Do we really need 4 levels of raid tiers?

[guybrush88]

Is it necessary to need 4 levels? When Flex was introduced I coulda kinda see why it was needed to have a 4th, as it was only a trial run so to speak and Blizzard weren't sure how we would take to it and if the mechanics would work well enough. So they introduced Flex instead of putting the flex mechanics into Normal..

But now we know flex works well - do we really need to keep it as a seperate level? What's wrong with LFR(Flex) - Normal (Flex) - Heroic (20man).

Blizzard said originally the idea behind flex wasn't for us to PuG it, but to allow guilds to run together without fear of dropping anyone out. I'm going to pull some figures out my arse and say that flex is predominately ran by PuGs. In the earlier weeks there were many a few odd guild runs here and there, but mostly guilds tend to now be raiding in normal mode.

So who is WoD normal aimed for?

[Toiran]

So who is WoD normal aimed for?

They answered that, for guilds in WoD

Guilds currently running flex = will be doing normal in WoD
Guilds currently running normal = will be doing Heroic in WoD
Guilds currently running heroic will be doing Mythic in WoD.

Personally, yes, we do need it, over all it will improve raiding, the content, and how it's accessed.

With flexible tech going to normal and heroic mode, you may as well disregard LFR as a raid tier, it's tourist mode, they even said that themselves.

[Deleted]

Is it necessary to need 4 levels? When Flex was introduced I coulda kinda see why it was needed to have a 4th, as it was only a trial run so to speak and Blizzard weren't sure how we would take to it and if the mechanics would work well enough. So they introduced Flex instead of putting the flex mechanics into Normal..

But now we know flex works well - do we really need to keep it as a seperate level? What's wrong with LFR(Flex) - Normal (Flex) - Heroic (20man).

Blizzard said originally the idea behind flex wasn't for us to PuG it, but to allow guilds to run together without fear of dropping anyone out. I'm going to pull some figures out my arse and say that flex is predominately ran by PuGs. In the earlier weeks there were many a few odd guild runs here and there, but mostly guilds tend to now be raiding in normal mode.

So who is WoD normal aimed for?

When Flex was announced it was meant for more casual guilds.

Do I think 4 is over kill, sure I can see that but I think it has its place.

We are a pretty casual guild we only do normals (8/14) we now do a flex run over the weekend that lets us get our more social members involved.

I have also not run LFR once since SoO.

So I think Flex is awesome and has its place.

If they wanted to get rid of something I would prefer them to get rid of LFR but I don't think that is happening!

[vaccine]

PuGs and new guilds. You'd be suprised how many people WoD Heroic (current normal) is too hard for. Guilds were stuck at Horridon or Galakras normal for months. Those guilds can now clear WoD normal and then start working on WoD heroic. This is their content they work on each week just as much as a Mythic raider will be chipping away at those boss fights.

[Lightfist]

We had four raid difficulties back in Wrath, and it seemed to work okay.

[Acelius]

I feel that 4 tiers are too much. I also think they should put LFR to rest now that it has become so easy to access the relevant content.

Too bad Blizzard is doing what alot of todays people do. People aren't skilled / dedicated enough? Lets lower the barrier for entry instead of helping people with their issues.

[thorvath]

I feel that 4 tiers are too much. I also think they should put LFR to rest now that it has become so easy to access the relevant content.

Too bad Blizzard is doing what alot of todays people do. People aren't skilled / dedicated enough? Lets lower the barrier for entry instead of helping people with their issues.

Flex proved how dead Normal mode is and you are still trying to get rid of LFR....

[Hamski]

No. We should have 10 and 20 man, make them all cross-realm. LFR should get shot in the head.

[Tya]

No. We should have 10 and 20 man, make them all cross-realm. LFR should get shot in the head.

Thankfully you're not a developer.

[Delaios]

I feel that 4 tiers are too much. I also think they should put LFR to rest now that it has become so easy to access the relevant content.

Too bad Blizzard is doing what alot of todays people do. People aren't skilled / dedicated enough? Lets lower the barrier for entry instead of helping people with their issues.

LFR still has a place for people that queue alone and/or can't meet the requirements (gear or skill-wise) for pugs. That's also one of the reasons why it has to be so dumbed down (another major reason would be AFKing and trolling). Random groups and (semi) strict mechanics just don't mix when you are ported in an instance with 24 people when there's only an item level check in place. Blizzard allready has some form of skill detection in-game with Proving Grounds, but it could do with some more refining. Now they just need to find a way to detect AFKers/bots and implement a system that would flag an account for leeching and disable the Raid Finder queue for that account for x amount of time. Leech again and that ban time is now twice as long, etc. If they implement a good system for that, then they can consider increasing the difficulty of Raid Finder.

[Xeones]

Blizzard said they want match made content to seem like a "last resort". WoD "normal" I think is supposed to be part of that goal in moving away from LFR.