The MDI is one of the lamest esports I've seen and I hope the RTWF stays independent.

[Woobels]

As a disclaimer yes I know the people playing in the MDI are very skilled and practiced a lot, I follow some of their personal streams respect all of them, additionally I also understand the RFWF isn't indie and that sponsors have a stake in it, I'm talking about Blizzard specifically here.

I imagine this is quite a lukewarm take but this is the first time I've tried watching the MDI and it's honestly pretty dreadful. The UI is awful (I heard it used to be worse) and it's difficult to really appreciate any of what the groups are doing because of it, it being confined to Youtube basically kills any chance of useful Twitch overlays that could make it more interesting and the players not being allowed to stream removes that POV as well.

The format is really weird to me, 18 keys (I think?) with 229 ilvl? Who does this on live realms, it's both a higher ilvl than average while doing a considerably lower level key so it's not something you can really relate to very well at all.

The commentators are very corporate and you can tell they're walking on eggshells with what they can say and what they can't say, I obviously don't blame them for this personally like some idiots on social media do but thank god guilds stream with comms for the RWF, it's far more entertaining while somehow being more educational too.

I guess this is just a random rant but it's mostly because I remember there always being posts about how Blizzard should officially adopt the Race to World First and implement a bunch of rules to make it a more serious esport etc etc and after watching this for the first time I'm genuinely thankful they haven't done that yet and I hope they never do.

I'm also aware I'm selfishly stating this as a spectator, I'm sure there's benefits to the actual players in the race if Blizzard takes over.

[intenz]

It isn't an esport. RTWF isn't an esport. Hope this helps. The commentary is predictable given how thin-skinned Blizzard are and how sensitive they are to political correctness. I personally don't understand how anyone can enjoy this stuff, it's even worse than AWC. At least pvp takes some modicum of skill.

[Barzotti]

It's +18 keys. You really thought they would do +8 keys? In every MDI since it's inception, the MDI key levels are around 4-5 lower than the best runs in live. Considering it's a speedrun and the risks these guys are taking on some of their pulls, +18 remains a challenge. We saw a high number of fuckups this week-end with some botched runs.

The UI is indeed pretty bad, partly because the screen is split. Having an option to toggle off the lower left part dedicated to the losing team would be better imho. The UI was clearly better on Twitch, with the ability to check the talents and armory. This one feels lackluster with too much informations you don't really care about (key level, affixes) but can't toggle off.

I like Dratnos casting. He knows what he's talking about and he seems genuinely passionate. The other casters bore me. Xyronic's utility and casting abilities look questionable to me.

[Sithalos]

Nah, I love watching a boss bug out and kill everyone at 5% and the game not get reset.

The MDI is great.

[dcc626]

As a disclaimer yes I know the people playing in the MDI are very skilled and practiced a lot, I follow some of their personal streams respect all of them, additionally I also understand the RFWF isn't indie and that sponsors have a stake in it, I'm talking about Blizzard specifically here.

I imagine this is quite a lukewarm take but this is the first time I've tried watching the MDI and it's honestly pretty dreadful. The UI is awful (I heard it used to be worse) and it's difficult to really appreciate any of what the groups are doing because of it, it being confined to Youtube basically kills any chance of useful Twitch overlays that could make it more interesting and the players not being allowed to stream removes that POV as well.

The format is really weird to me, 8 keys (I think?) with 229 ilvl? Who does this on live realms, it's both a higher ilvl than average while doing a considerably lower level key so it's not something you can really relate to very well at all.

The commentators are very corporate and you can tell they're walking on eggshells with what they can say and what they can't say, I obviously don't blame them for this personally like some idiots on social media do but thank god guilds stream with comms for the RWF, it's far more entertaining while somehow being more educational too.

I guess this is just a random rant but it's mostly because I remember there always being posts about how Blizzard should officially adopt the Race to World First and implement a bunch of rules to make it a more serious esport etc etc and after watching this for the first time I'm genuinely thankful they haven't done that yet and I hope they never do.

I'm also aware I'm selfishly stating this as a spectator, I'm sure there's benefits to the actual players in the race if Blizzard takes over.

dont have to worry, blizzard wants nothing to do with the race to world first.

[Woobels]

It's +18 keys. You really thought they would do +8 keys? In every MDI since it's inception, the MDI key levels are around 4-5 lower than the best runs in live. Considering it's a speedrun and the risks these guys are taking on some of their pulls, +18 remains a challenge. We saw a high number of fuckups this week-end with some botched runs.

The UI is indeed pretty bad, partly because the screen is split. Having an option to toggle off the lower left part dedicated to the losing team would be better imho. The UI was clearly better on Twitch, with the ability to check the talents and armory. This one feels lackluster with too much informations you don't really care about (key level, affixes) but can't toggle off.

I like Dratnos casting. He knows what he's talking about and he seems genuinely passionate. The other casters bore me. Xyronic's utility and casting abilities look questionable to me.

That makes sense, I think Blizzard has some deal with Youtube Gaming or whatever that section of the site is called now that means all their content has to go on there?

[dcc626]

It isn't an esport. RTWF isn't an esport. Hope this helps. The commentary is predictable given how thin-skinned Blizzard are and how sensitive they are to political correctness. I personally don't understand how anyone can enjoy this stuff, it's even worse than AWC. At least pvp takes some modicum of skill.

not as much skill as being an internet tough guy though.

[Kokolums]

MDI is incredibly toxic. If you wanted to destroy video games as an industry, MDI is how to turn everyone off.

Here's a hint: people play video games as an *escape* from all the real world BS they have to deal with. MDI injects all the real world stuff into video games. That makes it soooooooooooooo toxic it is unbelievable.

[Barzotti]

That makes sense, I think Blizzard has some deal with Youtube Gaming or whatever that section of the site is called now that means all their content has to go on there?

They made a deal with Youtube last year, and all the Blizzard competitions (OW, HS...) are broadcasted on Youtube aswell. That's shitty for the audience because Twitch is way better.

MDI is incredibly toxic. If you wanted to destroy video games as an industry, MDI is how to turn everyone off.

Here's a hint: people play video games as an *escape* from all the real world BS they have to deal with. MDI injects all the real world stuff into video games. That makes it soooooooooooooo toxic it is unbelievable.

I fail to see that in retail. I don't have any issues getting invited for the level of keys at my level both in BfA and Shadowlands even with 0 r.io score and not playing fotm specs and didn't see the "GOGOGO HURR DURR" people are complaining about. And you have absolutely zero authority to lecture people about why people play video games or should enjoy games.

[Siraeyou]

So while the event still has a ways to go, as someone who's been watching since its inception it has come a long way. Adding the 1 spec rule specifically has helped and we've already seen more diversity in this MDI than a significant portion of the others.

The reason they run 18s with 229 ilvl ist to open up the more creative/entertaining pulls. If you rewind to the earliest seasons with Seat of the Triumverate nightmare rounds you would understand why they transitioned to this setup.

My favorite aspect of the casting is their in depth discussion of the caveats certain teams do with their pulls, as well as their discussion on how it may differ from "live" pulls.

I think Blizz has the potential to make MDI a very good event overall and it's not quite ready to get scrapped.

[Toybox]

I disagree with your point on the gear/key level, as I feel it strikes a good balance between speed & danger that makes for a somewhat entertaining spectacle with multiple ways to approach it.

That said, I agree with the rest of what you said. WoW in general isn't a very viewer friendly game to begin with, & the tournament UI paired with the dull middle of the road commentary has me muting it on a second monitor after one dungeon, & forgetting about the MDI entirely after a few hours. I watched the first game yesterday & a game today just because guildies were watching on Discord.

MDI is incredibly toxic. If you wanted to destroy video games as an industry, MDI is how to turn everyone off.

Here's a hint: people play video games as an *escape* from all the real world BS they have to deal with. MDI injects all the real world stuff into video games. That makes it soooooooooooooo toxic it is unbelievable.

What?

[glowpipe]

It isn't an esport. RTWF isn't an esport. Hope this helps. The commentary is predictable given how thin-skinned Blizzard are and how sensitive they are to political correctness. I personally don't understand how anyone can enjoy this stuff, it's even worse than AWC. At least pvp takes some modicum of skill.

I agree that MDI and RTWF are lame and can't really be considered an Esport. But the last statement about skill is just 100% idiotic. You will never reach even 50% of the skill levels of the top players in mdi or rtwf and they have just as much skill as pvp players

[korijenkins]

Mythic + in general was a terrible idea and poorly executed concept.

Repeating content in this game simply isn't fun. It's not fun to watch either.

[Ladey Gags]

MDI is incredibly toxic. If you wanted to destroy video games as an industry, MDI is how to turn everyone off.

Here's a hint: people play video games as an *escape* from all the real world BS they have to deal with. MDI injects all the real world stuff into video games. That makes it soooooooooooooo toxic it is unbelievable.

It’s incredibly baffling to witness people defending the corporatization of video games through esports and “content creators”. FUCK ESPORTS. FUCK STREAMERS. AND FUCK ANYONE WHO DEFENDS ANY OF IT
Infracted

[Barzotti]

So while the event still has a ways to go, as someone who's been watching since its inception it has come a long way. Adding the 1 spec rule specifically has helped and we've already seen more diversity in this MDI than a significant portion of the others.

The reason they run 18s with 229 ilvl ist to open up the more creative/entertaining pulls. If you rewind to the earliest seasons with Seat of the Triumverate nightmare rounds you would understand why they transitioned to this setup.

My favorite aspect of the casting is their in depth discussion of the caveats certain teams do with their pulls, as well as their discussion on how it may differ from "live" pulls.

I think Blizz has the potential to make MDI a very good event overall and it's not quite ready to get scrapped.

My favorite aspect is how the teams will come up with creative strats and a way to optimize the puzzle represented by the dungeon and the tools they have to use. I'm always impressed by how creative some of the teams are.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Then it's not for you, maybe? It must be getting viewership that they're happy with so...

As for RTWF, I think the most they'll ever interfere with it is to maybe release the raid at the same time across the world. And they haven't done that as of yet. I sincerely do not see them absorbing it, especially not after the drama.

[Toybox]

It’s incredibly baffling to witness people defending the corporatization of video games through esports and “content creators”. FUCK ESPORTS. FUCK STREAMERS. AND FUCK ANYONE WHO DEFENDS ANY OF IT

Esports are awesome. Watching really good Dota players or Rocket League highlights is no different to watching real sports for me, except perhaps there's none of that forced parental fandom (which is a good thing). Seeing a good base race or mega creep comeback gets me more hyped than most games I watch my footy team play right now.

[Biomega]

Right now the MDI does one thing above all else: highlight what's wrong with M+ at the moment.

100% of tanks are Vengeance Demon Hunters, and 100% of them are Kyrian.

Nearly 100% of healers are Discipline Priest; using a Holy Paladin on one team was immediately punished because it can't be...

...Night Elf. Everyone is NE to SMeld off mechanics. Which leads us to...

Everything is about NOT doing mechanics. Yet another affix where the goal is to NOT do the associated mechanic.

The Meta is terrible, too. The new 1-class-per-group rule did almost nothing. Vengeance DH Disc Priest Fire Mage are the core of basically every single group. The two remaining slots are usually distributed between UH DK, Boomkin, MM Hunter, and WW Monk, with the occasional Outlaw Rogue show here and there. This leaves many specs and several entire CLASSES completely unrepresented even in fringe setups.

Which is probably not surprising, because one of the driving forces behind the meta is the AoE cap - or rather, using classes that AREN'T capped. If the reasoning behind the introduction of the AoE cap was the absurd shit people did in BFA with Fire Mage and UH DK mass pulls, it seems kind of, you know, FUCKED UP that this is still a thing. Instead of curbing the most egregious offenders, what the AoE cap actually did was WIDEN the gap and push OTHER specs/classes OUT. Talk about backfiring.

The MDI format itself is, eh, whatever. About as good as it gets for an event like this, that requires a lot of insider knowledge to appreciate. It's no different from, say, WoW PvP - unless you know how PvP works you're just looking at it going "okay I guess someone won this exchange because the commentators said so".

[Woobels]

It’s incredibly baffling to witness people defending the corporatization of video games through esports and “content creators”. FUCK ESPORTS. FUCK STREAMERS. AND FUCK ANYONE WHO DEFENDS ANY OF IT

Fwiw I have no issue with esports nor streamers whatsoever.

[Toybox]

The MDI format itself is, eh, whatever. About as good as it gets for an event like this, that requires a lot of insider knowledge to appreciate. It's no different from, say, WoW PvP - unless you know how PvP works you're just looking at it going "okay I guess someone won this exchange because the commentators said so".

This is the biggest problem WoW has always had. Even as someone with an ungodly amount of time spent on WoW, watching arena games can be incredibly hard to follow at times. In comparison, something like Rocket League can be explained to a casual viewer in about 2 seconds.