Delaying Raiding in MoP

[Rekindled]

This is an interesting idea that I really like from Lore (of Tankspot fame). It has to do with delaying raiding in MoP. I really like this idea for a few reasons. (He is Proposing a delay of about 2-3 weeks.... 4 max)

N.B raids are almost always the last phase of the dev cycle for blizz.

a) it would allow raiders to not spam heroics for 5 days straight looking to gear up asap. In turn letting everyone test out scenarios, pet battles, proving grounds and BGs
b) the MoP release date would be sooner, if they did release MoP without raids it is not likely that it would affect the relative time we would begin raiding as they would have delayed the official release anyway until they were ready, and anyone who would quit over this idea is silly and shouldn't be raiding anyway because they failed to realize that time is relative.
c) it would remove the weird progression curve from the 1st tier. With cata as soon as your raid hit the critical amount of gear all of a sudden nothing was really a numbers challenge as the raids had to allow for certain quest blues in the raid atmosphere.

Watch the vid. I know it is a weird concept but something that I think blizz should at least consider. It is an idea that, when he first proposed it I went "well that is about the most retarded thing I have ever heard"

BUUUUT ON reflection I really like it and I am in favor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGx92MoaWEA

[Sabence]

I would actually support this!

[PenguinChan]

I would really, really, really, really, really, love this. Only if, and only if the release of raids were 2 - 5 weeks away.

[Rekindled]

I would really, really, really, really, really, love this. Only if, and only if the release of raids were 2 - 5 weeks away.

Very true If they delayed it by any more than 3ish weeks the raiders would start to quit of become immensely frustrated. Though many hate dragon soul we love raiding and chillin with friends in this amazing atmosphere. Taking away the ability for us to do that for so long would be sad to say the least.

[Talyrius]

I wouldn't object. If anything, it would let me relax a bit. I would enjoy the content more without having to worry about getting ready for raiding so quickly.

[Nobleshield]

Actually, I think that'd be cool. One of the things that always annoys me whenever there's a new expansion is that damned "gogogo rush rush rush" mentality where you have to drop everything and level ASAP, then gear ASAP. People should NOT be blasting through new zones in a matter of days, or even a week, but that's exactly what happens because all the raiders care about is the raids, and ignore every bit of new and interesting content that comes out because it's not max level raiding. these same people then are the very same that whine about things being boring or bland, when they didn't bother to take their time leveling because they were in a rush. These people are also the ones most likely to be rude jackasses; I remember when Cata came out there were people that had the mentality if you weren't 85 by the first few days, you were a worthless scrub.

That is the wrong way to play a game. There is lots of new content that should be made interesting, not skipped or ignored. Might as well just put us all in a flat zone with endless mobs that give XP, the way many people just blow through quests and dungeons to hit max level and start raiding; Blizzard could save a lot of development work that way.

[nezgral]

Hardmodes won't be released till the 2nd week anyways, unless you're stars and do a full guild transfer to do hardmodes first week of content. No one needs a month to gear up for normal modes, they're made to be cleared in blue gear from heroics.

I say keep it the way it is.

[xskarma]

For some people part of the fun IS being forced into this rat-race of who can get the most geared players ready to raid the fastests and doing the first few weeks partly undergeared.

For me these first few weeks are actually an advantage, cause I excell in preperation and I have loads of time and the proper dedication to get gear and get my professions maxed on more then 1 toon so I can provide myself with everything I need a.s.a.p. After the first month people have caught up, and things equalize, but those first weeks I stand out.

I LIKE that, it's what excites me about Mists launch, the fact we have this short period where the well prepared and dedicated shine. taking that away and turning it into an everybody-is-equal game is dead BORING. We only get a total reset of everything launch every few years, let those that can take advantage of that have our moment.

[Xista]

I wouldn't mind if raiding was delayed one month.

I figure:
-1 week for leveling
-2 weeks for gearing up in dungeons
-1 week for playing w/ new in-game features.

It's always stressful to force your raiders to be raid ready in 1-2 weeks times.

[Nobleshield]

My problem with it is that it feels like you're being forced to just powerlevel through everything. So all the cool quests are rushed through, nobody pays attention to the zones (or skip zones entirely), and its just... it feels like a waste. All these new features, zones, quests and lore and almost all of it gets ignored because it's not conducive to raiding. It makes the whole experience boring; they might as well just let us automatically start at level 90.

[Pachycrocuta]

While I wouldnt mind something like this, but the massive whinefest would produce a sea of tears that would create a wave that would drown the world (of warcraft). The rage this would create would be never ending, giving rise to an absurd amount of ragequit posts that somehow has been close to nonexistant on these boards lately.

Which is why I would love something like this, but it will never happen.

[Toroc]

I would like to see something like this.

It would really help raiding guilds that need to have monks (and any class) in the roster. Leveling is already very annoying at the start of the expac so it would give a lot of people breathing room at the cost of NOTHING for anyone.

[roahn the warlock]

Ya that race is a pain in the ass, because I find myself skipping past zones to get to 90 real quick. then selling everything and anything to get engineering and tailoring to what is it 625?

[Angryshammy]

Actually, I think that'd be cool. One of the things that always annoys me whenever there's a new expansion is that damned "gogogo rush rush rush" mentality where you have to drop everything and level ASAP, then gear ASAP. People should NOT be blasting through new zones in a matter of days, or even a week, but that's exactly what happens because all the raiders care about is the raids, and ignore every bit of new and interesting content that comes out because it's not max level raiding. these same people then are the very same that whine about things being boring or bland, when they didn't bother to take their time leveling because they were in a rush. These people are also the ones most likely to be rude jackasses; I remember when Cata came out there were people that had the mentality if you weren't 85 by the first few days, you were a worthless scrub.

That is the wrong way to play a game. There is lots of new content that should be made interesting, not skipped or ignored. Might as well just put us all in a flat zone with endless mobs that give XP, the way many people just blow through quests and dungeons to hit max level and start raiding; Blizzard could save a lot of development work that way.

this is an opinion not a fact. I enjoy leveling as fast as I can, I honestly couldn't care less about lore and questlines and zones and whatever else you might find interesting. I enjoy raiding.... period. Assuming everyone feels the way you do is a bad mentality for anything, not just game design.

That said I wouldnt mind a couple or 3 weeks from release of MoP to the first raid opening, it would give me a bit more time to farm heroics, since I'll be 90 on day 1.

[PenguinChan]

this is an opinion not a fact. I enjoy leveling as fast as I can, I honestly couldn't care less about lore and questlines and zones and whatever else you might find interesting. I enjoy raiding.... period. Assuming everyone feels the way you do is a bad mentality for anything, not just game design.

That said I wouldnt mind a couple or 3 weeks from release of MoP to the first raid opening, it would give me a bit more time to farm heroics, since I'll be 90 on day 1.

I think it's a fair assumption to say that most speed levelers take a week at most to reach max level in an expansion, no more. And than they have to gear up if that's what they are after (Because everyone wants to gear up), which can take another week at most of the ones who are going fast. How about an extra week for the Monk's who are leveling? Easily three weeks for even the least hardcore players to gear up and get ready for raids if raids were implemented two to four weeks later!

Just from what I've experienced in every expansion on any server I've been on. There are always max level characters on day one, but it's usually under 50 players that do it within a day.

[Chuckadoodle]

Not sure how I feel about this, our guild is currently only 3/8H but have only been in existence for a short time and only have 8 reliable players.. we are testing the waters for MoP, talking to some good players that are ready for a change, if they move to our guild then the race will be on to 90 if not we go to plan B, I often race to cap on my main to focus on what I enjoy which is raiding with friends, I have several alts that serve different purposes.. 1 is my Lore Alt that I level slowly and enjoy the new stories, to each his own I guess...

Thinking while typing imho it may not be a bad idea though to not release game with raids for first cpl of weeks to allow the non Paragon's and Blood Legions of the world to get into a groove and learn each other's styles via heriocs (especially as guilds reorganize post Cata)

[Zelk]

I approve of this.

[Yulinora]

After watching it, I wouldn't care one way or the other, the extra "breathing room" would be nice (speaking as a semi-hardcore raider, so I do tend to rush to level cap in the current system). It would most certainly allow time to "chill" and test the new features of being level 90, without feeling shoehorned into gearing up for that first raid night, again, I have no arguments with that.

I don't think that it would solve the "awkward progression" though, unfortunately, that's just the first tier of raiding, just as normal modes are usually tuned around having heroic blues anyway, maybe with a couple of crafted epics, just as heroics are always tuned around having normal mode epics (aside from the handful of guilds that do clear heroic modes in Heroic Blues/Quest gear, but I think that it's safe to say that's a very small portion of the raiding community.)

Same with the release day, They *could* in theory release it 2-3 weeks early, but that would mean they have to hope people are still willing to test raid encounters on a PTR/beta after launch OR the encounters would still have to be finished for launch, meaning that it wouldn't impact the release date at all, either way, as you said, time is relative, and I would gladly take a 2 week breather at the start of the expac. (As long as it wasn't any longer than 2 weeks)

1 is my Lore Alt that I level slowly and enjoy the new stories, to each his own I guess...

Thinking while typing imho it may not be a bad idea though to not release game with raids for first cpl of weeks to allow the non Paragon's and Blood Legions of the world to get into a groove and learn each other's styles via heriocs (especially as guilds reorganize post Cata)

Yeah, just to touch on a point, I do the same thing, since i tend to try and get to level cap and do heroics with my friends and guild mates anyway. I do like to have 1 character that I kind of "stop and smell the roses" with while leveling.

And yeah, for the post cata bit, I agree with you there, while most of my current guild are RL friends, and even those of us who aren't have gotten to know each other very well over the years, so there's not a huge deal of re-organizing to do, but with talent changes, new abilities, buffs, nerfs, etc. a small grace period would be nice to learn your raid's various niches in Mists.

That being said, as someone else said, regardless of how much the few of us would like this idea, hearing the word "delay" would probably cause a massive Tsunami of wannabe hardcore (You know, those players that have semi-decent progression and feel the need to link their achievements at the beginning of every LFD/LFR?) tears to drown the official forums for time unknown.

[Squirreludecker]

For some people part of the fun IS being forced into this rat-race of who can get the most geared players ready to raid the fastests and doing the first few weeks partly undergeared.

For me these first few weeks are actually an advantage, cause I excell in preperation and I have loads of time and the proper dedication to get gear and get my professions maxed on more then 1 toon so I can provide myself with everything I need a.s.a.p. After the first month people have caught up, and things equalize, but those first weeks I stand out.

I LIKE that, it's what excites me about Mists launch, the fact we have this short period where the well prepared and dedicated shine. taking that away and turning it into an everybody-is-equal game is dead BORING. We only get a total reset of everything launch every few years, let those that can take advantage of that have our moment.

That will be the same. The point of the video is to not delay the expansion just to make sure the raids are done. The raids will still launch at the same time, but the only difference will be in the leveling to 90 before having to raid.

[Blueobelisk]

Should add a poll, for effectiveness.