and some more adalah Wow hasta yeah of all the adjectives I could use to describe BRD only one comes to mind good genius but thanks for watching the video guys if you liked what you saw sub it up and stick around because we got more coming a quick shout out to all of my friends on patreon who helped make videos like this possible if you'd like to support these videos as well I've left the patreon link in the description for you and for more classic Wow and vanilla content you can check me out live on twitch at twitch.tv slash tips out baby have a wonderful day fellas I'll see you guys on Twitch and as always tips out baby I really do think that BRD is probably my favorite dungeon of all time and I don't know like the thing is that like one thing that's gonna be really good about classic is it's actually gonna give people that way to just compare vanilla versus retail right there next to each other there's no kind of like oh well you know this was like back in the day or whatever you're actually gonna have both of them right next to each other and say this was good this is why and compare it in real time how vanilla was there's gonna be some people that feel that way I can guarantee you there are gonna be people that start out playing vanilla and they're like wow this is so great and then they get to like level 24 and they realize that they have to group up or somebody and nobody wants to play with them or maybe they do deadmines and they have two tanks leave and you know like in their group and now they're mad or maybe they get all the way up this car at monastery and they spend thirty five minutes running all the way up there getting the getting everything done right they get up to score a monastery their tank leaves they hearth back because they wanted to find somebody else in trade chat but then they realized they didn't pick up the flight path to chill in point and they had to ride all the way back up there and they just quit the game on the spot you're right there's to be a lot of things and yes I don't know where that I don't know where that example came from I don't know you know maybe somebody maybe somebody did that a while ago I don't know I don't know let's just let's just say that

Channel: Assertonsin [Asmongold Stream Reactions]

Views: 546,836

Keywords: asmongold, BFA, WoW, asmongold reacts, reaction, asmongold highlights, best of asmongold, twitch chat, world of warcraft, asmongold watches, tips out, classic WoW, vanilla WoW

Id: 5rkwrGQesh0

Length: 18min 0sec (1080 seconds)

Published: Wed May 15 2019