MMO melting posted about the decline in MMO’s being caused by game design and i am sad I missed this topic, but there is nothing saying I can’t post about it now.
I have always been an advocate of the larger raids, 40 mans were my favourite an always will be, a 40 man raid team needed to have massive stable guilds, that all had to want to work together and be part of that team.
So what if 10 people in the raid were not the best players, at least they could be hidden away and have fun enjoying the game without hindering the team too much. I certainly was not a great player when I started, I needed to learn a lot and having a 40 man raid team gave me the space and skills to learn that without being the cause of constant wipes.
40 man raids also promoted a better sense of being in a team, I can’t remember how many times I got beaten on rolls for a raid spot, but, i didn’t mind because I knew I would be in the next time. I didn’t come into raiding feeling a sense of entitlement for my raid spot, i knew i was in a team that needed everyone to be supportive and not a tanty thrower.
However when they changed it to 10 and 25 man raids, I noticed a distinct change in people believing they should never be sat out in a 10 man guild. I have always been a string believer that you have to have spare people, because people do miss raids, life happens and you need to be able to continue raiding if someone is unavailable. But I had massive arguments with people believing they would miss out on loot and why should they sit out? The arguments only got worse if you were trying to move from 1o man into 25 man and trying to run 2 x 10 man groups and ensuring one group is as successful as the others.
As anyone that has read my blog knows, we can’t clear Dragonsoul, because the couple of people that can’t play their toons exceptionally well hold the whole team back. The boss fights are getting more and more complicated and is not just a case of standing there and doing a job.
I am not saying the boss fights were boring in MC or BWL, I didn’t think they were, you still had to decurse, move behind barriers, craft cloaks and avoid damage, handle being polymorphed into giraffes etc. I didn’t mind being a mage and my only job was to decurse the entire fight, that was the job I needed to do, it is no different to me doing fiery grip on Spine.
I truly believe LFR is awesome for less skilled players and should really be advantageous for them, but it means you don’t even need to be in a guild anymore if that is your kind of thing.
My issue, is I should be able to do 10/25 raid with my guildmates and not be weighed down by their skill levels. Yes I know a lot of people have said that DS is easy and so many people have cleared it, but my guild is the perfect example of the people missing out on stuff because of a couple. I like the heroic modes, I think they should have it automatically unlocked so the skilled players can head straight into it if they want and it should be hard for them. We are a group of friends who have been raiding together since Kara and we have done a lot of content together, but we generally miss out on the last boss, Vash, Kel, Rags and now DW. It’s a shame with all the hours we put in, the content is just that smidge too hard for some people to in on.
I like the guild perks and levels, however i think they need to give the xp boosts as level 1 and 2, then it won’t be hard for guilds to build up a player base. Or get rid of those two perks entirely. it isn’t needed given how easy it is to level up. I know in my recent guild hunt I wasn’t looking at any guilds below level 25 because mentally i figure they have a large player base that is active.
Anyway, I guess the point I am trying to make is that MMO’s aren’t in decline, but the sense of community and just enjoying the game is being ruined by the fights getting harder and therefore lesser players are getting abused or made to feel they can’t enjoy the game either.
I don’t see a solution, but I certainly don’t think we should have to call out the bad players and make them feel like crap when they pay exactly the same amount as me each month. LFR brings out the worst in people, pugging requires already cleared, high gearscores and heroic is just well out for lot of people. People are still playing WoW – millions apparently, but there aren’t that many people raiding and it does not surprise me at all. If I was new to the game, I would probably have never set foot into a raid the way it is now, and i wouldn’t be pvping – achievement for me then 😀