Who is LFR made for?

The early reviews of the looking for raid make it look like a success because there were no problems.  It also make it look like it was way to easy.

These results are skewed however because of the people that are giving the reports of how easy it was and how good their experience with it was.

The LFR is so easy at the get go because of the "excessive" item level requirements of 372.  It is not excessive.  If anything I believe the item level is to low but I can see the reasoning behind 372.  The only reason we are hearing people call 372 excessive is because the only people that had a 372 or better item level at launch where raiders.

Is looking for raid for raiders?

Most people that are at or above 372 at launch where likely to be at least 4/7 in firelands.  If someone is 4/7 in firelands they probably have a basic understanding of raiding mechanics.  They probably have a basic understanding of group make up.  They probably have a basic understanding that every fight will be a dance.  They probably even watched a video or read a guide before stepping into the raid finder.

These people, the ones that had 372 at launch, where raiders.  Part time raiders.  Average raiders.  Casual raiders.  Maybe even lesser skilled raiders.  But they where all raiders.  They knew how to raid.

This is why the LFR did so well on launch day.

As the bad players start to catch up in gear a little they will start to flood the LFR and the success rate will drop like a rock.

The thing is, the bad players are not raiders.  They do not understand raids.  They do not care about working as a group.  They think the one marked with the skull means it is dangerous and they must keep away from it at all costs.

There are two types of raiders as well.  Raiders who can have fun outside of raiding and raiders that think nothing is fun unless it is a challenge and anything easy is for bad players.  The ones that think easy means for bad players are the raiders I am talking about here.

So it seems these raiders that are complaining it is way to easy seem to forget something. 

LFR is NOT for the raiders.

The LFR is to raiders what questing in the blasted lands is to any 85.  Sure, you can do it if you want to but it is not going to give any real challenge.
It is something to pass the time, something to gear up alts faster, something for fun even.  That is what the LFR means to raiders.  It is not for active raiders.  That is what the real raid is for.

Is looking for raid for bad players?

Bad players will find their way to infest the looking for raid because it is super easy to attain a 372 item level.  They will grind heroics and work hard for their gear, don't get me wrong, I do consider grinding heroics to be work and I do consider it earning your gear. 

If anything I think assembling 2200 valor points for one piece of 397 gear is a hell of a lot more work then poking a boss with a stick and looting your 397 gear.  I personally believe non-raiders work harder for their gear than raiders.  It is part of the reason I like to raid, easy loot, no grind.  But grinding is an easy way for bad players to get the gear and with a grind you will get there sooner or later even if you are a bad player.

Case and point, in the last of the new heroics yesterday I had a warrior doing 3K the entire instance.  Yes, 3K.  I didn't kick, no one else kicked, not even sure if anyone considered kicking.  We killed everything fast enough and that the lack of the warriors DPS did not hurt us in any way so we just kept moving.

Players like that will end up with 378 gear, they will end up with 397 gear, they will end up in the raid finder because grinding does not discriminate between between the good and the bad players, just the players that have perseverance and are lucky enough not to get kicked.

They have no business being in a heroic in my opinion but if I have learned anything kicking will not teach them anything.  If anyone kicked the 3K warrior then the warrior would just call us all elitist jerks or something much saltier.  Everyone thinks they are good, everyone thinks they are doing a good job, they think they are contributing.  I am sure it never occurred to that warrior that he got carried, carried big time.

What really bites me is the warrior had the balls to want to roll need on the tank trinket on the last boss.  The tank won it so no harm no foul but how dare you get carried like that and then try to take a piece of gear that does not even fit your role.

I went to the armory after the run.  His gear was ungemmed, unenchanted, unreforgered, no surprise there right?  He has mostly PvP pieces, a couple of tank pieces, a couple of DPS pieces and one agility weapon.  Sad part is, even with his super crappy collection of gear he still should have been pulling 8K at least. Heck, I know warriors that probably could have pulled 13K or 14K in that gear.

These are the people that will hurt the looking for raid.  They have no business ever being part of group content because they are not capable of even attempting to give their fair share toward the group effort.

So bad players are complaining that it is too hard or the item level is too high. 

LFR is NOT for bad players.

Bad players should stay in solo play or play with friends only.  It is an insult to everyone that plays the game that we ever need to even group with these players.  But it is our own fault, like it is mine as well.  I never kicked the warrior, I never told him to step it up, I never even questioned why he was wearing nearly all the wrong gear.  I am as much a part of the problem as the bad player is because I did nothing to let that player know that they where bad.  Not like they would have believed me anyway.  I would have just been called an elitist if I mentioned that 3K is not acceptable for a heroic.

Is the looking for raid for unskilled players?

There are various degrees of unskilled players.  They could be unskilled because they are new to level cap and never experienced raids.  They could be unskilled because they are not very good at what they do but they try their best.  They could appear as if they are unskilled because they have a bad connection or a slow computer.

If the area of unskilled is more classified as underachieving.  Like I ask my raiders for a minimum of 15K if someone is doing 13K I consider them underachieving.  I know they can do more, they just aren't.  Or if someone can kick out 20K on the dummy but for some reason they are never over 12K in a raid they are an underachiever. 

That type of player is the unskilled player I am talking about here.  They have not learned how to put their knowledge into practice yet.  If they have some actual time in a raid environment, something they can do over and over a few times to learn how the dance works and how to do what they do while dancing they can quite possibly be a good player in the near future.

Remember, we all had to learn somewhere.  We did not walk into the first raid we ever did and do everything picture perfect.  We all had our hiccups.  We all had our failures.  Even experienced players have issues when learning new fights in new surroundings.  Any hunter that has ever disengaged themselves off a platform before can attest to that one.  I know I have done it once or twice this expansion.  Oops. I learned, just like the unskilled players will learn.

So unskilled players now get the chance to attempt something over and over and learn the dance without asking to be carried.

LFR COULD be for unskilled players that want to get better.

It gives them the chance to experience it, to get gear and to not expect people to carry them.  Their slightly lower ability will not hinder a group in this content that has slightly lower requirements.  It is designed for people that are not experienced raiders as mentioned before.  It is designed for people to get the experience they need.

Is looking for raid meant for new players?

This could be a trick question.  It could be very harsh on new players because there will be raiders and bad players in there and as I mentioned that neither of them should be there, this is not content from them.

If there are no bad players or raiders in there to ruin their experience it will be great for a new player.  It is complex enough that it will teach them that fights have mechanics but it is not so complex that if someone messes one small thing up it will wipe the whole group.

If anything, with the right group there, this could be the perfect way to teach new players.  Enough of a challenge that for someone that has never raided it will feel like a huge accomplishment but not so much of a challenge that is should be impossible to do for a new player that is trying their best to learn.

LFR COULD be for new players that want to learn.

If the LFR really does work out to be a good place for people to learn then they can start to up the difficulty of normal raids some which in turn would allow them to up the level of difficulty in heroic modes as well which will make the actual raiders happy.  Soon, if done correctly, raiding normals even, will be something only a select few will do, or even be able to do, because the LFR will fill the spot for everyone else.

Is looking for raid for the casual player?

There are many definitions of  what is casual and it will depend on who you ask but for the this example it means someone that does not play on any set time.  A late night player.  A weekend player.  An early morning player.  Someone that only has an hour or two here and there.

This type of player could be an old school raider.  Someone with all the skills but none of the time.  Something like this will be easy for them but it will also be fun for them.  Something they know they can knock out in a short period of time.

These people could be the unskilled.  These people could be the raiders that can not raid on a set schedule.  These people could be the raiders that are trying to gear up some alts.  These people could be the people that just want to do something easy for fun.  These people could be the occasional players that are still new or learning.  This is something that gives the ability for anyone to get a group for a raid at any time of the day on even a low population server.

The casual player, for this example, is a decent player but a player without time.

LFR is designed EXACTLY for this player.

It is designed to be something for quick fun.  Not for challenging progression.

Serious raiders, stop complaining that it is too easy.  It is not for you.

Bad players, stop complaining you have to do some heroics first to get to 372.  It is not for you.

New players and learning players, this is where you should be learning.  It was made for you.

Casual players, enjoy it when you get to gear level.  It was made for you.

Raiders who are not full of themselves and want to have some fun on alts have at it.  It was made for you too.

Just remember, as it seems everyone on the forums has already forgotten.

LFR is not for serous raiders.

LFR is not for bad players.