Greetings,
the current state of M+ for pugging is really bad, and i mean it in a way of TRYING to get into one. For example applying to a group these days is completely impossible if you’re a non-meta spec or you are part of other cases which i will dig deeper into below.
For start i would like to introduce myself. I’ve been an active player for many years and still i’m. I primary focus on M+, where i found some things that i find irritating. I push keys with friend of mine or solo as both DPS and TANK role at keystone levels 2-17. So i would consider myself as “advanced player”.
The absolute majority of players are DPS, for them logging into an M+ solo is absolute nightmare, the cases which i mentioned before are in my opinion NON-META spec logging, achieving low Mythic Plus Rating first day of the new season results in nonsense declining in the following days even if the player performed well or the same as the leader of the group he is applying for, extremely high Mythic Plus Rating requirements to people have even it is enough for this keystone level which result in a toxic behaviour in many cases.
NON-META spec logging,
This part is very hard to balance, and I get the message here. On low keys (2-12) it should not be a problem to log as any of the specs, because at those keystone levels they perform well. BUT the meta becomes meta as we go higher, where the actual performance of the classes really matters, and the best of the best becomes the META. This is completely fine, but the problem starts when players only define the META for everything, even the low keys. In the end you’re pushed into playing the meta spec on the absolute majority of the keystone levels and you can not play what you like.
Low Mythic Plus Rating First Days of the NEW Season,
This part is about not achieving Mythic Plus Rating FAST in the new season, which most likely will result in auto-decline scenaMythic Plus Ratings. I understand that you have every right to pick what people will form your group, but at the start of the new season I see no clear reason for declining people with the same item level and same Mythic Plus Rating past the last season. This becomes really frustrating and eventually starts building FOMO(fear of missing out) effect, which is developing stress and anxiety. This problem is hard to fix as players have RIGHT to choose the players they want, but i might find a solution which i will explain in a bit.
Extremely HIGH Mythic Plus Rating requirements for adequate keystone levels,
Here I will probably repeat myself from the article above. I found it really irritating to apply to a keystone level with more than adequate Mythic Plus Rating and still receive a decline. This works hand in hand if you are playing NON-META spec or not, yet even if you are for example playing the META-SPEC you are somehow still declined with adequate Mythic Plus Rating.
All of this and many other cases which I didn’t mention are building high toxicity, irritating atmosphere, anxiety and even force you to stop playing the game. You might argue with things like, go socialize and find a guild or a group of players which are sharing the same goals as you, but what if you don’t want to do that? Then you can’t play the game? World of Warcraft should be accessible for everybody, whether you want to socialize or not.
SOLUTION FOR THIS PROBLEM,
This is the core of this whole article and that is the solution which me and my friends found really interesting and prospective for the playerbase. In the end the M+ are one of the most attractive things players across World of Warcraft participate in and should be treated well.
Making the M+ Dungeon Finder Like,
This means that making a group for your friends will still be a thing, but eliminates the SOLO players, who find it quite hard to find a group to join in. This might break the whole idea of traveling into a dungeon and acquiring dungeon portals, but who really cares? Or keep the travel system with everything, the portals, summoning stone etc. But join the players together.
How would this work? Blizzard already did this. It’s called PVP Ranked, where you join a group by a finder which automatically joins you into a group. This group is determined by your score in ranked matches. And this works perfectly well right? At the start of the season everybody starts at Mythic Plus Rating 0. Everyone is then joined into a group with players of the same amount of Mythic Plus Rating. This works so on, when you achieve a Mythic Plus Rating for example of 2500, your “teammates” which the finder logs you in with will be in the closest range of that Mythic Plus Rating (2450-2550 numbers are just an example, the range should be dynamic for keystone level). Basically you are still playing with people of your range of Mythic Plus Rating, yet you can make full premade groups and join as well. This fixes so many problems the current system has.
Achieving Mythic Plus Rating,
Here the system could change or could not. Currently you achieve Mythic Plus Rating based on if you complete the dungeon or not, and at what pace you did it. This is fine for me and i wouldnt change anything, it’s simple and works well. But here is the twist, when you do not complete the dungeon in time, you will lose Mythic Plus Rating. (this is very controversial, works the same in other games, like CS2, Marvel Rivals, etc. and I am not fully convinced if this would be a great idea, so i let you guys to discuss what are your opinions. Should the Mythic Plus Rating be static and you cannot lose it or you can lose it and it starts to be more competitive).
I think eliminating the frustrating wait time to log into something and accidentally wiping and logging in again for a great amount of time is the main goal that should be on the list. Also making the system more solo, duo, tMythic Plus Rating or even quattro player friendly should be the main pMythic Plus Ratingrity to keep the players playing and even attract new players. I really hope for some change in the near future to make it more fun to run keys and not just keep playing the waiting simulator, which i dont find exciting.
What are your opinions on this? I would like to spread this article as much as possible. Thanks for your time!