How should the Story Mode raid be improved?

With this week’s opening of the “Story Mode” of the Liberation of Undermine raid players who have not had the opportunity to defeat Chrome King Gallywix in the raid at Normal or higher difficulty (the fight doesn’t open for LFR for another two weeks) now have the opportunity to complete the campaign and see all the story that patch 11.1 has to offer. While there is some satisfaction in finally seeing Gallywix get what he deserves, for those who witness his fate via Story Mode it feels a little hollow.

Note that there will be minor spoilers for the patch 11.1 story below. Avert your eyes now if you haven’t had a chance to play through it!

One of the main issue is how quick it feels. Just like with Queen Ansurek it’s a single and relatively short fight. Sure it’s not as painless as venturing into Firelands or Hellfire Citadel these days, but it’s still not going to make you break out in a sweat. As the culmination of the quest chain though it almost feels like pressing an IWIN button which is unsatisfying.

Of course the Queen Ansurek fight had this same issue but it feels worse in Undermine because of how the story plays out leading up to the raid. You and Gazlowe have successfully raised a rebellion against Gallywix in Undermine and have pursued him and defeated Renzik’s assassin at the front entrance of the Gallagio. Even though you momentarily backtrack to the Incontinental Hotel the expectation is that the next stop is infiltrating the Gallagio. Instead with Story Mode you skip all that to fight Gallywix, truncating what feels like an important part of the story.

It could’ve been a story, but instead it’s an excerpt

There are two things that are particularly weird about this whole situation: for one thing, Blizzard has had us running Follower Dungeons for a few patches now, the technology and experience are there for the player to solo alongside NPCs for more than one boss. The other oddity is that the raid could easily be turned into a linear experience of four bosses: Vexie, One-Armed Bandit, Mug’Zee, and then Gallywix. You could even pare down the trash some but don’t eliminate it. Would it take longer? Yes. Would it be a lot more satisfying? Definitely. It would feel like a natural extension of the story before the raid. Heck, you could even have the bosses drop one piece of Veteran Warbound-until-Equipped gear the first time a player runs it. It would still be a tourist mode, but it would still be an experience for the player. And when you’re talking about the capstone event of a major patch shouldn’t it be an experience?

That’s my idea. What about you? Do you prefer a single encounter with the end boss or would you like there to be more fights? Do you think adding any sort of loot — even that which is lower ilvl than what drops in LFR — would be a step too far? Do you like the Story Mode as it is now, or would you like to see some changes — and what those changes be?