Disclaimer This is an opinion and I don’t have any data to back up claims here.
I’ve been seeing this debate now rage on for years over M+ and how WoW would whither and die without it now. I completely disagree!!! The fact that the older versions of the game existed just fine without this Diablofication of the dungeon content speaks volumes in my opinion.
I personally think the only reason M+ gets any attention from the bulk of the casual player base is due to it’s ease of assembling groups for it and the fact that it gives people access to raid level gear without the hassle of raiding. I’d wager that a lot of players really don’t enjoy it, they just like the easy gear.
I doubt many people that signed up to play a MMORPGs envisioned speed running dungeons as a fun activity. I’d argue that most MMORPG players are probably fans of DnD which WoW and many other MMORPGs drew their inspiration from. Could you imagine sitting down to speed run a DnD session with your friends? Seems pretty ridiculous huh?
Anyway, I know that M+ is optional content, but one could argue that it does have an impact on the rest of the game. The e-sport nature that is based on has for sure influenced player behavior in the dungeon scene both in M+ and non M+ dungeons.
I know M+ isn’t going anywhere, but it is nice to fantasize a version of hard dungeon content that isn’t based around FOTM classes, gimmicky afixes and having it’s main objective to beat a timer. I know you can ignore the timer, but this really limits your chances of fielding a group for it.
They have Normal, Heroic, Mythic, and Mythic +. I am guessing if you are playing wow for the story you could just do Normal Dungeons, LFR (maybe Normal Raid) for the story and be done with it.
I enjoy it well enough. I prefer raiding, and it’s clear Blizzard likes to spit on raiders that aren’t at Mythic level (seriously, I hate the server restrictions for Mythic raiding). But M+ is a nice break from the long hours out into raiding, especially when the dungeons are well designed.
Of course, I prefer the run and done nature of CMs over always running M+, but that’s just me. I also felt the most accomplished and had the most fun during Mechagon Hard Mode when we finally managed that.
I enjoy M+, if it wasn’t a thing then I’d be spending a ton less time on WoW. Dailies, Weeklies and Raid is all I’d log in for.
Its nice to be able to get decent gear from it at the start but raid gear and weekly vault quickly overtake it and I’m not doing 19s/20s for “Easy access to raid gear”. If that was the case I’d stick around the 14/15 mark where the gear level caps out
Would WoW still be around without it? Sure
Would WoW be better without it? Depends who you ask
The enjoy that there is a competitive alternative to raiding. Many people enjoy doing dungeons, and M+ is a good way to keep it fresh and be rewarding.
I enjoy the premise and like doing them but I can play pessimist.
The execution is literally the definition of the gear treadmill. The items don’t even change appearance, and you get a mount as a consolation prize if you do all the dungeons on level 15. It’s a very minimal effort system that gives them the most time played metrics. Season to season the gear doesn’t change, the dungeons get arbitrary number boosts, and you’re doing the same thing again (but with 1 new affix at level 10).
Each patch they boost the numbers, change 1 affix, and a make a mount. At least pvp gets a raid tier reskin.
I mean… the game might be FINE without mythic+… but it is also a fact that the game is better WITH it.
The more people who have a path to enjoy the game long-term, the better. Raiders have their mythic raids, pvp-ers have rated bgs and arena, and dungeon based players have mythic+. This is a positive.
But ya, you’re probably right - the game wouldn’t just die if mythic+ were gone tomorrow.
Define “fine”. FFXIV has less subs than WoW but it is doing fine I guess, so I guess technically you could make WoW worse and lose a lot of subs and still be okay, but that doesn’t mean that’s a good idea.
honest question, what do you do ingame if you dont touch M+ or raids? callings? lol please. this expansion more so then any other launch has almost nothing outside of that content. im not saying i enjoy it either cause lets be honest doing the same runs over and over for no rewards is more a waste of time then anything but seriously if they just took it out how long do you think the game would survive on what is left to offer.
