Message:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2-3YacveiQ
This popped up as a ten year reminder.
It remains hilarious for those that played the game too much.
This particular "Dungeon" is referred to as Upper Black Rock Spire or UBRS or "oooo burrs".
To get into UBRS, someone had to go on a pretty extensive quest to get the Key to the door inside. You had to go into the instance and fight your way through Lower Black Rock Spire, LBRS, or "low burrs".
LBRS was an elaborate maze like place where 4 of the bosses intermittently dropped gems which would become the key. The Quest Giver was in the instance and invisible in a dark corner. The gem dropped maybe 25% of the time and only 1 in a party of 5 could get the gem.
So, you had to go with a group that either would roll on the key or would smartly focus the gems on one character. Having 3 gems was like having zero. Of course, you might be going into the instance with strangers or acquaintances so why would they work with you?
The best way to get the gems was to be surgical in the instance. There were ways to avoid mobs and bosses. If you wanted the gems, you could skip about some and focus on the gem you needed.
On top of that, the instance had multiple locations for the things in the instance. A box might shift in one of four random places, each down a different path.
But, the treasure in LBRS was "interesting". The lootz weren't the pen-ultimate items but they were set-wise interesting. I don't "need" the shoulders. The are inferior to my current "shoulders" but I "want" them. Multiply that by the various other pieces and four other strangers.
So, while being "surgical" is the right approach, greed and impatience almost always wins the day. You end up having to do 3 hour runs rather than 30 minute runs.
Then, once you collect all the gems, you have to travel across Azeroth, fight a 3 person-ish Spiritual Dragon in contested lands.
Then, return to UBRS to the hidden quest giver who you have to fight your way in to get. (But, you don't need 5 people ... see the 3 hour thing above.) So, careful planning would get you through it with say 2 people. I think that completes it. (A stealth run.)
So, now you have the Key for UBRS which is a ten man thing. Find ten of the right group, fight your way in past the first boss. The fights need good, attentive, players and reasonable gear. You need both.
You are at the egg room. The mini-boss -- Father Christmas I think -- in the area only drops a few interesting pieces. The one piece I remember was the "slut mog" chest piece. It was a particularly revealing top for the ladies .... and dudes pretending to be ladies. It was an easy choice for me to pass.
Most groups just carefully cross the egg room. Invariably there is one or two that will "bump" an egg and with care a group can pull them out and make short work of them.
The egg room is particularly fiendish because the next "area" in the dungeon, requires pulling mobs out to the upper walkway. The mobs are tough but the group can manage them if disciplined. If you aren't careful in your placement, the mobs knock you off the walkway into the eggs where you need to "die" where you land lest you pull the egg room to the party.
No one likes to "die" so it's a battle to try to save yourself (you won't) or risk the party. (Well, some of them are strangers.)
Aside from the fake damage calculation silliness in the video, the rest is real. It foists the whole seriousness of the game at times.
This was where the game was most interesting to me. This was the transition from the regular player to part of the "end game". If you continued to play as you did to get there, you would work a bit harder. But, if you were disciplined, this was manageable.
The Leroy Jenkins thing is pretty funny as well.
Yours,
IronConrad
16-Oct-2021