The first major content update for World of Warcraft’s Burning Crusade Classic is right around the corner, and will add a new Arena season alongside two new raids in the forms of Serpentshrine Cavern and Tempest Keep. But entering those new raids isn’t exactly as simple as walking through the instance portal.
As outlined by Blizzard in a new blog post, the attunement process for being able to participate in the raids that will be added September 15 is not short or easy. As was the case when the original Burning Crusade launched in 2007, getting attuned is a multi-step process. First, players need to acquire various keys and unlock various dungeons and raids, then complete those dungeons and raids, and then complete even more dungeons on higher difficulties. There are also lengthy quest chains that often require up to five additional people to complete.
The whole process can take upwards of a dozen hours or more to complete, and it’s one of the reasons Burning Crusade, as groundbreaking as it was at the time, has become infamously associated with complex attunement charts like the one below.
Found this old TBC Raid Attunement Chart on my old laptop from wow
Having such a lengthy attunement process not only served as a barrier for players to overcome, but also became a major thorn in the side of guilds looking to recruit new members in later stages of the game. As many new or returning players were unlikely to have gone through the attunement quests, guilds desperate to fill slots in their roster would often resort to poaching members from other guilds.
Thankfully, with all of the guides and online resources available nowadays, players are much more prepared for game’s attunements in 2021 than they were in 2007. Many of the quests associated with the process can be started prior to reaching level 70 as well, meaning many of the game’s hardcore players have already completed all the necessary steps prior to the release of the raids in two weeks.
There are technically parts of the attunement process which can be bypassed or skipped by certain classes or professions, or if just one player in the group has already completed the steps to obtain certain keys. Attunement requirements, such as reputation gates, do become easier in later phases of the game as well. But even taking those facts into consideration, the entire process can be a little overwhelming, and more than a few players have simply given up long before stepping into the game’s second phase of content.
Burning Crusade Classic’s second phase comes as Blizzard looks to introduce fresh servers for WoW Classic and bring about major quality-of-life changes to Shadowlands in the expansion’s next patch. It also comes at a time when Blizzard is still dealing with the fallout from a state of California lawsuit alleging the company has a history of discrimination and harassment towards women, and which has led to the departure of numerous Blizzard veterans including former president J. Allen Brack, former lead level designer Jesse McCree, and former Diablo IV game director Luis Barriga.
Source: Gamespot
