World of Warcraft: Current Year

The funny thing is, the MDI isn't even a race against the timers. It's a race against the other team. Both teams could fail the timer completely but one team would still win and move on because they were faster than the other team. The timers are completely inconsequential in the MDI.

Honestly I've never watched it. I put it even below Arena as something I'd watch

It's pretty boring, and far less teams are involved now. The last MDI split one of the divisions couldn't even field a full 8 teams, so one of the teams got a bye in the first round. Seems like it's becoming a joke.

Khane said:

Less entertaining than bringing 2 rogues and shroud skipping or cheesing with NE shadowmeld/death skipping? Gimme a break.

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Yeah, sitting around for 2-5min after each pull would be less entertaining. Also, skipping and death runs aren't needed outside of keys that have been pushed past the diminished returns on gear rewards, so I don't see that as a problem. If you want to cry about how the most min/maxed groups stack things, you're just joining the chorus of QQ that lead to the homogenization of the game.

Mythic+ has allowed Blizz to recycle content that had historically been mostly forgotten at max level, and do so in a way that is generally challenging, entertaining, and rewarding for all levels of the player base. But, if always looking for something to bitch about, I suppose you'll never been without options

Should replace MDI with a 'sealed box' variant where each team is launched into a completely empty shard / virgin account at level 1 and they have 8 hours to farm a snazzy outfit / mount combo as evaluated by celebrity judges according to a theme.

Shiftyx said:

Yeah, sitting around for 2-5min after each pull would be less entertaining. Also, skipping and death runs aren't needed outside of keys that have been pushed past the diminished returns on gear rewards, so I don't see that as a problem. If you want to cry about how the most min/maxed groups stack things, you're just joining the chorus of QQ that lead to the homogenization of the game.

Mythic+ has allowed Blizz to recycle content that had historically been mostly forgotten at max level, and do so in a way that is generally challenging, entertaining, and rewarding for all levels of the player base. But, if always looking for something to bitch about, I suppose you'll never been without options

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What the hell are you talking about? If you and your friends want to try to push your own limits and the only way to do that is to wait for CDs before certain pulls/boss fights and you are willing to do it what is the problem? Mythic + was a great addition to the game but they keep iterating on it in terrible ways to force MDI players into a a certain playstyle, which effectively kills the fun for the rest of the playerbase.

If you want to go fast so you can upgrade your keys faster you can, but removing the +1 timer doesn't automatically make M+ less fun or entertaining and sure as shit doesn't mean players will suddenly always be sitting around waiting for CDs. It just gives groups a reason to actually finish a dungeon they otherwise may give up on or not even attempt in the first place. The +1 timer doesn't add anything to the experience of M+ for the playerbase at large.

Khane said:

What the hell are you talking about? If you and your friends want to try to push your own limits and the only way to do that is to wait for CDs before certain pulls/boss fights and you are willing to do it what is the problem? Mythic + was a great addition to the game but they keep iterating on it in terrible ways to force MDI players into a a certain playstyle, which effectively kills the fun for the rest of the playerbase.

If you want to go fast so you can upgrade your keys faster you can, but removing the +1 timer doesn't automatically make M+ less fun or entertaining and sure as shit doesn't mean players will suddenly always be sitting around waiting for CDs. It just gives groups a reason to actually finish a dungeon they otherwise may give up on or not even attempt in the first place. The +1 timer doesn't add anything to the experience of M+ for the playerbase at large.

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The "waiting for CDs" comment refers to what people would be doing to push keys as high as possible, because at some point that would be the only way to do so (like skipping packs and cheesing mechanics in other ways is now). It wasn't something I was suggesting would be commonplace for low keys.

As for the argument that not making the +1 timer leaves you with no reason to finish the dungeon - you still get loot for completion, so...? I don't understand your complaint. You get loot if you finish. If you can't possibly finish in time, you need to get better (gear or skill). I'm okay with there being a penalty (-1 to your key) for not completing the dungeon in an eminently achievable time. At the moment, you can be at least 5-10 ilvls under the dungeon rewarded gear and finish in time to advance your key, so I'm not getting you complaint.

I'll just say you guys won because I don't want to argue the point anymore

But even though you won, the game is still a pile of turds

So no one won

Therefore we all lost

May N'zoth end this world

You guys complain about the strangest things.

a_skeleton_03 said:

This entire conversation is why I will never play WoW again.

At this point it just isn’t fun, it’s a chore that needs outside help to beat. The fact that any developer at Blizzard is okay that the world first took this long

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You're upset it took 1.5 weeks to kill a boss that was announced in December, 7 months ago? So at least 7 months of work to develop content that was completed in 10 days?

Shiftyx said:

The "waiting for CDs" comment refers to what people would be doing to push keys as high as possible, because at some point that would be the only way to do so (like skipping packs and cheesing mechanics in other ways is now). It wasn't something I was suggesting would be commonplace for low keys.

As for the argument that not making the +1 timer leaves you with no reason to finish the dungeon - you still get loot for completion, so...? I don't understand your complaint. You get loot if you finish. If you can't possibly finish in time, you need to get better (gear or skill). I'm okay with there being a penalty (-1 to your key) for not completing the dungeon in an eminently achievable time. At the moment, you can be at least 5-10 ilvls under the dungeon rewarded gear and finish in time to advance your key, so I'm not getting you complaint.

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I think you're kind of missing the point. I don't think the +1 timer is the sole problem with M+ or that it's the reason it's turning into a shell of it's former self. I'm saying removing it would add to the experience for a lot of people, without really taking away from any part of that experience. People who push, aren't pushing for loot, and the loot rewards don't scale past 10, which is fairly easy anyway. A common practice for push groups is to finish a dungeon anyway, in hopes you get an easier dungeon, even though the key is downgraded, so you can hope you get a better upgraded dungeon after you finish that. It's this rollercoaster of hope with no real way to control the experience. And boy does it suck when you slog through that KR 18 hoping you get a FH or AD 17, but instead get Shrine.

M+ needs an overhaul at this point. The dungeon disparity, affix disparity, and crap reward system just kind of suck the fun out of it for anything past a 10, and really anything more than weekly chest outside of maybe the week a new season is released, before Mythic raids are available.

I would much rather see a PoE style map system. No more weekly affixes where nobody plays because it's a "dead week". Keys spawn with random affixes and these affixes can be re-rolled with items that have a chance to drop in M+, with higher drop rates the higher you go. Have other items that let you re-roll the dungeon under the same premise. And these re-roll items can be traded and bought/sold on the AH. Create an ecosystem within the M+ community. Give players a reason to push other than just their IO score. Make it a worthwhile portion of the game again for more than just the first week or two of a new season.

Arbitrary said:

The story is also way, way worse. Having your character ascend to the pinnacle of their class, taking charge of the command structure and quest for powerful historical relics was cool. Doomhammer, Ashbringer, all that jazz. You've got the return of Illidan, the addition of Demon Hunters and the eventual journey to the Legion homeworld to fuck all their shit up. Mists of Zandalaria is, in contrast, lame.

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Late to the discussion here, but this is why I quit WoW and have so far had no desire to return. I've played Blizzard games for a long time and was at least invested in seeing where the story would go for many of the characters. Legion was pretty solid in that regard and had a good storyline with significant payoff, only to then turn around and go back to ye old "Hurr, durr, Horde versus Alliance" schtick yet again.

Even then, I was at least willing to give it a chance due to the whole 'Oh, this time its wont be so clear cut, it will definitely be a grey morality situation' and....... nope, its all fucked up. We dropped all the characters IQ by 100 points, removed what little nuance they had and its right back to "Alliance GOOD, Horde BAD". At that point, I just noped the fuck out.

When I, as a casual fan, can come up with a better storyline while still keeping within the retarded themes you set out in this expansion while YOUR WHOLE PAID TEAM can't..... you done fucked up.

BoozeCube said:

Once again you prove yourself you be a complete ignorant cunt. You act like I haven't done mythic raiding or higher M+? American Inventor you aren't a special snowflake.

Keep sucking that dick though.

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Then have a real discussion instead of being an insufferable cunt with retarded opinions. As I stated, with a toon who was actively raiding mythic, I didn't get a single m plus piece that I wore. So how does m plus gear really factor in to anything?

Ukerric said:

The fun part is that we get this discussion twice a year at least. And everytime some explains that you don't need addons for anything except maybe the current boss. For whatever instance of the current boss there is.

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The thing is the strategy for that boss is easily doable even with decrees that I keep putting emphasis on too. You literally just designate a zone for specific decrees and the problem is solved. But I don't wanna think, that shits gay

A new content update for World of Warcraft is in development and will soon be available on the Public Test Realms (PTR). While not all features will be fully functional and available for testing, here’s a look at some of the new content coming in this version.

Worgen and Goblin Character Model Updates
First introduced in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, worgen and goblins are getting a long-anticipated suite of visual improvements to their character models. These updates include every aspect of how the worgen and goblins look—from their faces to their animations.

Celebrate 15 Years of World of Warcraft
This November marks the 15th anniversary of World of Warcraft, and we have some special things planned to celebrate the occasion. Players who log in during the event period will receive a celebration package in the mail with a Lil’ Nefarian pet and some other in-game goodies. Throughout the duration of the event, you’ll be able to participate in three unique raids with iconic encounters from past expansions along with an old-school-inspired Alterac Valley battleground. Players who defeat all nine bosses in the raid wings will receive the Obsidian Worldbreaker, a Black Dragonflight mount inspired by Deathwing. Players who participate in Alterac Valley and complete an achievement can earn two new mounts: the Stormpike Battle Ram (Alliance) and the Frostwolf Snarler (Horde).

A Fuzzy, Buzzy Mount
Alliance players rejoice – Stormsong Valley beekeepers have figured out how to grow ‘em big enough to ride! Barry the Beekeeper has some quests for you, so you should talk to him to get started on this honey of an adventure.

New Timewalking Raid: Firelands
When Cataclysm Timewalking is active, max-level players will be able to form a raid group and enter the Sulfuron Spire once more. As with previous Timewalking raids (Black Temple, Ulduar), your gear and power are scaled to the challenge, and all the bosses and rewards you expect lie in wait.

Introducing Party Sync
During this PTR we’re experimenting with a new mode that makes it easier for players in a party to do quests and play together: Party Sync. When players activate Party Sync, everyone in the party becomes aligned to the same quest state, including phases. By mousing over a quest in your tracker, you can see who is on the quest, what their progress is, and who’s ready to turn in the quest. There’s something else we’re going to try out on the PTR, a “replay” quest feature. This will allow players who have already completed certain quests to replay those quests with their friends for rewards that are appropriate to their current level, regardless of the original level of the quest.
We’re also relaxing level restrictions on queueing for instanced content with your friends. This allows lower-level players to queue for content in their level range, and higher-level players can choose to join them by having their level scaled down while they’re in the instance. This feature will be available for dungeon instances for PTR Week 1, with PvP instances being flagged in the following weeks. Please note that unlike Timewalking, when your level is scaled down via Party Sync you will temporarily lose access to abilities and powers (such as Azerite traits) with requirements that exceed your reduced level.

Recruit A Friend Returns
Coming in 8.2.5 is a revamped Recruit A Friend system. If you have active game time you’ll be able to recruit your friends—both brand-new to the game and returning champions—to share in your adventures. To do so, you’ll be able to use a new URL generation tool to create a custom link to give to your friends. By following the link, you’ll be connected to each other and will be able to see if they have purchased game time, resulting in rewards for you! For each month your recruits have active game time, you’ll earn a new reward such as unique pets, mounts, game time and more. These rewards unlock per month and scale with how many months your recruits have subscribed for. And, of course, with Party Sync you’ll be able to journey with your friends on any of your characters. We’ll have more information about Recruit A Friend rewards when we get closer to its release.

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you on the 8.2.5 PTR!

...party sync thing is pretty cool honestly, very interested to try this out. Interested mostly cause it's not just scaling down, so I wonder how some items are going to act like some wacky trinkets

Party sync is sounds like sync'd duties in FF14 more or less. Which works reasonably well- but it can be jarring going to the super low level dungeons and having like 3 skills again.

well good news is most classes only have 4 skills so it's okay