Normal 5 > heroic 5 > LFR/Mythic 0> normal raid/mythic + (low) > heroic raid/mythic+ (med)> mythic raid/mythic + (high)
That’s a lot of progression available to anyone with the only exception being the 20 man requirement for mythic raid being tricky.
By the gods, I still proudly ride my Dark War Talbuk everywhere I go!
*DW Talbuk was the expensive one too, not the cheapo one without a saddle lol!
I only got mine, because they had those badges you had to spend available on one of the mission tables. I can’t remember if it was WoD or Legion though.
lol what!?
You can get close to mythic level gear by just doing 5 mask clears every week (I have all the vile manipulator geat at 470 - except for my belt because i’m stupid and put the corruption on the wrong item. You can get 460 gear from just PVPING.
I usually do one mythic a week, maybe would hop into a pug heroic raid (if I needed something) and then run a 5 mask vision.
It’s not difficult and I consider myself casually AF.
Hell, I was even bored last week and decided to jump into a random mythic wrathion raid.
the problem is the amount of chores you have to do to be with the pack on power level, and this has effectively poisoned the whole game.
the issue happened in MoP. “there isnt enough to do” was the issue.
the solution as we see it today is world quests, islands, warfronts, invasions, time walking, and currency/borrowed power grinds.
the problem with this solution… it forces you to do 15 hours of chores a week to stay with the pack. then you need to raid for 6-12 hours, then you need to at least +15 a key. oh wait we are at an easy 30 hours a week, without grinding gold to spend on consumables or enchants.
enter in the wow token. this is great, if your rich. but to keep it possible to do all the above and also have spare gold to pay your sub, forged gear and now corruption had to happen, to give the F2P a chance to breath. oh wait, that only works if you cant buy crafted gear at raid ilvl because that would lower the value of the gear market. well goodbye to useful crafted gear and thus crafting profs are gold sinks now.
“LFR justifies the creation of more raid content when millions of players are able to see content. Only a few thousand people actually saw Kel’thuzad, but millions saw Deathwing. The reason Mists of Pandaria is starting with 18 bosses and adding larger raid tiers than we have had previously is because many players are going to see the raids through LFR.”
Dev Interview, WoWInsider, 9/20/12
I mean grinding rep in Classic for Talbuk mounts vs. grinding rep for your class to feel more complete (essences) is a WORLDS difference.
Cata Tier 13 was bad because LFR was created and completely diminished the point of organized raiding until it got the nerfs it deserved, albeit much later.
Seems like you’re considering it from a raiding angle. As a casual, I’m here for the completionist content. Achievements, quests, mounts, and BGs are really enjoyable.
I don’t think it’s possible for any company to make a Raid I’d join let alone enjoy. I rely enough on other people in the real world, and I hate them all for it. In the fantasy realm, I’ll contribute to the greater good by dumping crafting reagents onto the AH.
Ah, it’s been a few weeks since I’ve run a boss only kill. My mistake! Maybe it was the drop from the assault chest that I’m thinking of instead 
That is 445, as well as the assault bosses. 
Never assume you speak for everyone. It’s a bad look.
Not much of a point for anyone to play anymore.
Casuals have a reason… They dont have to be the best… Many of the things are optional.
WoD i say was the most casual unfriendly xpac.
They were also REQUIRED for player power. You get absolutely nothing besides pathfinder for grinding rep right now outside of ONE essence that is a minor dps increase over some alternatives. The difference in power from BotD 3 Minor compared to any other minor essence is going to be lower than the difference between having all your gear enchanted from the various reps and not having any enchants.
I’ve done the cloak questline twice now on boosted characters that start at what? 390? Does it take awhile? Sure, whatever, but it is definitely doable and you get like 4 440+ pieces of gear along the way.
I caught an alt up to my AOTC main in like 2 weeks. You’re nuts. Aside from actually moving your character from point A to point B you are literally handed everything right now.
You are not the target demographic. In fact, when LFR was required (wod legendary) or even just a possible source of an upgrade, raiders complained bitterly that they were being forced to do it, and devs responded by making it pointless for anyone to do.
But-but-but getting 10 times as much garbage 410-420 gear as you ever needed actually counts as getting exactly what you needed, if you’re a casual.
You want to be doing mythic plus if you are casual now. Having gearing progressions tied to visions sort of sucked this patch. I feel I wasted so much time grinding the currency for my alts and then corruption is being deleted from the game… I spent more time grinding then actually getting gear and use up the currency : /