As a side note, this may also help some of the guilds that are just now hitting Ulduar to smooth out their progression through there and make it a little easier to be ready for T9 content when they get there. Compared to the past raid instances, skill still isn’t the primary focus of these raids. Balance and sufficient numbers for healing and dps still rule the day (though they do require more skill than the T7 content). In a way, I wish Blizz would move more towards the days of the original lvl 60 raids and provide more 5-man content or even specially written yet long chain-quests for the casual players to gear up on.

What I see is Blizz wanting to move players towards two categories. Raiders and the like, and PVP players, while leaving the Casual players essentially out of the mix unless they lean one direction or the other.
Zuluki´s last blog ..Blogging and Playing in Earnest Again

@Troutwort-
It does cost quite a few Emblems. 1 Tier token is 58 Emblems of Conquest, which is just under 4 Naxxramas clears. So it would take quite a while to pick those up. After thinking about it for a bit, this is a bit of a throwback to BC’s system… and that’s what we were used to. However, the higher level stuff cost a whole heck of a lot more tokens than the regular stuff. When 3.2 comes out, Tier 7 can be bought with 60 and 75 emblems, Tier 8 can be bought with 58 and 58. *shrug* The math just seems off to me.

@Rilgon-
Yeah, that is MY point. I WANT to run Ulduar! The point I am trying to make is that I’m afraid I’ll be alone in that. I’m afraid no one ELSE will want to bother with Ulduar. But I could absolutely be wrong.

This is all just speculation, my thoughts on it. It could be completely different, who knows. Maybe people will want to run both Naxx-25 and Ulduar-25 equally… who knows! I certainly don’t.

Because it’s fun? Isn’t that the point of this whole damn game, community, and blogosphere? Fun?
Rilgon Arcsinh´s last blog ..We aren’t all the same!

Now I certainly don’t agree with handing out epics all over the place, and I’m sure some people will do very well getting what they need and want from their emblems. It may be “easy” for all those that are in hardcore progressive raiding guilds, but there are those of us that are not. And I know that for me, it will still take long enough to even see some of those items.

I’m still confused and not totally sure about the new system myself. It did sound like a bit of a jump to me. One emblem tier would have been enough bonus for me. The leap over two seems well, like a huge step.

I guess only time will tell how it plays out. Did we complain that there was only one badge type in TBC? I remember saving all my badges to get the 100 badge robes from the SSO vendor though I could have gotten different itmes along the way and I pretty much only did heroics then. Perhaps if they are switching to one type of emblem, the price will rise for the better items? I don’t know, I’m not on the PTR, I’m just speculating.
Troutwort´s last blog ..For the Hor…lliance?!

What other content? There is no other content under Ulduar. I assume when you refer to “farming” you mean “boosting” by over geared players? Then run those Heroics with other poorly geared alts so everyone can “progress” and build up their skills. But unskilled players will benefit even from “boosted” heroic runs. The boss fights still take several minutes, you have to try to stay alive (or keep people alive), and spend time practicing your skills.

“Being thrown from Heroic Utgarde Keep to something like Yogg Saron is quite a bit to ask of anyone, even if they’re geared for it!”

I think we sometimes over-analyze this game. The hardest part about running a heroic or raid instance is getting the damn group together with the proper class proportions and a skilled leader. That done, the skill progression can occur anywhere. Without those, runs rarely get started, much less succeed. And Yogg is a looong ways from the entrance of Ulduar.

Ashimbo –
The problem with farming Heroics, and even Naxx for that matter, is they take very little skill. Progressing through other content helps players build up their skills gradually. Being thrown from Heroic Utgarde Keep to something like Yogg Saron is quite a bit to ask of anyone, even if they’re geared for it!

Are there not many pieces of gear in Ulduar that are drop only? I do not see any weapons past iLevel 200 that are attainable by emblems, for example.

I would love a clarification on this.

This change gives us a reason to farm heroics again, which I loved doing in TBC. It also means I don’t have to take my ret pally through the same raid content over and over to help my guild when they might not need my holy pally for the night.