Originally Posted by
NoobistTV-Metro
Guys, this discussion needs some arbitration because right now it looks like a civil war.
Listen to me for a moment and you'll understand why LFR does indeed need to be and should be removed.
First of all, we are all humans playing a video game. I am not a hardcore raider or an LFR raider. I'm a person who is paying to play this video game with other humans.
A very significant portion of this game's purpose and enjoyment is social interactions, big or small. I personally have made friendships in this game that are even stronger than any friendships I have in real life. I've been raiding with 10+ people for 8 years now and another 5+ for 6 years. Over this time, we have developed incredibly strong ties to each other.
Do you know why?
Not because we have a lot in common, not because we are all super agreeable.
Its because we were plunged together into a guild that was completing content regularly on a set schedule attempting to improve every time we got together (IE Progression.)
Doing so, we learned three important things about each other.
1. Who was and wasn't reliable. We need to be online at a specific time, we need to be mentally and physically prepared for multiple hours of play a night, and we needed to sometimes do things we didn't enjoy to help each other succeed.
2. We learned who cared about the group and who only cared about themselves. We only raid two nights a week, so there shouldn't be much drama on that schedule, but we would see people who get upset about loot, refuse to take direction, and continually battle leadership on small points.
3. A lot of us grew up together. When I started this guild I was 19 years old. Some of the raiders were 15~. Now I am 27. We all went through a lot in our lives - children born, divorces, deaths, even worse. But because we spent so much time together there was always 1 constant for us to look forward too no matter what the real life threw our way.
What's this have to do with LFR? Tell me, has a group like this EVER formed out of LFR? Ever, even once? I honestly would be extremely surprised, because LFR does not foster these social interactions, and it certainly doesn't emulate raiding. On top of these social situations, progression raiding even for the hyper casual consists of these things.
1. Improving from your mistakes. Every time you wipe, you should learn something. Some groups this takes longer than others, but it does happen. In LFR this never happens because Blizzard makes you improve. You can pull the boss 10 times, wipe 9 and never learn a thing. This DOES happen too, as we get raiders apply and when we ask them if they now the fights they say "I've done it on LFR" but fail the first mechanic.
2. Learn about your class and how you can play it to a better percentile. There is no competition in LFR, because so many are just there to get in and out. There is never any challenge to overcome, so no one learns to play their class properly. In progression, you must improve outside of gear. Some times you have to switch talents or even specs to maximize your performance. And any one who has raided knows how important being Sub compared to Combat is on certain fights.
3. Proper raid etiquette. Show up on time, be at the raid ready to go, have potions for pre-potting and food for yumyum time. Tell people when you are going AFK. Don't demand gear, especially for your offspec. Be attentive for the entirety of the raid or don't join it. In LFR you can just come and go as your please, because it doesn't even matter to anyone. No one spent time putting this group together, and there is no penalty if you leave. There is also no penalty for intentionally trolling the group or under-performing on purpose. All things that foster bad raid etiquette and contribute to the lack of social identity the game has now.
So TLDR?
LFR contains no strong social elements and almost no progression raid elements. These are fundamental to raiding in WoW and have been persistent from Classic to WoD.
In short, everyone should WANT to play this game and meet friends. Its an MMOrpg. You should WANT to complete all the content, and do your best along the way.
And we are all human beings. No one has any more of an advantage than any other player. I lead a guild that raids 8 hours a week and we still clear full mythics most of the tiers.
It doesn't take 40 hours a week, and it can be done with anyone, even people with full time jobs and families. I would know.
Raiding is something more than just playing a video game. Its creating incredibly strong social atmospheres and learning about central leadership, learning from mistakes, and understanding a group dynamic - all things that can be applied to any business in the real world.
Compared to even normal, LFR is like going to preschool. You couldn't fail if you wanted, and you are more being babysat than learning anything.
It was added because at the time the ONLY option was progression raiding. Raids required a lot of time before LFR.
But now there is Normal. All they need to do is make it a little bit easier, and that's that. LFR has no purpose.
To anyone who has read this all and is going to post that I'm an elitist or a comment like "Don't like it, don't do it," I urge you to take a breath. I am no different than you. I have a great deal of commitments IRL, so if anything, I would be thankful for something like LFR if it actually worked. But its just not how the game was meant to be played. ANYONE can do Normal, and once you start, you realize that anyone can do Mythic too. The only reason you think you can't is because you have never tried.
And to anyone who feels like they can't because they aren't able to find the right social fit, PM me. I'll see if there is a way we can play together in Legion and hopefully enrich your WoW life along the way.
I just want this game to be respected again. Removing LFR would do so much good in that respect, as it would funnel thousands of players into real difficulty, real social atmosphere, and real challenge.