Doesn't seem like they are, no idea what you're talking about. I wish they were planning it though.
I don't think blizz is trying to get rid of LFD tool.
They just realized that it isn't necessary for EVERYTHING.
It works for:
BGs
Arena
Normal Dungeons
Heroic Dungeons
Timewalking Dungeons (finding people to run "old" content can be a pain if the rewards aren't equal to new stuff).
Fails for:
Mythics (people need to feel invested for the coordination to be here)
Normal Raids
Heroic Raids
Mythic Raids
"I pulled up to moonglade about 7 or 8
and yelled to the trainer "yo resto cya."
Looked at my talent tree, i was finally there.
To go to Karazhan and tank in dire bear."
-Yarma
Pretty sure what he means is, is that if you're in a group that a human being is the leader of, you can be kicked by the whims of a single person, for anything, really. An auto-group requires a vote. The latter can still be abused, but it's way less open to abuse than the former.
why? i played FFXIV and i assure you the dungeon and the raids are unforgiving even more than wow you stand in the aoe you die, nearly one shot mechanic, and i've done ton of run, some wipe sure but the percentage of success was the same as an average pug doing normal.
It's a blizzard choice to make lfr and lfd easy and is also a choice of them to keep engaging content without an auto-matchmaking system.
What i see is blizzard attitude both it's actions and various devs/cms on intervievs/forum posts/twits to push, lure and in some case force peoples to walk away from the auto-matchmaking system, i don't think it's only me who has noted this behavior; it's almost like they are preparing the path for a future removal.
Of course they won't. They are aware of the fact that removing it would kill the game.
The system has pretty much always just been for heroic 5 mans, lfr, and BGs. That hasn't changed since it was put in in wotlk.
OP has lost his/her mind? There are so many reasons ... NO.
Would be a step backwards and a pretty retarded move.
That said, I wouldn't put it passed Blizzard.
-=From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel. I aspired to the purity of the blessed machine. Your kind claimed your flesh as if it will not decay and fail you. One day the crude biomass that you call a temple will wither, and you will beg my kind to save you... But I am already saved..... For the machine is immortal=-
Self proclaimed casuals like to keep using this argument when in reality it is in fact either what you said, or they're bad and refuse to get better and hide behind this guise of being casual and that it's somehow stopping them. Casuals can EASILY clear heroic raids while still having a job and a family.
If I was to blind guess I would say they are going to add in more non-matching making content but not remove it from the game. Most things will still have it. Exclusives look like the plan going forward.
seriously doubt this is ever gonna happen.
Where to begin....describing a different opinion as "asanine" when we are all merely trying to discuss the topic at hand smells a bit of intolerance on your behalf, and it's probably people like you who I don't have time for during my free time. Also during your caps filled rant....you are missing the major point. You simply cannot remove a public good (generally free resource) without expecting a backlash. Imagine having to pay for sunshine or air next month. So while match making has been part of the game, if it were removed, Blizzard would face severe backlash because now it is essentially a public good.
So your drivel about "Stop expecting a game company to design their game around YOUR lifestyle".....mate...Blizzard already has met that expectation by providing match making and LFR. So you are not making any sense because we are talking about the possibility of REMOVING an existing service for a particular demographic. As a former server top 10 raider (who is also 40 with a fam / career), I can also tell you if you do all you say you do, and STILL do organized raids, someone or something in your household is paying the price for it.
There is not really any LESS content with matchmaking, is there? Still being used for heroics, normal and LFR's. It is just that Blizzard added new and different content that don't use matchmaking. Mythic and Mythic+ dungeons are more akin to being a small raid, rather than being a randomized LFG. The whole point is that you gather a group and do it together, specially on the harder Mythic+ difficulties, rather than just roflstomp through 20 of them in a day in a randomized group where nobody ever say a word.
No way. Will they keep trying to push people into non-matchmade content? for sure. Blizzard wants it all.
Casuals did just fine playing this game before the auto matchmaker. The game peaked in WotLK where the matchmaker was introduced (It wasn't there starting out in WotLK), but what people seem to forget when spouting that whole "12 mil players in WotLK!" bit is that the game gained 10+ million players before such conveniences were anywhere near the live servers. Casuals used to do 10man raids on the weekend, when they had time. Casuals used to take the game at their own pace, rather than feel shackled to the perceived bleeding edge. If you are grown up, then your enjoyment comes from personal satisfaction, not from your perceived stance in relation to the (game) world around you.
So, I disagree with your unfounded claim that "casuals would exodus," based on the game's history. I'm sure Battlefield 1 would love to have you if you cannot handle the above.
As someone who has always been a "casual" (read: I've only ever raided subbing for other folks in the guild) and most active during WotLK, lemme tell you this much: trying to get a non-guild group going for anything before LFD was implemented was a pain in the ass. Just like with the current LFG system, most people were just looking for an easy carry, which meant they were all looking for 6500+ GearScore (anyone remember that add-on?) to clear daily heroics that could be done in 10 minutes by any even mildly competent 4400 GS group.
Between having to trawl around for 40 minutes on my Hunter looking for a group that wouldn't kick me out because I had the gall to try to get a heroic dungeon done without being fully decked out in full Heroic 25-man ICC gear, and letting the game automatically pair me with a random group of 4 other a-holes over the same 40 minutes, I embraced the matchmaker. As annoying as some of those random idiots were, they were still less annoying than trying to find a group that doesn't have "need full raid gear for our daily heroic dungeon group" as its tagline. At least I could quest, or solo old content, or do about a dozen other things while the matchmaker did its thing, as opposed to having to stare at the LFG list hoping to find something useful.
Nothing ever bothers Juular.