I'd like to have posted this update a week ago but unfortunately our server was down for maintenance for over 36 hours and thus we didn't get nearly the amount of time raiding as we normally do each week. None the less, this week we came back to Naxx with a vengeance to make up for it.

Maexxna truly is a fun fight, as we're working our way through Naxx I can't help but think about the developer of this zone sitting back at Blizzard laughing each day as he watches thousands upon thousands of gold get sucked out of the game just to do this zone. With each new encounter we run into in Naxx, more and more consumables are required. The truly shitty thing about it is that if your progression is fast enough through the zone in a single night sometimes you simply don't have enough bag slots to carry it all. One fight requires Fire Pots, Nature Pots, Dps Pots, Mana Oil, Mageblood, Nightfin Soup .. so on and so forth, then the next a completely different set of requirements, combine that with having 2-3 sets of gear because you have to change pieces for some encounters that require it and the next thing you know you're full on bag spots. It's gotten so bad on some nights that we've had to dedicate a couple people just to hold consumables and nothing else, but I digress.

I have no problems with what's required to do the zone personally, I think it's fantastic that they've designed a zone that truly pushes you to your very limits, then at the last second they come and tap you so you fall off the edge. My only complaint is that it's at such an extreme that they often wonder why the gold farming economy is so strong... cut the demand, and their business will crumble... Naxx in my opinion should have a 1/10th repair durability hit. I mean let's be serious for a moment, some of these encounters will just simply 1 shot wipe you on the pull. Some of them one person going LD due to lag or server issues and you wipe 40 people... the encounters are so tuned that literally 1 or 2 people can dramatically change the outcome. The shitty part is that those 1-2 people can also impact the repair bill and consumable use of 38 others and that is what sucks. Naxxramas is a wipe fest, but it's fun as hell so we just deal with it, because the alternative is not raid because there's no other 40 man content to raid. Tone the durability hit down to 1-5% per death instead of 10% just in that zone and you might see more people doing it. One thing I gotta say that Blizz made a mistake on is that no content in the game should be purely limited on your ability to AFFORD doing the zone, that is just downright stupid. Content to me should be attainable by those with the skill to do it, not those with enough money to pay for it, we're already paying REAL money for the game and our subscription, and soon an expansion ... but I guess they wanted a zone built for people who have 5, 6, 7, 8 hours a day to work on everything that goes into winning in this zone. Remember the days where you could just login, do your raid time and logout? Yah, not in this zone... it's login farm for 2 hours, raid for 3-4, then if you can farm a little more before bed, rinse and repeat every single time you go to Naxx. I dunno, maybe up the spawn rate on herbs? That'll help the economy as well, and make the zone more available to others... who knows.

Back to the mob in question ... Maexxna. What a blast. Fast paced chaos, just how I like it. Heal, cure, totems, AE nukes, knockback cacoons, being frozen for 8 seconds, oh and to top it off an enrage that smashes a clothy for 20k in a single swing ..

Agony is notorious for being a bunch of social butterflies (I blame Zorby, he's always drunk, but we love that guy... pew pew? pew pew?) and being easily distracted during raid time, but not for this zone. The team is working real hard to bring the A game to the table every night, and I couldn't be happier. A couple of rocky attempts to get into the groove, and 2 pre-mature shield walls wasted, but then we bounced back, juiced up on the pots and consumables and put the 8 legged bitch ass up. That concludes the spider wing for us, and tonight we'll start on the next wing and see where it takes us. Noth... where are you Noth.... come out and play ok?

-V