Please take this idea with the intent that I am seeking to improve a system. As we know now, many players including myself have quit WoW. I recently came back as a check with 9.1.5 to see if these small changes are indeed worth the time and cost of resubbing. Currently, no, it falls far short and nothing fundamental has changed within the game to entice myself, my wife, and a few RL friends to return to WoW.
The biggest issue is not world quests, while tasky and chore like, they are fine for gearing up newer characters and having something to do in the game if needed. Our biggest issue is the dungeon system, M+ in particular. The sense of having any progression for my fantasy character is too stressful and for many such as my wife and a friend with some cognitive issues, too hard.
We are unable to really get past anything more than 9 or 10+. the BIG limiter here is the timer. The difficulty of content is engaging, however having to do said difficulty based on a timer make it null and void. I want the golden era of dungeon feeling back. That being (yes, we were all naive and baddies, but the feeling was great) of having to use more strategy, using our CCs, and reacting to problems as they occur. Why does this matter…here we go.
I would like the M+ system to reverse the timer. By this I mean have it count upwards. The dungeon has limitless time and the party can take 10 min for you super players or 10 hours for those who struggle. The catch is the groups receive the same rewards and the same progression key afterwards. Calm down…please keep reading.
Why this is important for us bad players, it allows me to continue to progress my character and help those less powerful or skillful as I to progress theirs as well. I will not feel trapped with having a lesser player as no matter what, I can still PUG a run or carry somebody without fear of losing anything. YES!!! no punishment from WoW…simply amazing. this system is all reward and encouragement.
This system works for skilled/great players as they can still progress much more quickly than myself and those of my level. Also with this system I will eventually regardless of the time…hit my ceiling. the content will simply either be too difficult or vastly too time consuming to attempt. yes we both complete lets say a 15+ and both groups are awarded a 16 key, however your group crushed it in 30 min and mine took hours. the only loss here is the time I WAS WILLING to put into it. this should help alleviate some of the toxicity and promote players to tank as well.
This system also allows the MDI to be competitive as a timer still exist, they still must 'beat" the other team to win, no loss here with the system. Blizzard can also add achievements/titles/pets/toys for either completing say a 20, good luck casuals…regardless of time your gear and skills matter at that level. (sounds fun to me…I like being challenged, I don’t like being told that a timer dictates my fantasy/relaxation time in a game.)
This type of system still rewards skilled players for completing them quickly…say you beat it in 30 min or whatever a +3 timer is currently, you can still upgrade your key to that level. you should be rewarded an extra chest or loot at the end. I accept and even praise those that do. We know this system is easily implemented based on Thorghast having a built in scoring system based on clearance and time.
I know, I know…we can technically do a 15 now and take 16 hours and get a piece of loot and a s#!t gamble lootery from the vault. We the current system DOES NOT do is allow me to attempt that 15 or 16 again, it does not allow me simply go into a dungeon (as is the point of MMORPGs, to be a fantasy game of progression and power) and fight my way through. The entire point of the system is to promote participation, make players unafraid of failure since their time is NOT wasted in that dungeon/difficulty level. They get to say they beat a 15 and now have a key for a 16 to keep progressing and trying to improve themselves. This slower play for us casual noobs also teaches us mechanics better firsthand rather than massive pulls or stuff getting nuked down, i die instantly and learn nothing, the group yells and berates disbands leaving me with a depleted key of a lower level praying that i do not waste another 20-30 minutes of my time. People can not say that excluding a vast majority of the player base from obtaining cap gear from 15s is good. we all know and see people pushing 20s and soon 30s…so the bragging self reassurance of M+ is their as anything past 15 nets nothing. let players play and enjoy, let them gain gear, who cares how slow and long it takes.
TL:DR
timers count up, players can still do hardest content regardless of their time to get higher level loot, eventually hitting their ceiling. Skilled/geared/MDI players can still be the best of the bestest now running 30s and maybe even 40s. Competitive environment remains. RIO not really needed but still track-able as well. Players ( I know my Wife and friend included) wont feel like a detriment to a team thus increasing both their content in game and giving them a reason to attempt harder content.
I’d love to go into more detail, discuss it, improve on it, but from my experience, any game with a countdown timer tends to exclude more than include.
The button is either auto shoot or barrage, depending on how I’m feeling that day.