LFR Being Phased Out...is this Possible?

[Kahmal]

I recently came back to WoW after about 2 years from the last patch of Cata. I enjoyed being back, leveling the scenery of Pandaria. The day I hit level cap however I pretty much wanted to quit again, and for the same reason I quit Cata. Looking For Raid. I've played this game since Vanilla so and was only a hardcore raider during WoTLK so this new form of entitlement just drives me crazy.

Previously you hit level cap, ran 5 mans to gear up and started raiding, whether with a guild or a pug, catch up mechanics would be put into place for players returning late xpac. So once I hit level cap my friends helped me get to the appropriate ilvl, but it wasn't so I could enter 5-man Heroics with epic gear to help me catch up like Magisters Terrace, ICC 5 mans or Zandalari, where they would of course help me. It was so I could simply queue up for LFR.

I don't understand how people can run this thing all day on multiple toons, Blizzard should just give me epics for watching a Youtube video. In Cata I was very casual opposed to Wrath since I was in college. Yet I would still try to keep my gear up to date through grinding VP and JP, reputation gear, and pugs. Even managed to clear Firelands once in a pug I believe. That way if my old friends ever needed me for a raid I could be there for them if available. The problem now is to keep my gear up to date I need to toil mindlessly in LFR, and I normally queue up as a tank so I might not even have the option to AFK. So if I want to keep my gear competitive I have to do it! This eventually made me stop logging on during Cata. Now 5 man Heroics have been mindless for some time now but at least they only took about 10 minutes and could just chain run them.

My suggestion is Blizzard re-implement real Heroics once again, make it so it so you have to queue up as 5 people or at least 3 maybe if your willing to carry a few people. Have them drop the same exact gear as LFR only with better drop rates while perhaps even lowering the rates in LFR and make it so your ineligible for loot if you've already done one or the other. If the Heroics are originally Cata scaled or TBC scaled it doesn't matter. Regardless they are either going to have to release new ones for each tier or make the old ones scale up.

For once since Vanilla my friends actually enjoy PvP which is what keeps me logging on atm. But even that I'm pretty sure Guild Wars 2 is better in that department. With the way things are now I'm so enticed by Wildstar because a major selling point to me is that things are earned.

EDIT: Just an update 15 days later, as many people here pointed out you technically do not have to do LFR. I did LFR ToT once and a full SoO once. I nabbed 3 Burdens of Eternity to get some 535 gear, and did a whole lot of PvP to inflate my ilvl to 550, despite being a tank. I bought the 553 belt and leggings from the AH also. As someone pointed out to me here "if your good you should be able to do Flex in 495 gear" and I did just that.

I'm loving Flex gives me content that requires some basic brain functions while not having to commit to a time schedule. I'm now 541 in tank gear (a couple PvP pieces) people still allow me to tank SoO normal.

Would rather see Mythic Dungeons though instead of grabbing PvP gear, I personally enjoy PvP others don't, or feel like paying a PvPer to carry them.

....I still find LFR an abomination though, Flex alone would have worked just fine imo. Very interesting video I found recently not really targeting LFR but the state of the game in general that almost made me cry. Just wanted to share it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rd0-zVIBVo

[MoanaLisa]

To answer the thread title: Not really, no.

Raid Finder still has an important place within the new Warlords raid structure. Many players cannot or simply do not want to commit to a fixed group. And no matter how convenient we make organized raiding through Group Finder, it’ll never be something you can jump in and do for 45 minutes during your downtime on a busy day, the way you might do a Raid Finder wing.

However, we’ve also learned other lessons from our experience with Raid Finder over the past two and a half years. Raiding a single zone with a guild or group of friends can stay engaging for months, and one of the core reasons for that is the pacing of progression through a zone. A raid group might start out learning a new boss or two each week; that pace slows as the raid reaches the later bosses near the end of a zone, and more time each week is spent re-clearing “farm content” to gear up further. This keeps the experience varied, and even if you don’t get the specific loot you were hoping for in a given week, you’re seeing your friends and guildmates progress and get stronger, and you’re feeling the impact of those upgrades as you kill bosses faster and faster.

Raid Finder offers none of that. Your ninth clear of the Underhold section of Siege of Orgrimmar is likely no faster than your second (and might even be slower); you aren’t experiencing anything new or different. So how can we make Raid Finder a more compelling and enjoyable experience? A decent first step is to make it significantly more generous than it has been in the past, nearly doubling the rate of reward to better match the overall pacing of the content.

Our intent is for Raid Finder to allow players to experience our raid content, see the conclusion of major storylines, and witness the epic environments that our artists create without needing to commit to an organized raid group. We’d like to focus on that purity of purpose, and minimize the elements that have made guild raiders feel like they needed to do Raid Finder each week as part of their core progression. Accordingly, while loot will be awarded more frequently, Raid Finder in Warlords will have different loot tables than the Normal, Heroic, or Mythic versions of the raids, along with different item art. The gear will fall in between dungeon loot and Normal mode raid loot in terms of power, as it does today, but without the set bonuses and specific trinkets that tend to make raiders feel like they need to run Raid Finder alongside their weekly guild raids today.

After a player gets quickly geared up through Raid Finder and starts thinking about venturing into Normal mode for better rewards, their Raid Finder loot and combat experience should prepare them to take that next step—and Group Finder will make the process easier than ever before.

Whole thing is here: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...rds-of-Draenor

[Deleted]

LFR has always been phased out to a different version of the raid. You can't see someone doing LFR while you're doing a different mode.

[Netherspark]

LFR is a mere *optional* stepover to proper raiding.

There are other ways of getting catchup gear... the real question is why are you doing something you don't like? LFR is meant for very casual, time-constrained or otherwise unskilled players, and rewards appropriately weak gear.

Stop bitching and do some Flex or Normal modes....

[philefluxx]

I still dont understand the hate for LFR. To me its just another alternative in gearing up for raids. But instead of a handful of dungeons, I now have that same handful plus entry level raids that give me a small amount of exposure to a boss fight so when I actually do run it on normal for the first time the raid leader doesnt even have to explain the fight. Id much rather have LFR and heroics before normal raiding than just heriocs. I guess Im crazy though...

I mean does no one see that in some cases LFR helps people get better? I know we like to focus on the toxic side, but thats been the WoW playerbase well before LFR.

[ComputerNerd]

I still dont understand the hate for LFR. To me its just another alternative in gearing up for raids. But instead of a handful of dungeons, I now have that same handful plus entry level raids that give me a small amount of exposure to a boss fight so when I actually do run it on normal for the first time the raid leader doesnt even have to explain the fight. Id much rather have LFR and heroics before normal raiding than just heriocs. I guess Im crazy though...

The hate comes from elitism.
That they are upset that someone else has some time and resources directed to them.
They believe they are superior, and the only ones deserving of any form of that fight and so anyone in LFR is simply there because they are lazy, and not because of things like a horrible community or real life interference.

[Anzaman]

I still dont understand the hate for LFR. To me its just another alternative in gearing up for raids.

I wouldn't have problems, if LFR gear wouldn't be that superior compared to 5-man heroic gear.

If only it'd be just an alternative way of gearing, instead of being another step on the gearing stairs.

[Agoonga]

I hope legendary ring quest items drop from WoD LFR.

[Deleted]

I hope legendary ring quest items drop from WoD LFR.

Are you kidding? Legendary RING!?!?

[Jaylock]

I hope legendary ring quest items drop from WoD LFR.

I hope not.

It should only drop from Flex / Normal / Mythic

[Concatto]

My suggestion is Blizzard re-implement real Heroics once again, make it so it so you have to queue up as 5 people or at least 3 maybe if your willing to carry a few people. Have them drop the same exact gear as LFR only with better drop rates while perhaps even lowering the rates in LFR and make it so your ineligible for loot if you've already done one or the other.

They're doing (almost) that on Warlords of Draenor, through Challenge Modes. You need a pre-made group, their difficulty is high and the loot is the same quality as LFR. However, the reward system is different: instead of bosses dropping loot, there's a daily quest that has a chance (which we don't know yet) of giving you a piece of loot.

So, yes, thankfully you will be able to skip Looking for Raid completely.


Edit: Yes, there is a legendary ring. It's probably going to be similar to the legendary cloak. However, Tom Chilton said there are going to be other legendary items which will come from completing difficult content.

[Barnabas]

I hope not.

It should only drop from Flex / Normal / Mythic

Why hold back LFR when you start the chain at level 99 while questing? It makes no sense to jump difficulty all of a sudden. There are other legendaries that will require a serious group for warlords.

[Rivin]

I hope not.

It should only drop from Flex / Normal / Mythic

There will be other legendaries exclusive to higher difficulties of raiding. The ring will probably be the most boring one anyway.

[Zoaric]

Are you kidding? Legendary RING!?!?

Legendary ring.

Also, some parts of it come from dungeon bosses it seems.

* Hides in bunker *

[Netherspark]

I hope legendary ring quest items drop from WoD LFR.

They shouldn't, tbh.

And since LFR will no longer have tier sets or trinkets I doubt they will.

[Manataurus]

I recently came back to WoW after about 2 years from the last patch of Cata. I enjoyed being back, leveling the scenery of Pandaria. The day I hit level cap however I pretty much wanted to quit again, and for the same reason I quit Cata. Looking For Raid. I've played this game since Vanilla so and was only a hardcore raider during WoTLK so this new form of entitlement just drives me crazy.

Previously you hit level cap, ran 5 mans to gear up and started raiding, whether with a guild or a pug, catch up mechanics would be put into place for players returning late xpac. So once I hit level cap my friends helped me get to the appropriate ilvl, but it wasn't so I could enter 5-man Heroics with epic gear to help me catch up like Magisters Terrace, ICC 5 mans or Zandalari, where they would of course help me. It was so I could simply queue up for LFR.

I don't understand how people can run this thing all day on multiple toons, Blizzard should just give me epics for watching a Youtube video. In Cata I was very casual opposed to Wrath since I was in college. Yet I would still try to keep my gear up to date through grinding VP and JP, reputation gear, and pugs. Even managed to clear Firelands once in a pug I believe. That way if my old friends ever needed me for a raid I could be there for them if available. The problem now is to keep my gear up to date I need to toil mindlessly in LFR, and I normally queue up as a tank so I might not even have the option to AFK. So if I want to keep my gear competitive I have to do it! This eventually made me stop logging on during Cata. Now 5 man Heroics have been mindless for some time now but at least they only took about 10 minutes and could just chain run them.

My suggestion is Blizzard re-implement real Heroics once again, make it so it so you have to queue up as 5 people or at least 3 maybe if your willing to carry a few people. Have them drop the same exact gear as LFR only with better drop rates while perhaps even lowering the rates in LFR and make it so your ineligible for loot if you've already done one or the other. If the Heroics are originally Cata scaled or TBC scaled it doesn't matter. Regardless they are either going to have to release new ones for each tier or make the old ones scale up.

For once since Vanilla my friends actually enjoy PvP which is what keeps me logging on atm. But even that I'm pretty sure Guild Wars 2 is better in that department. With the way things are now I'm so enticed by Wildstar because a major selling point to me is that things are earned.

There is nothing required about LFR. You can get gear from the Timeless Isle, Domination Point (or whatever the Alliance version is called), and the Isle of Thunder that will gear you up better than any LFR. Also doing heroic scenarios can help with your gear.

[Gwiez]

Raid finder isn't intended to offer the same social experience as running with your guild. And while I do like running 5-mans (MoP would have benefitted from more of those), the catch-up epics in 5-mans fill the same roll as catch-up epics from LFR (especially with no set bonuses in WoD).

If you don't like LFR, then don't run them. Don't demand that nobody can run them, they do serve a purpose for others. Even now, there's alternative catch-up gear.

To answer your question, no, they aren't being phased out. And they shouldn't be.

ps: I'm baffled why the OP is complaining that LFR is too easy compared to old heroic 5mans and then complains that they can't just afk in LFR and leech off of everyone else.

[zolok2.0]

Are you kidding? Legendary RING!?!?

Yup.... Was hoping for a weapon but it seems we're going the route of non-visible legendaries. Didn't get the cloak because it has no 'wow' factor for me. A ring is definitely less cool than a cloak and I probably will not be attempting to get it either. Sad really, but oh well!

[lawow74]

I'm hoping there's gonna be enough blowback from their attitudes towards players and crashing sub numbers through WoD that they end up having to put tier and such back in LFR. I would enjoy so many softcore tears from that.

[Jtbrig7390]

I hope not.

It should only drop from Flex / Normal / Mythic

Guess what read the frount page of MMO-C.

The legendary items (other than the ring) will most likely come from defeating really difficult content

Guess what they means....Good chance everyon can get the ring even LFR raiders.

There is nothing wrong with LFR. The problem is the small amount of the playerbase who bitch about LFR and make it worse for those who enjoy it.