What would happen if raids are removed

[PrairieChicken]

So only 10% or so people run normal / heroic raids

So I am just curious that what if we remove normals and heroics and leave lfr only

and put the time on developing other stuff that 90% people would do

Would the game become better or worse? In number of subscriptions and other stuff

[Justignoreme]

I'd expect a volley of engaging and rewarding end game content to compensate? I don't raid now but I'm burnt out from endless DS... still. This won't be forever. Raiding is fun, when you're with like-minded people who want to get stuff done.

[Hunterpower]

If there's still lfr, whats the point? there is very very little programming time to put into making the lfr version harder for normal/heroic and making the loot better.
you'd have to remove lfr too in order to put development time anywhere meaningful.

[Maconi]

Blizzard isn't likely to make many more drastic changes to WoW. They'll just take the information they have (like you just mentioned) and apply it to Project Titan.

I think it's safe to assume it will be extremely casual with tons of stuff to do (think LFR/Dungeons/Challenge Modes/Scenarios/Pet Battles/etc.) but not stuff that takes a ton of coordination like normal/heroic raids in WoW. Western gamers like short play sessions with guaranteed content (a lot of people even think modern MOBA matches take too long at an average of 40 minutes). I think WoW will be one of the last games with content like raids where you need to dedicate multiple hours multiple days a week.

[jmacphee9]

where is your stats that say only 10% of players raid? i rarely ever raid but think it would be lame if there wasnt the option.

[Deleted]

strange that 90% of my guildmates raid, hmm, and there's same situation in every guild I know

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

If Raiding went away with no comparable new form of PvE endgame (5-mans or scenarios would not count) to replace it? The game would crash and burn within 1 year.

[GennGreymane]

raid sized solo/small group content

1-5 player

would have to replace it

[Deleted]

I think it's pretty viable if they put the extra resources into pvp, world events, multi-player questing, gear grind from very difficult 5-mans. The percentage of people doing 'real' raiding: with a roster working through progression, has never been lower. This is thanks to pve gear being worthless in pvp, LFR tool and most of the fact that a lot of the player base has 'been there, done that', and just don't care enough.

[Mandible]

People would quit.

[Vargur]

So only 10% or so people run normal / heroic raids

So I am just curious that what if we remove normals and heroics and leave lfr only

and put the time on developing other stuff that 90% people would do

Would the game become better or worse? In number of subscriptions and other stuff

I'd quit. LFR isn't raiding btw, it's a 25 man dungeon, so I guess the title is indeed correct.

[Ethes]

People would quit.

This! I would most likely anyway, unless something awesome would replace raiding..

So only 10% or so people run normal / heroic raids

and put the time on developing other stuff that 90% people would do

Are you sure this number is correct? Feels way to low, specially if you'd bear in mind that people might pug a raid for giggles, but don't consider themselves raiders.
The other thing is that a lot of people go back to old content in order to solo it, or merely to just experience the places we've fought in over the years.

Also, crunching numbers and adding/removing a few boss abilities isn't the most time consuming part of designing a raid. So it makes sense to keep it in nonetheless!

[Windfury]

strange that 90% of my guildmates raid, hmm, and there's same situation in every guild I know

Blizzard's own numbers support the figure actually, as do the figures of every tracking site in existence (you can see how many toons have kill achievements etc - there are approximately 380k people who have killed at least one level 90 boss presently, of 10 million subs). Raiders are a tiny minority in this game, they are just very vocal.

That said raiding gives people something to aspire to/a goal to work towards, and I don't think they would create that much free development time by just having LFR. They'd still be building the raids, just saving the time it takes to tune them to the various difficulties. While that is still significant time, it's not as much as would account for vast quantities of extra content.

[Ethes]

Blizzard's own numbers support the figure actually, as do the figures of every tracking site in existence (you can see how many toons have kill achievements etc - there are approximately 380k people who have killed at least one level 90 boss presently, of 10 million subs). Raiders are a tiny minority in this game, they are just very vocal.

That said raiding gives people something to aspire to/a goal to work towards, and I don't think they would create that much free development time by just having LFR. They'd still be building the raids, just saving the time it takes to tune them to the various difficulties. While that is still significant time, it's not as much as would account for vast quantities of extra content.

More kills will come as the time passes by! Not everybody starts raiding right off the bat!

Do you have a source for this by the way? I'd be interested in seeing some numbers myself (I do believe you, just wanna have a look around)

[Cybran]

where is your stats that say only 10% of players raid? i rarely ever raid but think it would be lame if there wasnt the option.

Blizzard devs claimed that a while back to justify nerfing raids and adding LFR. I was never convinced.

[cFortyfive]

Probably would be finally a real 13euro/month facebook game.

[Windfury]

More kills will come as the time passes by! Not everybody starts raiding right off the bat!

Do you have a source for this by the way? I'd be interested in seeing some numbers myself (I do believe you, just wanna have a look around)

wow progress is probably the most reliable that I can think of. The most recent Stone Guard kill (the first boss people do) is number 33 511 recorded in the world. The vast majority of those (95%+) are 10 man kills. It's not a perfect figure though, it includes people who might have gotten credit on more than one toon, but then excludes multiple raid groups in one guild, but it is indicative of how many are raiding.

[Powerogue]

It would certainly be nice if they put less into raids and SOME effort into a single player experience. Quests are not a challenge, and neither are dailies. They're grinds in between the "real" game.

[anaxie]

I'd find an a different MMO with quality raid content. I guess thats pretty much only Rift?
Tera and SWTOR bombed pretty hard on the terrible endgame content aspect.

---------- Post added 2012-12-14 at 08:49 AM ----------

It would certainly be nice if they put less into raids and SOME effort into a single player experience. Quests are not a challenge, and neither are dailies. They're grinds in between the "real" game.

You mean Brawlers Guild.

Or is solo content not good enough for your solo content needs.

Lets not forget pet battles is single player. So really you have no idea what you want or are asking blizzard for.
Scenarios can easily be soloed.

[KCguy]

Where did you read that only 10% of wow subs raid normal/heroics? I'm curious, I'd like to see that.