Ask Gauss

Sunday, yes that is what day it is today. Every morning on Sunday I have to admit I always double check to make sure it is Sunday. Mostly because I don't want tomorrow to be Monday so I hope that when i went to bed on Saturday that some sort of Groundhog Day thing happens and it is Saturday again. This has yet to happen, but I will keep hoping. Being Sunday though it is time for Ask Gauss the post of the week where I get to answer some questions that have been sent in to me throughout the week. So let's get to the questions then, and see what I have to say about it.
The topic of 15 man raids came up recently, what are your thoughts about it?

Well to be honest Blizzard cannot make a 3 raid setups and expect to keep people happy. They have already put a lot of work into trying to balance the 10 and 25 setups so that one is not viewed as easier than the other. So as along as 10 and 25 exist there will never be a 15. That being said I would be in favour of dropping 10 and 25 and just having a 15 setup. It makes more sense with balancing the role setup. The issue with 10 mans is you have no flexibility in your raids. You cannot bring all your friends because they may play classes that counteract anything you are trying to accomplish in your raids. It is the complete opposite in 25 man. After you have what you need you can just stack the raid with a composition that will make encounters easier. Be it from bring a large amount of one class, or a large amount of a type of class. Now raids that do this are not doing anything wrong they are doing everything within the rules and who can blame them for trying to be successful. In BC 25man raids were perfect because classes didn't share abilities. Blizzard made it so you had to have this class and that class, and so on and so forth. So after you had those things you maybe had a choice of 1-2 people to fill out your raid. Now we don't have that because the bring the player not the class idea. This I am in favour of, but it might be something for Blizzard to look at so we don't have an unbalance in raids.
Would you like to see some of the unused areas as some form of 85 content and what places? What do you think "Scenario: Alcaz Island" could be?

Of course. I am always a fan of using zones that have been underdeveloped or ignored. Rades wrote this amazing piece about Stormgarde and how it could be used. If you haven't read it you can take a look at it here. Other zones that I would love for them to expand upon are Thunder axe Fortress and Mannoroc Coven in Desolace if you ever did the quests in Desolace pre Cataclysm you know the background story that went on here with demons and everything within it, and then it just ended. There are demonic portals in this area and no one seems to realize this. Another place being Demon Fall Canyon in Ashenvale. Most people know this as the place where Grom died fighting Mannoroth, but why is there demons there in the first place, and why are they still there? I just hate zones or areas existing where there is no explanation as to why they still exist the way they do.

Regarding Alcaz Island I really think this when I first heard was going to be our link to the next expansion. Then when I heard the new expansion is really going to be a South Seas expansion this made me think I was on the right track. On why it is called Scenario well I have always liked what Blizzard has been doing with cutscenes and phasing and all that other fancy stuff. What would happen if you had to go through this event on Alcaz island before being granted passage to the South Seas. I just know something is going to happen to cause some sort of segue. Maybe this is where you meat up with Chen and partake in something like the elemental invasions bosses. Like when we fought alongside our faction leaders. People enjoyed that and I really think that is what is in the works again.

Can you try to not mention Pandas during this weeks Ask Gauss?

It was going great till your question.

There you have it. Questions answered for the week. As always thank you for all the questions sent in. If I didn't get to it on here doesn't mean it wasn't appreciated. Next week's Reader Post I want to know what you think Alcaz island is all about. As always you have until Thursday night to get your responses in. Enjoy what is left of your weekend everyone.