Hi. I’m a filthy casual.
Been playing since end of TBC on this account and a previous one. Due to time investment I am reluctant to stop my sub. With severe money pressures at the moment (that nasty virus elephant in the room) it is harder to justify.
Over the years I have become somewhat jaded at the prospect of the expansion’s gear grind. In recent years in particular I just know that it will never end. On and on and on collecting gear points. As a filthy casual I know I will never reach the end. Too many hours needing to be invested. At time over the years I’d also have dramas with begging the raid leader for gear too or having people who feel more entitled than me rolling need against me.
And of course in dungeons and raids I have to play as DPS. I love to heal and tank too but as a tank I am not allowed to pause to smell the roses. I must be seen as in a hurry and well researched on all encounters. Never ever ask for help, lol. And even as a DPS I know I must not pause to skin a mob or mine a node or else I’ll get left behind. Heaven forbid I pause to consider a piece of gear which just dropped.
If only gear drops had been personal drops back when I was keenest. With a % chance of a BiS drop and if no drop after, say, 15 runs then compensation for bad RNG so I’d have that drop by the 20th run. If only! And if only the drops could also include regular off-spec drops too (but not BiS) so I had a chance to gear up for my secondary spec.
And if only that heirloom nonsense could be consigned to history. Easily done: just should have stopped the heirloom progression at end of WotLK level. It’s a blight on the game and we are stuck with it.
And pet battles. If only they had been kept well apart of instances. Pet drops in instances? Totally unnecessary except if inserted into quite old content which of course would be easily soloable.
I long for a mix of old-time BiS drops, mixed with modern day loot drop and distribution fairness, as above.
Maybe one or two BiS items can randomly drop from questing mobs. Really low drop chance but RNG “correctives” ensure that we have the gear by the end of ALL of that expansion’s main and side quests.
Some BiS drops in dungeons. Some BiS in raids. A little BiS from crafting - heck crafters need to make some gold on the AH in order to justify their time spent in their craft. Some BiS gear enchants and gems included here too.
But BiS obtained in raids must not be limited to the highest raid levels or else filthy casuals such as myself, who need to “get good” and “learn to play”, will never get their BiS gear.
Lets save the higher end raids for those wanting to brag about their awesome ability to sink time into the game with cool achievements, special mount rewards, and most importantly points to spend on awesome looking tier gear which, as befits this marginal group of players, will give a marginal benefit, in a raid setting,
as a complete set over BiS gear and is especially good for speed runs for rare / elusive mounts and awesome achievements!
These players will of course be slightly miffed at this proposal but then, any pedestal they stand upon would never be tall enough to separate them from the stench of filthy casuals such as myself, so what’s it matter, lol.
All things considered, that is ample reward for those who want to invest a lot of time in the game. It is a question of economics too: even the filthy casuals matter (and in terms of subscription numbers heck do they matter!) in terms of retaining subscriptions. They are just as good as other players, they just have less time available to allow their awesomeness to shine through!
And a modest amount of daily questing. A BiS item or two as an ultimate reward, as well as the usual toy and mount reward.
But every week, once the questing is done, I want to feel I can log in, perhaps daily to get a few dailies done, and essentially feel that “I’m done for the week”, “I’m done for today”. That is with respect to the gear grind.
Currently, the past few expansions at least, I never have a feeling of being done, with respect to gear.
We have a lot to do in our lives. Lots of social media, lots of streaming TV, family stuff like shopping, cooking and our partners and careers too. As a kid / young adult I had time on my hands.
If I find I have time, I can do my pet battles, archaeology (both are a lot of fun), world event shenanigans (I never tire of those ram runs, bunny runs, darkmoon faire, etc), transmogging, mount collecting.
The biggest turn-off are all the massive convolutions designed to keep us playing not just daily but hourly. The millions upon millions of points I need to be acquiring. For small incremental “gains” which only make the gear hunt elsewhere a bit easier to survive, not achieve. The huge number of followers I need to put to work for no real satisfying goal. Those shipyards… why, lol.
And the need to chop and change timelines. Lazy storytelling which consequentially retconned or confused existing lore, as epitomised in WoD as a whole.
The one thing that keeps me coming back is the incredible art of Blizzard. I love questing in the new zones. Blizzard really know how to do a zone! The gorgeous exteriors and the improved questing experience over the years are what keeps me returning.
And while on questing I do appreciate that some complexity to a character’s development really adds to the backbone of the lore. Thinking the incredible story arc of my man Illidan Stormrage! Badass! Jaina too. The tragic story of Anduin and his kin. Not to forget green jesus and his family. Love Go’el.
But most of the side quests in a zone, broadly speaking, have not been integrated into a thematic zone wide whole. A simple example, look at the side quests in Elsweyr in ESO. They mostly fit into the general zone wide narrative. Yes WoW has more light and shade, especially in terms of whimsical humour and that is WoW’s strength. Thankfully, the most recent expansion did address this much better than older expansions.
So with the upcoming expansion, hopefully:
(a) clear gear objectives. BiS and a few different means to obtain it
(b) filthy casuals feeling as though they can complete the gear grind too
© a reason to return on a weekly basis, at least for a while, until the next big patch
(d) no need for filthy casuals to invest anymore time than is necessary for the lowest tier of raiding
(e) gorgeous panoramas, creatures
(f) immersive questing