So this will be a long post but the overall point is while I agree with you the IO is just a tool the problem lies with accessibility. As games get older the game has to work to make sure that more players have the ability to be exposed to the content as possible. Right now under the current state of the game that does not exist. That issue when coupled with the fact that Blizzard does an absolute horrible job of class balance you find yourself in a situation that actually fosters toxicity and resentment among players.
I don’t see this entitlement. I think you have the view twisted. People don’t want to jump immediately into +15 but they would like a way to understand how to get there, how the content feels, and what’s to be expected. So far once you hit 60 you can start running all the dungeons and Keystones. But WoW does a pretty crappy job explaining how they work. Even the Adventurers log doesn’t go into key details about what happens. The jump from Heroic to Mythic is also harder because the dungeon adds abilities that you don’t see in normal or heroic —and then keystones also add unique abilities. This is just a bad design unless you have a chance for players to enter a separate instance that shows them this is what happens and this is how you should react.
That’s the core of the issue. On one side you have a group of players who only want good players and demand it from their groups. But instead of saying to them while PUGing get a guild so you don’t have to lug—you say to the person who has no idea what they’re doing go find a guild who will teach you. Let’s be real here a good teaching guild is far more rare than a decent progression guild that has an active group.
So this gets into my next point the game from 1-60 is not the same game as the one from 60+. In fact the game is so rapidly different that you could be playing an entirely different game all together. What do I mean by this? Well let’s take plaguefall for example. Plaguefall has unique boss mechanics that I did not see once while soloing from 1-60 or from any normal dungeon I ran in LFD. That’s a huge issue. Veteran players are used to that kind of content. Players who are leveling for the first time, or haven’t played WoW before how are they expected to understand this? Claiming that you should watch YouTube isn’t a solution either. Imagine if you’re trying to teach a child math—and your answer is watch YouTube. That’s not how people learn. They learn from experience and mistakes.
This is the majority…most players do this but most also get burned out around 2-5 because typically this when the meta comes into play. Plus the toxicity jumps a significant amount from 6+. So what are some solutions?
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Training Grounds—Doesn’t have to be the instance but it can have several mechanics that expose players to what they’ll be facing. For example the training dummies are great for getting a rotation down, but what about a separate instance that lets you do this while dodging lava pools. This instance should also show you how LoS works, what soaking means, and how to work on your rotation if you need to switch adds. This small 1 player instance can be used to teach so many players how to use the game and honestly blizzard should have a quest line pop up for you once you hit 60 so you know how to work your class
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Fix class balance!! This probably should be number 1. So many players get hung up on that’s not how it was in the past or this class has been on top for 2 expansions. Ya I’m gonna give you some advice—NONE OF THAT MATTERS there’s Zero excuse for Blizzard and Ion and his team to have such a disparity among DPS, Tanking, and Healing from the top to the bottom. It’s unacceptable. Quite frankly it’s unprofessional and makes them look like rank amateurs. Literally a lot of the toxicity would go away if all the specs were viable. Meaning that they’re within 1% of one another. Don’t hand me—this is how it’s always been BS—FF14 has a bunch of jobs and classes and each one of them is viable. That needs to be addressed it’s pathetic how many people make excuses for it. Grow up, fix you stuff blizz.
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Matchmaking. Tons of players have opposition to this. But in any other game going forward matchmaking will be the Norm and WoW will represent the past. There’s no logical reason why a game can’t make a matchmaking system based off your character so you’re only running content that you’re geared, and qualified for. It’s beyond dumb to say oh well this content is harder and you don’t want to play with bad people right? Well in any other game a matchmaking system woul exist where you’d be grouped based off your ranking. That’s what IO seeks to do but instead of the game providing an objective matchmaking your putting your faith in the hands of people who more often than not are crappy and piss poor manners.