I’ll start this off by saying: I like running Mythic+. My problem isn’t necessarily with the concept, but the route it’s taken.
Here’s my hot take: I think MDI is bad for the players. Yes, yes, it’s fun to watch. I’ve enjoyed watching it. But it has some consequences, mainly:
Meta builds. I know they’re not necessary for running a 15 or even 17 or whatever. But the trickle-down effect is that people think they are, or that they at least make any run more likely to beat the timer. And it may even be true, but regardless of whether it’s true or not, it makes it harder for non-meta specs to get into 14s or higher. In short, people get an overinflated sense of the value a given spec adds to a group.
Hyper-design. As MDI players become better at the game, and beating the designers of the game, the designers will have to figure out ways to raise the stakes. This has been done by increasing the cost of failure in several dungeons, whether it be in the form of single-use tools (ie. Necrotic Wake), long corpse runs (ie. Spires of Ascension), packs that are best invis-skipped, Prideful timings, or whatever. Seeing a team fail at something in MDI is very exciting, but personally struggling with Tyrannical Stitchflesh because we don’t have a special weapon anymore is less so.
Incentives. These are not insurmountable obstacles, of course. It takes practice. I, as a player, perform worse under pressure, such as people shouting at me or knowing people will leave if a group wipes. Needless to say, pugs aren’t for me. Gosh, do people actually learn something in pugs under those conditions? So I play with guildies, and we hone our craft together. We might fail keys, but we can have a conversation about it later, and deal with it better next time. Our group becomes more and more tightly knit, where we only really play as that one group anymore. Anyone else in the guild looking to get even 4 Mythic+ runs on any given week might have a hard time doing so, because both our teams have become exclusive cliques. So while I’m grateful for having been included in a team, I don’t like the exclusivity it creates. Because as the teams get better at handling with specific situations and playing as a unit, the the gap between a team and non-team players widens, and bridging that gap becomes increasingly difficult.
At the end of the day, this is just a rant. Putting some of my frustrations on the screen. I don’t have any particular suggestions or fixes, but I do wonder if there was a way to make M+ a bit more inclusive, a bit more conducive to learning, without sacrificing MDI… Though from what I’ve heard, even MDI isn’t doing too hot as an e-sport right now.