One of the hardest raids in World of Warcraft gets more difficult today as Blizzard releases the Emerald Nightmare's Mythic difficult today, starting with its first wing.

World of Warcraft is an interesting examination of difficulty perception in video games. Many of its veteran players, which includes Game of Thrones' own Hodor, often cite the oldest versions of the game as the most trying, suggesting that newer expansions have gone out of their way to appeal to "casual" players. One thing, however, has remained consistent - when it comes to challenging and fulfilling end-game raids, World of Warcraft has remained in a class of its own in the MMORPG genre.

That consistency continued with the launch of World of Warcraft: Legion and the Emerald Nightmare raid. The Normal and Heroic versions of the raid have already received high praise from players, but now fans will have the tools to prove they're one of the best in the game, as the Emerald Nightmare's Mythic difficulty went live today. The first wing of Raid Finder opens today, with the second wing following on October 11 while the third and final wing will be added on October 25.

Each week, players will be given a Mythic Keystone for completing their first Mythic dungeon. These keys can then be used to unlock new challenges in Mythic dungeons that will then reward players with better loot, a system that is meant to ensure the longevity of raids lasts longer than their first few weeks of existence. Of course, some World of Warcraft dungeons are remembered for things other than their rewards - the Corrupted Blood Incident, for instance, left its mark on players who never even set foot in the zone it originated from.

The launch of the Emerald Nightmare raid has also seen the beginning of the first season of World of Warcraft: Legion's PvP league. Some subtle changes to PvP has made it so that top players from both factions will be granted rewards rather than just a global leaderboard, an alteration that should result in a more dynamic PvP scene.

Emerald Nightmare's Mythic difficulty should help keep players who have already reached World of Warcraft: Legion's end-game busy until the first major patch of the new expansion. That addition, which will be called Return to Karazhan, will likely go live in the next few months.

World of Warcraft: Legion is available now for PC and Mac.

Source: VG 24/7