MMO Champs :
On the surface, I think this is a full-stop bad idea. The last thing this game needs is more reasons to be anti-social.
But -- I have to admit that I see where the OP is coming from and I see why Blizzard might be interested in implementing something like this. Here's my idea:
If Blizzard absolutely must endeavor to emulate solo raid content it:
a.) cannot be content that rewards anything meaningful; it'd have to stop at the LFR
b.) must be a standalone system that does not feel mandatory for players who prefer group content (no Tier)
c.) preferably only applies to outdated raids as the demand for doing this content evaporates as the expansion goes on
If Blizzard can somehow make a system which fits within these parameters then I think they'd have a pretty decent retention vehicle, especially if they install long quest lines which require raid participation over multiple weeks to complete.
I still think a tourist mode for the tourist mode of the raid is... well, redundant, but I can't disagree with the overwhelming desire for players to pay $15/mo to play a single player game. Weird shit, imo, but if there's a market for it then Blizzard is potentially losing out by not tapping into it.
I don't know a single person that currently runs LFR to maximize tier acquisition anymore. That used to be a thing for me and others but getting tier from season 2 onwards for group oriented players with the AOTC/KSM free token and omni tokens off last boss on normal/heroic was pretty easy. Even better in s3 when the catalyst was open week 1. So I doubt they would this either assuming its LFR(which it would be). Unless blizzard takes 2 steps back on tier acquisition in the future ofc.
Last edited by Tech614; 2024-04-18 at 07:31 PM.
Because they aren't willing to create a standalone Warcraft RPG or continue the RTS.
Even as a gamer who only played multiplayer games, I've reached a point in life where I can't freely schedule life around gaming, and solo is much more convenient.
Warcraft Runble is practically the only accessible Warcraft game for me. WoW is not worth a sub just for questing content, and that's where more solo end game content would justify my return to the game.
WoW has become the singular story-based Warcraft game, and so it should facilitate more than just the MMO gamer.
There's a bit more to it than that. It's less about tourist mode and more about just having the option to keep the story going or do stuff on your own. It's not as extreme as "hating people" or wanting a bunch of solo mythic experiences, though we've seen posters mention that. I think it simply boils down to "its fun to do boss battles, and WoW doesn't have many boss battles for solo players." It's also fun to advance the story, and it's fun to team up with NPCs. This doesn't mean that someone won't go and run the raid normally with a premade or something like that, just having the option to do a "story mode" adds value to play time.
That being said, it being old content I think is plenty fine. I know as a leveler player I'm not all that concerned with tier and stuff, I just want a way to finish/see storylines that don't involve others. Follower dungeons are already a step in the right direction, and I definitely agree it shouldn't be a gearing path. But I do think a "story mode" wouldn't hurt anyone.
Also the anti social stuff is a false dichotomy. People aren't anti social. They're anti random. People make friends out of game and meet them in game. And i don't know about you, but considering how dogshit 99% of trade chat talkers opinions are, I really don't want to engage with them in my dungeon or raid runs. I literally do not have the time or patience to entertain that.
Last edited by SilverLion; 2024-04-19 at 02:33 AM.
Right -- I mean, we're talking hypotheticals here. I think Blizzard likes that there's actual people doing the LFR and I'm not sure if they'd be completely cool with abolishing it altogether. I could, however, see a world where they make follower raids the default LFR and move Normal to be queueable like the LFR is right now. I think that'd be a good in-between were they to go this direction.
Easiest solution to this is to make LFR gear sets not function above LFR or Flex - so those who 'feel the need' to get more set pieces won't feel pressured from LFR / Solo-LFR (I guess if that becomes a thing).
God if only they would start pushing slightly harder content on players lol.
...how else would you make it that content is doable by every spec, if you wouldnt balance it?
without balancing specs content would have to be soo easy that even the weakest spec could do it, which would lead to people complaining
a. its not chalenging enough
b. they are FORCED to play certain specs as they are better at it
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there is huge issue here
you are ASSUMING casual player = someone onky interested in solo play
low m+ unorganised pvp or normal raids are still EXTREMELY casual content, just not solo
are there people whou would like to have all that solo? sure, do we know if its more than handful of people? well, no, we dont
I don't mind solo content but I'd rather not see endgame raiding being that.
FOMO: "Fear Of Missing Out", also commonly known as people with a mental issue of managing time and activities, many expecting others to fit into their schedule so they don't miss out on things to come. If FOMO becomes a problem for you, do seek help, it can be a very unhealthy lifestyle..
if follower raids became a thing, and it gave the same rewards as LFR then it would absolutely kill LFR. even if LFR gives more loot drops, people would still go the follower route for faster queue times. downside to follower raids is that if it follows loot rules, you'd have a 20% chance at getting a single item. which would suck
honestly, what I hope they do is plant a npc just inside legacy raid entrances who asks if you want followers. then it gives you the required amount for whatever difficulty you're doing. That would solve a lot of raid problems like for example G'huun or Mythrax or Jaina. Because they damn well sure haven't addressed those issues any other way yet. I don't think follower raids should be for current expansion raids
It's not going to happen anytime soon cause it would be a nightmare to code but I hard doubt it would kill LFR at all. People still que for dungeons in XIV with other people even though nearly the full game has trust support now. Why? Because AI companions do jack shit for damage, they are tuned to make the run last around 30 mins so the better you do the worse they do. Meanwhile if you run the dungeon with players its gonna be 15 mins, and you can do other stuff while waiting in que it's only the extremely anti social people that use these features.
Judging by follower dungeons the AI companions are even worse than XIV trusts, they would be garbage for clear speed and inefficient use of time. People would absolutely still que for regular LFR, and the loot would obviously be adjusted so you had the same chance at items regardless.
And tbh if blizzard ever had this tech in the game, they could make LFR ques even faster by filling the rest of the group with AIs after waiting for X amount of time. But yea, I think this is a super low priority because the only thing currently stopping single player focused gamers from doing LFR is their own fear to hit the que button. Even XIV which is far ahead of WoW on support for this in dungeons doesn't use trusts for any raid and only uses them for 1 trial in the entire game. So if it's hard to implement for 8 player content, it would be a nightmare for 25 player content.
Last edited by Tech614; 2024-04-20 at 03:32 PM.
Rift tried a solo raid mode. It was completely underwhelming.
"There is a pervasive myth that making content hard will induce players to rise to the occasion. We find the opposite. " -- Ghostcrawler
"The bit about hardcore players not always caring about the long term interests of the game is spot on." -- Ghostcrawler
"Do you want a game with no casuals so about 500 players?"