World of Warcraft is in a crisis that many players find frustrating. WoW demon Cortyn explains why the endgame currently has huge problems.
World of Warcraft is doing a lot of things right with Dragonflight. Many features are well-received, the reduced need for grind and general “twink-friendliness” are clear plus points. Because even though WoW has fewer players, it has become better. But the more time passes since the release, the more it becomes apparent that the endgame of the former MMORPG giant is struggling. The part “Mythic+” has turned from a fun undertaking into a torture, annoying different roles every week.
So it’s time again for me to vent a bit about the problems that have built up over months and years.
Mythic+, or: Every week a different player hates it
For those who are not familiar with WoW, here’s a brief summary: “Mythic+” is a system where you have to complete certain dungeons repeatedly at increasing difficulty. A “Mythic+12” is harder than a “Mythic+6”. With higher levels, not only does the difficulty increase through health and damage, but additional effects, known as affixes, are also added.
And it is exactly these affixes that are a source of annoyance, as dungeons are under criticism.
Affixes rotate every week, so you essentially have a different combination each week. This is meant to keep dungeons “fresh” and “interesting”.
In fact, they ensure that ranged damage dealers, melee damage dealers, or healers collectively do not want to play in the corresponding week in varying order.
In the past, there was even the affix “Necrotic”, which reduced the healing received by tanks. This forced tanks to constantly “kite” and only run back and forth in panic. The affix was so unpopular that tanks completely refused to play during the corresponding weeks – and it was subsequently removed.
This frustration that “Necrotic” caused for tanks has now spread to all other player groups.
“Raging”, “Volcanic”, and “Thunderous” require ranged damage dealers to essentially be in constant motion and to interrupt every second or third spell – not to mention channeled spells.
This week, “Bursting”, “Tyrannical”, and “Terrifying” suddenly have all healers facing acute internet problems that will likely only be resolved next Wednesday.
Affixes are no longer an enhancement but ruin the enjoyment of a class. A shadow priest who has to interrupt every second spell due to some super annoying affix mechanic simply isn’t fun. A healer who has to click on fireballs the whole time is also far from the fantasy one actually enjoys.
Why are people only complaining now?
The first question that inevitably arises: Why is this suddenly a topic? After all, World of Warcraft has had affixes and the “Mythic+” system for many years. Why is the community suddenly noticing that this system is annoying?
This is probably mainly due to the fact that WoW has had very different, bigger problems in recent years. The overload of different systems, the narrative difficulties, and the twink-unfriendly mechanics especially in Shadowlands led to criticism being focused on completely different aspects.
Mythic+ stood out as “solid” at that time. It was never exceptionally good, but also never particularly bad. It was an acceptable pastime. A constant that always brought good loot and a clear incentive to improve.
With Dragonflight, a lot has changed. WoW is more twink-friendly than ever before. Dragon-flying has made travel interactive again. The game world is more open, and goals are more purposeful to achieve. The reputation factions with smaller tiers feel more rewarding and no longer so overwhelming.
Or in other words: The majority of World of Warcraft has shifted from “bad” to “good”. But Mythic+ has remained in the “medium” range – and stands out as a negative example.
A look at the subreddit or the forums of World of Warcraft reveals every day one or more threads that increasingly receive more approval. It is a problem that has long simmered and is now flaring up.
How can Blizzard fix the problem?
Because “just complaining” is something anyone can do and is rarely productive (but often fun), I want to present some possible solutions as well.
Option 1: Positive affixes for more fun
In the WoW community, the idea of fundamentally reworking all affixes has been circulating for a few weeks. Instead of the affixes only being negative aspects to be avoided, they could have positive effects for the group if played correctly. The Reddit user “MrKny” had the following ideas for all affixes:
- Bloodied: Now heals everyone standing in the pool of blood.
- Encouraging: Also boosts players, even if only briefly.
- Explosive: Destroying the orbs grants 1% haste per orb, the buff lasts 30 seconds and is stackable 20 times.
- Terrifying: When the effect is removed, it gives the dispeller or the last healer a random 10% buff to haste, crit, mastery, or versatility for a few seconds.
- Bursting: Also deals reduced damage to nearby enemies.
- Enraged: Also applies to players below 30% health and remains for 10 seconds afterwards.
- Raging: Slams all nearby enemies when the effect ends.
- Stormy: Grants players and enemies 5% haste per tornado nearby.
- Volcanic: Can now also hit enemies and give them a debuff, causing them to take extra damage.
Surely this change would require a rebalancing of the dungeons, and some fights could indeed become harder. But that’s okay. At least I want to fight against the abilities of the mobs and bosses in a dungeon, and not against the “weekly bullshit” that’s thrown in my way this time.
Option 2: Abolishing all affixes except the seasonal one
A second option that could simply be tried out would be the abolishment of all affixes except for a seasonal affix. This way, the “flair” of a specific season could be retained, and small accents could be set. Whether that’s “Thunderous” or “Awakened” or something completely different. With a limitation of only one affix, Blizzard could also think significantly more creatively and larger – or simply keep it to a small “side effect”.
Option 3: More abilities at higher levels
Another option would be, instead of affixes, to give bosses (and perhaps also trash) new mechanics from a certain level (about “Mythic+10”). This could be a new boss ability in every fight. In parts, this is even already present in WoW, if somewhat unintentionally.
Here I explicitly mention positively the Academy of Algeth’ar, at least two bosses. Because both Crawth and the Echo of Doragosa have mechanics that only become truly relevant in longer fights.
The bird Crawth is initially a simple fight. You dodge a cone-shaped attack and heal the area damage that comes in every few seconds. Especially at lower levels, you can blow this boss away before anything else happens.
But at higher key levels, you must also shoot gates. This applies a debuff to the player, resulting in the area damage from the boss being reduced again. At the same time, it covers the entire battlefield with negative effects for the rest of the fight. Permanently falling fire fields, tornadoes, and winds that slowly shift the character are the consequences. Basically, a mechanic that only becomes relevant at higher levels.
Even more drastic is the case with Doragosa. When we first fought the Echo of Doragosa at “M0”, we were visibly confused. The fight was over very quickly, and apart from “Everyone gets pulled” and “The dragon breathes towards a target,” nothing else happened. For a final boss, it was astonishingly boring and uneventful.
However, this changes dramatically at higher levels. Because every time you are hit by Doragosa’s abilities, you receive a debuff. Once you have 3 stacks of this debuff, you leave a harmful area on the ground that not only takes up space but also fires arcane orbs through the room every few seconds, spreading the debuff further. What starts out manageable becomes a chain reaction that creates more and more areas with longer fights.
This ability is basically a “new” ability that only appears at high key levels. Such mechanics that continuously become harder can be wonderfully utilized for M+.
For me, it’s relatively clear that affixes in their current form are no longer sustainable, and at least my guild has already drawn consequences. From two nights of “Mythic+” per week, it has now become one – and they are also only playing as much as “absolutely necessary” for a good reward.
And that is incredibly unfortunate because the dungeons themselves are so much fun for me that I want to visit them many dozens of times.
But at least I have hope – because in recent months Blizzard has been very diligent in responding to player demands.
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