The LFR Creature

[Stino]

This is my attempt at a constructive complaint about LFR, and the horrible playerbase in general. (Have to be as constructive as possible, as I see any dissenting opinions often get warned or banned on these forums, regardless of the validity of their concerns.)

So I am of the opinion that ever since Blizzard decided to tip the scales heavily in favor of casuals, a number of things have happened. Again these are only my opinions, as i'm sure someone will be down my throat telling me i'm wrong, even when these things are BLATANTLY obvious to anyone with eyes.

- The overall skill level of the player has decreased. Why? Well because with the inclusion of LFR and Timeless island/etc... players are required to do literally NOTHING, to be only a mere 10-15 item levels behind a real raider, who spends quite possibly 20+ hours per week raiding at top level play. A quick recap for anyone who is curious.....



Skill requirement for Item Level 550 : Moderate to High. Must be able to raid for several days per week, and have a moderate to high understanding of both game mechanics, and how to play their class to a level of near perfection. (Proper rotations, flasks, potions, voice comm, rescheduling real life around raids.....)

Skill requirement for Item Level 535: Quite Literally none! With the addition of Burdens of Eternity, 528 LFR gear, and chances at Celestials and Ordos loot, obtaining near-raider gear has never been easier! Simply queue up for a team, and go semi-afk!

This is where my gripe begins. Everyone is AFK or brain dead in raid finder. I am currently in here attempting to get some final Titan Runestones for my Wrathion quest, and at 6 stacks of determination on Dark Shamans.
-There are 7 players under 70k dps. This is with a buff granting our raid +25% damage.
-The tanks are pulling the bosses randomly around the room in a wild fashon, even pulling them BEHIND the building where they start. It is highly apparent that these players who choose to play a leadership role (Tank) have no idea how to properly execute the encounter.
-Battle resses. Abilities that, since the homogenization of WoW, have been given to pretty much 30% of players. No one is capable of clicking a battle res to save the raid, and I am also fairly certian 50% of the characters in this raid that have a battle res do not even have it keybound.

And it goes well beyond that. Up to the point that I can be sitting at 10% hp, walk my character into the face of a healer, and ask in /say chat for a heal.... and not receive one.



But what am I even getting at here you ask? What's my point?

There is none I suppose. The casual will continue to get his way, and I will continue to be frustrated, remembering a time in this game where players of all skill levels had fun, yet if you had no idea what you were doing, you weren't showered in epics.

[Qualia]

If you don't want to deal with braindead or afk people, you can always look for PUG Flex now.

[slime]

I actually love LFR for all of these reasons. Don't go into LFR looking for quality content - I go in looking for failure, it can be entertaining. People get into fights - you actually had me laughing out loud as I read that the tanks pulled the shaman behind the main building - see it's stuff like that that can't be made up... take it for what it is, funny. Hell, mix it up a bit - call someone a fucktard for no reason in LFR, maybe pick the top dps - they love that.

otherwise you really need to just take Qualia's advice and stay the fuck out of LFR.

[Stino]

I understand that. It's just truly upsetting to watch any sembalance of community in this game crumble, as there is no need to make friends, or form connections and groups.

Voice chat? Not needed. An understanding of what you are doing in general? Not needed.

[Forgettable]

I feel insulted. Everyone is not actually AFK or brain dead in raid finder. I am not. I have many friends and guildies who are not. I'm sure there are many people on MMO-Champ who are not. You shouldn't use absolutes if you want to make a point.

[Stino]

I feel insulted. Everyone is not actually AFK or brain dead in raid finder. I am not. I have many friends and guildies who are not. I'm sure there are many people on MMO-Champ who are not. You shouldn't use absolutes if you want to make a point.

Okay. Lets say roughly 60%. Do you feel better now? It's much more accurate.

[Deleted]

I honestly think this is the first time I have read a post like this. Bravo OP

[Frozenbeef]

So the sun shines out of your backside and people should bow before your holyness? 0o You have the same skill level as a lot of people in lfr the difference is every single person in a raid is putting effort in, in lfr people have to put in extra effort to support those "brain dead" people.

You really need to stop seeing yourself as better than those "casuals" many guilds would consider you a casual.

You are what is wrong with the wow community, not lfr raiders -.-

[Belloc]

Okay. Lets say roughly 60%. Do you feel better now? It's much more accurate.

So, what, 15 out of those 25 people in LFR are AFK or brain dead?

[MoanaLisa]

It's just truly upsetting to watch any sembalance of community in this game crumble, as there is no need to make friends, or form connections and groups.

Community in the game exists at the guild level and in your list of friends that you know or have exchanged battletags. There hasn't been anything resembling an actual community for years. LFR's effect on the community was much the same as dropping a bomb on a building that has already had a dozen bombs hit it. It shifted around the rubble and that's about it.

And your statement that everyone in LFR is AFK or brain dead is clearly exaggeration. I'd say somewhere north of 85% of my LFR runs in MoP have been rather quiet affairs that have started when they were supposed to, stopped when they were done, were largely drama free and when drama occurred the offender was sent away as soon as was possible.

If you want community, stay out of random groups. Stick with your guild or choose your pickup groups wisely and carefully.

[Kuruption]

It's pretty much why I don't do LFR anymore.

[Stino]

So the sun shines out of your backside and people should bow before your holyness? 0o You have the same skill level as a lot of people in lfr the difference is every single person in a raid is putting effort in, in lfr people have to put in extra effort to support those "brain dead" people.

You really need to stop seeing yourself as better than those "casuals" many guilds would consider you a casual.

You are what is wrong with the wow community, not lfr raiders -.-

So you think it is OK to do less than 70k dps with a 25% damage buff, in gear that is ilvl 500+. This makes me question how a player even reached level 90.

So you think it is OK to enter a raid, which is a group effort, being completely unable and unprepared to help your group? You my friend, is what is wrong with the WoW community.

[Frozenbeef]

So you think it is OK to do less than 70k dps with a 25% damage buff, in gear that is ilvl 500+. This makes me question how a player even reached level 90.

So you think it is OK to enter a raid, which is a group effort, being completely unable and unprepared to help your group? You my friend, is what is wrong with the WoW community.

No i just know that not everyone is capable to play to the levels you would expect, my friend that plays wow struggles to play as he uses a tracker ball mouse. He tries hard at playing but doesn't do that much damage and is slow to react to anything. That's why he plays lfr and not heroic because he knows he would let people down.

[Togarox]

Do it on Tuesdays (Wednesday if you are in Europe). Typically this is when the better LFR players do it. I ran all 3 SoO LFR's last night and only had one wipe which was on spoils of pandaria.

[Deleted]

Between the gear I've got from flex and the 522 valor gear. I feel like I can skip LFR this tier. A chance at a 6 ilevel upgrades that will be replaced in flex pretty soon just isn't worth the time spent for me.

[Stino]

No i just know that not everyone is capable to play to the levels you would expect, my friend that plays wow struggles to play as he uses a tracker ball mouse. He tries hard at playing but doesn't do that much damage and is slow to react to anything. That's why he plays lfr and not heroic because he knows he would let people down.

I'm not trying to talk badly about people for their skill level.

What I am talking badly about them for, is if your skill level is so poor, do not join a group for something that people will be reliant on you for success. You don't belong there. Plain and simple. Find something else to do.

[Mooshelle]

This is my attempt at a constructive complaint about LFR, and the horrible playerbase in general. (Have to be as constructive as possible, as I see any dissenting opinions often get warned or banned on these forums, regardless of the validity of their concerns.)

So I am of the opinion that ever since Blizzard decided to tip the scales heavily in favor of casuals, a number of things have happened. Again these are only my opinions, as i'm sure someone will be down my throat telling me i'm wrong, even when these things are BLATANTLY obvious to anyone with eyes.

- The overall skill level of the player has decreased. Why? Well because with the inclusion of LFR and Timeless island/etc... players are required to do literally NOTHING, to be only a mere 10-15 item levels behind a real raider, who spends quite possibly 20+ hours per week raiding at top level play. A quick recap for anyone who is curious.....



Skill requirement for Item Level 550 : Moderate to High. Must be able to raid for several days per week, and have a moderate to high understanding of both game mechanics, and how to play their class to a level of near perfection. (Proper rotations, flasks, potions, voice comm, rescheduling real life around raids.....)

Skill requirement for Item Level 535: Quite Literally none! With the addition of Burdens of Eternity, 528 LFR gear, and chances at Celestials and Ordos loot, obtaining near-raider gear has never been easier! Simply queue up for a team, and go semi-afk!

This is where my gripe begins. Everyone is AFK or brain dead in raid finder. I am currently in here attempting to get some final Titan Runestones for my Wrathion quest, and at 6 stacks of determination on Dark Shamans.
-There are 7 players under 70k dps. This is with a buff granting our raid +25% damage.
-The tanks are pulling the bosses randomly around the room in a wild fashon, even pulling them BEHIND the building where they start. It is highly apparent that these players who choose to play a leadership role (Tank) have no idea how to properly execute the encounter.
-Battle resses. Abilities that, since the homogenization of WoW, have been given to pretty much 30% of players. No one is capable of clicking a battle res to save the raid, and I am also fairly certian 50% of the characters in this raid that have a battle res do not even have it keybound.

And it goes well beyond that. Up to the point that I can be sitting at 10% hp, walk my character into the face of a healer, and ask in /say chat for a heal.... and not receive one.



But what am I even getting at here you ask? What's my point?

There is none I suppose. The casual will continue to get his way, and I will continue to be frustrated, remembering a time in this game where players of all skill levels had fun, yet if you had no idea what you were doing, you weren't showered in epics.

You hate it so much and yet you are still doing it....that is mind boggling

[Frozenbeef]

I'm not trying to talk badly about people for their skill level.

What I am talking badly about them for, is if your skill level is so poor, do not join a group for something that people will be reliant on you for success. You don't belong there. Plain and simple. Find something else to do.

That's true for heroic,normal and even flex however lfr is drastically nerfed/ has autogroup/ a ton of leeway for that specific reason..to allow people that maybe aren't the best, maybe don't have enough free time, maybe have never entered a raid before or maybe just want to try the raid to experience it. If they do well and enjoy it they can move onto flex/normal/heroic...it's not really intended for people that already raid but for people that would never step into a raid if it didn't exist.

[Stino]

That's true for heroic,normal and even flex however lfr is drastically nerfed/ has autogroup/ a ton of leeway for that specific reason..to allow people that maybe aren't the best, maybe don't have enough free time, maybe have never entered a raid before or maybe just want to try the raid to experience it. If they do well and enjoy it they can move onto flex/normal/heroic...it's not really intended for people that already raid but for people that would never step into a raid if it didn't exist.

This group is on 7 stacks of determination for Dark Shamans right now. Either Blizzard needs to further nerf the content, or these players are NOT up to par, even for LFR difficulty.

[the]

This is my attempt at a constructive complaint about LFR, and the horrible playerbase in general. (Have to be as constructive as possible, as I see any dissenting opinions often get warned or banned on these forums, regardless of the validity of their concerns.)

<snip>

But what am I even getting at here you ask? What's my point?

There is none I suppose. The casual will continue to get his way, and I will continue to be frustrated, remembering a time in this game where players of all skill levels had fun, yet if you had no idea what you were doing, you weren't showered in epics.

I don't see how this is constructive. You haven't given alternatives to the people that are in LFR and looking to do end game content.

When was this time when "you had no idea what you were doing, you weren't showered in epics"? "Welfare Epics" was started in BC, with arenas and badge gear. And I still remember how my guild wasn't doing "REAL raiding" because we got purples out of ZG and AQ20 instead of 40 mans.

You've concluded that the playerbase has gotten worse. That may be an incorrect assessment. Instead, consider that you may be playing with a worse playerbase. LFR is the equivalent for those that would do the new heroics that would be released with the raid in previous expansions. This is where they go for upgrades.

If you think that 535 gear is good compared to 553, consider how many burdens someone would have to obtain first, then how unlikely they are to get a good "of the" combination once the burdens are used. This is also an 18 ilvl difference. Moshu'gan Vaults normal mode dropped 489 and people were able to buy the same ilvl just with valor, which was given for daily quests. LFR gear is 528 compared to 553 is 25 ilvls, nearly the difference between "heroic" dungeons and 489 ilvl raid gear at the beginning of MoP (26 ilvl). I don't see the reason you'd start to be upset by the current tier, what is different?

I would suggest flex, as if you're looking for Titan Runestones they are on a boss-by-boss basis, not a per difficulty basis. So if you did the boss in flex, there is no reason to do it on LFR.