Incentives for Accepting Lower-Geared Players?

[judgementofantonidas]

I play both those classes, yay.

At least mine is good for really bad groups

[Marrilaife]

Been a while out of the loop, so I don't know whether Blizz buffed the Archi trinket to high heaven or so, but back when HFC was released shadow priest one was only useful for single target fights because it relies on using mindflay to keep the debuff alive and in multitarget AS-Shadow casts little of that filler.

Nearly every shadow priest these days uses Archi trinket + COP + tunnel like a baws to top meters.

Now frost DK, that's an example of useless Archi trinket... And even for Unholy I think it's only used on Gorefiend ghosts?

MM hunter one is pure garbage.

I think Holy Priest one is bad too.

Could be a few other specs I didn't check.

[Granyala]

Nearly every shadow priest these days uses Archi trinket + COP + tunnel like a baws to top meters.

eeeew .. now that sounds not fun at all.

[Svad]

When we get new raiders, who somtimes are quite low on itemlvl (650+) we just boost them in Mythic dungeons and heroic HFC till they have tier and offset items... its not a problem really, and we somtimes take on low itemlvl random people in our mythic dungeon groups, beause it feels right on a saturday night, when we are all rather drunk ;-)

[Lillyth]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

There, I am constructive.

Good Goddess.

Nitty and gritty: You are playing a game. If you want to take someone lower geared along, you do it because you are a good person, there is your reward. And if you really, really believe you should be rewarded for taking someone along who is not on the exact same item level as you are, then you should visit your shrink.

Heroic Dungeons, Mythic Dungeons and even challenge mode quests are designed for people to catch up. If you are not willing to accept that and really think you should be rewarded additionally on top of getting loot anyway from the instance, then you should visit your shrink twice a day.

[Baconeggcheese]

I don't see what's the point you're getting at.

Also, not really; not for damage numbers, anyway.

We went from doing around 30k after the squish to people doing a couple hundred thousand as an average with people pushing up to 800+k on cheese fights with cheese strats in 2 tiers. They just made a post talking about redesigning secondary power scaling because of how egregious it is right now.

So, yes really.

[Granyala]

Whoa ... I esp like the first part: not feeling so broken on next max level until I get decked in first tier epics.
Hated that effect since Cataclysm.

[Deleted]

Incentives would not work for a lot of people i'm sure, People still want to gogogo dungeons, and if its not possible they will just leave themselves or kick players, by comparing the time taken to how good the other players appear to be.
Usually a low geared players is low for a good reason, unless its a new alt. I also don't think any kind of reward will be good enough to help a guy who is not from your own server/guild.

[kary]

Whoa ... I esp like the first part: not feeling so broken on next max level until I get decked in first tier epics.
Hated that effect since Cataclysm.

You were pretty gimp in every xpac till you got epics, tf are you harping about?

[tclphz]

Really doesn't have much to do with them thinking they're indispensable. Let's remind ourselves of the status quo: Players who are well geared and have run the mythics many times are throwing a group together to blitz them again so they can collect valor for a ring upgrade. They list their group looking to fill a couple of spots with players like themselves who won't slow them down. They set the minimum I-lvl at 705, 710, or even 720. Some other players look at that and complain that it's unreasonable, they're stuck and can't gear up because no one will let them play, etc.

I'm very much guilty of this. I was looking to grind some honor last night, started randomly applying groups and then realized some groups that 695 as the minimum, and went to look for more 720s. As many have mentioned, the goal is just to blitz through the dungeon as fast as possible so I can move on and do something else. I haven't done lfg in a while, but it feels like when I do the level requirements for groups whether mythic dungeons or raiding seems to have increased. While this has led to seemingly more successful groups, it does make it more difficult for lesser geared players to get spots. And this isn't a new phenomenon, the ilvl requirements have been high for the difficulty of the content for a while, but it seems with valor, that bar has been raised even higher.

Now perhaps it's burnout of raiding/playing the same stuff for over half a year now, but I've become increasingly unwilling to help. Whereas before if a raid is doing poorly I might try to help make adjustments, now I'll most likely leave unless I have a reason to stay (e.g. helping friend). Would incentives help? Maybe, I don't know. But I'll run through heroic dungeons quickly for valor every day because it's quick and easy and sometimes I get a nice satchel. Then again, I'll only do that as a tank (usually in dps spec) so I can ensure the run goes faster.

I'm really curious about the idea of wanting better gear. I try to acquire better gear solely for raiding, is that the motivation for others?
And why not join a guild? Guilds make access gear easier, gives you other players to party with so you don't have to lfg. If the guild is more casual, there might not even be attendance requirements. I think playing the game as a solo player is difficult and prefer to play as part of a guild or with friends.

[Granyala]

You were pretty gimp in every xpac till you got epics, tf are you harping about?

It only became really noticeable in cata for me (SPriest).

Mileage on other classes may vary.

[kary]

It only became really noticeable in cata for me (SPriest).

Mileage on other classes may vary.

Well sure. You had OP shadowweave in BC, and WotLK you got geared in like a week from naxx and randos.

[Daethz]

Idea: Give Fully Heroic+ Players Extra Incentives to Que for Heroic Dungeons and LFR.
New chest that can contain ANY Mount that drops from Non-Current Raids and Dungeons, like Onxyia Drake, Blue Protodrake, a 150-600 gold, 1-3 flasks, garrison resources, apexis shards.

Secondary Idea, New form of Currency: Charity Coin
You get one charity coin from completing a Current-Expansion Que far lower ILVL than you are, like completing a entire heroic dungeon or LFR.
Coin Bag (120-500 gold) = 1 Charity Coin.
Various Crafting Resources (Stacks of 20) = 2 Charity Coins.
NEW Toys = 5 Charity Coins.
Baleful Gear = 6 Charity Coins.
NEW Mounts = 30 Charity Coins.
WoW Token (30 Days Gametime) = 200 Charity Coins. (Be rewarded for improving the gaming experience of many other players)

Id expect blizzard to keep updating the Charity Rewards each expansion.

[Glorious Leader]

Idea: Give Fully Heroic+ Players Extra Incentives to Que for Heroic Dungeons and LFR.
New chest that can contain ANY Mount that drops from Non-Current Raids and Dungeons, like Onxyia Drake, Blue Protodrake, a 150-600 gold, 1-3 flasks, garrison resources, apexis shards.

Secondary Idea, New form of Currency: Charity Coin
You get one charity coin from completing a Current-Expansion Que far lower ILVL than you are, like completing a entire heroic dungeon or LFR.
Coin Bag (120-500 gold) = 1 Charity Coin.
Various Crafting Resources (Stacks of 20) = 2 Charity Coins.
NEW Toys = 5 Charity Coins.
Baleful Gear = 6 Charity Coins.
NEW Mounts = 30 Charity Coins.
WoW Token (30 Days Gametime) = 200 Charity Coins. (Be rewarded for improving the gaming experience of many other players)

Lets not call it a charity coin. That just reeks of condensation.

[Daethz]

Lets not call it a charity coin. That just reeks of condensation.

Just think of that name as a placeholder.

[Granyala]

WoW Token (30 Days Gametime) = 200 Charity Coins. (Be rewarded for improving the gaming experience of many other players)

Never ever going to happen. Blizzard will only SELL token for RL money. Giving it away for "charity stuff" will dampen their income.

[Drusyn]

Incentives will work you just have to find the right incentive. What if the reward was one of those BMAH containers that can have rare mounts and gear in them? What if every charity dungeon you run you're granted a level you can use later on an alt? Everyone has something they care about.

[Hey There Guys its Metro]

No need. You can get well over 690 (the example) by just doing dungeons.
Please don't incentivize any more bad habits in this game. The community is screwed enough as is.

[Alydael]

The easiest way to get better geared players to help lesser geared players is to have the group finder provide a "buff" to the lesser geared player- to bring them closer to the level of the better geared player. This solution won't help you with your rotation or build, but at least it will remove one main issue.

I don't see this happening in WOW though, for two reasons:

1) The WOW community is very gear based. If Blizz scales players up, I think a lot of players will cry that it negates some of the value of their gear.

2) WOW is light years behind in scaling features. I don't know if the architecture of the game just doesn't support it or if the devs don't see the value of it, but (even though they are finally starting to introduce scaling) the game seems somewhat anti-scaling.

- - - Updated - - -

When we get new raiders, who somtimes are quite low on itemlvl (650+) we just boost them in Mythic dungeons and heroic HFC till they have tier and offset items... its not a problem really, and we somtimes take on low itemlvl random people in our mythic dungeon groups, beause it feels right on a saturday night, when we are all rather drunk ;-)

I am with you. I actually like helping lower geared players (as long as they are trying to learn and aren't just "carry me" types). More experienced players helped me out when I started, it helps keep up a strong community.

- - - Updated - - -

695 hfc tier is better than 700 M brf tier

Well that is because Blizz tries to save the best itemization and trinks for the last tier of the x-pac. It doesn't always work out that way, but that is what they try to do. So, it is not surprising that the better itemization trumps the 5 ilevel difference.

[Mugus]

This idea was inspired by Jeffykin's thread on improving the group system. I don't believe that players short on time who want a fast instance run should be forced to carry players who aren't at their level, but what if you had some spare time and were willing to help bring those players along? Kind of like the carries sold in chat, but less obnoxious (ok, that description is my opinion) and more like the satchels you get for tanking and healing when there's a shortage. It's a slow night, I feel rested and patient and like taking on an extra challenge, why not help some newer players complete an instance and pick up some BoAs for my alts at the same time?

Example: Setting group finder for 690 and auto-accept nets you a satchel of useful goods.

Enough with the baby hand holding. JESUS, this is a very easy game!!!! If people can't figure out how to press buttons, they shouldn't be allowed to breed let alone get carried by Blizzard. If baddies want a carry, learn to make gold and pay good players. I actively kick baddies in all group finder activities; you want a carry, then send me some gold.