A Plea from a Nonraider

#1 - March 3, 2014, 2:30 p.m.

I came back to WOW in late November. Since then I have played a lot and very intensely. I love Timeless and the fact that I have head to purples, I have even upgraded all of the armor on my main with Burdens of Eternity. Thanks to Timeless even my alts are in purples. Since coming back to the game I have raised a monk from lvl 1 to 90, and my alt hunter to 90. I have actively sampled the content of Pandaria, including becoming exalted with every faction in MOP except the Shado Pan Assault.

My point is I play a lot, as much as people who raid. So why are there so few craftable pieces equipment and weapons above 550 for nonraiders? To date I can only find 2 craftable armor pieces for my Hunter & Monk. I don't mind having to work to get the material needed or spend time to get it. While my guild is looking for Raiding help we lack experience and can't raid during the week. And please don't say join another guild. I also don't want to raid with a bunch of strangers who have no patience with my lack of experience. Besides, even if I wanted to, according to this forum, my current equipment is only good enough for an alt, and not good enough for most raiding groups. It is like the old cliche: you need experience to get a job, but no one will give you a job if you don't have experience.

The point of my argument is that Blizzard treats people who don't raid as second tier players, even if we play a lot. I don't think that this is fair, and frankly I find it alienating.

Bashiok

Community Manager

#27 - March 3, 2014, 4 p.m.

I don't think we really view the game as being for raiders or non-raiders. At this point raiding is a large piece of end-game progression for everyone, not just those with dedicated guilds and hours of dedicated raiding time. You can jump into raids quickly now, and finish individual wings within a short amount of time. That doesn't mean everyone has to do it of course, you can play however you like, but the accessibility of LFR and now Flex mean that if you're not seeing that content you are stopping short of big chunks of content that the game has to offer for you. It's available for everyone to enjoy in many different difficulties and modes of accessing it.

I guess my point is I wouldn't label yourself. You're a World of Warcraft player, not casual or hardcore, or a raider or a non-raider. Jump into content you think will be fun, and explore, and try new things.

Bashiok

Community Manager

#44 - March 3, 2014, 4:18 p.m.

03/03/2014 08:06 AMPosted by Fairadey
The person who doesn't want to ever step into a raid, even LFR has long been treated with a neglect. Benign or not it's still neglect.

I would ask why they don't want to step into a raid, and work back from there. Like I said it's a part of the game for everyone. Someone choosing not to ever step into a raid is choosing to avoid a huge chunk of character progression that is purposely created to be accessible for everyone playing. Stopping short of level 90 would also result in fewer options and availability for character power improvements.

Bashiok

Community Manager

#64 - March 3, 2014, 4:39 p.m.

03/03/2014 08:19 AMPosted by Sentenza
There are many ways to hit 90 - there is only two ways to experience raid content. Either being matched with a bunch of strangers, or having to find people who can play when you play.

As an MMO it's not cruel and unusual that many of the games primary systems expect people to play together. I understand that a lot of people like to essentially solo-play the game, but ... well I guess that's a discussion on what this game is and to what degree we support each playstyle, even if that playstyle is contrary to the game's genre. I don't think there are any easy answers there.

I will say that our intent with Warlords is to offer more outside of raiding at max level. That may not be craftable gear, but ideally it'll be compelling solo and dungeon content throughout the expansion for everyone, and even more so for those who choose not to raid.