There are two ways to make a challenge not related to gear. One is to set the gear to a particular preset. The other is to do something like that one puzzle with a thousand different runes for that one mount that somebody went and actually made an addon for.
A guide can show one the way yes, but depending on how such things would be implemented it could still require effort to a degree, so to speak. Besides, twas not mentioned in the sense to be a challenge similar to that of Mythic, or even Heroic Raids. More so that it be an alternative in a sense.
Though when considering difficulty, what one considers a challenge is a subjective thing. For what is hard for one player, could be easy for another. That said, aye, as mentioned before I can see some, perhaps many āgoogle itā. However as mentioned at the start of this comment, if the riddles, puzzles, and such was made in a way that even with the knowledge to do it still required some amount of brain power and tact, then I can see it working. Least in the sense to the idea of this thread.
I expect to win. This game has to be designed so we can win, imagine never being able to clear the first floor of Duke Nukeām.
I think that the best times in the game were a few expansions ago when weād get strong and good enough to have, say, āheroic on farmā. Our raiders felt good and cocky and could be generous with lower level players with a carry.
Struggling all up hill to finally kill the last boss on heroic makes you never want to do that again; something is odd about todayās game design. Maybe it is tuned too tight or designed so that you canāt get to farm anymore.
Iām not saying anything of the sort. I think the way things currently are are fairly good with the exception of the solo casual gear progression pathā¦or the fact the solo casual has no actual gear progression path. Solo casuals should get to use valor to upgrade their gear to top mythic item levels albeit at the slowest rate and at the lowest base level. People who do harder content should get to start at a higher point and get to the max faster too to reward their success but I see no problem with Johnny McCasual doing his callings using his piddly valor to eventually upgrade a piece at a time every few weeks or whatnot. The argument that āthey donāt need gear to kill world quest mobsā is countered just as much, if not more so, saying tryhards donāt need gear to kill bossesā¦especially end bosses because itās all been done at that point.
Still though, the fact still remains that WoW has a good spread of content at all types of skill levels. There absolutely is a challenge for the 99% and room to grow and improve even if it means just maximizing your own potential and doing better than you did last time.
I wish we had more things like horrific visions, mage tower, Torghast, Jailerās Gauntlet, Islands, or even content like procedurally generated dungeons where there is no known path and with mobs pulled from the entire history of WoW and with randomized affixes active per mob. I rather see content have far less RNG and FOMO attached to it. Like a mount that drops off a rareā¦I rather see it done like WoD where who the frick knows when the mob will be up, but by golly if youāre there you get it 100%. I want to see a far more dangerous world but one where the more you work and put in, the better it gets overtime for a time. Iād love for an account wide garrison/castle that reflects the work and prestige earned by your account as a whole. Every class you get to max unlocks that class wing. Every race you level to max and/or get exalted with unlocks customization options for that race/faction. Every profession you take on can have plots dedicated to it and your own toons training/teaching less progressed toons. Something that I can hang out in and see my time and dedication put in and reflected back at me.
But Iām not holding my breath for any of that.
If its a riddle or puzzle, then a guide will exist to make it trivial.
There just isnāt a way around that.
Riddle wise, pretty much. Puzzle wise, again depends on how the puzzle is made. Not a simple place this here, place that there. But what if a puzzle needed you to hold something such as a staff, then to follow a line, or something that requires you to hurry to said destination that at the same time enemy mobs attempt to attack the staff holder in hopes to destroy it.
In a way, you have say 3 players. 1 holds the item, and thus cannot defend nor attack, the other two players must then follow the player with the item to defend them as they all make there way to whatever the destination is, or maybe even the item itself offers a shield in a AoE fashion. Such as the players would be going through a area that without the item would insta-kill them. Hence the fear of death and failure. The enemy mobs would offer an added fear of death.
Eh, just one example, there are other examples out there.
Edit: Hmmmā¦ perhaps the example would not be a puzzle in sense, but a mechanic rather. Still, the idea to figure out what to do, how to do it, and having to work together would be something I believe some such as myself would like.
I think the idea would be to make it so a guide can tell you how to do it, but you would still need the skill to do it, like say a riddle with the answer of a chicken but there is nothing that looks like a chicken as we know it, there would be clues to the answer but nothing that would say what it was.
Or say like the riddle was based in a runic script that you had to decode into what would be the common tongue.
Iām already facing an insurmountable challenge as it is with just trying to do mythic 0s. I donāt need more challenge added on. I canāt even get into one as a tank.
Your issues might stem more from the idea that not many are doing M+.
To put it another way, I am looking for things you, and others, might like to do in these situations, when grouping is not happening.
Finding groups can be a challenge, but again, I am looking for challenge not related to finding a group but that can be done solo OR after the group is made.
Bro you just contradicted yourself in your opening
Mythic+ style dungeons without a timer. Instead, difficult dungeons (scaling as you go higher as M+ works now) without the need to beat a timer. I canāt tell you how fun it would be to grab some friends and/or guildies and grind a few tough dungeons out together over a few drinks without the worry of getting it done in x or y amount of time. Just a challenging, but rewarding experience. Make CC mandatory, pulls be important, killing the mobs in the right order important, etc. Donāt make it a go go go mode that encourages toxicity or people to bail on failure.
Soā¦ all the stuff thatās important now?
How? I did not state that I felt that content that can be eventually overcome by gear is not challenging content.