My concerns...

[Shadowsong]

After playing about 2.5 years of WoW (did US and EU beta as well) and I had a pretty good time, things recently gone downhill with the release of the expansion.
 
I'm what you would call a casual player, and couldn't do much beyond MC (MC was about the max what I could do in my timeframe). I could live with that, MC was quite fun to do. Also dungeons like strath and scholo and UBRS.
 
Now with TBC, Ramparts and Bloodfurnace were fun...well...except for the crappy loot. Then came CFR which I didn't like at all. But hey, maybe the other dungeons are better. But no...having done some more dungeons, with pretty difficult encounters (if you don't have the right classes) and crappy loot the fun was pretty much over. Also the bugs are a pain in the ass... too fast spawns in Black Morass, boss 99% immune all the time and no cooldowns on his spells and stuff.
 
So far I got 2 level 70's, a warrior (on this realm in this guild) and a druid, on an other realm. With both TBC dungeons aren't fun for me.
 
I've been trying to get some people motivated to do the old (especialy raid) dungeons. On the other realm so far no succes. And here on Azsune most people only are interested in the TBC raids (and even at level 70 a raid dungeon cannot be run with only 4 people).
 
I just have to vent sometimes and I want to explain a bit why I haven't been online much, or no longer than 5 minutes.
My game-time expires April 26th, if by that time the game hasn't improved much I will take a break or quit.

[sheepy]

im well up for going to naxx or summin on my mage m8. or even if some ppl are around doing a bwl atunement on my mage and going there.

[JanuZ]

This sounds like a normal burnout to me. I have had my good share of being extremely bored with the game and i have often quit it for a couple of months though usually came back since almost everyone i know plays it.
Now you didn't give any reason why you didn't like the instances and maybe you don't even know it yourself but as far as i have seen almost all the instances are alot better designed then the old 5man instances. And seeing as i disagree with almost every point of what you have said i would seriously doubt you will find the old instances any more fun then the new once you most likly are just bored with the game in general and are hoping that the old instance will be better.

The loot from the first 4 instances is great if you compare it to the loot it is supposed to replace wich is tier 0.5
Loot progression has been exactly as i had expected it. Tier1 replaced at about lvl63, tier2 at about lvl66 and tier3 at lvl70. And just to compare the epics from karazhan and heroics are about 10iLevels over Kel Thuzad loot the same that Kel Thuzad loot is above Cthun loot.
And the loot from Slave pens is iLevel91 and a blue iLvL 91 is about the same as iLvL 76(tier2) epic.
The actual loot has been just as it has always been alot of diffrent loot and not all replaced at the same time.

Now i haven't done all the instances in Outlands(haven't done Botanica, Mechanaar, Shattered Halls and haven't done last boss in Arcatraz) but for the most part i have found all instances fun to finish and i have barely encountered any bugs.

The list of bugs i have found is 2, Thrall didn't die(stuck on 1%) on second boss in Old Hillsbrad so the boss didn't reset and we had a very easy kill when we came back. The gnomes before the second boss in steamvaults has a tendency to evade and reset.
Lastly not a bug but some might think it a bug, we pulled the boss to far from the gate in Black Morass so he evaded and reset.

Now i have found the instances in the expansion to be great, a good varity of encounters, challenging pulls and interesting boss fights. Among the least favorite instances of mine in expansion would be Blood Furnace. I find Ramparts to be Ok but only because it is short. Only instance i find more boring in the expansion so far is Arcatraz and Sethekk Halls and possibly Crypts. Arcatraz has extremely irritating trash and the bosses aren't very hard and Sethekk Halls would be decent if they would fit a 3rd boss into it since it is way to long for only 2bosses. Crypts isn't as long as Sethekk Halls so it can have only 2bosses but the trash there can be very irritating.

Now the old 5man instances are all far below the outlands instances when it comes to fun boss encounters. Stratholme only has 1 boss that isn't just tank it and rest nuke(perhabs 2 if the tank is the one that is MCed on baroness) and that boss is the cannonmaster. Scholomance could be soloed by a person in Tier2, and Duoed by 2persons in Tier1 gear. And again almost no fun gimicks on the fights. Dire Maul was a decent instance that i found alot of fun but alot harder to get groups for. You had some interesting boss gimicks like a hunter boss with a pet, lock boss with a imp and the Ogre King was a fun encounter as well.

Now lastly about getting people for older encounters i want to point out the raid section where there is being gathered people for onyxia. Everytime i have mentioned 10man Onyxia or 5-15man MC run everyone seemed to be interested. I did my Pally mount quest at lvl70. I easily got a rogue to help me in Stratholme with gathering the Holy Water. I soloed the DM boss though i could have gotten help with that also and i got a 4man group in about 10minutes for the Scholo Part.
Nefertem did the same quest for his brother's paladin and he got a mage to help him with the Holy Water, He had full groups for DM and Scholo.

I hope you find yourself enjoying the game again but i doubt you will enjoy it alot the next month if you have been feeling like that about the game since the expansion.

[Shadowsong]

Well, about the dungeons not being fun.
 
Problem is, mobs and boss encounters are hard (no problem with that) but most of the time it drops utterly crap gear (our group on azsune usualy was, 1 war me, 1 rogue, 1 lock, 1 priest, random...usualy druid). After a tough fight it drops mail armor...second run same ****. Other dungeons, drops healing cloth gloves no upgrade for priest nor druid, second boss again healing cloth again nu upgrade...second run same ****, healing gear or mail armor. Having done a few dungeons a few times, the only time I saw decent plate was in Ramparts....and only 1 time in the couple of runs I did.
 
So I check where decent plate does drop...hmmm...heroic this heroic that, gruul this magtheridon that. And some places it should drop on normal mode you can't even get to the boss because the event is bugged or something.
So my average gear is still utterly crap, and most dungeons are too fixed for certain classes. No mage? No lock? or No hunter? sorry your screwed.
 
Yes I was hoping to do old raid instances, dispite they are still a bit difficult (AQ or Naxx for example). Heck even walking through a cleared dungeon was fun (just the looks of the place). Even did a solo run to the 1st boss in Spiderwing with my druid, only got 2 hits on it but was fun to just see something "new".
 
In the time of the expansion, I've done 1 ZG with 6 people and it was fun. Loot was a bit useless by then but it was fun. Can't say the same for TBC, no fun (non-stop fear, bosses bugged, etc) and horrible loot.
Also done a scholo run duo with rogue and duo with druid, was fun too.
 
And it's not only me feeling like this. Friends of mine are actualy suffering the same.:sad:
 
Im not leaving untill my game-time expires thats for sure, gonna check some dungeons I guess but I doubt they are fun. And about the Ony raid, well Ony is a heck a lot of fun, but it's on the wrong day the wrong time, else I would have joined for sure!:devil:

[TeaLeaf]

It sounds like you have been very unlucky with loot - but persevere.  I still haven't seen a single piece of mage dungeon set drop!  However I am with Teni for the most part.  Dungeons in TBC are way more interesting that pre-TBC and represent much more of a challenge as you have to have a reasonable strategy to complete the fight.  I much prefer that approach to the 'tank & nuke' of pre-TBC.  As for the constant fear & boss bugs, I'm afraid I have not come across that problem at all:  some mobs fear, but I have not found a bugged 5 man boss yet.  Fear is a weapon - you need to have a strategy to deal with it whether it si used by a boss or by trash and the same goes for all of the other skills employed in dungeons.  Party more and you'll see the strategies successfully employed.  One of the more fun elements I have had recently was trying to work out how to do Shattered Halls on Heroic - now that was a challenge but it meant the party talked a lot about who would do what to crowd control, in what order to do things, who and how we pulled etc - a huge challenge but fantastic fun at the same time precisely because it was different!

TL.

[Nefertem]

I experienced a bug with some of the others (think it was lucian, teni, lex and can't remember teh last one.. sowwy!) in Old hillsbrad.. But kinda in our favour.. We were at the second boss and somehow managed to wiped, but Thrall didn't go below 1% hp so we could run back in and finish the fight and get the lewt..
But other than that, I can't say I've experienced any other bugs..

About the loot.. It sure does sound like you've been very unlucky on that part.. I've gotten some ok stuff during the runs, and I haven't even been to Mechanar, botanica or Shattered Halls yet (no set items though).

I enjoy TBC, but as Teni said, it sounds like you got a classic burnout.. A break usually fixes that (tried myself), but if that doesn't help Im afraid you can't be saved :sad:

[Bastet]

Only instance i find more boring in the expansion so far is Arcatraz and Sethekk Halls and possibly Crypts. Arcatraz has extremely irritating trash and the bosses aren't very hard

Actualy i like Alcatraz best, it has a lot of different trash in small numbers having you use a lot of ways to deal with them. Also the last boss there is defenatly the best fight i seen so far in a 5 man, grabbing back to BWL/MC and AQ40 all at once
 
And as TL said, i havent seen much in the way of decent drops, heck i use more rogue dungeon set (2 bits) then i ever saw my own class set drop (namely, no bits at all).
 
And preservere, see where the warrior dungeon set drops and keep at it, once you get a few pieces of that heroics become very much better to do, and in heroics there is much more planning and planning and planning involved. allthough id not recommend going to the Shatterd halls TL mentiond, its a tad too evil on heroic, and it took one hell of a lot of effort to just get to and kill the first boss.

[Shadowsong]

Well, yesterday I helped out a few friends of mine.
 
Group setup was me (warrior), druid, priest and 2 locks with felguard. With that group we had not much problems in the dungeon...though loot wasn't realy too good (again).
 
But as soon as you don't have a caster or hunter with you (most friends of mine are rogue or warrior) you don't stand a chance in hardly any dungeon. So the only way to have fun is to take 2 locks every time?
 
About the boss bugs, Im not kidding. Black Morass portals spawned way too fast (way faster than it should be according to stratagy guides), Botanica 2nd boss was bugged (non stop invulnerable, non stop healing even with or without his adds). Also had bugs in Old Hillsbrad. People DC when looting, or DC when talking to Thrall or something (he starts walking...now try that event without a healer...).
And 1st boss in one of the CFR wings. Without caster dps (shad priest or hunter) we got nowhere near killing him. Someone had to go on his alt caster just for that boss.
In the pre-tbc dungeons you still have a little room for error, here you are seriously screwed if you have 1 melee too many.
 
Maybe I should try more dungeons with 2 demo locks in the group, maybe that makes things more fun.
Still hope to do old dungeons though, dispite being hard and me being level 70, naxx gear is still an upgrade for most of my gear (since I haven't got any decent plate drops so far...)

[JanuZ]

First off Shadowsong the gates in Black Morass are supposed to open as soon as you have killed the guy holding the other gate open. Only break comes after you have killed a boss at gate 6 12 and 18. Just because the gate is open doesn't mean you have to charge right into it and not take a mana break. The only time i have finished the Black Morass we had Medivh's shield over 80% and all that damage was taken during the second boss. I find that an extreme waste since the shield can tank for a long time.
I have heard that there can be alot of bugs in the CoT instances but i have only encountered that 1 bug with thrall.

I personally think you should always bring ranged DPS since i see a standard group being tank, healer, ranged DPS, ranged DPS/Melee DPS, Melee DPS/Off Healer. Now i don't think ranged DPS is as vital as a tank and a healer but it is close to it. What I do think is vital is Crowd control and i am sorry but i would never bring a warrior as DPS into a Heroic, and i would advise against it in many instances. Rogues i would also not bring into any heroic instance if they don't have improved Sap.
Seeing as the first boss in slave pens is easier with melee then casters i expect you were talking about hungerfen. Now he is easier with casters since they can still nuke him when he is rooted. But if you know you should run out when he rooted then he shouldnt be any problem with melee only group.
None of the instances before lvl70 requires ranged DPS though it helps on alot of fights especially on first boss in Crypts and last boss in Underbog.

[Nefertem]

...zip...
But as soon as you don't have a caster or hunter with you (most friends of mine are rogue or warrior) you don't stand a chance in hardly any dungeon. So the only way to have fun is to take 2 locks every time?
 ...zap...
In the pre-tbc dungeons you still have a little room for error, here you are seriously screwed if you have 1 melee too many.
...zep...

Well as far as I remember a group of pure/many melee's has never been optimal.. Besides casters are pretty easy to get a hold of (atleast the non-healing type)..
Mages, locks and shadowpriests have other abilities aswell such as fear, banish, vampiric touch and sheep..
The fact that you need a variety of classes just shows that its more than nuke'n'tank as said before about the pre-tbc instances..

Afaik we don't lag casters in SOG (often have 1 or 2 mages and 1 lock) and we enough hunters at lvl 70 aswell, so you just gotta grab'n'run :flirty:

[Bastet]

Rogues i would also not bring into any heroic instance if they don't have improved Sap.

I would, rogues still have high dps, and most importantly stuns and interupts. Actualy, the rogue i play with most doesnt have it

[JanuZ]

well i might consider it now that the cleave change has come, but rogues are behind the other DPS classes in DPS and they have to take alot more damage then other DPS classes even though they can come close to other classes in Crowd control

[Shadowsong]

About the black morass bug, Medivh was dead within 2 minutes when the event started.... (yes, that many portals opened that fast).
 
And about plenty mages and locks, well...I like to play with friends, so I have to leave friends outside just because TBC dungeons require ranged dps for every dungeon? Or they are forced to come on their caster alts all the time to do dungeons?

[JanuZ]

I am sorry but saying that is just like me saying i have to leave my friends out because my friends aren't tanks. Almost none of my friends are tanks and i did about 10instance runs last week where i spent an hour getting a tank for each after getting the rest in 2minutes. And just to be clear i don't specifically group with only those i have known for a long time in the game, i think i have grouped with everyone that has been active in the guild since we started getting a decent number of lvl70 chars except you and atherion, the 2close to active warriors after nefertem started having problems with his computer.

Ranged DPS is a key ingredience to a group just like tanks and healers so yes they are forced to come on their alts or you can go with a unbalanced group and fail. And no you could never do the old instances without ranged DPS unless gear made you well above that instance. I remember the start of the first time when my brother at lvl56 was taken to Stratholme living because nobody wanted to do it without 2 mages for sheep.

And lastly loot has nothing to do with instance being fun or not. It might be fun getting loot and not so fun not getting loot but that does not change wether the instance is fun or not.