What is bloody wrong with people?

[Draylock]

A person playing a non-meta class/spec is more likely to be shit simply because players who care about performance are more likely to choose the best spec/class available to them.

Or you could say that a person playing a non-meta class/spec has much more knowledge of their character and their abilities than the tier whores?

[ydraw]

Or you could say that a person playing a non-meta class/spec has much more knowledge of their character and their abilities than the tier whores?

Or you could say that they don't care about performance, which is logically true. Because if they did, they'd be playing the best performing spec that their class has.

[Relapses]

Or you could say that they don't care about performance, which is logically true. Because if they did, they'd be playing the best performing spec that their class has.

This is a fallacy. I'd sooner not play a class at all than play a spec I simply don't like. Not because I "don't care about performance" but rather because I realize that in a game with 36 spec/class combinations there are bound to be some that I can jive well with and some that I definitely cannot.

[Draylock]

Or you could say that they don't care about performance, which is logically true. Because if they did, they'd be playing the best performing spec that their class has.

My point is, both of our statements are equally "strawman-y" and artificial since they only serve to back our prefered point of view, not prove it. You can say that people that play meta specs:
1) Care about their performance, so they will naturally be good at meta specs, so everyone should be looking only for them for their m+, or
2) Are just blind idiots following the meta without understanding it and will be shit at meta specs, cause they are clueless and everyone should avoid them

Similarly, people that stick to their preferred classes/play whatever they like:
1) Put lots of care and attention into their character, so they will be naturally good at them and will be able to perform better than meta specs, so everyone should be looking only for them for their m+, or
2) Are careless idiots that have no clue about the game's meta, don't care about their performance, cause they are bad at the game and everyone should avoid them

There is, however, a fair metric - rio. The score that actually shows your success in m+. Obviously, this system has TONS of issues, but I don't see a valuable alternative at the moment. People have to understand that if a non-meta character has 1k+ score - they know their shit.

[Danvash]

I'm also a warlock main, and this happens to everyone.

Whenever I post a 14+ key, I get over 30 applicants within a minute and whispers asking me to take completely underqualified people so they can get something from their Great Vault. The obvious response is to take the right applicants to make a balanced group, and that also includes going for the people with the best gear and highest Raider.IO scores so that the chances of timing the key are higher. If I see a 215 & 1100io hunter and a 220 & 1300io hunter both in queue, both complete strangers, who do you think I should choose if I want to time my key? I'm posting it so I can get gear, not out of the kindness of my heart. And if I just take whoever applies first, it leads to situations like the tank getting deleted on the first pull and then leaving. Suddenly I no longer have a 14 key, and the only people who want to run a 13 are people who've only timed an 11 of the dungeon due to how gear drops work in mythic+.

Every group needs a tank, a healer, a battle res, and some form of heroism. A melee for short interrupts is also required for four dungeons in this expansion if you don't want to burn through time by CCing casters and killing them separately. In addition, you also need at least one person of the dungeon zone's covenant. Along with these requirements, many affixes punish groups that run with too many melee or are countered by specific classes. (For example: druids, rogues, and hunters can dispel Raging.) And on top of all that, some dungeons also favor specific classes to get through their most difficult points. (On tyrannical Stradama, having disease dispels makes it a lot easier. Having a shadow priest or warlock for tyrannical Kul'tharok allows your group to dispel both parasites that go out and significantly reduces the HPS required to beat the boss.) And then there are just fights in dungeons that are friendly or unfriendly to certain classes.

If you're keeping all these things in mind when forming a group, there isn't a whole lot of wiggle room in who you can bring. I think warlocks are very good in mythic+, but I would not bring a second one in my own keys, even if they are 1500 IO and 225 item level, because it would still be worse than the 215 shaman in queue since warlocks don't have heroism.

With more gear, most of these problems go away. To people timing 15s and 16s, 13+ keys are chill at this point, and you can hard carry someone and still time them. As we get several more weeks' worth of gear, 15s will be there as well. If you keep gearing and working toward the mount, you will be able to get it by the end of the season on any class and spec you want to play. Trying to get it right away through pugging is the equivalent of trying to pug mythic bosses. You need to find a guild or group of regular people to run with if you don't want the headache of constantly being declined and flamed over every little mistake.