As with any new feature added to World of Warcraft, there are the doomsayers prophesying that the end of the game is nigh and woe to those who do not recognize it. In today's WoW Factor, we take a look at the Raid Finder recently added to the game. See what we think of it and then let us know what you're thinking in the comments.

Now, I’m not sure who Tweak (the author of the post) is, nor am I sure if I even care, but I have to give props to the guy for coming off as a pristine example of the typical everyman who plays WoW because he enjoys it and just wants a fair shake at the content. If the rest of the thread is anything like the first ten pages (and from what I hear around the water-cooler it is, even some blues stopped by to shake hands with the players) then there is a solid 183 pages of unadulterated praise for Blizzard’s latest prodigal son. I’m not even experiencing the Raid Finder yet and all this jubilant talk is getting me excited for my first run through it!

Read more of Joe Sanicky's The WoW Factor: Raid Finder - A Smash Hit?

In before the OP is crucified...

Actually without it, WoW, would be in really desperate shape.  They lost the hard core gamers a long time ago and have been pushing casual gaming for quite some time now.  They really can't turn back, so it's in for a nickel or nothing at all at this point.  Expect more of these type of changes in MoP.  A lot more.  LOL, I'm surprised they haven't come up with pre-queuing for stuff yet.  You pre-queue when you plan on logging on and when you log in, you get ported directly into a dungeon or raid.  No more sitting in a city alt-tabbed out, you just do dungeons or raids or battlegrounds directly.  No need for guilds or anything.  That is the future that awaits us in WoW.

Originally posted by fivoroth

In before the OP is crucified...

They shouldn't be, because there has been much praise among fans of WoW. Those who are on the outside looking in will see this as a further "dumbing down" of the content, but what they fail to see is a new layer of content for WoW to maintain it's staying power.

There have been issues with LFR, world first guilds exploiting a glitch in the LFR system to obtain loot faster than intended, lead to many week long bans for a long list of players. Blizzard was quick to correct the issue by placing more appropriate restrictions on items in LFR only.

LFR though finally opens the game to everyone (from a PvE standpoint), and it's one-half of a two pronged measure to allow players to "play how they want".

Blizzard also added the ability to obtain Conquest Points used to purchase middle tier pvp items via the random battlegrounds (Conquest previously only being truly obtainable via Rated BGs and Arena).

The LFR system is an excellent tool for what it is meant to be, a way for folks who don't raid a way to see content that was previously not available to them. Raiding and Heroic Raids still exist, and to a degree, Blizzard can up the difficulty of Heroic Raids because of LFR.

Blizzard is making a decent attempt to combat the age of the game, as well as lessen potential losses to other games.

From what i have heard it working pretty well. And this is coming from a Wow hater no less. It's good to see that blizzard is allowing everyone else to experience raiding. it took long enuff, but better late then never.

Raid guild drama was something a lot of folks, myself included, couldnt deal with. This tool may give people a chance to see content they would'nt have before. Like the fellow above said, the hardcore are mostly gone now so why not give the causuals a shot at the content? Its a good move for Blizz as it may keep players busy a bit longer.

Originally posted by pmiles

Actually without it, WoW, would be in really desperate shape.  They lost the hard core gamers a long time ago and have been pushing casual gaming for quite some time now.  They really can't turn back, so it's in for a nickel or nothing at all at this point.  Expect more of these type of changes in MoP.  A lot more.  LOL, I'm surprised they haven't come up with pre-queuing for stuff yet.  You pre-queue when you plan on logging on and when you log in, you get ported directly into a dungeon or raid.  No more sitting in a city alt-tabbed out, you just do dungeons or raids or battlegrounds directly.  No need for guilds or anything.  That is the future that awaits us in WoW.

 

The phrase is "in for a penny, in for a pound", but you're right.  Blizzard hasn't lost the hardcore crowd (as they happen to be the most hardcore game out there right now, if you aren't looking at grindfest JRPGs), so much as they just realize that TBC was as good as they were going to get and they weren't going to be the lot to carry WoW forward (there just aren't enough of them to make a difference financially, after all).  The casualifying (making up new words here) of the game is a natural progression of the pursuit of money, and teh commercial success of WoW is a testiment to the fact that a "hard" game isn't what makes it in this world.  Games that are fun, exciting, and innovative don't have to be hard, challenging, or even repetative (85 levels of quests, dungeons, PVP and dailies will be repetative anyway...) and they will be successful.  While I personally would like to see things be a bit more challenging, I have ways to make the game more challenging (like taking on content that is ovcer my level just to see if I can), so I'm not complaining.  Harddores wanted challenge in raiding, so Blizzard gave them hard modes.  Did they run them?  No.  Did they complain about still wanting challenges?  Yes.  Did Blizzard stop listening to the little whiners?  Yes.  Enter MoP.  I'm laughing all the way to the bank on this one.  I predicted this expansion back in Vanillla.  So enjoy the game for what it is.  I am.

It is still pretty hard to raid with a pickup group, no matter the tool used to find one, even in this dumbed down game.

As someone who had neither the time nor the willpower to deal with the atmosphere of a raiding guild I found the LFR feature to be a huge boon considering I've always wanted to see endgame content when it's current but never had the means nor the drive to (During WoTLK I never set foot in ICC as any of my characters).

I tried LFR for the first time yesterday and while I ended up joining a group in progress that had only one boss to go, it was a rather enjoyable experience since the new "LFR difficulty" is a nice balance between accessable and challenging. It certainly isn't a "faceroll", you still have to be on point, know what you're doing, and be semi-competent in your role. But it's also easy enough that if you happen to lose a few people in the middle of a fight you can still pull through and win (we lost about 5-7 people during the fight but still downed the boss on our first try).

Of course it is a bit sobering to realize you might not ever get a new piece of gear from LFR since you're competing with a handful of strangers but to be fair Blizzard did say that the main goal of LFR was for more casual players to experience end game content and in that regard I'd say they've succeeded.

Funny enough the players you would think would be enormous detractors are actually as enthusiastic about it as the laymen who rejoice the feature.

You know, they were about the Dungeon Finder, too.  Most popular feature in WoW's history, at least for a while.

But then..the negatives began to grow more apparent over time.  The gloss came off, and attitudes turned.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

It is still pretty hard to raid with a pickup group, no matter the tool used to find one, even in this dumbed down game.

 hard and extremely frustrating, i usually just end up leaving the group after the 15th wipe, i only have so much patience >.<

I wish Wow would have had features like this and the Dungeon finder from the start of the game or after vanilla cause the game fell apart for me after the Molten Core Raid instance because I hated the Guild system so despicablely in Wow and still do and only the top guilds could even do the next in line which was Blackwing Lair.

I've used it, the PUG 25 groups have been interesting in its language. Interesting as in downright rude, lol. But Blizzard are getting there.

Ill bet that this could make a good book; "WoW, 10 things i hate about you!"..oh wait...its been done already...

Originally posted by pmiles

Actually without it, WoW, would be in really desperate shape.  They lost the hard core gamers a long time ago and have been pushing casual gaming for quite some time now.  They really can't turn back, so it's in for a nickel or nothing at all at this point.  Expect more of these type of changes in MoP.  A lot more.  LOL, I'm surprised they haven't come up with pre-queuing for stuff yet.  You pre-queue when you plan on logging on and when you log in, you get ported directly into a dungeon or raid.  No more sitting in a city alt-tabbed out, you just do dungeons or raids or battlegrounds directly.  No need for guilds or anything.  That is the future that awaits us in WoW.

 

Wrong there are still quite a lot of top raiding guild that push for heroic content all Blizzard have done is split the raiding community into 3 sections:

Looking for Raid: Casuals PUG's

Normal Raids: Casual / Semi Hardcore raiding guilds

Heroics: Hardcore Guilds

I personally think this a fantastic change and will attract raiders to the specific group in which they come under.

Overall, I think it a wise move.  WoW has been becoming increasingly raid centric.  Instead of leaving the casuals out in the cold, WoW is coaxing them into becoming raiders.

If you can't take the mountain to the casuals, you take the casuals to the mountain.

Just another tool to make wow even easier..... not impressed at all really. 

Originally posted by Coolit

Just another tool to make wow even easier..... not impressed at all really. 

 

Rounding up a bunch of loonies to get yelled at in Ventrilo is difficult.