What do you think the next big change to raids will be?

[Simonzi]

Since World of Warcraft was released, each expansion has shown a pretty decent change to the way raids work.

Originally, World of Warcraft had a 20 and 40 man setup.
Burning Crusade changed it from a 20 and 40 man setup, to a 10 and 25 setup, each having their own instances. Probably the most controversial change when it was announced
Wrath of the Lich King kept the 10 and 25 man design, but instead of separate instances, each one had just a different version. Hard modes were also introduced.
Cataclysm had probably the most minor change so far. Both 10 and 25 instances are supposed to be normalized, so they're the same difficulty, and award the same loot. So now instead of getting better gear from 25's, you can get the same from 10's.

So where do you think it'll go from here? I'm sure there will be some change. Personally, I don't see anywhere else for it to go. The raid setup has progressed pretty far, and I think Blizzard finally likes the place it's in. I know they mentioned a Random Raid Finder, so hopefully that's successful for alts and pugs.

[mynameisjona]

I believe that Blizzard mentioned 15 man raids at some point as a tie between having separate raids for 10 and 25 (correct me if I'm wrong)

Other than that, I could see something like random 1 boss dungeons that have impossibly difficult encounters (like Heroic Ragnaros on speed) as an open option for people if they want to complete them

[bekilrwale]

Why are you sure there will be a change when you yourself said you don't see anywhere else for it to go and you think that Blizzard likes where it is at atm?

[Deleted]

They aint entirely happy about the 10/25 man lockout system and will most likely make some changes to it AKA bring back the old lockout system.

[mynameisjona]

They aint entirely happy about the 10/25 man lockout system and will most likely make some changes to it AKA bring back the old lockout system.

Old lockout system? Do you mean pre wrath or wrath?

[Halicia]

crossrealm raids are the next logical step.

I also expect some unforeseen 'changes' as blizzard attempts damage control over the issues with Random Raid Finder.

I would *like* to see raid size become irrelevant and any multiple of 5 from 10-40 be viable. (balancing isnt nearly as big an issue as blizzard makes it out to be)

It would also be interesting to see some form of Public Raids in the openworld.

[shubato]

They've mentioned a few things that they liked the ideas of, some of which they've said they are trying to implement:
less than 5 man instances (can't remember the name they stated)
15 man raid-like instances being a natural sized fit to simplify or add to 10/25
cross realm raiding
the random looking for raid tool

[namelessone]

(balancing isnt nearly as big an issue as blizzard makes it out to be)

Yes it is. You have no idea. Balancing this kind of content requires a lot of constant very precise tune-up done by hand pretty much.

[Balir]

I've always wanted a cross faction raid. 10 man horde & a 10 man alliance raid having to combine to form a 20 man. Each faction has specific tasks to do for the other to progress. It would have to be some super duper threat to the existence of Azeroth (aren't they all) maybe something like Sargeras (sp) perhaps.
I guess there would be technical limitations with chat etc. It would be interesting to see the dynamic of 'rivals' having to work together for real, rather than npc cut scenes. Make everyone be pvp flagged too for a little extra spice.

I also have a feeling they'll get rid of the shared lock out for 10/25.

[Deleted]

Yes it is. You have no idea. Balancing this kind of content requires a lot of constant very precise tune-up done by hand pretty much.

It most certainly does. Looking back at t11 and t12 (albeit a lot less), it takes a lot of time and effort to balance multiple difficulties. My guess is, they won't add another level of raiding, either the changes will be something else entirely or all raids will exist only on 15 man or so. And I don't recall seeing Blizzard state anywhere that they ain't happy about the 10 and 25 shared lockout. That's just the community crying momma for a lollipop.

[Dasani]

Allowing you to raid an unlimited number of times per week is the next step.

As in, clear the same raid over and over as often as you like, but only be eligible for boss loot on the first kill only so you can't just farm it constantly. Allowing repeated runs only for your own amusement or to help out guildies/friends/etc.

They said they don't plan on ever doing this, but they've also said they'd never give us customizable appearances, swore they'd never give druids a non-battle res or spell interrupts, and so many other ridiculous things that should've been in the game from day 1 that they always save as their ace in the hole for when subscriber numbers start to plummet.

I also think eventually the difference between servers with be meshed and normalized even more extremely than it is now. I can foresee a channel that anyone on any server in the same region can join and chat in at the same time, recruiting people to your raids from that channel despite the different servers, and all raiding together. Your friends on another server being able to raid with you on yours finally a reality without them having to server transfer or leave behind their other friends and characters.

I believe one day tier tokens will not be class specific as they are now, and will be usable by anyone. I also think eventually bosses will simply drop tokens for all gear instead of the gear it's self so that the chances of gear no one can use being dropped will be gone to the days of the past aside from the obvious point when everyone has all gear.

I also wouldn't put it past them to add another difficulty level of raiding to the game to further accommodate casual players. Keep the "normal" and "hard" modes, and add an "easy" mode with fewer boss mechanics to worry about, lower damage and health amounts, and even lesser loot.

I also believe full set tier gear will eventually make a come back. As it stands now, there is really only one truly appropriate piece of gear for any given slot for any given class at any given tier in cataclysm barring things like weapons. For example, there are only 2 leather boots with agility on them in the current content. One is a boss drop, one is crafted. They are identical in every way except one has critical strike where the other has haste. Do you really see it being that much of a stretch for reforging to make the difference in these items a moot point in the future and simply having boots return as part of tier gear? Honestly there is really only 1 piece of gear you can even get from the bosses themselves. One pair of intellect boots. One pair of intellect bracers. One intellect waist. The only other options for gear are the occasional one alternative that is either crafted or bought with valors. So what harm would it be to simply return these items to tier sets if they aren't really giving us any variety of stats to choose from in gear anyway, and with reforgers now in the game less desirable stats can be changed into more desirable ones anyway, so variety doesn't even really matter quite as much anymore and with some tweaks to reforging and improvements to it, could allow you to further customize gear to the point it wouldn't matter what stats it had on it in the first place.