In the MMORPG World of Warcraft, the final boss of the raid Sunwell was released in 2008: Kil’jaeden, an important figure in the story of WoW. Back then, it took 62 days for the first guild to defeat him. In 2022, Kil’jaeden returned as the final boss in WoW Classic. He was dead after 52 minutes. This is not only due to the fact that players are much better today – no, Blizzard also resorted to tricks back then.
What was WoW like back then?
- The raid “Sunwell” was a strange story in WoW back then. Because actually, the expansion “The Burning Crusade” felt finished with the death of Illidan Stormrage on June 5, 2007 by the legendary guild Nihilum and WoW fell into a slumber.
- But Blizzard brought a major update with “Fury of the Sunwell” on March 25, 2008, to not leave fans without new content for a year and a half until “Wrath of the Lich King” would be released in November 2008.
- The “Sunwell Plateau” brought tough opponents in the raid, plus the last 3 bosses were “timegated”, meaning you couldn’t immediately access the final bosses:
The story of WoW was also shaped by bugs:
Due to timegates, bosses held out for more than 2 months in 2008
How did the bosses die back then? The bosses of the raid held out for a long time back then (via method.gg):
- The raid opened on March 25 and the first 3 bosses died relatively quickly: Kalecgos, Brutallus, and Felmyst were defeated within 2 days after the raid opened.
- The “Eredar Twins” only appeared on April 8 and died on April 10.
- The boss M’Uru appeared on April 29 and died on May 4 – he held out for quite a while.
- The final boss Kil’jaeden only appeared on March 20, 2008, and died on May 25.
From the start of the raid to its end, Kil’jaeden held out for 62 days and provided variety. You can watch the kill from back then in the video (via YouTube).
Chinese guild rushes through the raid in 52 minutes in WoW Classic
This is how it is in 2022:
- These days, the “Sunwell Plateau” came to WoW Classic: That was on Friday, the 13th, in May 2022.
- The Chinese guild “Old school Cn” rushed through the raid in 52 minutes – 51 minutes and 5 seconds, to be exact
- 5 minutes later, the next guild finished, 10 minutes later the third.
Compared to earlier, the reaction to a World First today is sober:
How is this commented? It is seen quite sarcastically. On reddit , people make fun of the fact that Kil’jaeden, a powerful “Demon Lord of the Burning Legion”, slaughterer of a thousand worlds, only holds out so briefly.
People then mockingly say: It’s because he has no legs in this version – everyone knows that the legs are what makes Kil’jaeden truly powerful.
Kil’jaeden returned to WoW 9 years after Sunwell and delivered another strong fight. Method needed 655 attempts in 2017 to defeat him.
It was somehow more festive back then
This is the background: The example of Kil’jaeden starkly illustrates that WoW Classic does not bring back the full experience of the past.
The game and the players have changed significantly:
- On one hand, “the atmosphere of the past” is missing, the developers’ tricks to prolong the raid.
- Of course, the bosses offer no surprises anymore today; no one has to learn the fights
- On the other hand, games are now much better organized and trained than before.
Players came to the bitter realization early on:
WoW Classic is indeed significantly easier than many players thought
