Originally Posted by
HuxNeva
This is not about LFR being 'good' or 'bad' it is about a specific argument that turns up in these discussions time and time again. It is what i refer to as the 'subsidy' argument, and it goes something like this 'you (inserts some derogatory term for people that raid) are so lucky us (LFR exclusive raiders) exist, because without us there would be no raids developed at all'. Variations exist, but they all boil down to 'development of raid content can only be economically justified because of the masses of LFR'ers consuming the content'.
Is his true?
As far as I know Blizzard designs raids around the 'heroic' difficulty, and derives the other difficulties from that
Normal is mostly just a re-tune
Mythic is a re-tune + some extra/adapted abilities
LFR is a re-tune with disabled abilities, and specific art assets (loot sets) designed
Yes, there are exceptions to the above, but probably this iit is largely accurate.
So the main development 'cost' is not in Mythic raiding, it is developing the initial encounter for (Heroic/Normal). The more you deviate from that core the higher the extra costs, but the extra will be relative to the large initial investment. This is the basis of the reuse model, which is undeniably cheaper than having completely separate raids for different difficulties developed from scratch.
So who raids? Who 'consumes' this content?
Participation figures in current tier raiding are (data from SoO, using current terminology):
LFR: 70%
Normal:40%
Heroic: 25%
Mythic: 10%
It is safe to assume Heroic players will have taken part in Normal, and Mythic players will have taken part in Heroic. Taking out the overlap, I would guess that about 50-55% of the playerbase raids N/H/M.
The argument 'LFR sponsors raid development' should be laid to rest, as LFR just expands content to an additional 15-20% of players (at most, since it assumes no LFR player sets foot in normals). Raiding outside LFR is not a 'niche' activity, it is a staple of the MMO game design with high participation numbers. The game was profitable designing encounters long before LFR existed, and would still be without it.
Given these figures, it seems the 'subsidy' argument makes no sense. Besides, you might as well argue N/H/M players sponsor LFR. You might as well argue Humans and Orcs sponsor model development of Gnomes, Dwarfs, Tauren and Goblins.
I'm not arguing for or against LFR. As I have stated before in other threads I do find the current implementation horrendous, but see that design is a direct result of Blizzard's failure in the nurturing the social environment, or as one could say Blizzard's unfortunate destruction of the potential for a social environment. It is impossible to provide a meaningful challenge to a casual group that has to take into account there will be significant portions of AFK'ers and a few active griefers in the run. I'm all for providing a nice challenging raid experience for people that can not commit to an organized raiding schedule. Current LFR does not offer that, and is in fact an insult to the casual player.
I'm just staying stop saying 'LFR pays for raids', as that argument is false.