We appear to be working off a different definition of "difficult."
Ya'll seem to be defining "difficult" as "unlikely" or "statistically improbable rates of success."
Let's talk about rolling dice.
Is it "hard" to get ten sixes in a row? By your definition of hard = unlikely, then yes, it's hard to get ten sixes in a row.
Does getting ten sixes in a row require learned skills that can be improved with practice and training? No. It's unlikely, but it's not challenging. Rolling dice is not difficult.
Most raid bosses in vanilla WoW were not challenging. They were "difficult" because success was unlikely due to gear checks, poor itemization, poorly-designed logistical systems (forcing mages to spec Frost, Intellect not directly increasing spell damage). These were not things you could affect through practice and perseverance. They were things you could affect by grinding gear, using consumables and simply waiting for Blizzard to tune the fights downward.
The same excuses were used to whiteknight TERA's multiple layers of RNG involved in endgame gearing. They weren't good excuses then, either. None of the fights in vanilla!MC were hard. They were statistically improbable, largely due to itemization issues. Once the itemization issues were solved (gear added later, from Blackwing Lair, Zul'Gurub, both Ahn'Qiraj dungeons), MC became faceroll.
Vanilla WoW didn't actually get even slightly challenging until Blackwing Lair, and even there most of the "difficulty" was statistical improbability. Vael, the Guild Breaker, was about resist-gear grinding and luck.
Again, we're defining "difficulty" as actual challenge. Something that tests your skills, not the gear you've ground out.
Bottom line, as far as I'm concerned, a boss is not truly difficult and challenging if getting better gear makes it considerably easier.
Ya'll seem to be defining "difficult" as "unlikely" or "statistically improbable rates of success."
Let's talk about rolling dice.
Is it "hard" to get ten sixes in a row? By your definition of hard = unlikely, then yes, it's hard to get ten sixes in a row.
Does getting ten sixes in a row require learned skills that can be improved with practice and training? No. It's unlikely, but it's not challenging. Rolling dice is not difficult.
Most raid bosses in vanilla WoW were not challenging. They were "difficult" because success was unlikely due to gear checks, poor itemization, poorly-designed logistical systems (forcing mages to spec Frost, Intellect not directly increasing spell damage). These were not things you could affect through practice and perseverance. They were things you could affect by grinding gear, using consumables and simply waiting for Blizzard to tune the fights downward.
The same excuses were used to whiteknight TERA's multiple layers of RNG involved in endgame gearing. They weren't good excuses then, either. None of the fights in vanilla!MC were hard. They were statistically improbable, largely due to itemization issues. Once the itemization issues were solved (gear added later, from Blackwing Lair, Zul'Gurub, both Ahn'Qiraj dungeons), MC became faceroll.
Vanilla WoW didn't actually get even slightly challenging until Blackwing Lair, and even there most of the "difficulty" was statistical improbability. Vael, the Guild Breaker, was about resist-gear grinding and luck.
Again, we're defining "difficulty" as actual challenge. Something that tests your skills, not the gear you've ground out.
Bottom line, as far as I'm concerned, a boss is not truly difficult and challenging if getting better gear makes it considerably easier.
attractive enmity device
