Raiders, how much of BfA's content would you do if it weren't "required" for raiding?

[Zantera]

I would probably do about the same I do now:

Islands - 3 mythic for the cap (still gives cosmetic rewards I want)
Warfronts - Whenever I have a chance at item upgrade - beyond that maybe sometimes when I feel like it (still need achievements and all that)
Emissaries/WQs - Would still do every emissary on my main (sometimes on alts)
Mythic + - Would definitely do at least 1 for my weekly chest on main and a few alts. As far as additional ones, maybe on some weeks when it's more chill than others.
Visions - Would still do a 5 mask per week for cloak upgrade and chance for item. Also that way you work towards your next socket. (I still need the mount but will get it on an alt)

[Kaver]

I would still do M+. I enjoy it very much and I think it’s fun to have a ranking system where you can improve yourself and set goals.

Then I would do Horrific Visions in the beginning. They are getting boring now but that’s because there are only 2 additions. As a concept I think Horrific Visions were fun. I like solo content with progression. I’m very much looking forward to Torghast in Shadowlands.

World quests, Island Expeditions and Warfronts I would never do again. Boring content with no challenge.

[lappee]

Depends on the other rewards. I'd still do them for mounts / achievements, but if the only reward was gold then I wouldn't bother with any other than raids and arena.

[Wuusah]

I guess most people play this game primarily for the rewards. Would I go into Eternal Palace every week if I didn't need vitality conduit essence for arena? Yes, because I also need the dps trinket from Ashvane. Would I go in there once I have both? No. Why would I waste my time in there?

When I came back this patch, I did pvp islands for easy conquest points, heroic warfront for a free 460, BGs for the essence, Mechagon dailies for the essence, Nazjatar for the essence, visions and assault dailies for the items and progress there, M+ dungeons for the items and rio, arenas for conflict and strife essence, LFR for a few weeks to get some items, normal nyalotha, emissaries, timewalking stuff for the weekly quest, etc.

How many chars did I play? One. I had a ton of free time thanks to covid and I could barely manage to do all the stuff I needed to do to progress one char.

What do I do now? heroic nyalotha, a handful of M+ dungeons per week, arenas for fun and rating, nzoth assaults (stopped doing the dailies), one 5 mask run and maybe a few more if friends want to go in there, maybe emissaries once every 3 days or so and eternal palace if I feel like doing it.

How many chars do I play? Still one, because it's still a lot of stuff that needs to be done. If nothing was necessary, I guess all I would do is arena and some M+ dungeons and I would play ~3 chars, not just one.

[MrLachyG]

out of the things you listed if it wasn't required for raiding then probably none of it would be done. but that is the thing about most of what you listed; people play this game for the challenge of it or for the rewards. whether you're a LFR raider or a Mythic raider it doesn't matter..... getting rep gives you paragon caches which give you gold, Islands give pet/toy/mount collectors something to aim for, Visions same thing - gunning for the achievements, titles, mounts etc. as long as the rewards are there, people will do it regardless of whether it is required for raiding or not.

I personally think it's an improvement; we have more to do in endgame than ever before.

[Saltysquidoon]

playing a BDK feels like a cobbled together DPS class with a couple of shitty AM buttons on long AF cooldowns where you have to get chunked for half your HP before you can start mitigating lul.

I mean because it is?

[Greyvax]

So, let's look at everything that you had to do throughout BfA to keep your characters as relevant as possible as to not hold your friends & guildies back.

This is the thought process that's causing people to burn out.

Unless you are a cutting edge mythic raider, missing a few days of daily activities, or a weekly reward isn't going to cripple you or your guildies.

The #1 differentiator between being an asset and an anchor in a raid, is simply knowing the mechanics.

[gorkos]

As it is right now I I do 1 vision and raidlog. I don’t like mythic plus, so I only do it of guild group needs a extra.

I did the bare minimum to get my uldir rep to revered and that’s it

[Tradu]

This is the thought process that's causing people to burn out.

Unless you are a cutting edge mythic raider, missing a few days of daily activities, or a weekly reward isn't going to cripple you or your guildies.

The #1 differentiator between being an asset and an anchor in a raid, is simply knowing the mechanics.

That doesn't mean the other differentiators are irrelevant. Everything helps, if anything getting as many crutches as possible is more important the worse you are.

[Toybox]

This is the thought process that's causing people to burn out.

Unless you are a cutting edge mythic raider, missing a few days of daily activities, or a weekly reward isn't going to cripple you or your guildies.

The #1 differentiator between being an asset and an anchor in a raid, is simply knowing the mechanics.

You're right, for someone doing the odd normal pug or a weekly heroic clear, it's not the biggest deal. I would've put mythic in the title, but it just wouldn't fit I probably could've worded it better, though.

Still, it should be pretty clear I'm not talking about requirements for LFR/N/HC here. Well, maybe there are some slight requirements to do the aforementioned in a few small heroic guilds, so that should definitely be taken into consideration.

[OFiveNine]

Personally i'd rather go back to the old systems.

Gated rep grind with dailies and some other way to farm extra (maybe like ToT with boss kills)
Farm valor points, each week the cap being raised by 1250 so you can buy some nice bracers/belt week 1
Old pvp system back so you can snipe the other item you missed from valor points

M+ some dungeon trinkets are great and i'm glad they rival raid ones

[Gotural]

I like having to do a bit of everything to be optimized. The problem lies in the number of hours required in my opinion.

Doing a few BGs for BotE? No problem, but holy moly the number of BGs you need to is insane!

The same goes for pretty much every contents, I like them, but you have to spend too many hours doing them.

[Argorwal]

You're right, for someone doing the odd normal pug or a weekly heroic clear, it's not the biggest deal. I would've put mythic in the title, but it just wouldn't fit I probably could've worded it better, though.

Still, it should be pretty clear I'm not talking about requirements for LFR/N/HC here. Well, maybe there are some slight requirements to do the aforementioned in a few small heroic guilds, so that should definitely be taken into consideration.

Everything helps of course, but how often can you sit back and analyze your fight logs and honestly say “we handled all the mechanics perfectly, are making no mistakes, and we are only wiping due to throughput?”

[Toybox]

Everything helps of course, but how often can you sit back and analyze yourself fight logs and honestly say “we handled all the mechanics perfectly, are making no mistakes, and we are only wiping due to throughout?”

Never. No guild ever plays perfectly across 20 players on a first kill (or maybe even any kill).

[Saltysquidoon]

Everything helps of course, but how often can you sit back and analyze your fight logs and honestly say “we handled all the mechanics perfectly, are making no mistakes, and we are only wiping due to throughput?”

That's a fair point but you're ignoring the cumulative effects of optimisation.

Pushing phases faster means less chances to fuck up.
It can mean the difference between a 0.04% wipe and a kill
It can mean using one less healer CD on a mechanic so you still have a CD pocketed (in case someone fucks up)
It can mean tanks need less externals which in turn means again you have a pocket
It can mean not dying to a tick of damage if you do fuck up

There's also just the huge swings of AP trails, legiondaries, neck levels, traits and the like that come from eternally grinding content.

[Khallid]

So, what would you be doing outside of raids if everything was truly optional in the sense that it had absolutely zero impact on your performance as a raider? Would you be a raid-logger, or would you dabble in other content outside of raiding? Or maybe you just love how BfA rewarded the sheer amount of effort you could put into your character & don't see it as a negative at all - That's fine, too! Opinions are just that.

Not much, honestly. I like raiding and I wouldn't do much else if it didn't matter. I might still level my professions and do a dungeon every once in a while.

I already skip Islands, Battlegrounds, Arenas and Battlegrounds, which is the most I can get away with. I only do 1 mythic+ per week for the cache. Never got Blood of the Enemy and my Conflict and Strife is still rank 1 even though I'm a mythic raider. It's quite hard to force me to do pvp.

I would definitely drop would be reputation grinds. I quite dislike those but those have been unavoidable.

Special instances like Visions are the kind of thing I would only do a few times for the sake of doing new stuff, maybe a bit more if there's enough challenge and progression to keep me engaged. But I wouldn't keep grinding them without rewards after a few days.

[Kehego]

Lazy people looking for excuses have existed in every iteration of the game thus far, and will exist in every iteration moving forward.
Doing 3 islands isn't the same as doing maw of souls 1k+ times. You were 100% able to get 75 neck before mythic week this patch doing the bare minimum, and that was all you needed.

[Gotural]

Everything helps of course, but how often can you sit back and analyze your fight logs and honestly say “we handled all the mechanics perfectly, are making no mistakes, and we are only wiping due to throughput?”

In this patch never, the powercreep is so insane due to Corruptions than atm no one is wiping because of a low throughput imo.

[Hellobolis]

i would still do the same content, just not for as long.

[Tronski]

Let me first address the "NoThInG iS rEqUiReD" point that someone will doubtlessly bring up - Yes, we know, but going into higher level PvE content, there's an expectation that your character (or characters depending on the guild) are up to date & ready to go. While this has also been the case in previous expansions ('cept maybe WoD at some points), I think it's fair to say that BfA is by far one of the heaviest in terms of time commitment outside of raiding, much to the dismay of many.

So, let's look at everything that you had to do throughout BfA to keep your characters as relevant as possible as to not hold your friends & guildies back. Out of the following, which would/wouldn't you do? (If you'd do things once or twice to experience the content but not want to repeat it indefinitely, that's fair, too). I know Warfronts aren't required anymore, and whether Islands & PvP are required for you fully depends on the spec you play & the essences you're best of with, but it's best to include them.

Islands
Warfronts
Emissaries/WQs
Mythic+ Weekly
Mythic+ Farm
Visions
Professions
Rep/Currency Farm
Battlegrounds
Arena

I can only speak for myself, but outside of keeping on top of my professions, M+ (which I really enjoy thanks to having some good guys n gals to play with), the exalted faction count, & occasional PvP, I'd gladly sit out everything else after a try or two.

Visions are decent enough content, but farming world quests to get currency to farm 5 masks to get a socket for a drop I just got in a raid is not really my idea of a good time. All things considered, socketing an item is probably a good 3+ hours of repetitive gameplay, & if I could skip it, I gladly would.

Emissaries/WQs wouldn't even be considered upon hitting exalted. Thankfully there's not too much of a grind now compared to previous patches, but still, 3-4 quests for the emissary alongside Vale/Uldum (if not the rare/cache quests) is quite a bit all the same.

Islands & Warfronts have gladly faded in relevance, but they're exactly the kind of content, like world quests, I'd simply not consider after experiencing them once or twice. While I don't think islands are terrible by any means, there's definitely other stuff I'd rather do instead outside of the game, & honestly, I think that's fine.


So, what would you be doing outside of raids if everything was truly optional in the sense that it had absolutely zero impact on your performance as a raider? Would you be a raid-logger, or would you dabble in other content outside of raiding? Or maybe you just love how BfA rewarded the sheer amount of effort you could put into your character & don't see it as a negative at all - That's fine, too! Opinions are just that.

I'd do m+ weekly and visions if they weren't timed.