There's something about World of Warcraft Classic's Hardcore servers that just seems to generate good stories. Any other day, face planting in one of the game's hardest raids wouldn't be a blip on the radar—but here a single slip-up can cost you everything, elevating an already vicious encounter to a matter of life and death.
For the uninitiated, on these hardcore servers death is final—if your character bites it, you're cursed to live out the rest of your days as a ghost (though you can create a new one). This is especially gnarly with these endgame raids, seeing as any mistake can lead to a cascade of deaths and a full team wipe. Normally, you'd just run back and go again—but unless your group has a bunch of alts lined up, losing an army of fully-geared characters is a huge deal.
But Frontier, a classic hardcore raiding guild, persisted through that challenge and snagged the world first hardcore Naxxramas clear earlier this week—on the official hardcore servers, anyway (thanks, GamesRadar). You can watch the pivotal moment on the raid leader's Twitch channel yourself.
What's impressive is that the group doesn't skip a beat. There's zero fluctuation in anyone's voice as guild leader Amphy hits the dirt to an errant frostbolt—I mean, ufa888 there's a little swearing, but considering a full wipe here means everyone has to pack up and go home, that's to be expected. Amphy even takes a moment to open the raid window and shift some players about, riches777 presumably to give their healers easier access—those dead bodies ain't gonna get healed, after all.
Five players down, and the group clutches it. "We got it boys, that's all that matters—good fucking job, guys," celebrates one player, while another calls for "o7s in the chat"—an emoji representing a salute—as Amphy's compatriots kneel near their fallen, ice-stricken body.
This all leads to one of the best raid clear victory photoshoots I've ever seen—Amphy fell g2g1bet in the centre of the arena, meaning their mates get to line up in front of Kel'thuzad's throne and pay tribute to the fallen in proper fashion. Standing there with all the loot these fallen soldiers will never get.
I don't personally have the free time to get back into World of Warcraft, let alone the stones to suffer through permadeath, but I love watching these organic tales of heroism. Some of the best stories in gaming are the ones players make themselves—like a dramatic duel to the death over a leather belt. Godspeed, Amphy—you truly led from the front.